Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSs) A Review and Implications for Agricultural/Rural Statistics

1. Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSs)A Review and Implications for Agricultural/Rural Statistics Ernst Lutz Rural Development Department, Africa Region, World Bank in collaboration with Graham Eele

2. Structure of Presentation • Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) • Coverage of agricultural and rural issues in PRSPs to date • Hurdles for better coverage of rural poverty issues in PRSPs • Implications for African countries • Implications for Donors

3. 1. Background on PRSPs • Progress achieved in reducing poverty and inequality was inadequate • In December 1999, the Boards for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund decided to provide concessional assistance on the basis of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers prepared by poor countries

4. The PRSP Process • Interim PRSPs (for about 30 countries in Africa) • Joint WB/IMF Staff Assessments (JSA) • Full PRSPs (for 11 countries in Africa) • Joint Staff Assessments (11 countries) • Annual Review • Updates/Revisions of PRSPs

5. Core PRSP Principles • Country ownership • Participation • Long-term perspective • Setting of medium and long-term targets (e.g. reduce poverty and malnutrition by 50 percent by 2015) and propose how to monitor and evaluate progress

6. Benefits of PRSPs • Should help focus policies, investments, and expenditures • Instrument for donor coordination • Access to HIPC debt relief • Access to Bank (IDA) and IMF (PRGF) funding. Note that conditional access implies tension with country ownership; we face similar challenges with the proposed capacity-building project

7. 2. Coverage of agricultural and rural dimensions in PRSPs • Rural poverty reduction is mentioned as a priority theme in all PRSPs • But the analysis is weak and limited by data availability and quality • PRSPs tend to treat the rural poor as a homogeneous group • Public investments are often proposed but the institutional framework for implementation are seldom specified. The incentive and policy frameworks are also seldom discussed (for details see Procter and Cord et. al papers)

8. Analysis of Rural Poverty in PRSPs • Poverty measured by Household Surveys administered by Central Statistical Office • Limited coverage of non-farm issues • Limited spatial analysis • Limited market analysis • Limited gender analysis • Limited nutrition analysis • Targets: Average poverty reduction and increase in productivity

9. 3. Hurdles for better coverage of agricultural and rural issues • Limited and weak statistics for both agriculture and non-agriculture in rural space • Insufficient analysis of the existing data • The rural poor are not homogeneous and are not political force • True rural development and poverty reduction is MULTI-SECTORAL • Lack of institutional focal point in government for “rural” (mention Ethiopia as exception) • Urban biases in policies, expenditures, etc.

10. 4. Implications for African Countries • Make better use of existing data; improve data dissemination and use • Prepare master plans in support of PRSPs and other priority needs; involve producers and users (incl. decisionmakers) • Prioritize and define work for different budget levels and define level and modalities of funding from government budget

11. 4. Implications for African Countries (continued) • Strengthen statistic as well as analytical capacity in Ministries of Agriculture • Create institutional focal points for multi-sectoral statstical work on “rural” (CBS?) and also for rural development policy making • Create analytical capacity and institutional location for multi-sectoral rural analyses • Promote donor coordination and emphasize need to work within agreed plans

12. 5. Implications for Donors • Support the preparation of country-owned master plans in support of PRSP monitoring and evaluation (incl. agricultural and rural sub-systems) • Financially support Master Plans as a whole over the medium to long term • Do not finance ad hoc surveys that are not part of the Master Plan • Require local co-financing • Find balance between being pro-active catalysts and respecting country ownership

13. 5. Implications for Donors (continued) • While supporting National Agr. Statistical System, help to break down “silo mentality” and insure integration with the national system • Support and/or undertake serious multi-country research for estimating agricultural production in general and for livestock, root crops, and horticulture in particular • Support regional and sub-regional knowledge training, knowledge sharing, etc.