Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs

415 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9389

These briefs report on ongoing operational, economic, and sector work carried out by the World Bank and its member governments in the Africa Region.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 110

Multi-Dimensional Results Measurement in CDD Projects : Experiences from the Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda Social Action Funds

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-12) Pidatala, Krishna ; Lenneiye, Nginya Mungai

In the last decade, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda have used the Community-Driven Development (CDD) approach to implement projects that exhibit multi-sectoral linkages, complex institutional structures and implementation processes, creative tension between the supply and demand sides, and convergence at the Local Government Authority (LGA) level in environments compounded by the pace of decentralization. The projects have broadened the issue of results focus from the measurement of a few input-output indicators to include intermediate outcomes (which measure beneficiaries potentially reached by outputs produced by the projects). In the process, these projects have been able to scale up from 'isolated boutique-type projects' to a mass production of outputs through participatory decision-making, local capacity development, and community control of resources. At the national level, the projects have contributed to: (a) poverty reduction, (b) improved social welfare, and (c) improved transparency and accountability.
The West and Central Africa Poverty Mapping Initiative

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-10) Wodon, Quentin ; Coulombe, Harold

There are often large regional differences in poverty and other social indicators within a country. But geographic poverty profiles based on household surveys tend to be limited to broad areas because survey sample sizes are too small to permit analysts to construct valid estimates of poverty at the local level. This issue of Findings looks at another way to look at information by constructing poverty maps. Using a methodology developed by Elbers, Lanjouw, and Lanjouw (2003), detailed poverty maps can be obtained by combining census and survey data. This issue of Findings looks at how to construct such a map and how to build capacity for the analysis of the census data.
Is There a Divergence Between Objective Measures and Subjective Perceptions of Poverty Trends? Evidence from West and Central Africa

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-10) Wodon, Quentin

Several sub-Saharan African countries have succeeded at increasing their economic growth rate in recent years, and this has translated into substantial poverty reduction according to objective measures based on household survey data. At the same time, many people do not feel that the poverty situation has been improving in their country or community, and this is a source of concern for elected policymakers. To what extent is there a divergence between objective measures and subjective perceptions of poverty trends, and what may explain this divergence: the objective of this note is to document and discuss this issue using data from West and Central Africa and results from a series of poverty assessments recently completed at the World Bank.
Measuring Trends in Access to Modern Infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa : Results from Demographic and Health Surveys

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-10) Banerjee, Sudeshna ; Diallo, Amadou Bassirou ; Wodon, Quentin

A recent study for sub-Saharan Africa by Banerjee et al. (2007) uses Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) from 22 countries that have conducted at least two such surveys between 1990 and 2005 in order to collect comparable information across countries on access to modern and alternative infrastructure services over time. In addition to national, urban, and rural trends in access, the study includes a distributional analysis of how access rates have evolved since 1990. That is, households are divided into five quintiles of population according to their level of wealth, with wealth defined using a principal components analysis. The objective of this note is to provide a summary of key findings from the study regarding access trends to electricity, piped water, flush toilets, and landline telephones over the period 1990-2005.
Learning from the Extreme Poor : Participatory Approaches to Fostering Child Health in Madagascar

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-08) Blanchard, Caroline ; Godinot, Xavier ; Laureau, Chantal ; Wodon, Quentin

Definitions of poverty in developing countries used by most development organizations focus on household income or consumption that falls below a given threshold, such as one dollar per capita per day, and on other quantified indicators. While such definitions have the merit of providing a standard by which to measure progress, the very poor use quite different terms and ideas to communicate what extreme poverty means to them. This paper discusses learning from the extreme poor in the form of participatory approaches to fostering child health in Madagascar.
Senegal - Nutrition Enhancement Program (NEP) First Phase

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-07) Mohan, P. C.

Findings Info briefs reports on Good Practice in ongoing operational, economic and sector work carried out by the World Bank and its member governments in the Africa Region. This issue looks at the Senegal: Nutrition Enhancement Program (NEP), first phase which was the first nutrition project in Sub-Saharan Africa to use the Adaptable Program Lending (APL) instrument for the design of the program. The three project components were (i) Community Nutrition and Growth Promotion; (ii) Capacity Building and Monitoring and Evaluation and (iii) Program Management. Project interventions were conducted in the 3 poorest rural regions of Senegal, and in 34 Health Districts selected on the basis of social indicators. This info brief reports on the project impacts as well as lessons learned.
Ghana : The AIDS Response Project (GARFUND)

( 2007-05) Mohan, P. C.

The specific objectives of this project - financed through an IDA credit of $28.7 million (2002-05) - were to: provide resources that would enable the government to implement a balanced, diversified multi-sector response, engaging all relevant government sectors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and grassroots initiatives; to expand contributions made by the Ministry of Health ( MOH ) engage civil society in the fight against AIDS; and finance eligible activities conducted by civil society organizations, including NGOs, community-based organizations (CBOs), faith-based organizations (FBOs), trade and professional associations, associations of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs), districts, and line ministries to ensure a rapid multisector scaling-up of HIV prevention and care activities in all regions and at all administrative levels.
Cameroon - The National Agricultural Extension and Research Program Support Project

(Washington, DC, 2006-12) World Bank

The National Agricultural Extension and Research Program Support Project of Cameroon undertook to finance - jointly with the government, IFAD, and AfDB - implementation (2001-2004) of the national agricultural extension policy and agricultural research in Cameroon as follows : competitive research grants (IDA); linkages between agricultural research and extension (IFAD); and on-station agricultural research ( AfDB). While providing services to all farmers, the project sought to prioritize resource-poor farmers, and women farmers. This project was a follow-on intervention to the National Project for Agricultural Extension (PNVA).
The Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) : Owning the Process of Measuring Impact and Achieving Results

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-07) Lenneiye, N.M.

The Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) is now in its second phase, covering the period 2005-2009. It is focused on giving more voice to citizens at both community and lowest local government levels - village councils. While retaining direct community financing as a key empowering mechanism, it is being implemented through Local Government Authorities. Target beneficiaries are: i) communities with inadequate access to social services; ii) households with able-bodied adults suffering from food insecurity; and iii) individuals living in poor households affected by acute shocks (like HIV/AIDS). These three beneficiary groups will access resources from a National Village Fund using procedures that build on the lessons learned regarding accountability, incomes poverty, and improving impact links.
Malawi - Public Works Programme : Conditional Cash Transfers as an Emergency Response to a National Food Shortage

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-05) Kalanda, Boniface ; Mandala, Charles ; Magwira, Joseph

This paper reports that in the 2004-2005 growing season, Malawi experienced a drought which affected farm produce and subsequently led to country-wide food shortages. Due to the food shortage, the Malawi Government implemented a Public Works Programme -- Conditional Cash Transfers (PWP-CCT) to transfer cash income to vulnerable households to enable them buy food and agricultural inputs for the 2005-2006 growing season. The paper explains the 2004-2005 drought, implementation of the PWP-CCT, and the issues and lessons learnt.