According to INEI (2009), 51.1% of Peru’s Cusco population lives in poverty. Of the 13 provinces that make up the department of Cusco, 10 have a poverty rate of over 50%. The province with the highest incidence of poverty is Chumbivilcas (85.7%); the province with the lowest incidence is Cusco (24.7%).

The level of poverty in recent years has increased exponentially due to the economic recession fueled by the COVID 19 pandemic. Non-poor sectors became poor; the poor became extremely poor; and the extremely poor became indigent.

Exacerbating problems in the region is the reality that funds allocated by the national government to regional and local governments have been poorly distributed.