Poverty Reduction Strategy Research Articles

Strategies for Women Empowerment and Poverty Reduction

Strategies for Women Empowerment and Poverty Reduction

Inequality of Opportunity for Education in Sudan: Results from Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey, 2014

Inequality of opportunity (IoP) in education is widely addressed in the literature, with few, if any, in Sudan. This paper aims to measure IoP for educational attainment and school attendance in Sudan, using data collected by Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (2014). Circumstance variables used were gender, household wealth, residential areas, head of household education, and region of residence. The study used ordered logistic and dissimilarity index to assess the ex-ante IoP and used the Human Opportunity Index for school attendance. The findings show that circumstance variables were responsible for more than half of the inequality. Household wealth accounted for the largest share, followed by the household head's education level, then residential areas. The total coverage of school attendance was 51.3%, and about 14% of the chances were distributed unequally. The study recommended effective policies based on spatial redistribution of educational resources like teachers, books, schools, and to implement more comprehensive plans that integrate poverty reduction strategies.

Outgrower schemes and sugar value-chains in Zambia: Rethinking determinants of rural inclusion and exclusion

Abstract Integration of smallholders in outgrower schemes has been advanced as a strategy for poverty reduction in the global south, but how terms and conditions of inclusion and exclusion shape divergent outcomes, and processes underpinning these local dynamics remain an under-researched area. This study, set in Zambia’s southern ‘sugarbelt’ region of Mazabuka, draws on two contrasting outgrower schemes to examine determinants of smallholder inclusion in sugar value-chains, and consider how various terms and conditions underpining inclusion shape various interests, reactions and pathways for value capture among different local groups. Our study reaveals terms and conditions are important in shaping divergent outcomes for smallholders included in sugar value-chains. It shows determinants of inclusion and exclusion are complex and go beyond market imperatives that are production related (structural) to include social-cultural dynamics (non-structural). The centrality of the paper points to lived realities and experiences for different groups and political reactions from below, underlining how socially contested intersection of global–local value-chain produces diverse but interdependent hierarchies of inclusion and exclusion. For an early stage in planning of outgrower schemes by state and non-state actors, recognition of the various social groups and their complex engagement and reactions to changes in land-use and land control will not only expose competing interests but should inform polices, institutions and investments to improve value-chain impacts. This paper hopes to contribute towards a more nuanced understanding of the complex engagement of smallholders in changes in land use and land control in developing countries in the era of land-grabbing.

Justification of tax regulation tools to support the poor

The system of taxation of personal income in Ukraine does not allow fully implementing the principle of social justice, which is regulated by the Tax Code of Ukraine. This is because in many cases, the taxpayers’ solvency is not taken into account when setting tax rates. The Ukrainian legislation does not regulate the list of poor people, and there is no clear compensatory mechanism of assistance to these social groups. As a result, the number of poor people is growing and, therefore, the social tension is increasing in Ukraine. The article focuses on the poor performance of Ukraine in various indices of socio-economic development, which results in the growth of poor people. There was no clear legislation to classify the poor in Ukraine. A list of poor people is offered. The main directions of poverty reduction in European countries are analyzed. Attention is drawn to the poor status of poverty reduction in Ukraine through tax policies, due to the poor implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy by the executive authorities. The instruments of tax regulation of low-income population in EU countries are considered, the main ones being tax rebate (tax credit), tax exemption, non-taxable minimum, and reduced tax rate. The list of instruments for tax regulation of low-income population in EU countries and Ukraine is summarized. The progressive scale of taxation of personal income is substantiated. The list of poor people is generalized. A non-taxable minimum income indicator is proposed based on the indicator used to determine the limit for applying the tax social benefit. Given the experience of EU countries, the introduction of separate instruments for tax regulation of low-income groups in Ukraine is justified.

Healthcare expenditure and life expectancy in Cameroon

Healthcare is a serious issue confronting governments and households and calling for repeated deliberations in international forums. Ensuring good health for all was the predominant call of the millennium development goals (MDGs), re-echoed again in the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The first objective of this study is to evaluate and compare the impact of public and private health spending on life expectancy, and the second objective is to examine the causal link among public health expenditure, private health expenditure and life expectancy in Cameroon. We used annual time series data from 1980 to 2014. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was employed to evaluate the effect of public and private health expenditure on life expectancy while the Toda and Yamamoto causality test was used to examine the relationship among public health expenditure, private health expenditure and life expectancy in Cameroon. The result shows that private health expenditure has a positive and significant impact on life expectancy while public health expenditure has no significant impact on life expectancy in Cameroon. The results of the causality test show a bidirectional causality between private health expenditure and life expectancy and a unidirectional causality running from life expectancy to public health expenditure. The findings of this study suggest that the Cameroonian government should continue to embark on its poverty reduction strategy elaborated in its Growth and Employment Strategy Paper (GESP) and in pursuing its vision of attaining the SDGs by 2030. In addition, establishing effective public-private partnerships in developing the health sector could go a long way to improve the health status of the population.

Recent trends in the implementation of trade and development strategies in developing countries

Globalization in the 21st century, like any profound process occurring in society, brings both new opportunities and risks. One tool that helps countries overcome continued economic uncertainty is strategic planning. Despite the fact that the scientific community is still debating whether the state should coordinate a country’s economic processes, in practice the number of strategic trade and economic initiatives is constantly growing. This article analyses trends in the design of trade and economic strategies in developing countries from 2000 to 2015, reasons for growing interest in implementing such initiatives, and changes in the structure of strategic documents. Calculations are based on systematic and graphic analyses of data published by the International Trade Centre and the World Bank. The results of this analysis show that increasing interest in implementing trade and development initiatives in the 2000s was preceded by a World Bank policy aimed at alleviating the burden of high-indebted by poor countries. This policy required beneficiaries to have a poverty reduction strategy (e.g. the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers — PRSP). The development of PRSPs helped to create and/or restore institutional mechanisms needed to implement such initiatives, which had been lost back in the 1980s. The promotion of the global development goals—Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2000–2015 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2015–2030, adopted by 193 UN member states — served as a trigger for scaling up the development of strategic initiatives. Such initiatives adopted in developing countries, with the support of international organizations, were focused mainly on solving the food and nutrition problems and improving basic social services. Their successful implementation improved existing planning practices and increased the effectiveness of state institutions in developing countries. At the same time, the first positive results returned faith in the effectiveness of these strategic programs for the development of a country’s economy. This created an impulse for the capacity of developing countries to implement later trade and economic strategies without the support of third organizations, giving them the autonomy to allocate resources in high valueadded sectors. Nevertheless, despite all the efforts in developing countries, the weak points of these initiatives remain poor elaboration of action plans and the lack of financial resources to achieve stated objectives.

Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) of Two Policy Alternatives: Basic Income and Basic Services

In this paper, we apply GBA+ to two potentially transformative policy approaches—basic income and basic services—to consider their promise in the context of B.C.’s poverty reduction strategy. The core of our analysis is centred on evaluating how each proposal might address poverty in B.C. along intersectional lines, and according to the key dimensions or principles of poverty mitigation and prevention outlined by the B.C. government in its poverty reduction strategy: affordability, opportunity, reconciliation, and social. We also draw on insights regarding the systemic barriers that contribute to greater risk and prevalence of poverty for people whose identities are situated at various axes of difference. We not only consider how the proposals may produce “tangible” outcomes, but also focus on the various ways in which they could transform experiences within and beyond the system of programs, or erect barriers that are not immediately obvious or that may not exist for a “neutral” subject. We demonstrate that the basic income and basic services approaches both have immediate practical value, as well as exhibiting transformative potential, though such impacts largely hinge on how the policies are envisioned and implemented. The most important takeaways from this work are that intersectional groups need access to high-quality public services and, relatedly, that any policy approach that “trades off” services for income will have potentially devastating impacts—particularly for already vulnerable groups.

Service facilities and hotel performance: empirical evidence from hotel-level data in Thailand

The main purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of service facilities on performance within the hotel industry. Its unique contribution is the use of national-representative secondary data on the hospitality industry in Thailand, as a case of a major tourist destination country. Covering 2,627 hotel observations, our estimated regression indicates that service facilities affect native guests and foreign guests differently, which can lead to different strategic actions for each group. Among all kinds of service facilities, providing internet service seems to be the greatest contribution to hotel performance. Therefore, in terms of managerial implications, hotel managers should make providing a sound internet connection a priority in order to ensure the successful short-term and long-term performance. As for social implications, especially among small and medium-sized hotels, improving hotel performance by upgrading service facilities is another important tool in promoting tourism as a poverty reduction strategy.

Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) of the Current System of Income and Social Supports in British Columbia

This paper is one of three papers focused on bringing a GBA+ lens to the work of the Expert Panel on Basic Income. In Cameron and Tedds (2020b), background is provided on gender and intersectional analysis and an enhanced GBA+ framework is developed based on the Status of Women Canada’s GBA+ tool. In Cameron and Tedds (2020a), a GBA+ analysis is applied to two policy reforms—basic income and basic services—to consider their potential in the context of B.C.’s poverty reduction strategy. In this paper, we apply the enhanced GBA+ analysis to the current system of income and social supports in B.C. along with the suite of proposed reforms recommended in Petit and Tedds (2020d, 2020e) using BI principles. Both of these—BI principles and GBA+/intersectionality—have transformative potential. Applying a GBA+ lens along with BI principles illuminates ways we can address structural barriers such as institutional and systemic discrimination, reducing the risk of poverty among diverse groups and promoting long-term transformative change.

Increase The State Of Poverty In Jordan During The Period 2010-2017

This research aims to study the change in poverty rates in Jordan and the governorates during the period 2010-2017. In estimating poverty rates, the method used by the government in the report on the state of poverty in Jordan for the year 2012 was adopted. This method is similar to the method of the World Bank in estimating global poverty rates. In assessing poverty lines for the year 2017, poverty lines for the year 2010 were re-estimated based on the change in inflation rates and the change in the standard household size at the national and governorate levels during the period 2010-2017. The research relied on national and international secondary sources to collect data related to income, economic growth, and unemployment. Mainly, in this research, reference was made to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey for the year 2010 and 2017 that was conducted by the Jordanian Department of General Statistics. The results of the research showed a significant increase in poverty rates at the national level. It increased from (14.4%) in 2010 to (22.2%) in 2017. With the exception of Ma’an Governorate, all governorates showed a significant increase in their poverty rates. The results also showed the great variation in poverty rates between governorates. These results indicate that the goals contained in the government’s poverty reduction strategies have not been achieved. The reason is not only due to the content and implementation of these plans, but also to the slowdown in economic growth rates and the high unemployment rates since 2010. It is also expected that the rise in the state of poverty will continue due to the deterioration of the economic conditions and will continue with the Corona pandemic, the end of which cannot be foreseen. This situation constitutes more pressure on the government to provide appropriate solutions to alleviate the state of poverty, especially in the difficult fiscal conditions it has faced recently. Keywords: poverty, welfare economic, income distribution, economic growth, unemployment.

QUALITY SEEDS FOR FOOD SECURITY AND FOOD SELF -SUFFICIENCY DURING HAVOC OF COVID-19 IN NEPAL

Seed is the basic vital unit in agriculture, which is also basis for food security, conservation of biodiversity. It is also a means for the delivery of new technologies and support services to rural areas. Seed system is one of the most vital components of agricultural system that serves as an important element in strategies for agricultural development and poverty reduction. COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost every system worldwide. Seed system is not devoid of its effects too. Seed supply chain has been disrupted badly with very minimal workers around this sector, right now. Not only this sector but that of food safety, World Food security, has been affected severely as well. Importance of quality seeds is being understood, and is also being seen as basic tool for a secure food supply because of this havoc going around in the world. Quality seeds ensures good crop stand because of its high genetic and physiological qualities. So, with the institutional and technological enhancements in seed sectors, quality seeds can be used as solution for food security with addition to food self-sufficiency too. Production of seeds by following proper seed cycle, unifying seed system with complete knowledge and technological training on post-harvest operations up to marketing, utilization of maximum seed policies, seed schemes national, international both needs to be done in order to be self-reliable, sustainable, standard in line with sustaining food security and enhancing productivity.

Intensity and Determinants of Rural Poverty in Banja District of Awi Zone, Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia

Poverty is one of the most serious problems of human deprivation and a complex phenomenon. Ethiopian government have been implementing different poverty reduction programs and strategies to fight extreme hunger and poverty. The struggle to reduce rural poverty at household level is a continuing challenge. This study was conducted in Banja district of Awi zone Amhara regional state. The specific objectives of this study were to estimate the rural poverty status, to identify factors determining rural poverty and to estimate the average exit time of poor households. In order to achieve these objectives, cross sectional data on human capital, physical capital, financial capital, natural capital and other institutional characteristics were collected from 190 households drawn from randomly selected five kebeles using structured household questioner. Descriptive and inferential statistics, and econometric model were used to analyze data on poverty status and poverty level, respectively. Hence, setting the poverty line, identifying poor and non-poor rural households, measuring the incidence, depth and severity, and mean comparison between the groups were made. Accordingly, using Cost of Basic Needs approach, the estimated poverty line was Birr 4301 per adult equivalent per year. The Foster Greer and Thorbeck measure of poverty found that 44 percent of sample households were found below poverty line and the poverty gap and poverty severity were 9 percent and 2 percent, respectively. The estimated average exit time of the poor households based on the five-year average per capita Gross Domestic Product growth rate was 3.35 years. Tobit model result showed that household size significantly and positively influence poverty whereas number of livestock and oxen ownership, educational level of the household head, input utilization, asset ownership and credit utilization negatively influenced poverty in the study area. The result suggests that improving adult education, provision of input for smallholder farmers, improving access and availability of credit, improving the livestock sector will be important policy interventions.

Social Protection for All: The Next Step for the Malaysian Welfare

This report aims to support policymakers, program designers, and evaluators to develop a comprehensive social protection mechanism. The past decade has seen a marked spike in policy momentum around the importance of social protection policies and programs yet there has been very little attention to social protection’s role in tackling experiences of poverty and vulnerability. Social protection is recognized as a key policy tool to help achieve the Malaysia Development Goals; as a policy approach underpinned by rigorous evaluation evidence; as a critical mechanism to cushion the poor and newly poor from the worst effects of the global recession; and as a core human right. At the same time, the 2010s have seen a renewed interest in the role that addressing gender inequalities can play in achieving broader development objectives. The post-2015 Malaysia development agenda requires a new approach to national development, taking the multiple interlinked domestic and global challenges that exist even more into account. It is therefore of paramount importance that, in view of the multiple roles that social protection can play in social and economic development, the post-2015 Malaysia development agenda will acknowledge the critical role extending adequate social protection plays in furthering key outcomes, ensuring the inclusion of all groups in development and society as a means to combat inequality, vulnerability, and poverty. The post-2015 debate needs a renewed and comprehensive focus on poverty, inequality, income distribution, and social inclusion. Fiscally sustainable social protection programs based on strong legal and regulatory frameworks should be an integral component of national development strategies to achieve inclusive, equitable sustainable development. In setting out its point of departure for the study of poverty reduction, the Proposal makes the following significant observations: • It is crucial to develop a coherent and consistent framework for connecting discussions of poverty and its reduction to strategic links among different dimensions of development, including governance, economic growth, stabilization, and security. • Policy recommendations should draw substantially from the ideas, theories, and experiences available from more successful records of poverty reduction, notably those attained by the Nordic late industrializers and the East Asian developmental states. • It is necessary to go beyond measuring things that people lack without understanding why by investigating such aspects of poverty as self-reinforcing vertical and horizontal inequalities, and the impact of orthodox macroeconomic policies and the disproportionate tendencies of market forces on these inequalities. • Equity being an integral component of poverty reduction, it is necessary not to isolate social policy from economic policy, but to analyze the macroeconomic policy and growth strategy that should be pursued in tandem with ‘poverty alleviation’ social policy. • The notion of participation in current poverty reduction strategies, stresses process rather than substance. By restricting the agenda of participation to empowerment at the micro-level without tackling dis-empowerment or exclusion at the macro level, the notion ignores the dilemma that poverty is lived at the micro level but its reproduction, intensification or amelioration depend crucially on macro-level policies.

Combating Poverty: Achieving SDGs in Tharparkar

Fight against poverty and sustainable development has equal importance in todays development discourse. This paper explores the relationship between poverty and sustainable development and how they can be inclined to achieve Sustainable development goals. Economic factors have also been explored in this paper and the social, economic and behavioral improvement which only the improvement of the economic factors can bring to the locale. It has also been observed that poverty is mainly the factor that causes problems when addressed social problems that can be minimized. Poverty counts on the basic necessities of life for individuals improving it can improve the locale. In the end, the discussion is concluded and measures are suggested which can be adopted to make the poverty reduction strategies more effective.

Foreign Debt and Debt Servicing Relief Effect Implications in Pakistan: A Poverty Reduction Strategy

The study interrogates the critical thresh hold limit of the external debt where the highly indebted economy becomes hanged and stagnant, pushes the economy towards. deeper poverty even below the poverty line. The other horizon aspect of relief in debt servicing is attributed to American and Russian war of 80s and war on the terror against Afghanistan after 9/11 forced the debt issuing agencies like Paris and Non-Paris Club and other lending aliened countries rescheduled and cut down debt servicing of Pakistan. This study examined the foreign debt effect on poverty by assuming dataset over the period from 1984 to 2017. The ARDL to co integration Approach was applied to get the findings that after debt thresh hold limit and debt overhang point, the foreign debt causes poverty in case of Pakistan. The other dimension if relief in debt servicing is provided this economic action depressed poverty.

IMF‐World Bank Cooperation Before and After the Global Financial Crisis

AbstractThis article adopts a diachronic view to compare patterns of institutional evolution of cooperation between the International Monetary Fund (IMF or Fund) and the World Bank (or Bank) before and after the global financial crisis. While the rules for Fund‐Bank cooperation had typically been tightened in response to crisis episodes, on balance they were loosened in the wake of the global financial crisis. Building on over 90 semi‐structured expert interviews and relevant official documentation, I argue that this new trend was grounded in changed imaginaries of cooperation among IMF and World Bank officials. Whereas they had tended to envisage integrative futures in key areas of operational overlap before the crisis, alternative visions of more fragmented joint futures came to prevail after it. This difference manifested itself in a profound shift in official discourses about, as well as interviewee accounts of, the function of the Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP) and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs). The analysis foregrounds the reflexivity of relationships between international organisations (IOs), especially the ability of IO staff involved in cooperative activities to (re)construct imaginaries that can foster or foreclose inter‐organisational change.

Welfare State Policy Model as A Poverty Reduction Strategy in the West Sumatra Districts and Cities

Poverty is one of the social problems that the government can never completely solve. As a result, other, more significant social issues arise and cause social vulnerability, such as conflict and crime. As a province that is experiencing rapid growth in the last ten years, the West Sumatra find difficulty to overcome the number of poor people in several districts and cities. The research outcomes are the models and forms of social policy made by West Sumatra regencies and cities governments in improving the welfare of poor communities. It is also covering the constraints or obstacles to the implementation of social policy and the selection of welfare state models for the poor in some districts and municipalities of West Sumatra. This research is conducted qualitatively with a sociological approach that uses social perspective on searching and explaining social facts that happened to needy groups. Based on research conducted that the social policy model adopted by the government in responding to social problems in the districts and cities of West Sumatra reflects the welfare state model given to the poor. There is a strong relationship between the welfare state model and the form of social policy made by the government.

Impacts of social welfare system on the employment status of low-income groups in urban China

Purpose Aiding employment is an important poverty reduction strategy in many countries’ social welfare systems, as this strategy can help empower the recipients with a better living standard, development and social inclusion. The purpose of this paper is to identify the most significant individual and systematic variables for the employment status of low-income groups in urban China. Design/methodology/approach The data of this study are drawn from “Social Policy Support System for Poverty-stricken Families in Urban and Rural China 2015” report. The Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People’s Republic of China appointed and funded the Institute of Social Science Survey (ISSS) at Peking University to deliver the related project and organize a research team to write the report. Multiple binary logistic regression analysis is adopted to identify both individual and systematic factors that affect the employment status among low-income groups in urban China. Findings According to the results of the binary logistic regression model, individual factors, including: gender; householder status; education; and self-rated health status, play a significant role in determining the employment status of low-income groups in urban China. Clearly, the impacts of individual factors are more influential to marginal families than to families entitled to receive Basic Living Allowance. In contrast, compared with marginal families, systematic factors are more influential to families entitled to receive Basic Living Allowance. Originality/value This study highlights the importance of precise poverty reduction strategy and the issue of “welfare dependence” among low-income groups in urban China. Policy recommendations derived from the findings are hence given, including: the promotion of family-friendly policies; the introduction of a smart healthcare system; the establishment of a Basic Living Allowance adjustment mechanism; and the provision of related social services.

An “Opportunity” for Policy Recycling? A Critical Analysis of the Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy

In this article, we critically explore the Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) with attention to whether, and how, elements of the strategy reflect indicators of policy recycling. Policy recycling here refers to instances where policymakers use previously designed and/or funded programs for a broader policy program or programmatic strategy. We draw from the analytic framework for policy recycling we first introduced in examining the PRS in Ontario, Canada. Our analysis suggests that the Canadian PRS reflects many of the indicators identified with policy recycling. As a result, we question whether the federal PRS is as much an exercise in political marketing or branding as it is a meaningful attempt at ameliorating persistent conditions of poverty for a number of Canadians. The PRS may in fact be an “opportunity” to convey to the public that the government is “tackling” a problem that, in reality, it may be only fine‐tuning.

The relationship between individual-level deprivation and health-related quality of life

ObjectiveTo examine the association between individual-level deprivation and health-related quality of life (HRQL) in the general population.MethodsData from a population-based survey in the Canadian province of Alberta were used. Individual-level deprivation was assessed using the Canadian Deprivation Index (CDI) and the Ontario Deprivation Index (ODI). HRQL was assessed using the EQ-5D-5 L. Differences in problems in the EQ-5D-5 L dimensions, index and visual analogue scale (VAS) scores across levels of deprivation were examined. Multivariate logistic and linear regression models adjusted for socio-demographic and other characteristics were used to examine the independent association between deprivation and HRQL.ResultsOf the 6314 respondents, 39% were aged between 18 and 44 years and 38% between 45 and 64 years; 60% were female. Mean EQ-5D-5 L index and VAS scores were 0.85 (standard deviation [SD] 0.14) and 79.6 (SD 17.7), respectively. Almost one-third (30.6%) of respondents reported no problems on all EQ-5D-5 L dimensions. Few participants reported some problems with mobility (23.8%), self-care (6.2%) and usual activities (25.2%), while 59.3 and 35.5% reported some levels of pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression, respectively. Differences between the most and least deprived in reporting problems in EQ-5D-5 L dimensions, index and VAS scores were statistically significant and clinically important. In adjusted regression models for both deprivation indices, the least well-off, compared to the most well-off, had higher likelihood of reporting problems in all EQ-5D-5 L dimensions. Compared to the most well-off, the least well-off had an EQ-5D-5 L index score decrement of 0.18 (p < 0.01) and 0.17 (p < 0.01) for the CDI and ODI, respectively. Similarly, an inverse association was found between the VAS score and the CDI (β = − 17.3, p < 0.01) as well as the ODI (β = − 13.3, p < 0.01).ConclusionIndividual-level deprivation is associated with worse HRQL. Poverty reduction strategies should consider the effects of not only neighbourhood-level deprivation, but also that of individual-level deprivation to improve overall health.