Central African Republic Poverty Assessment 2023 : A Road Map Towards Poverty Reductionin the Central African Republic

This report -- the Central African Republic's (CAR's) first ever poverty assessment -- draws on unparalleled microdata to propose practical strategies for lifting Central Africans out of poverty. Against the backdrop of a wide range of development challenges -- including persistent low growth, conflict and displacement, andthe increasing threats posed by climate change --CAR urgently needs policies for reducing poverty. This report draws primarily on the 2021 Enquete Harmonisee sur le Conditions de Vie des Menages (EHCVM), the first household survey suitable for poverty measurement conducted in CAR in more than a decade, to try and guidesuch policies. The report provides CAR's headline poverty and inequality statistics, using the EHCVM's unique sampling strategy to cover internally displaced persons (IDPs). The analysis goes beyond considerations of monetary poverty alone, assessing the extent of non-monetary deprivation in CAR, examining constraints onhuman capital development, and exploring the role that livelihoods -- especially in agriculture -- can play in lifting people out of poverty. Using geospatial data, the results are also linked to indicators of physical access to schools and health facilities as well as key elements of basic infrastructure. This Executive Summary highlights the poverty assessment's key findings and outlines the policies that can kickstart CAR's pathway towards poverty reduction