Other Poverty Study

351 items available

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http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2119

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Welfare and Poverty Impacts of Cocoa Price Policy Reform in Cote d'Ivoire

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-07-17) Katayama, Roy ; Dabalen, Andrew ; Nssah, Essama ; Amouzou Agbe, Guy Morel

Cote d'Ivoire is the world’s leading cocoa producer, supplying nearly 40 percent of world cocoa production. Developments in the cocoa sector can have significant implications for poverty reduction and shared prosperity given that the sector is a source of livelihood for about one-fifth of the population, as well as an important source of export and government revenues. Cocoa pricing has always been a major focus of public policy in the country, and in 2011 the government initiated a new round of cocoa sector reforms seeking to stimulate cocoa production and to secure the livelihoods of cocoa farmers through guaranteed minimum farm-gate prices. Policymakers will certainly like to know the likely impacts of this price policy reform on household welfare and poverty. This paper uses a nonparametric approach to policy incidence analysis to estimate the first-order effects of this policy reform. To assess the pro-poorness of the reform in cocoa pricing, variations in poverty induced by the policy are compared to a benchmark case. While increasing the cocoa farm-gate price has a potential to reduce poverty among cocoa farmers, it turns out that the increase in 2015-2016 translates into a relatively small drop in overall poverty. This variation is assessed to be weakly pro-poor. It is likely that this poverty impact can be amplified by additional policy interventions designed to address the key constraints facing the rural economy such as productivity constraints stemming from factors such as lack of relevant research and development, weak extension services, poor transportation and storage infrastructure, and generally poor provision of relevant public goods. Addressing these issues require a coherent policy framework that can be effectively implemented by accountable institutions to increase the role of agriculture as an engine of inclusive growth in Cote d'Ivoire.
Does Fiscal Policy Benefit the Poor and Reduce Inequality in Namibia?

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-06) Namibia Statistics Agency ; World Bank

Reducing poverty and inequality continues to be an important national priority in Namibia. Vision 2030 – the country’s guiding development strategy – has a subordinate vision that points to several goals: “Poverty is reduced to the minimum, the existing pattern of income-distribution is equitable and disparity is at the minimum.” Vision 2030 is being implemented via a series of five-year National Development Plans, with the current National Development Plan IV (NDP4) covering 2012 through to 2017. NDP4 sets specific numerical targets. One is reducing the incidence of extreme poverty to less than 10 percent of individuals by the end of FY2016/17, measured at the national lower bound poverty line of N$277.54 in 2009/10. This report demonstrates that Namibia’s progressive income tax and generous social spending programs substantially reduce poverty and inequality, but the analysis also underscores the limits of what redistributive fiscal measures alone can accomplish. The economy must ultimately create more jobs for the poorest members of society to change the underlying distribution of what might be called “pre-fiscal” income; i.e., the income before households pay taxes and receive benefits from social programs. This will require structural transformation through greater investment in activities that create employment for unskilled workers and offer the potential for continuous productivity increases. This report aims to measure the effectiveness of these efforts and draws comparisons to the experiences of other countries. It estimates how major taxes and social spending programs affect individual incomes. It then assesses who benefits from or bears the burden of each instrument and by how much. This way, the analysis estimates the contribution of each instrument to reducing the poverty headcount and the Gini coefficient, a standard measure of inequality. The analysis provides evidence that can shape public debates over government spending and the design of social programs.
Ghana Work Program (FY15): Poverty and Inequality Profile

(Washington, DC, 2015-06) World Bank

Since 1991 the national poverty rate of Ghana has more than halved. The estimated national headcount poverty ratio fell by 31.2 percentage points from 52.6 percent in 1991 to 21.41 percent in 2012. Heterogeneity of poverty outcomes is, however, high both across urban and rural areas and across regions. The robustness of these poverty trends is checked with trends of five correlates: urbanization and rural-urban migration, remittances, asset growth, labor market transformations, and agricultural productivity growth. Urbanization turns out to be highly correlated with poverty reduction. Poverty trends and asset index trends turn out to follow a similar pattern in both urban and rural areas and by regions: asset index increase where poverty decreases. In the report the authors try to understand the drivers of recent decrease in poverty in northern regions. The attention is focused on two different aspects, the agricultural productivity growth and the inflation patterns. In northern regions, there is a generalized increase in production of main food crops and an increase in productivity. To test the contribution of most of these drivers to poverty reduction, the authors estimated unconditional quintile regressions over the 20th, 40th, and 60th percentiles and decomposed the results using the Oaxaca Blinder method. To further strengthen the spatial analysis of poverty the authors constructed a new poverty map based on sixth Ghana living standard survey (GLSS 6) (conducted in 2012-13) in combination with the 2010 census, which was then compared with the 2000 map. This profile focuses on inequalities seen from three different perspectives: consumption inequality, inequalities of opportunities, and polarization.
Alternative Social Safety Nets in South Sudan: Costing and Impact on Welfare Indicators -- Poverty Note

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-06) Pape, Utz ; Pontara, Nicola

The purpose of this note is to provide the monetary cost of various social safety net targeting schemes that can be deployed to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience. It is believed that gradually switching to the provision of social safety nets can reduce the chronic dependency on humanitarian (mainly food) aid. At the same time, it could help to alleviate reliance on patronage networks and switch a portion of the public spending from unproductive uses (e.g., military expenditure) toward strengthening the resilience and supporting the livelihoods of South Sudanese. In addition, a social safety net would address the fatigues of years of weak governance and ongoing efforts to find more direct, transparent ways to enable citizens to reap the benefits of independence and – once it materializes – peace.
Geography of Poverty in Mali

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-04-23) World Bank

This study discusses the impact of economic geography and (low) population density on development outcomes in Mali and explores how policies to reduce poverty can be made more effective by taking these two factors into account. The crisis in north Mali which started in 2012 and continues to date has brought questions of economic geography to the center of attention. To help answer such questions, and to analyze how to reduce poverty in Mali as a whole, this study uses different sources of information to analyze the diversity of livelihood patterns, in access to services and in living standards. The study uses quantitative information from household surveys, population and firm censuses, administrative and geographic data, and qualitative information about livelihoods. This study argues that the authorities will need to employ all three policy instruments, while emphasizing that if the objective is poverty reduction, most attention should be focused on spatially blind approaches. The study is organized as follows: chapter one gives introduction. Chapter two emphasizes differences in population density which allows distinguishing between types of agglomeration from villages, to rural town, to large cities. Chapter three categorizes the country into various livelihood zones and considers how the agro-physical environment affects the way people live. In chapter four authors turn to household welfare. Chapter five considers access to services. Chapter six is forward looking.
Repbulic of Chad Poverty Notes : Dynamics of Poverty and Inequality following the Rise of the Oil Sector

(Washington, DC, 2013-09) World Bank

Chad's chronically unstable security situation has long undermined broad-based economic growth and sustainable poverty reduction. Since independence in 1960 Chad has suffered from sporadic political violence and ongoing tensions between different factions. The country's fragile security has been further compromised by interference from neighboring states and spillover effects from regional conflicts. However, after rebel attacks in 2008 and 2009, and following the recent conclusion of a peace agreement between Chad and Sudan, the security situation in the country has remained relatively calm, presenting a valuable window of opportunity for development efforts to take root. The objective of this Poverty Note is to examine changes in poverty and inequality in Chad since the emergence of the oil sector. It will focus on the evolution of poverty indicators from the 2003 pre-oil baseline captured in the Chadian Household Consumption and Informal Sector Survey, or ECOSIT2 to the more recent findings of the 2011 ECOSIT3 and compare current monetary and nonmonetary poverty conditions in Chad with those of comparable countries. It will go on to assess the impact of oil production on the non-oil sectors of the Chadian economy. Finally, it will evaluate the extent to which public expenditures in the social sectors benefit the poor by analyzing the progressivity of social spending.
Mali : Poverty and Gender Notes

(Washington, DC, 2013-05-31) World Bank

Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of about $ 691 in 2010. Mali's steady per capita GDP growth was accompanied with a significant decline in the poverty rate, from 55.6 percent in 2001 to 43.6 percent in 2009-10. Mali's rapid population growth still has led to an increase of the overall number of people living in poverty, and is constraining progress in terms of per capita health and education outcomes. High fertility rates and gender imbalances are key drivers of Mali's poverty dynamics. The present report compiles three different notes, emphasizing the interrelation between poverty, demographics and gender imbalances. The first note discusses the evolution of poverty in Mali since 2001. The second note reviews recent demographic trends and related policies. The third note reports on the latest available data on females in business and employment within the formal sector. The compilation of these three notes aims to stimulate debates and the exploration of policy options to tackle poverty through its interactions with fertility and gender imbalances. It also highlights conclusion of each note.
Liberia : Strategic Policy Options for Medium Term Growth and Development

(Washington, DC, 2012-03-15) World Bank

This paper explores Liberia's policy options in support of the development of a Medium-Term Growth and Development Strategy (MTGDS) for 2013-2017 and its national vision, Liberia Rising 2030. At issue is the mismatch between available fiscal space and the enormous development needs that the government must resolve as it prepares to transform the economy into a middle-income country by 2040. This dilemma calls for the new administration to make trade-offs among various priorities if it is to achieve its aspirations. For this purpose, a Liberian version of a single-country Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model, MAMS (Maquette for Millennium Development Goal, or MDG simulations), was developed and informed by analytical studies as well as sector strategies prepared in support of Liberia's MTGDS. This paper examines the likely impacts on macroeconomic and social indicators of alternate strategic policy scenarios. A base scenario (designed to represent a central case for the evolution of Liberia's economy up to 2030) was first established, and thereafter a set of different assumptions were introduced for the mining sector, government spending on infrastructure and human development, and foreign borrowing. The paper is organized into five sections including this introduction. Section two presents the basic features of MAMS. The simulation analysis, which is the focus of the paper, is covered in the next two sections: the base scenario in section three and a set of alternative scenarios, which are contrasted with the base scenario, in section four. The final section summarizes the main findings and conclusion. Appendices one and two include a set of figures with selected simulation results and a brief discussion of the Liberian database for MAMS, respectively.
Uganda - Promoting Inclusive Growth : Transforming Farms, Human Capital, and Economic Geography, Synthesis Report

(Washington, DC, 2012-02) World Bank

At an average above 6.0 percent per year over the past two decades, Uganda' s growth rate was impressive by all standards. In parallel, poverty declined significantly, not only in urban areas, but also to some extent within the rural areas. This combination was possible because the key drivers of growth were labor-intensive services sectors, some of which are agriculture based. In fact, Uganda's growth process has reduced overall poverty faster than what has been observed in many other developing countries. This report addresses the issue from a double perspective: sectoral and geographical. From a sectoral perspective, it concludes that the agricultural sector needs transformation because it remains the primary employer; it is the country's main comparative advantage and bedrock for industrialization. More broadly, identifying sectors with potential will be important for employment opportunities, which in turn will be largely dependent on productivity levels and thus on the level of education and skills of the labor force. From a geographical perspective, transformation generally yields a concentration of economic activities that leaves some locations lagging in prosperity. This unbalanced growth needs to be supported with appropriate economic integration policies that have been analyzed in the report.
Ghana : Improving the Targeting of Social Programs

(World Bank, 2011-06-02) World Bank

This study, a draft of which was shared with the Government of Ghana in November 2009, provides a basic diagnostic of the benefit incidence and targeting performance of a large number of social programs in Ghana. Both broad-based programs (such as spending for education and health, and subsidies for food, oil-related products, and electricity) as well as targeted programs (such as Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty, or LEAP, the indigent exemption under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), school lunches and uniforms, or fertilizer subsidies) are considered. In addition, the study provides tools and recommendations for better targeting of those programs in the future. The tools include new maps and data sets for geographic targeting according to poverty and food security, as well as ways to implement proxy means-testing. This executive summary provides a brief synthesis of the key findings and messages from the study.