Abstract This thesis argues that poverty alleviation strategies and programs carried out by the government and Non Governmental Organizations in Ghana provide affirmative solutions to poverty. This is because, these intervention strategies have been influenced by conventional discourses on poverty that fail to adequately address non-economic issues of poverty such as powerlessness, marginalization and tmder-representation. The study is carried out in a two-pronged manner; first, it analyses state policies and strategies, particularly the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS), on poverty alleviation and compares these to NGO programs, implemented with funds and support from external donor organizations. Specifically, I focus on how NGOs and the governnlent of Ghana negotiate autonomy and financial dependency with their funding donor-partners and how these affect their policies and programs. Findings from this study reveal that while external influences dominate poverty alleviation policies and strategies, NGOs and the government of Ghana exercise varying degrees of agency in navigating these issues. In particular, NGOs have been able to adapt their programs to the changing needs of donor markets, and are also actively engaged in re-orienting poverty back to the political domain through advocacy campaigns. Overall...

The Nepal Poverty Alleviation Fund is a World Bank supported community-driven development program. Its objective is to improve rural welfare, particularly for groups that have traditionally been excluded for reasons of gender, ethnicity, caste, and location. Since its launch in 2004, the Fund has covered the 40 poorest districts of the country, supported some 15,000 community organizations, and benefited more than 2.5 million people. This paper attempts to estimate the impact of this large-scale program using a randomized phase-in approach, in which certain localities are randomly selected for earlier intervention than others. Using two rounds of survey data and a difference-in-difference combined with instrumental variable estimation method, it finds statistically significant causal impact of the program on key welfare outcomes. The treatment-on-the-treated estimate on real per capita consumption is 19 percent growth. Other impacts include a 19 percentage points decline on incidence of food insecurity (defined as food sufficiency for six months or less) and a 15 percentage points increase in the school enrollment rate among 6-15 year-olds. Impacts (positive or negative) are yet to be detected on indicators associated with child malnutrition...

The authors employ the recently completed "poverty map" for Morocco, referring to the year 2004, as a tool for an ex-ante evaluation of the distributional incidence of geographic targeting of public resources. They simulate the impact on poverty of transferring an exogenously given budget to geographically defined sub-groups of the population according to their relative poverty status. In both rural and urban areas, the findings reveal large gains from targeting smaller administrative units, such as communes or districts. However, these gains are still far from the poverty reduction that would be possible had the planners had access to information on household level income or consumption. The results indicate that a useful way forward might be to combine fine geographic targeting using a poverty map with within-community targeting mechanisms.

To rejuvenate the slow poverty alleviation process in Sri Lanka, the first step would be to better understand the geographical distribution of poverty, which in turn would require estimating poverty at a level of disaggregation lower than the district level. This policy note summarizes results and experience of a poverty mapping exercise in Sri Lanka that has been conducted in close collaboration with the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) since 2003. The results of poverty mapping successfully indicate where pockets of severe poverty remain in Sri Lanka, and provide interesting insights-poverty measured as a percentage of population is higher in remote areas, while the absolute number of the poor is larger in urban areas. Also, preliminary results drawn from a map with very high resolution indicate that there are some pockets of poverty even in Colombo District-the growth center of the country. The aim of this report is threefold. First, the report demonstrates that the poverty mapping method developed by Elbers at al (2003) is a useful tool to illustrate the spatial heterogeneity in poverty incidence in Sri Lanka at different levels of resolution (section 2). Second, it highlights the importance of capacity building in ensuring the sustainability of the poverty mapping work (section 3). Third...

The Rural Poverty Alleviation Program in Northeast Brazil uses an integrated approach to social and economic analysis in tackling poverty at the community level. Key to the success of this program is the use of economic and social indicators to monitor changes in the community. The reform process encourages the empowerment of the poor and the development of social capital. Those who formerly were socially excluded are now directly involved in institutional development at the local level. Such community-oriented projects encourage new alliances and enable the development of more innovative ways to improve the lives of the rural poor. The components of success in this project are: Community-based empowerment, poverty-targeting mechanisms, decentralization of fiscal and investment decision making from Federal to state and local governments, stakeholder participation, technical assistance and training for beneficiaries, transparency of funding process, an integrated monitoring and evaluation system, and technical assistance and training for beneficiaries...

This report draws lessons for improving the policy design of poverty alleviation schemes in Jordan. The conclusions herein are based on analyses of trends in consumption poverty in Jordan and assessment of the impact of government programs (including food subsidies and cash transfers) on poverty alleviation in the 1990s. Poverty declined between 1992 and 1997 because inequality declined. Government programs, especially those targeted to the poor like the National Aid Fund, contributed to poverty alleviation. However, poverty continues to be a major policy challenge for Jordan: the poor and near-poor remain vulnerable as a result of the shallowness of poverty in Jordan (many people are concentrated close to the poverty line) and the adverse effects of potential shocks. The report concludes the following: 1) sustainable poverty reduction requires resumption and sustainability of growth; 2) there is a need for a policy response to the vulnerability of the poor and near-poor to economic shocks; 3) the capacity of the National Aid Fund (NAF) needs to be significantly enhanced; and 4) continued priority needs to be placed on human development policies...

The report covers the proceedings of the World Bank Conference on Evaluation and Development, which provided the opportunity for debate, and discussion on lessons learned from evaluations of poverty reduction programs, to partnerships, and participation in evaluation. It presents the addresses of the plenary sessions, papers, and excerpts, on the Conference topics, which included the role of targeted poverty reduction policies, and programs, the design of social funds, safety nets, and ways to include civil society, and private participation towards effective development. Evaluation methodologies figured prominently in the conference discussions, focusing on measuring development impact, with special emphasis on factoring in externalities, and in evaluation design. The lessons learned, question poverty reduction strategies, describing instead the success in making development interventions context-specific, in taking a holistic view, and in broadening the poverty concept. Institutional change is addressed in the context of social capital...

As Kosovo goes beyond the emergency relief phase, taking into consideration the situation of those that the conflict has left behind is vital to the effectiveness of any strategy for economic development. The study is designed to inform the current policy debate in the area of poverty alleviation, and social service delivery, and to include these in the Joint Interim Administrative Structure (JIAS), the World Bank, and other donors perspectives. Within the definition of poverty as a multidimensional force that extends beyond low levels of income, the report covers a wide range of issues, including consumption, income, education, health, and social protection. It is predominantly based on data from the Living Standard Measurement Survey, statistically representative of both the Albanian, and Serb population, though not of other ethnic groups. The study comprises two volumes, the first one reviews background information, and data to examine the extent of poverty in Kosovo, the role of food aid, and identifies the correlates of extreme poverty. Poverty is analyzed versus income sources...

As Kosovo goes beyond the emergency relief phase, taking into consideration the situation of those that the conflict has left behind is vital to the effectiveness of any strategy for economic development. The study is designed to inform the current policy debate in the area of poverty alleviation, and social service delivery, and to include these in the Joint Interim Administrative Structure (JIAS), the World Bank, and other donors perspectives. Within the definition of poverty as a multidimensional force that extends beyond low levels of income, the report covers a wide range of issues, including consumption, income, education, health, and social protection. It is predominantly based on data from the Living Standard Measurement Survey, statistically representative of both the Albanian, and Serb population, though not of other ethnic groups. The study comprises two volumes, the first one reviews background information, and data to examine the extent of poverty in Kosovo, the role of food aid, and identifies the correlates of extreme poverty. Poverty is analyzed versus income sources...

In China, rural road improvements have been integrated with major highway projects, implemented with World Bank assistance, during 1995-98. These improvements were called, "Roads Improvement for Poverty Alleviation (RIPA)," and were linked to on-going poverty alleviation programs. These Bank assisted projects are in five provinces of China: Gansu, Henan, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, and Shaanxi. RIPA concentrates on linking those rural villages and townships which do not currently have basic all weather access to the existing road networks of a higher order. This report focuses, from a conceptual analytical, and methodological viewpoint upon the RIPA experience in the above-mentioned Bank-assisted projects in China. It also describes the background to poverty alleviation programs and the linkages to roads improvement in China. It reviews current practices and recommends appropriate design standards, and a framework of monitoring indicators. This report focuses on those road systems which provide easy access to the rural population in designated poor counties in China. The primary objectives are to provide a conceptual framework for RIPA...

We present the results of a review of the empirical evidence and of the state of knowledge regarding the mechanisms linking ecosystem services and poverty alleviation. The review was undertaken to determine the state of current knowledge about the scale and nature of these linkages, and focus the future research agenda. Research has, to date, focussed largely on provisioning services, and on just two poverty dimensions concerning income and assets, and food security and nutrition. While many papers describe links between ecosystem services and dimensions of poverty, few provide sufficient context to enable a thorough understanding of the poverty alleviation impacts (positive or negative), if any. These papers contribute to the accumulating evidence that ecosystem services support well-being, and perhaps prevent people becoming poorer, but provide little evidence of their contribution to poverty alleviation, let alone poverty elimination. A considerable gap remains in understanding the links between ecosystem services and poverty, how change occurs, and how pathways out of poverty may be achieved based on the sustainable utilisation of ecosystem services.; This work was funded with support from the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) Programme [NE/ESPA/ 010001]. The ESPA programme is funded by the UK Department for International Development...

The objective of this policy note, is to provide advice to the Government of Nepal on the best approach to adopt for the proposed Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF) to adequately address the problems related to poverty reduction, and service improvement in remote areas. The report first presents an overview of the conceptual framework for analysis, focusing attention on the particularly important aspects of poverty - risk and vulnerability - to then provide insights on the understanding of the nature of poverty in the country, and how to address it. It specifies that risk management, if properly implemented, can induce economic growth, leading to a longer term sustained reduction in poverty, while decentralization empowers local communities, by addressing government's failures in delivering services in areas critical to poverty reduction. The report further reviews the experience of development projects in Nepal, through a sector wide approach, where findings suggest that community-based models of investment...

As it transitions to Middle-Income Country (MIC) status, Vietnam is considering whether its social protection system is adequate to meet rapidly changing needs associated with strong economic growth, integration of its economy in regional and global markets, industrialization, urbanization and other economic and societal shifts. Vietnam's social safety net - programs with the following objectives: 1) alleviation of chronic poverty; 2) help to the poor in coping with the worst forms of shocks and transient poverty; and 3) promotion of human development for long-term poverty alleviation. This note aims to assess the system of social safety net programs currently in place in Vietnam and to gauge how well it covers the poor and vulnerable populations. This note highlights two messages: first, it identifies gaps in the current poverty reduction and social protection system - programs that help address urban vulnerability and poverty and that help the poor and vulnerable manage shocks - which could be closed through strengthened and more effective household-targeted social safety net programs. Second...

In this paper, developed as part of the World Bank's Poverty Reduction Strategy Sourcebook, the authors examine how to implement trade liberalization as part of a strategy for alleviating poverty in developing countries. They discuss trade policy instruments, institutions, complementary policies, sector issues, adjustment policies, and safety nets in an integrated approach to trade policy as a tool for poverty alleviation. The authors examine the patterns or models of trade policy that have been successful in alleviating poverty. They discuss the role of tariffs, nontariff barriers, contingent protection (such as safeguards and antidumping), special import regimes (such as duty drawback), export taxes, export subsidies, and trade-related institutions (such as standards, marketing, export finance, customs clearance, and regional trade arrangements). The authors also discuss policies that complement successful trade reform, including macroeconomic stability, a competitive exchange rate, flexible labor markets...

This paper contributes to explain the cross-country heterogeneity of the poverty response to changes in economic growth. It does so by focusing on the structure of output growth. The paper presents a two-sector theoretical model that clarifies the mechanism through which the sectoral composition of growth and associated labor intensity can affect workers' wages and, thus, poverty alleviation. Then it presents cross-country empirical evidence that analyzes first, the differential poverty-reducing impact of sectoral growth at various levels of disaggregation, and the role of unskilled labor intensity in such differential impact. The paper finds evidence that not only the size of economic growth but also its composition matters for poverty alleviation, with the largest contributions from labor-intensive sectors (such as agriculture, construction, and manufacturing). The results are robust to the influence of outliers, alternative explanations, and various poverty measures.

Twenty years of rapid economic development in Ghana has done little, if anything, to reduce the historical North, South divide in standards of living. While rural development and urbanization have led to significant poverty reduction in the South, similar dynamics have been largely absent from Northern Ghana (or equivalently the North, defined as the sum of the administrative regions Upper West, Upper East, and the Northern region), which cover 40 percent of Ghana's land area. Between 1992 and 2006, the number of the poor declined by 2.5 million in the South and increased by 0.9 million in the North. In sharp contrast with the South, there was no significant decline in the proportion of poor in the population of the North. Ghana's success story in poverty reduction is the success story of its South. Finally, North-South migration should not be seen as detracting from the potential development of Northern Ghana. North-South migration is potentially a strong instrument for poverty alleviation. With the right human capital...

This paper uses small area estimation techniques to update Vietnam's province and district-level poverty map to 2009. It finds that poverty rates continue to be highest in the northern and central mountainous regions, where ethnic minorities make up a large fraction of the population. Poverty has fallen in most provinces and districts over this decade, but the pace of poverty reduction has been least pronounced in those localities with high initial poverty or inequality levels. As a result, poverty rates have become more spatially concentrated over time, which is consistent with widely observed growth processes linked to agglomeration. The authors hypothesize that this makes geographic targeting of the poor more relevant as a means to re-balance growing welfare disparities between geographic areas. Simulations indicate that in both 1999 and 2009, geographic targeting for poverty alleviation improves upon a uniform lump-sum transfer and this becomes more evident the more spatially disaggregated the target populations. The analysis further indicates that the gains from geographic targeting have become more pronounced over time in Vietnam. Although poverty reduction in Vietnam has been impressive...

The Land-Based Poverty Alleviation Project of Brazil is addressing one of the major factors underlying poverty in the countryside: inadequate access to land by the rural poor. Preceded by two highly successful Bank-financed pilots, the project demonstrates the large-scale viability of a community-based approach to land reform. In the project beneficiary groups negotiate directly with willing sellers for the purchase of suitable properties. They obtain financing for the purchase of the land, support for complementary subproject, and technical assistance to establish themselves on or near the land and to improve the productivity of the acquired properties. The project is implemented by civil society through community associations. Participation is also open to local, state, and national civil society organizations, and to governmental organizations, including the National Confederation of Agricultural Workers (CONTAG). Associations of poor rural laborers and subsistence farmers select, negotiate, and obtain financing to purchase agricultural properties from willing sellers. Project implementation by community associations has been successful overall. The design of the project places beneficiaries in the driver's seat...

Nuevos paradigmas sobre el alivio a la pobreza fueron formulados por la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) y, creyendo en el potencial de la actividad turística para generar inclusión laboral, aumento en los ingresos y mejora en el bienestar social de la población, fueron también adoptados por la Organización Mundial del Turismo(OMT) y por el Ministerio de Turismo. De esta forma, el presente trabajo busca estudiar el alivio a la pobreza a través del turismo, verificando las propuestas para el desarrollo de esta actividad en Paraíba presentadas en el Plan Amanecer del Gobierno del Estado (2000). Esta investigación es abordada a través de una revisión bibliográfica y documental que intenta comprender las relaciones entre el turismo, la sostenibilidad y el alivio a la pobreza. El plan de turismo Amanecer tuvo como objetivo el desarrollo del turismo sostenible considerando para tal fin la satisfacción del turista, la disminución en los impactos ambientales y culturales en el área implementada, mejora en la calidad de vida de sus habitantes y retorno de las inversiones. Una condición básica para el crecimiento del turismo paraibano, era el desarrollo integrado de los aspectos sociales, económicos y urbanos además de la preservación de los recursos naturales. Sin embargo...

The desire to increase energy access remains a strong driving force for poverty alleviation in rural areas of developing countries. The supply of modern energy facilitates the improvement of human living conditions and the productivity of sectors. It also contributes by reducing the time spent, mainly for women and children, in collecting biomass and therefore can provide an opportunity for an increase in the education level of children and for women empowerment. This paper shows how renewable energy facilitates the improvement of the standard of living in a Sahelian developing country of Senegal. Using a life-cycle-cost approach while integrating an assessment of the environmental externalities, I argue that in remote rural areas where grid-connection is non-existent, photovoltaic (PV) renewable technologies provide suitable solutions for delivering energy services although wind technology has been considered as well. In this framework, policies promoting the adoption of clean technologies in developing nations like Senegal could be considered as being the main components on the agenda of poverty reduction.