The Overseas Development Centre (ODI) is one of Britains largest independent think tanks on international development and humanitarian issues. Among their research activities, you can find
group with a focus on "Poverty and Public Policies":
http://www.odi.org.uk/PPPG/index.html
A Paper on Poverty regarded from an anthropological viewpoint can be found here:
"Experiencing poverty in Africa: perspectives from anthropology"
http://www.odi.org.uk/PPPG/publications/papers_reports/mul/wob_bp1.html