Chronic Poverty and PRSPs: A Desk Study

117 Pages Posted: 5 Feb 2011

See all articles by Ursula Grant

Ursula Grant

Overseas Development Institute (ODI)

Rachel Marcus

Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre (CHIP)

Date Written: 2007

Abstract

As the main focus of poverty reduction activity in poor countries, the PRSP approach has the potential to make a major difference to chronic poverty. This paper examines the ways in which PRSPs treat chronic poverty and their potential to make significant impacts on it.

Many recent reviews have sought to assess how well PRSPs tackle certain themes, such as, HIV/AIDS, gender, child wellbeing, rural development and forestry. This paper does not attempt to do the same for chronic poverty - firstly, chronic poverty is too broad - almost all aspects of a PRS affect it. Secondly, a desk study cannot illuminate the all-important questions of implementation; only locally-informed analysis can do so. Instead this paper has two purposes: to summarise what can be gleaned from a desk study with regard to the treatment of chronic poverty in PRSPs, focusing in particular on poverty analysis and monitoring; and key areas of policy and action likely to impact on chronic poverty; and to contribute to defining the agenda for the Chronic Poverty Research Centre’s forthcoming primary research on how far PRSPs are contributing to reducing chronic poverty. This will focus largely on questions related to implementation and how it can more effectively reduce chronic poverty.

Our focus in this paper was to obtain a good overview of how chronic poverty is treated in a range of PRSPs, rather than undertake in-depth analyses of particular contexts; this will be done in the primary research.

Keywords: Politics, PRSP, Poverty Reduction

Suggested Citation

Grant, Ursula and Marcus, Rachel, Chronic Poverty and PRSPs: A Desk Study (2007). Chronic Poverty Research Centre Working Paper No. 2008-09, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1755106 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1755106

Ursula Grant (Contact Author)

Overseas Development Institute (ODI) ( email )

111 Westminister Bridge Rd.
London, SE17JD
United Kingdom

Rachel Marcus

Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre (CHIP) ( email )

66 South Lambeth Road
London, SW8 1RH
United Kingdom

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