Abstract
This chapter examines the notions of stigma, bias, and myth of poverty reduction and focuses specifically on rural poor populations in nations that fell behind in implementing the global targets of poverty reduction, the majority of them in Sub-Saharan Africa. The task is to examine various characterizations of myth and stigma in historical discourse and explain the processes and mechanisms by which myth and stigma function as a mediator of various tensions within historical discourse. First, this chapter describes the characterizations of stigma and the misconceptions of poverty; second, it explains the barriers and the daunting task of poverty reduction; and third, it shows how negative perceptions of poverty ultimately complicate the implementation of the poverty reduction agenda.