Workfare programs aim to reduce poverty by providing low-wage work to those who need it. They are often turned to in a crisis when there is no time for a rigorous evaluation. This paper offers some simple analytic tools for a rapid ex-ante appraisal of an existing workfare program. For pedagogic...

Targeted Human Development Programs (THDPs) are integrated poverty reduction programs designed to increase the capacity of the poor to accumulate human capital. The programs are directed primarily to poor and vulnerable families with pre-school and school-age children. Their main long-term...

This article is distinct in its application of the logit transformation to the poverty ratio for the purpose of empirically examining whether the financial sector helps improve standards of living for low-income people. We propose the term financial permeation to describe how financial networks...

This paper reviews the contribution of agriculture and rural development to poverty reduction by examining the transformation of five territories in four countries of Asia (Malaysia and People's Republic of China) and Latin America (Brazil and Peru) that have experienced substantial reductions...

Microfinance has emerged as a leading programme for poverty reduction round the globe. Indian microfinance sector has transformed from a fund-starved activity to one that can command patronage of multiple fund providers that includes banks, equity investors and donors, both domestic and...

Mid-way into the Cotonou Agreement’s target year 2020, this study is aimed at a comparative analysis of its effectiveness in poverty reduction in West Africa. The Agreement’s existing “Aid Effectiveness” is usually based on an iterative analysis, rather than a pre- and post-impact...

Many rural poor people in developing countries depend on agriculture and are highly influenced by climatic change. Adaptation to climate change impacts is increasingly being observed in both physical and ecological systems as well as in human adjustments to resource availability and risk at...

The 2008 food price crisis was an integral part of the financial crisis. In fact, the food price crisis was the second crisis in a chain of events that began in 2007 with the mortgage crisis, and culminated in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Contrary to what was generally...

There is a consensus that jobs are vital in translating economic growth into lasting poverty reduction and social cohesion. But who creates jobs is an understudied field. This Economic Premise argues that there is a strong link between initial levels of young and small firms and subsequent job...

Despite tall claims of GDP growth, Zambian Poverty remained un addressed. Zambia has drafted its first Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) in 2002-2005 and mainstreamed the successive poverty reduction strategies into the National Development Plans beginning with the Fifth National...