Accelerating Poverty Reduction in Africa

Accelerating Poverty Reduction in Africa PDF Author: Kathleen Beegle
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464812330
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 481

Get Book Here

Book Description
Sub-Saharan Africa's turnaround over the past couple of decades has been dramatic. After many years in decline, the continent's economy picked up in the mid-1990s. Along with this macroeconomic growth, people became healthier, many more youngsters attended schools, and the rate of extreme poverty declined from 54 percent in 1990 to 41 percent in 2015. Political and social freedoms expanded, and gender equality advanced. Conflict in the region also subsided, although it still claims thousands of civilian lives in some countries and still drives pressing numbers of displaced persons.Despite Africa’s widespread economic and social welfare accomplishments, the region’s challenges remain daunting: Economic growth has slowed in recent years. Poverty rates in many countries are the highest in the world. And notably, the number of poor in Africa is rising because of population growth. From a global perspective, the biggest concentration of poverty has shifted from South Asia to Africa.Accelerating Poverty Reduction in Africa explores critical policy entry points to address the demographic, societal, and political drivers of poverty; improve income-earning opportunities both on and off the farm; and better mobilize resources for the poor. It looks beyond macroeconomic stability and growth—critical yet insufficient components of these objectives—to ask what more could be done and where policy makers should focus their attention to speed up poverty reduction. The pro-poor policy agenda advanced in this volume requires not only economic growth where the poor work and live, but also mitigation of the many risks to which African households are exposed. As such, this report takes a "jobs" lens to its task. It focuses squarely on the productivity and livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable—that is, what it will take to increase their earnings. Finally, it presents a road map for financing the poverty and development agenda.

Growth, Distribution and Poverty in Africa

Growth, Distribution and Poverty in Africa PDF Author: Luc J. Christiaensen
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9780821352137
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 84

Get Book Here

Book Description
This publication analyses country studies into poverty dynamics over the past decade in eight African countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, Mauritania, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Using improved household survey data, the book provides an overview of poverty trends and considers the impact of policy reforms to promote economic growth and poverty reduction. The report highlights the importance of the following factors in the success of poverty reduction strategies in Africa: country location, as some regions have failed to benefit from economic growth due to their remoteness; the role of infrastructure, such as a viable road network; access to education and land are key private endowments in helping households to benefit from emerging economic opportunities; and the significance of social protection measures for poverty outcomes.

The Quality of Growth in Africa

The Quality of Growth in Africa PDF Author: Akbar Noman
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231550987
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 445

Get Book Here

Book Description
In recent years, concerns about the outcomes and nature of economic growth have given way to a new emphasis on its quality. This volume brings together prominent international contributors to consider a range of interrelated questions concerning the quality of growth in Africa, with a primary focus on sub-Saharan countries. Contributors discuss the measurement of growth, the transformations necessary to sustain it, and issues around equity and well-being. They consider topics such as the distribution of income gains from growth; the extent to which economic growth has resulted in improvements in employment, poverty, and security; structural transformations of the economy and diversification of the sources of growth; environmental sustainability; and management of urbanization. Offering both diagnoses and prescriptions, The Quality of Growth in Africa helps envision a future that goes beyond increasing GDP to ensuring that growth translates into advancements in well-being. Although the book focuses on sub-Saharan Africa, much of the contributors’ incisive analysis has implications for countries outside the region.

Poverty in a Rising Africa

Poverty in a Rising Africa PDF Author: Kathleen Beegle
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464807248
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 278

Get Book Here

Book Description
Perceptions of Africa have changed dramatically. Viewed as a continent of wars, famines and entrenched poverty in the late 1990s, there is now a focus on “Africa rising†? and an “African 21st century.†? Two decades of unprecedented economic growth in Africa should have brought substantial improvements in well-being. Whether or not they did, remains unclear given the poor quality of the data, the nature of the growth process (especially the role of natural resources), conflicts that affect part of the region, and high population growth. Poverty in a Rising Africa documents the data challenges and systematically reviews the evidence on poverty from monetary and nonmonetary perspectives, as well as a focus on dimensions of inequality. Chapter 1 maps out the availability and quality of the data needed to track monetary poverty, reflects on the governance and political processes that underpin the current situation with respect to data production, and describes some approaches to addressing the data gaps. Chapter 2 evaluates the robustness of the estimates of poverty in Africa. It concludes that poverty reduction in Africa may be slightly greater than traditional estimates suggest, although even the most optimistic estimates of poverty reduction imply that more people lived in poverty in 2012 than in 1990. A broad-stroke profile of poverty and trends in poverty in the region is presented. Chapter 3 broadens the view of poverty by considering nonmonetary dimensions of well-being, such as education, health, and freedom, using Sen's (1985) capabilities and functioning approach. While progress has been made in a number of these areas, levels remain stubbornly low. Chapter 4 reviews the evidence on inequality in Africa. It looks not only at patterns of monetary inequality in Africa but also other dimensions, including inequality of opportunity, intergenerational mobility in occupation and education, and extreme wealth in Africa.

Accelerating Poverty Reduction in Africa

Accelerating Poverty Reduction in Africa PDF Author: Kathleen Beegle
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464812330
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 481

Get Book Here

Book Description
Sub-Saharan Africa's turnaround over the past couple of decades has been dramatic. After many years in decline, the continent's economy picked up in the mid-1990s. Along with this macroeconomic growth, people became healthier, many more youngsters attended schools, and the rate of extreme poverty declined from 54 percent in 1990 to 41 percent in 2015. Political and social freedoms expanded, and gender equality advanced. Conflict in the region also subsided, although it still claims thousands of civilian lives in some countries and still drives pressing numbers of displaced persons.Despite Africa’s widespread economic and social welfare accomplishments, the region’s challenges remain daunting: Economic growth has slowed in recent years. Poverty rates in many countries are the highest in the world. And notably, the number of poor in Africa is rising because of population growth. From a global perspective, the biggest concentration of poverty has shifted from South Asia to Africa.Accelerating Poverty Reduction in Africa explores critical policy entry points to address the demographic, societal, and political drivers of poverty; improve income-earning opportunities both on and off the farm; and better mobilize resources for the poor. It looks beyond macroeconomic stability and growth—critical yet insufficient components of these objectives—to ask what more could be done and where policy makers should focus their attention to speed up poverty reduction. The pro-poor policy agenda advanced in this volume requires not only economic growth where the poor work and live, but also mitigation of the many risks to which African households are exposed. As such, this report takes a "jobs" lens to its task. It focuses squarely on the productivity and livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable—that is, what it will take to increase their earnings. Finally, it presents a road map for financing the poverty and development agenda.

Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018

Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018 PDF Author: World Bank
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464813604
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 328

Get Book Here

Book Description
The World Bank Group has two overarching goals: End extreme poverty by 2030 and promote shared prosperity by boosting the incomes of the bottom 40 percent of the population in each economy. As this year’s Poverty and Shared Prosperity report documents, the world continues tomake progress toward these goals. In 2015, approximately one-tenth of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty, and the incomes of the bottom 40 percent rose in 77 percent of economies studied.But success cannot be taken for granted. Poverty remains high in Sub- Saharan Africa, as well as in fragile and conflict-affected states. At the same time, most of the world’s poor now live in middle-income countries, which tend to have higher national poverty lines. This year’s report tracks poverty comparisons at two higher poverty thresholds—$3.20 and $5.50 per day—which are typical of standards in lower- and upper-middle-income countries. In addition, the report introduces a societal poverty line based on each economy’s median income or consumption.Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018: Piecing Together the Poverty Puzzle also recognizes that poverty is not only about income and consumption—and it introduces a multidimensional poverty measure that adds other factors, such as access to education, electricity, drinking water, and sanitation. It also explores how inequality within households could affect the global profile of the poor.All these additional pieces enrich our understanding of the poverty puzzle, bringing us closer to solving it.For more information, please visit worldbank.org/PSP

Links Between Growth, Inequality, and Poverty: A Survey

Links Between Growth, Inequality, and Poverty: A Survey PDF Author: Ms. Valerie Cerra
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1513572660
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 54

Get Book Here

Book Description
Is there a tradeoff between raising growth and reducing inequality and poverty? This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on the complex links between growth, inequality, and poverty, with causation going in both directions. The evidence suggests that growth can be effective in reducing poverty, but its impact on inequality is ambiguous and depends on the underlying sources of growth. The impact of poverty and inequality on growth is likewise ambiguous, as several channels mediate the relationship. But most plausible mechanisms suggest that poverty and inequality reduce growth, at least in the long run. Policies play a role in shaping these relationships and those designed to improve equality of opportunity can simultaneously improve inclusiveness and growth.

Inclusive Growth in Africa

Inclusive Growth in Africa PDF Author: Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317203550
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 261

Get Book Here

Book Description
Inclusive Growth in Africa analyzes the concept of inclusion within the challenges facing Africa’s rapidly growing economies, where rising affluence for some has been accompanied almost everywhere with rising inequality. Using a combination of political economy analyses, sector studies and econometric models, the contributors delve into a range of areas associated to the new realities on the continent. Topics covered include issues of disability, corruption, capital flight, and their implications for economic sustainability. There is also a discussion of the impact on development of dependence on externally determined prices for Africa’s natural resources. Other sector analyses look at agriculture and wind power, and the innovations required to make a difference for the poorer majority. The book comprises of a rich array of essays on socio-economic inclusion in Africa by authors drawn from academia, African think tanks and international organizations. It would be of interest to scholars and students of many disciplines, including: Economics, Sociology, Development Studies, and African Studies.

The Composition of Growth Matters for Poverty Alleviation

The Composition of Growth Matters for Poverty Alleviation PDF Author: Norman Loayza
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Developing countries
Languages : en
Pages : 38

Get Book Here

Book Description
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 in 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 contributuons 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.

Inequality and Growth

Inequality and Growth PDF Author: Theo S. Eicher
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262550644
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 343

Get Book Here

Book Description
Even minute increases in a country's growth rate can result in dramatic changes in living standards over just one generation. The benefits of growth, however, may not be shared equally. Some may gain less than others, and a fraction of the population may actually be disadvantaged. Recent economic research has found both positive and negative relationships between growth and inequality across nations. The questions raised by these results include: What is the impact on inequality of policies designed to foster growth? Does inequality by itself facilitate or detract from economic growth, and does it amplify or diminish policy effectiveness? This book provides a forum for economists to examine the theoretical, empirical, and policy issues involved in the relationship between growth and inequality. The aim is to develop a framework for determining the role of public policy in enhancing both growth and equality. The diverse range of topics, examined in both developed and developing countries, includes natural resources, taxation, fertility, redistribution, technological change, transition, labor markets, and education. A theme common to all the essays is the importance of education in reducing inequality and increasing growth.

Growth, Inequality and Poverty

Growth, Inequality and Poverty PDF Author: Martin Ravallion
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Bienestar economico y social
Languages : en
Pages : 32

Get Book Here

Book Description
One side in the current debate about who benefits from growth has focused solely on average impacts on poverty and inequality, while the other side has focused on the diverse welfare impacts found beneath the averages. Both sides have a point.