Pro-poor Policies Research Articles

Egalitarian Policies and Social Determinants of Health in Bolivarian Venezuela

In 1999, newly-elected Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez initiated a far-reaching social movement as part of a political project known as the Bolivarian Revolution. Inspired by the democratic ideologies of Simón Bolívar, this movement was committed to reducing intractable inequalities that defined Venezuela's Fourth Republic (1958-1998). Given the ambitious scope of these reforms, Venezuela serves as an instructive example to understand the political context of social inequalities and population health. In this article, we provide a brief overview of the impact of egalitarian policies in Venezuela, stressing: (a) the socialist reforms and social class changes initiated by the Bolivarian Movement; (b) the impact of these reforms and changes on poverty and social determinants of health; (c) the sustainability of economic growth to continue pro-poor policies; and (d) the implications of egalitarian policies for other Latin American countries. The significance and implications of Chávez's achievements are now further underscored given his recent passing, leading one to ask whether political support for Bolivarianism will continue without its revolutionary leader.

Small ruminant rearing: product markets, opportunities and constraints. V. Mehta. South Asia Pro Poor Livestock Policy Programme. Published in 2011, pp. 66. Available at http://bit.ly/wAJL44

Small ruminant rearing: product markets, opportunities and constraints. V. Mehta. South Asia Pro Poor Livestock Policy Programme. Published in 2011, pp. 66. Available at http://bit.ly/wAJL44

Enhancing the contribution of FDI to development: A new agenda for the corporate social responsibility community, international labour and civil society, aid donors and multilateral financial institutions

Both positive contributions and negative damages from foreign direct investment are greater than even the most sophisticated of today’s models and estimating techniques can portray. Securing these positive contributions and avoiding the negative damages requires strategies to correct for market failures, to supply public goods and international standards, to capture positive externalities and limit negative externalities. Members of international civil society, labour groups, corporate social responsibility advocates, international donors, and multilateral lenders should fashion their agenda more closely – as outlined here – to provide those external pressures and actions needed to optimize the impact of mainstream transnational corporate activities on host country growth and welfare. The findings reported here should not in any way undercut the efforts of those who simply want to pressure transnational corporations to “give back” more to the communities where they operate. Corporate charity surely has its place, but the pro-poor sustainable development policy community will want to focus on the larger – and in many ways more important – set of targets sketched out here.

Implementation of pro‐poor exemption policy in Tanzania: policy versus reality

Like many other African countries, Tanzania has been implementing user fee policy in its health sector since the early 1990s. Accompanying user fee, mechanisms were designed that exempted the poor and vulnerable groups of the society from paying user charges. Although studies on the implementation of exemption policies in Tanzania exist, very few have documented the actual process of translating exemption policies into actions-the process of implementation. Drawing from policy analysis and implementation theories, this paper documents the implementation of the waiver (need-based exemptions) policy in Tanzania. The findings indicate that waiver systems, while potentially effective in principle, were ineffective in implementation. Lack of specification of criteria by which the poor could be identified made policy implementers at different levels to implement the policy in their own style. Low level of public awareness about the existence of waiver mechanisms hindered the poor to demand exemptions. Furthermore, fear of loss of revenue at the health facilities and ineffective enforcement mechanisms provided little incentives for local government leaders and health workers to communicate the policy to beneficiaries. It is concluded from this study that to better achieve the objectives of the pro-poor exemption policy, it is important to engage policy implementers more actively in the management and implementation of policies. Additionally, it is imperative to understand the behaviour and practices of policy implementers, especially district health managers, health workers and village and ward leaders, who may react negatively to new policies and implement the policies in ways contrary to what policy makers had intended.

A Gendered Critique of Transboundary Water Management

The starting point of this paper is that most of the international transboundary water management (TWM) processes taking place globally are driven by ‘the hydraulic mission’ —primarily the construction of mega-infrastructure such as dams and water transfer schemes. The paper argues that such heroic engineering approaches are essentially a masculinised discourse, with its emphasis being on construction, command and control. As a result of this masculinised discourse, the primary actors in TWM processes have been states—represented by technical, economic and political elites operating in what generally gets termed ‘the national interest’. Left out are the local communities relying on the resource directly: the water users; the poor; women; and other important groups. Instruments such as the UN Watercourses Convention of 1997 make an effort to present an attempt at a gender-balanced approach—through asserting the importance of the ‘no-harm rule’ and the ‘equitable share approach’. However, they end up supporting the status quo through the omission of any reference to gender issues. The paper provides an overview of the masculinised discourse on TWM institutions, proposing that this is the case because of the intersection of two masculinised fields—water resource management and the disciplines engaged in the research of transboundary water management, namely, political science and international relations. The paper investigates two southern African examples that illustrate the potential for including a gendered perspective and pro-poor policies that take into account the needs of the water users or ‘stakeholders’. The analysis includes the international and regional legal agreements on transboundary water issues, searching for evidence of a gendered approach. It is concluded that the laws and organisations responsible for transboundary water management currently do not reflect a gendered approach, despite the international recognition given to the necessity of including women in water management structures at all levels.

Equity in health and health care in Peru, 2004 - 2008

This study evaluates whether recent positive economic trends and pro-poor health policies have resulted in more health equity and explores key factors that explain such change. This study focuses on the evolution of measures of health status (self-reported morbidity) and use of health care services obtained from the 2004 and 2008 rounds of the Peruvian National Household Survey (Encuesta Nacional de Hogares). It concentrates on health inequalities associated with socioeconomic status and uses interquintile differences (gradient), concentration indices with and without needs-based adjustments, and decomposition analysis. Findings show a low level of inequality in measures of health status, with a slightly pro-poor inequality in self-reported health problems and a slightly pro-rich inequality in self-reported chronic illness. Inequity in the use of curative services declined significantly between 2004 and 2008, while inequity in the use of preventive services increased slightly. Use of hospital and dental services remained unchanged during the same period. Limitations of self-reported morbidity measures probably underestimate the results of health inequalities across socioeconomic groups. Improved equity in the use of curative health services can be explained by a number of positive factors that occurred concurrently during the analysis-namely, increased mean household income, reduced economic inequality, the Juntos conditional cash transfer program, and gradual expansion of public health insurance, Seguro Integral de Salud (SIS). Given that SIS expansion is the main public policy for promoting health equity in Peru, it is crucial that future steps in expansion come with a strategy to isolate its contribution to health equity improvements from that of other positive socioeconomic trends.

Explaining the African food riots of 2007–2008: An empirical analysis

A sharp escalation in worldwide commodity prices precipitated the global food crisis of 2007–2008, affecting the majority of the world’s poor, causing protests in developing countries and presenting policymakers with the challenge of simultaneously addressing hunger, poverty, and political instability. These food price shocks fomented violent civil responses in some countries, but not others, offering a unique opportunity to assess the factors that contributed to these disturbances. We explore this question empirically with specific reference to Africa, where “food riots” occurred in at least 14 countries. By examining the socio-economic and political conditions facing African countries, we attempt to answer why only some countries in Africa witnessed food riots in late 2007 and early 2008, while others did not. Our empirical analysis demonstrates that higher levels of poverty (as proxied by the Human Poverty Index), restricted access to and availability of food, urbanization, a coastal location, more oppressive regimes and stronger civil societies are associated with a higher likelihood of riots occurring. We also examine three country cases (Egypt, Mozambique, Niger) which represent different circumstances and responses to the food crisis, and identify specific factors that were associated with food protests in each case. Our study highlights the importance of pro-poor policies and investments and improved governance in addressing the problems facing the poor and in helping secure political stability. As the frequency and variability of natural disasters increase in response to climate change, such policies can serve to protect the poor from the debilitating consequences of the resulting shocks.

The Logic of Pro-Poor Policymaking: Political Entrepreneurship and Mass Education

This article argues against the scholarly consensus that governments make pro-poor policies when they are democratic. In democracies and autocracies, a government's strongest incentive is to serve citizens who are organized, and poor citizens face collective-action disadvantages. But a ‘political entrepreneur’ can help poor citizens organize and attain power with their support; to stay in power, the political entrepreneur's incentive is to maintain poor citizens’ support with pro-poor policies. Politics and education are analyzed over half-a-century in countries with little in common – Ghana, Taiwan, and Brazil. Governments that expanded education for the poor were more often autocratic than democratic, but were always clearly associated with political entrepreneurs. The results suggest an alternative understanding of government incentives to serve poor citizens.

REDD+ for the poor or the poor for REDD+? About the limitations of environmental policies in the Amazon and the potential of achieving environmental goals through pro-poor policies

Pokorny, B., I. Scholz, and W. de Jong. 2013. REDD+ for the poor or the poor for REDD+? About the limitations of environmental policies in the Amazon and the potential of achieving environmental goals through pro-poor policies. Ecology and Society 18(2): 3. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05458-180203

Why are pro-poor exemption policies in Tanzania better implemented in some districts than in others?

BackgroundLike other African countries, Tanzania has in recent years, been implementing various exemptions and targeting programmes to protect and ensure equitable access to health care by poorer segments of the population. A body of evidence indicates that exemption policies, while potentially effective in principle, are ineffective in implementation. However, there is evidence that some districts, despite the challenges, perform better than others in terms of identifying the poor and allocating funds for the poor and vulnerable groups.MethodsDrawing from the review of minutes, health facility visits, and key informant interviews with the community representatives and the district health managers, the study explored why exemption policies in Tanzania are relatively better implemented in some districts than in others.ResultsThe findings indicate that in Lindi district the pro-poor exemption mechanism was ineffective in implementation. There were no clear ways of identifying and protecting the poor household members. In contrast, in Iramba district the policy was relatively better implemented. The poor were identified at the village, ward, health facility and district levels. In some villages, the poor were grouped in 10s to form one household. Then, using the village funds, the Community Health Fund cards were purchased for them. Personal initiatives of the key district leaders, commitment of the district health management team and local government officials, regular supervisory visits, as well as incentives to the health facility committees and boards were the main factors that facilitated the implementation of the pro-poor exemption policy.ConclusionsIt is concluded from this study that management and leadership practices including personal initiatives of the key district leaders, effective supervision mechanisms, commitment of the district health management team and local government officials, as well as incentives for the health facility committees and board members are pivotal for the implementation of the pro-poor exemption policies.

Household cost of antenatal care and delivery services in a rural community of Kaduna state, northwestern Nigeria

Background:Maternal mortality remains a leading cause of death among women of reproductive age. While Nigeria has only two percent of the global population, it contributes 10% to the global maternal mortality burden. Antenatal care (ANC) reduces the incidence of maternal mortality. However, financial capability affects access to antenatal care. Thus, the rural poor are at a higher risk of maternal mortality.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional descriptive study involving 135 women (pregnant women and those who are 6 weeks postpartum). Structured interviewer-administered questionnaires were used for data collection. Data analysis was carried out using statistical package for social sciences software (version 17).Results:The average amount spent on booking and initial laboratory investigations were N77 (half a dollar) and N316 ($2), respectively. Per ANC visit, average amount spent on drugs and transportation were N229 ($1.5) and N139 ($0.9) respectively. For delivery, the average amount spent was N1500 ($9.6). On an average, ANC plus delivery cost about N3,365.00 ($22). There was a statistically significant association between husband's income and ANC attendance (X2 = 2.451, df = 2, P = 0.048).Conclusion:Cost of Antenatal care and delivery services were not catastrophic but were a barrier to accessing antenatal care and facility-based delivery services in the study area. ANC attendance was associated with the income of household heads. Pro-poor policies and actions are needed to address this problem, as it will go a long way in reducing maternal mortality in this part of the country.

Drawing the Line between State and Society: Social Movements, Participation and Autonomy in Brazil

This article analyses the São Paulo Housing Movement's attempts to influence pro-poor housing policy in Brazil through a range of participatory arenas. Using the concept of ‘created’ and ‘invited’ spaces, it argues that where participants in such spaces are highly organised and politicised social movements, more complex interactions occur that cannot be captured by these labels. Here literature from the anthropology of the state canon can be more helpful. The paper draws on the idea of the invisible but moveable line between state and society, to examine how representatives of both movement and government struggle over where this boundary is best placed.

The Impact of Fiscal Policy on Poverty in Ethiopia: A Computable General Equilibrium Microsimulation Analysis

Ethiopia has implemented various fiscal policy reforms in the past decade. Most of these reforms center on indirect taxes and pro-poor expenditure patterns. This study investigates the economy-wide impacts of these fiscal policy changes on poverty. To this effect, the study used a static computable general equilibrium (CGE) model linked to a microsimulation (MS) model. The CGE model used the 2005/06 social accounting matrix (SAM) and the MS model used the 2004/05 Household Income, Consumption and Expenditure (HICE) survey to investigate household poverty by way of the consumption expenditure changes from the CGE model. The fiscal policies simulated are domestic indirect taxes, government consumption expenditures, and government transfers to households. The findings of the study suggest that the increase in revenue from indirect taxes has worsened the poverty state of households. The results from the CGE model have all shown decline in real GDP, sectoral output, employment and welfare. In contrast, the study found improvements in the poverty state of households as a result of the introduction of various short-run expenditure measures. However, examination of the net effect revealed worsening poverty at the national level in general and for rural households in particular. On the other hand, poverty tended to decline among urban households. The major conclusion is that the tax policy has dominant adverse effect on poverty in the short-run. Thus, policy makers need to take into account these adverse effects and come up with pro-poor spending policies that would protect households from the negative strains while the financing policies go along. Keywords: Fiscal policy, poverty, indirect taxes, government consumption expenditure, government transfers, social accounting matrix, computable general equilibrium, household income, consumption and expenditure survey, microsimulation JEL Classification : H30, H53, I32

Decentralised Forest Governance, Institutions and Livelihoods in Odisha - A Study of Evolution of Policy Process and Politics

The paper aims to provide an analytical glimpse of the evolution of Forest Policies in Odisha since the post independence era by unraveling the major stages of evolution of such policies. The paper also seeks to explore the issues of Livelihoods which have attained priority while formulating Forest Policies under the different political regime in the State and how such issues are gradually evolved as a part of pro-poor policy process in State Forestry Sector of Odisha. Forest Policies of Odisha since the pre-independence period and even after independence have been passed through different stages in which the involvement of State and Non-State actors is seen as a crucial determinant factor. The process also paved the way for the emergence of neo-political order and has opened the era of integration between the State and Non-State actors in the State forest policy process. Policy process as a Political Process has also received enormous attention from different corners. However, the policy process in the State Forestry Sector has not only undermined the Livelihood issues of Forest Dependent Communities but also has become a source of deprivation of Livelihoods of the communities in different period of time. Nonetheless, the issues of Livelihoods have drawn significant attention since the 90s when the Participatory Forest Management regime emerged and further flourished in 2006 when the Forest Rights Act came and implemented in the State. The present paper is a product of the ongoing research work of entitled “Decentralised Forest Governance, Institutions and Livelihoods in Odisha-A Study of Evolution of Policy Process and Politics”. The paper is based on the analysis of Secondary Data, review of Literature and discussion with key informants, which has been focused the major policy specific developments in the State Forestry Sector while specifically looking into the developments under different Governments. Decision making processes of the Formulation and Implementation of Forest Policies have been highlighted in the paper by throwing a light on the key influencing factors in such decisions. The paper concludes with a summary of findings of major forest policies in the State and their implications on Livelihoods of Forest Dependent Communities in Odisha.

RETRACTED: The relationship between growth–inequality–poverty triangle and pro-poor growth policies in Pakistan: The twin disappointments

The objective of the study is to examine the relationship between growth, inequality and poverty in the context of rural, urban and national levels. Further, this study evaluates pro-poor growth policies in Pakistan during the period of 1964–2011. The regression model encompassing the impact of economic growth and inequality on poverty reflects that a 1% increase in income while keeping the distribution constant reduces poverty around 0.162% in rural, 0.256% in urban, 0.471% in national pooled and 0.276% in national weighted regression. An increase in Gini coefficient while holding the income constant tends to increase poverty in the national weighted by 2.641%, and in the national pooled around 1.721% respectively. Subsequently, at urban and rural regions, it creates proportionally more poor households in the urban areas (elasticity 1.231) than in the rural areas (elasticity 0.928). The study measures pro-poor growth index that captures gains and losses of growth rates due to changes in the distribution of consumption. The gains imply pro-poor growth, while the losses imply anti-poor growth. Total growth spells in this study are 180 including 20 surveys for rural, 20 surveys for urban and 20 surveys for overall Pakistan. However, the study used three different poverty measures i.e., household count (HHC), poverty gap (PG) and squared poverty gap (SPG), evaluating 60 surveys for each poverty measure. The results conclude that out of the 180 growth spells, 63 growth spells had negative growth rates and 117 spells had positive growth rates. Of the 117 spells when growth rates were positive, growth was pro-poor in 64 cases and anti-poor in 53 cases. In 25 out of 63 spells of negative growth rates, the poor suffered proportionally a greater decline in their consumption compared to the non-poor. Thus, growth processes have not generally been favorable to the poor.

Agrarian reforms and the African Green Revolution

Purpose – Agricultural intensification is central to the Green Revolution (GR) programme. This initiative, which dates back to the early 1940s, revolves around the development of high-yielding and disease-resistant seed varieties that aims at bringing about efficient and secure food production. The purpose of this paper is to present a brief genesis and thrust of the GR. Focusing on Nigeria as a typical African case, the discourse addresses the political economy of the Nigerian agriculture, outlines the features of the Nigerian GR and highlights some crucial issues debated during the 2008 Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS) conference for a uniquely African GR as a pro-poor development strategy. Design/methodology/approach – Using a critical discourse analysis and case study design, the paper analyses the political and bureaucratic lapses associated with the introduction and implementation of the reform. Findings – Although wary of some of the socio-political and environmental issues surrounding the production of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) and high external inputs (HEIs) in the push for a new African GR, the paper reports the proceedings of the Salzburg conference as a likely platform for the formulation of new pro-poor policies in the context of the African GR. If sincerely and properly implemented, the paper argues that an African-oriented GR framework is conceived as a possible policy window to address the challenges of the continent ' s poor majority. Social implications – The policy issues raised in the paper would serve as a pool of information from which policy conceptualisation, formulation and implementation could be derived for the good of the African agrarian economies and poor majority. Originality/value – Highlighted issues on the debates on a “uniquely” African GR during the SGS conference provide original insights to the implementation of agrarian reforms in Africa. The paper is valuable to policy makers and other stakeholders in re-shaping the agricultural sector in the continent.

Understanding rural livelihoods in the West Coast District, South Africa

This article applies the sustainable rural livelihoods approach to purposefully collect and analyse data on how the rural poor live and work in South Africa's West Coast District. The findings offer insights into the livelihoods and needs of rural households and offer vital lessons for pro-poor agrarian reform and rural development policies. Agricultural and non-farm rural households rely on a mix of livelihood sources such as wage employment, agricultural activities and social grants. Livelihood assets are unequally distributed among farmers, farm workers and non-farm rural households. Whereas some land reform beneficiary farmers appear to be accumulating wealth (land, livestock and some financial capital), workers dependent on local agricultural labour markets are trapped in asset poverty. Effective agrarian policies should be grounded in a solid understanding of the land-based livelihood strategies and aspirations of the rural poor.

Inclusive Growth in Indonesia: Myth or Reality?

This paper highlights some of the pro-poor policies exercised by the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) government which directly impact the lives of the people, which were in turn politically directed to mobilise popular support towards the regime. The paper shows how the SBY government has failed to draw a real positive correlation between economic growth and job creation, and between the development of financial sector and real (productive) sectors and economic growth with actual poverty reduction.

The Lack of Partisan Conflict over the Welfare State in Spain

One of the most striking facts of recent Spanish political debate has been the relatively little partisan and ideological conflict over the size of the welfare state. To explain this puzzle, we rely on the idea that support for the welfare state and support for redistribution are not necessarily the same thing. Our analysis of welfare policy preferences in Spain reveals that a significant proportion of Spaniards favour welfare state expansion along with non-redistributive programmes, and welfare state retrenchment along with pro-poor policies, and that partisanship is only barely related to these combinations of ‘non-standard’ policy preferences.

RETRACTED: The relationship between foreign direct investment and pro-poor growth policies in Pakistan: The new interface

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor and the Publisher. After a thorough investigation, the Publisher has concluded that the Editor was misled into accepting this article based upon the positive advice of at least one faked reviewer report. The report was submitted from a fictitious email account which was provided to the Editor by the corresponding author during the submission of the article. The corresponding author, Dr Zaman, wishes to admit sole responsibility and to state that his co-authors were not aware of his actions. This manipulation of the peer-review process represents a clear violation of the fundamentals of peer review, our publishing policies, and publishing ethics standards. Apologies are offered to the reviewers whose identities were assumed and to the readers of the journal that this deception was not detected during the submission process.