Poverty alleviation through rural development programs (RDP) has significant implication for Bangladesh the world’s most densely populated country having 71 percent rural inhabitants. Considering the significance, the study examined various rural challenges and poverty reduction strategies of RDP underpinned by a quantitative research technique. 192 poor households were randomly selected from four study villages under Chittagong District. The result indicates that the RDP, housing and agriculture, health and education, significantly improved the poverty situation among poor people through economic capabilities, human capabilities, protective capabilities, and political capabilities of sample households