Poverty has many dimensions. Social aspect of poverty is one indicator of deprivation existing inrnsociety. The main objective of the study is to compare and contrast the living condition and therncoping and survival strategies used by female and male headed household in the study area.rnThe analysis of the study was based on 236 households, of which 144 are male headed and 92rnfemale headed households. Questionnaires were distributed to households in the study area andrninterviews were conducted with some household head informants. The data was then analyzedrnusing descriptive statistics.rnThe study has found out that a large proportion of the households in the study area arernchallenged with lack of access to services like housing, water supply, cleansing, health servicernand the problem of food shortage. All the indicators of poverty used in the research also pointedrnout the poor living condition in the study area. However, such problems are found to be morernsevere among households headed by females. Female headed households are characterized byrnan even worse living condition when compared with male headed households.rnPoor living condition, lack of access to basic amenities and inability to meet basic needs havernforced the poor to come up with ways to enable them cope and survive harsh economic times.rnSome of the strategies used by the poor households in the study area are diversifying income byrnengaging oneself, spouse or children in income generating activities, selling property, adaptingrna new eating habit which is characterized by low quality and quantity, reducing expenditure onrnnon food items, relying on social network selling, renting and sub renting of assets. The use ofrnsurvival strategies shows difference among the different gender of household heads. The mostrnfrequently used strategies in female headed households are cutting back on consumption (75.4%)rnand borrowing food or cash from friends, relatives and neighbors (49.2%). Comparatively inrnmale headed households cutting back on consumption (60.7%), and engaging oneself/spouse inrndifferent income generating activities are most frequently used. Choice of livelihood strategy isrnfound to be influenced by the marital status of head, level of asset ownership and the level andrnstrength of community ties and social networks