(II) STRUCTURE-DOMINANT POVERTY In a second group of states/regions, observed and predicted poverty align closely, indicating that deprivation largely reflects entrenched household characteristics, notably educational deficits, agricultural dependence, limited livelihood diversification, and low-income security, rather than acute contextual shocks. Here, poverty is not primarily a product of conflict or geographic isolation but of long-standing human capital constraints and livelihood patterns. Reducing poverty in these contexts requires sustained investment in education, skills development, livelihood diversification and service quality, interventions that address the structural foundations of deprivation. Persona 2: Structure-dominant poverty U Myaing is living in a rural township of Mandalay, located in Myanmar's central dry zone. With no formal education, U Myaing cultivates a small plot of rain-fed land, growing sesame and groundnut during the monsoon and depending on casual agricultural labour during the dry months. Rainfall is erratic and concentrated in a short wet season; in years of poor rains, crop yields fall sharply and no irrigation is available to compensate. U Myaing owns no livestock and has limited savings to invest in improved seeds or fertiliser, so productivity remains low from season to season. Landlessness is widespread in neighbouring households, and competition for casual labour keeps daily wages low. The nearest market town is accessible but offers few non-agricultural employment opportunities for workers without formal education. Children in the household attend primary school, though older children are regularly withdrawn during planting and harvest to supplement household labour. Housing is basic, marked by earth floors, thatch roofing and no improved sanitation, reflecting decades of low investment capacity rather than recent deterioration. U Myaing's poverty is persistent and structural: it predates the current crisis and would remain even if contextual conditions improved, because the binding constraints are education, skills and productive assets. 22 LAYERS OF DEP RIVATION : Mu ltid im e n s io n a l Pov er t y i n M y a n m a r