Paternostro, StefanoChristiaensen, LucDemery, Lionel2014-02-262014-02-262003-09World Bank Economic Reviewhttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/17186This article reviews trends in poverty, economic policies, and growth in a sample of African countries during the 1990s, drawing on the better household data now available. Experiences have varied. Some countries have seen sharp drops in income poverty, whereas others have witnessed marked increases. In some countries overall economic growth has been pro-poor and in others not. But the aggregate numbers hide systematic distributional effects. Taking both macro and micro perspectives of growth and poverty in Africa, the article draws four key conclusions. First, economic policy reforms (improving macroeconomic balances and liberalizing markets) appear conducive to reducing poverty. Second, market connectedness is crucial to enable participation in the gains from economic growth. Some regions and households by virtue of their remoteness were left behind when growth picked up. Third, education and access to land emerge as key private endowments to help households benefit from new economic opportunities. Finally, rainfall variations and ill health have profound effects on poverty outcomes, underscoring the significance of social risk management in poverty reduction strategies in Africa.en-USCC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGOACCESS TO INFRASTRUCTUREACCESS TO MARKETSAGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTANNUAL CHANGEANNUAL GROWTHANNUAL GROWTH RATEBLACK MARKETBLACK MARKET PREMIUMBUREAUCRACYBUREAUCRATIC QUALITYCALORIC INTAKECASH CROPSCHANGES IN POVERTYCHILD MORTALITYCIVIL SOCIETYCIVIL WARCOMMUNITY LIFECONFLICTCONSUMPTION BASKETCONSUMPTION EXPENDITURESCONSUMPTION GROWTHCONSUMPTION MEASURECONSUMPTION PER CAPITACONSUMPTION POVERTYCORRUPTIONCOUNTRY ESTIMATESCOVARIATE SHOCKSDATA SETSDECLINE IN POVERTYDECOMPOSABLE POVERTYDECOMPOSABLE POVERTY MEASURESDEMOCRATIC ACCOUNTABILITYDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDEVELOPMENT INDICATORSDEVELOPMENT REPORTDEVELOPMENT RESEARCHDISTRIBUTIONAL CHANGEDISTRIBUTIONAL EFFECTSDISTRIBUTIONAL OUTCOMESDROP IN POVERTYDROUGHTECONOMIC CONSEQUENCESECONOMIC DECLINEECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC LITERATUREECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIESECONOMIC PERFORMANCEECONOMIC POLICIESECONOMIC POLICYECONOMIC REFORMECONOMIC REFORMSECONOMIC STAGNATIONECONOMICSEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEMPIRICAL EVIDENCEEXCHANGE RATEEXCHANGE RATE POLICYEXPLAINING CHANGESEXTERNAL SHOCKSFARMERSFOOD CONSUMPTIONFOOD CROPFOOD CROP PRODUCERSFOOD EXPENDITURESGEOGRAPHIC REGIONSGEOGRAPHICAL REGIONSGINI INDEXGOOD GOVERNANCEGROWTH ELASTICITYGROWTH PATHGROWTH PERFORMANCEGROWTH PROSPECTSGROWTH RATESGROWTH REGRESSIONSHEADCOUNT POVERTYHEADCOUNT RATIOHIGH INEQUALITYHOUSEHOLD COMPOSITIONHOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTIONHOUSEHOLD DATAHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTINCIDENCE OF POVERTYINCOMEINCOME DISTRIBUTIONINCOME DISTRIBUTIONSINCOME GROUPSINCOME GROWTHINCOME INEQUALITYINCOME POVERTYINCREASING INEQUALITYINEQUALITY LEVELSINEQUALITY MEASURESINFLATION RATEINSTITUTIONAL CHANGEINSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENTINSTITUTIONAL MEASURESINSTITUTIONAL QUALITYINTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTINTERNATIONAL TRADELAND DISTRIBUTIONLIFE EXPECTANCYLIVING STANDARDSLOW-INCOME COUNTRIESMACRO POLICYMACROECONOMIC FRAMEWORKMACROECONOMIC POLICIESMACROECONOMIC POLICYMACROECONOMIC REFORMSMACROECONOMIC VARIABLESMALNUTRITIONMARGINAL RETURNSMEAN EXPENDITUREMEAN INCOMESMEASURING INCOME INEQUALITYNATIONAL ACCOUNTSNOMADIC POPULATIONPER CAPITA CONSUMPTIONPER CAPITA EXPENDITUREPOLICY CHANGEPOLICY CHANGESPOLICY INSTRUMENTPOLICY MESSAGESPOLICY REFORMSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY STANCEPOLICY VOLATILITYPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLITICAL INSTABILITYPOLITICAL REFORMSPOLITICAL STABILITYPOORPOOR GROWTHPOOR HOUSEHOLDSPOOR PEOPLEPOOR PERFORMANCEPOOR RURAL HOUSEHOLDSPOPULATION SHAREPOVERTY ASSESSMENTSPOVERTY CHANGEPOVERTY CHANGESPOVERTY DATAPOVERTY DYNAMICSPOVERTY ESTIMATESPOVERTY INCIDENCEPOVERTY INCREASEPOVERTY INCREASESPOVERTY INDEXPOVERTY INDICATORSPOVERTY INDICESPOVERTY LINEPOVERTY LINESPOVERTY MEASUREPOVERTY MEASURESPOVERTY OUTCOMESPOVERTY REDUCINGPOVERTY REDUCTIONPOVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIESPOVERTY SEVERITYPOVERTY-REDUCING POLICIESPRIMARY SCHOOLPRO-POORPRO-POOR GROWTHPRO-POOR GROWTH INDEXPUBLIC POLICYPURCHASING POWERPURCHASING POWER PARITYREDUCED POVERTYREDUCING POVERTYRELATIVE IMPORTANCERELATIVE PRICESRESOURCE ALLOCATIONRISK MANAGEMENTRULE OF LAWRURALRURAL ACTIVITYRURAL AREASRURAL COMMUNITIESRURAL CONSUMERSRURAL POORRURAL POVERTYRURAL PRODUCERSRURAL URBAN NATIONALSCHOOLINGSECTORAL POLICIESSIGNIFICANT IMPACTSMALL FARMERSSOCIAL CAPITALSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSTRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENTSUBSISTENCESUSTAINABLE POVERTYSUSTAINABLE POVERTY REDUCTIONTRADE LIBERALIZATIONUNEQUAL DISTRIBUTIONURBAN AREASWARWELFARE INDICATORWELFARE MEASUREWELFARE MEASURESJournal ArticleWorld Bank10.1596/17186