Nine Social funds in sub-Saharan Africa: how effective for poverty reduction?
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Nazneen Kanji
Abstract
The World Bank’s prescriptions for economic reform have been widely criticised in the context of structural adjustment policies and the deepening economic crisis in Africa. This chapter examines the response of the Bank to growing criticisms, first taking the form of the Social Dimension of Adjustment (SDA) programme. This was a joint programme between the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, and bilateral donors. It emphasised ‘social-safety-net’ programmes and provided funding for the collection and analysis of data on poverty in individual African countries. However, such programmes are no substitute for wider economic and social policies that address the distribution of material and social assets in highly unequal societies and which do not rely on market-based mechanisms alone to reduce the unacceptable levels of poverty and deprivation that exist in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Abstract
The World Bank’s prescriptions for economic reform have been widely criticised in the context of structural adjustment policies and the deepening economic crisis in Africa. This chapter examines the response of the Bank to growing criticisms, first taking the form of the Social Dimension of Adjustment (SDA) programme. This was a joint programme between the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, and bilateral donors. It emphasised ‘social-safety-net’ programmes and provided funding for the collection and analysis of data on poverty in individual African countries. However, such programmes are no substitute for wider economic and social policies that address the distribution of material and social assets in highly unequal societies and which do not rely on market-based mechanisms alone to reduce the unacceptable levels of poverty and deprivation that exist in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Notes on contributors v
- Acknowledgements ix
- The human condition is structurally unequal xi
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International anti-poverty policy: the problems of the Washington Consensus
- Poverty, social exclusion and social polarisation: the need to construct an international welfare state 3
- Is rising income inequality inevitable? A critique of the ‘Transatlantic Consensus’ 25
- The international measurement of poverty and anti-poverty policies 53
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Anti-poverty policies in rich countries
- Social policy in the US: workfare and the American low-wage labour market 83
- A European definition of poverty: the fight against poverty and social exclusion in the member states of the European Union 119
- Welfare state solidarity and support: the Czech Republic compared with the Netherlands 147
- Targeting welfare: on the functions and dysfunctions of means testing in social policy 171
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Anti-poverty policies in poor countries
- Structural adjustment and mass poverty in Ghana 197
- Social funds in sub-Saharan Africa: how effective for poverty reduction? 233
- Urban water supply, sanitation and social policy: lessons from Johannesburg, South Africa 251
- Round pegs and square holes: mismatches between poverty and housing policy in urban India 271
- Urban poverty in China: incidence and policy responses 297
- ‘A new branch can be strengthened by an old branch’: livelihoods and challenges to inter-generational solidarity in South Africa 325
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Future anti-poverty policies: national and international
- Human rights, transnational corporations and the World Bank 351
- Are we really reducing global poverty? 377
- 1% of €10,000 billion 401
- Conclusion: constructing an anti-poverty strategy 413
- Manifesto: international action to defeat poverty 433
- Index of material and social deprivation: national (UK) and cross-national 437
- Index 443
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Notes on contributors v
- Acknowledgements ix
- The human condition is structurally unequal xi
-
International anti-poverty policy: the problems of the Washington Consensus
- Poverty, social exclusion and social polarisation: the need to construct an international welfare state 3
- Is rising income inequality inevitable? A critique of the ‘Transatlantic Consensus’ 25
- The international measurement of poverty and anti-poverty policies 53
-
Anti-poverty policies in rich countries
- Social policy in the US: workfare and the American low-wage labour market 83
- A European definition of poverty: the fight against poverty and social exclusion in the member states of the European Union 119
- Welfare state solidarity and support: the Czech Republic compared with the Netherlands 147
- Targeting welfare: on the functions and dysfunctions of means testing in social policy 171
-
Anti-poverty policies in poor countries
- Structural adjustment and mass poverty in Ghana 197
- Social funds in sub-Saharan Africa: how effective for poverty reduction? 233
- Urban water supply, sanitation and social policy: lessons from Johannesburg, South Africa 251
- Round pegs and square holes: mismatches between poverty and housing policy in urban India 271
- Urban poverty in China: incidence and policy responses 297
- ‘A new branch can be strengthened by an old branch’: livelihoods and challenges to inter-generational solidarity in South Africa 325
-
Future anti-poverty policies: national and international
- Human rights, transnational corporations and the World Bank 351
- Are we really reducing global poverty? 377
- 1% of €10,000 billion 401
- Conclusion: constructing an anti-poverty strategy 413
- Manifesto: international action to defeat poverty 433
- Index of material and social deprivation: national (UK) and cross-national 437
- Index 443
