Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

In this chapter the authors employ a meta-study to explore why it is critical to address the degradation of ecosystems for poverty alleviation, especially in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The authors also investigate the linkages between ecosystem services and aspects of extreme poverty. Their findings suggest that the poor are often more vulnerable to the loss of ecosystem function that restricts the supply of natural goods and services. The poor depend upon ecosystem services, but the nature of this dependence is necessarily not uniform throughout the year. The poor also tend to benefit less from environmental conservation efforts than those who are not poor. The dynamic patterns of dependence on ecosystem services of the poor and their coping strategies require regionally specific and in-depth evaluation.

This chapter emphasizes the complexity and plurality of the types and magnitudes of causal relationships between poverty and environmental degradation, based on a review of the literature. The authors use case studies focused on the issue of land degradation to illustrate these relationships. Land degradation (LD) is influenced by natural and anthropogenic factors, including socioeconomic conditions. LD is of importance to people because it decreases the provision of terrestrial ecosystem services and the benefits they provide for human well-being. A key question is whether lower levels of well-being lead to more or less destructive resource use and management strategies. The authors call for a systematic and science-based assessment of LD worldwide as a necessary first step toward the inclusion of LD in global measures of well-being.

This chapter examines changes in poverty in combination with changes in income and the character of income growth for multiple socio-religious groups in India. The extent to which income growth has been pro-poor was also evaluated. Income growth was compared between agricultural and non-agricultural livelihoods, between rural and urban areas, and across ethnic, caste, and religious groups. The analysis found that poverty was reduced at a lower rate for Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, and Muslims, who suffer from social exclusion and discrimination, than for the rest of the society. These groups have a history of high levels of poverty in India, and compared to mainstream society members these groups typically own less agricultural land, have less access to private non-agricultural economic activities, and are more dependent on wage employment.

Improving household food consumption involves a multitude of issues. The effort becomes more complicated when it addresses the poorest and most vulnerable. This chapter examines these issues and in particular the characteristics of the poorest households that are interconnected with their food consumption behavior. The responses of the poorest and forgotten households in Indonesia to changes fundamental economic variables, income and prices, were examined. It was found that aspects of the poorest households’ consumption behavior would have impacts on the effectiveness of food subsidy efforts, and should therefore be taken into account when such programs are designed to avoid unintended or detrimental effects.

China’s experiences with addressing extreme poverty and marginality are presented and analyzed. The evolution of effective and efficient policies, especially in rural areas is found closely connected to China’s economic growth in the past three decades, as well as to regional inequality. The “Di Bao” (minimum livelihood guarantee system) in different areas is reviewed. In developed regions, the “Di Bao” social assistance program, social insurance and public services have effectively mitigated the difficulties of the extremely poor. In poor areas, however, addressing extreme poverty and marginality remains a challenge. Increasing the effectiveness of poverty reduction efforts in poor areas is, and will continue to be central to the eradication of extreme poverty in China.

This chapter examines the program “Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction” (CFPR) implemented by the Bangladeshi non-governmental organization BRAC. The program aimed to lift participants out of extreme poverty within 2 years and facilitate their entry into mainstream development programs. To achieve this, the program combined interventions specifically tailored for the ultra-poor with interventions to create an enabling environment for the ultra-poor. Experiences show that a participatory process involving the local community, and accommodating local knowledge and wisdom, is the most pragmatic way of identifying the poorest households in a community. However, meticulous implementation by a motivated workforce was also key to the success of the effort.

This chapter provides a comprehensive review of Ethiopia’s policy interventions for poverty reduction and inclusion of marginal population groups, and discusses a number of indicators that point at significant improvements that have been achieved in the country. The sector specific policy measures to reduce poverty are assessed, and the measures targeted at vulnerable groups and in marginal areas are analysed. The impacts of economic growth on poverty reduction are traced. Development efforts such as regional development disparity and the persistence of severe poverty despite concerted anti-poverty efforts and a relatively high rate of economic growth are highlighted.

Reaching the extremely poor and marginal groups in countries where local politicians and officials have little incentive to provide for them is a challenge to addressing marginality in many countries. Financial and taxation arrangements, information constraints, and institutional aspects between central and local governments to address these challenges are identified in this chapter. The instruments that might be involved include a range of options, from transfers or assistance from higher levels of government (donors), cash support, or the provision of public services (particularly health care and education), other forms of income or employment support, to assistance for small-scale enterprises. In this chapter the author concludes that in the absence of genuine local interest in providing for the marginalized and extremely poor, direct provision of funding by central governments and aid agencies appears to be the main feasible option.

Social protection programs, especially cash transfer programs, have spread across low- and middle-income countries since the beginning of the millennium, and are increasingly part of national development strategies to assist the poor and particularly the poorest. This chapter lays out a wide range of debates about the specific goals, targets, and conditions of social protection and cash transfers. While there is no single best program option, the authors identified five overriding principles for effective efforts. Thus social protection programs and cash transfers work best when they are: fair, assured, practical, large enough to impact household income, and popular. These principles need interpretation at the national level, because no model can be automatically transferred from one country to another.

The potential of innovative business approaches to target the poor is increasingly being recognized. This chapter outlines the evolution of thinking in the business world and explores in detail some of the relatively new business approaches that have emerged for addressing societal problems. The authors also examine whether and how these approaches can support not only those living close to the poverty line, but also help engage the marginalized at the lowest end of the income scale. While it may be unrealistic to expect businesses to be able to reach all of the extremely poor and marginalized, the authors suggest that the boundaries of innovative business operations can be pushed much further to include a far larger number of the marginalized and extremely poor.