The Capability Approach to development was pioneered by Amartya Sen. He defines capabilities as “the freedom that a person has in terms of the choice of functionings, given his personal features (conversion of characteristics into functionings) and his command over commodities.” Sen classifies a capability as a type of freedom that enables one to choose a lifestyle one wants to live.The capability approach views that issues like poverty and inequality can’t be adequately addressed by the economic tools alone. Scope of the capability approach is quite vast. It considers all possible factors – personal, economic, social, political, or environmental – that can possibly influence human capabilities which dictate the real well-being of people.
