Poverty in Asia

The Asian Development Bank figures that while the poverty benchmark of the set globally by the World Bank is $1.25 per person per day, the equivalent in Asia, given its economic conditions is $1.51 per person per day. I quote from the article in The Economist:

This lifts Asia’s 2010 poverty rate to nearly one-third of the population, adding 343m people to the ranks of the poor. The ADB believes food insecurity, and the risks of natural disasters, global economic shocks and the like, should also be taken into account when measuring poverty. This would further raise Asia’s 2010 poverty rate, to nearly 50%.

That seems to me to be abject poverty, implying threat to life. A much higher income would be needed to live a safe life, and still more to have much choice in life.