Poverty Reduction Strategies and the Rural Productive Sectors: What Have We Learnt, What Else do we Need to Ask?

Abstract

"Despite the fact that more that 75 percent of the worlds poor live and work in rural areas, five years of experience with Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSs) show that they have generally not dealt well with rural poverty and the rural economy, owing to: a poor understanding of rural poverty, weak links between poverty assessments and policy formulation, and biases in favour of public spending and against enabling measures for productive sectors. This paper argues that significant challenges remain in exploring the potential contribution of the rural productive sectors to growth and poverty reduction. One is to seek consensus over paths to pro-poor economic growth and role of the state in the rural productive sectors. Another concerns the wider political interests that might constrain the engagement with pro-poor policy change. Three policy messages emerge: a stronger rural poverty focus in PRSs is required, the political dimensions of pro-poor policy debates have to be built into the PRS process, and country specific research is needed on the politics of pro-poor policy in the rural productive sectors."