Poverty in a Rising Africa

Abstract

frica experienced robust economic growth over the past two decades, growing at an average annual rate of 4.5 percent. Did this growth lead to substantial improvements in well-being? Did household income rise and poverty fall? Did other dimensions of well-being, including education, health, physical security, and self-determination, improve? Did all countries and population groups benefit equally, or did progress come at the expense of rising inequality? The answers have been unclear, in part because poverty data on Africa are weak. This report reviews the evidence and provides a unique analysis of the underlying data. It is the first of a two-part volume on poverty in Africa (the second report will explore how to accelerate poverty reduction in the region).

Social protection in Africa: overview for policy makers 

“…Food, fuel, fi nancial and health crises have also weakened existing buffer systems such as mutual support networks and remittance fl ows, forcing households to sell assets, reduce nutritional intake and take children out of school, thereby deepening their poverty. Despite variations across the continent, levels of poverty and inequality remain extremely high in many countries, with further threats posed by the impacts of climate change (Beegle et al, 2016;Schaeffer et al, 2015).…”

Analysing Poverty in Nigeria through Theoretical Lenses

“…Room (2016) analyses the new poverty in the European community, indicating the existence of poverty in even the most advanced societies. Poverty remains a significant topic of discourse in Africa (Beegle, Christiaensen, Dabalen, & Gaddis, 2016;Grootaert, 1995). Poverty has been linked to climate vulnerability (Thornton et al, 2006), social protection (Barrientos & Hulme, 2016) and gender issues (Shah, 2016).…”

How instrument constituencies shape policy transfer: a case study from Ghana

“…This changed in the 1990s, when Brazil and Mexico introduced conditional cash transfers an in attempt to reduce immediate poverty and to halt the intergenerational transmission of poverty (Fenwick, 2013). These policies spread rapidly in Latin American and, more recently, in Africa, a continent noted for the challenges it has faced in addressing pervasive poverty (Beegle, Christiaensen, Dabalen, & Gaddis, 2016;Schubert & Slater, 2006). The diffusion of cash transfer programs designed to alleviate poverty is puzzling, particularly, considering spatial, social and economic differences between the innovators and the countries adopting their innovations (Sugiyama, 2011).…”