Understanding and supporting sustained pathways out of extreme poverty and deprivation
Lead Research Organisation:
Overseas Development Institute
Department Name: Chronic Poverty Advisory Network CPAN
Abstract
'Getting to Zero' extreme poverty involves ensuring that the policies, institutions and politics are right for the poorest people to escape poverty. As the reduction in the global number of people in poverty illustrates, there are widespread stories of success. We know much about how, and why, some households escape poverty and others do not. We know less, though, about what happens to those individuals and households after they escape poverty, and why some are able to stay on an upward trajectory well away from the poverty line, while others escape poverty only to be thrust back again into it after a few years or less.
This research addresses the first two of the overarching call questions. The first is: 'what factors shape pathways into and out of poverty and people's experience of these, and how can policy create sustained routes out of extreme poverty in ways that can be replicated and scaled up?' The second: 'what political and institutional conditions are associated with effective poverty reduction and development, and what can domestic and external actors do to promote these conditions?'
In particular, this proposed research concentrates on achieving a better understanding of how escapes from extreme poverty and deprivation can be sustained over time, since this is a poorly understood aspect of poverty dynamics. It does so combining the analysis of quantitative data with a time dimension (panel surveys) with the collection of life histories and face-to-face interviews and groups discussions with policy makers and key informants at the local level.
Combining these diverse methods, the research is able to:
i) investigate the individual and household factors that, for different groups of the population, enable sustained escapes from extreme poverty and deprivation;
ii) identify how these routes for sustained pathways out of poverty are influenced by the broader social, political and economic environment in which people live, in particular the institutions which they have access to and the types of relationships which they enjoy;
iii) inform policy makers on the policies that can help individuals and households to escape poverty and remain out of it;
iv) improve policy makers', researchers' and NGO's capacity to design, implement and lobby for policies that enable people to escape poverty, help them stay on an upward trajectory out of poverty and prevent their impoverishment.
The geographical focus of the research is on three East African countries (Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania) characterised by high poverty levels. These three countries have experienced significant political and institutional changes in the last decade which have led to varied outcomes in terms of policies. The research will compare the experience of these three countries in order to identify in each the successful policies and programmes and the political and institutional pre-conditions for their implementation, while also creating evidence of how these policies may be scaled-up and exported in other countries.
The research is led by the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network (based at the Overseas Development Institute) in partnership with three East African research bodies (one in each of the countries involved) and sees the involvement of UK-based and African-based senior and junior researchers. Most of the research activities will be conducted in Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia: these include the collection of qualitative data on the field through life history interviews and groups meetings with policy makers, as well as activities for the dissemination of the findings of the project. Part of the data analysis and the writing up of the research findings will be done in UK, so as dissemination events targeted at the UK academic community and UK-based donors, NGOs, practitioners and policy makers.
This research addresses the first two of the overarching call questions. The first is: 'what factors shape pathways into and out of poverty and people's experience of these, and how can policy create sustained routes out of extreme poverty in ways that can be replicated and scaled up?' The second: 'what political and institutional conditions are associated with effective poverty reduction and development, and what can domestic and external actors do to promote these conditions?'
In particular, this proposed research concentrates on achieving a better understanding of how escapes from extreme poverty and deprivation can be sustained over time, since this is a poorly understood aspect of poverty dynamics. It does so combining the analysis of quantitative data with a time dimension (panel surveys) with the collection of life histories and face-to-face interviews and groups discussions with policy makers and key informants at the local level.
Combining these diverse methods, the research is able to:
i) investigate the individual and household factors that, for different groups of the population, enable sustained escapes from extreme poverty and deprivation;
ii) identify how these routes for sustained pathways out of poverty are influenced by the broader social, political and economic environment in which people live, in particular the institutions which they have access to and the types of relationships which they enjoy;
iii) inform policy makers on the policies that can help individuals and households to escape poverty and remain out of it;
iv) improve policy makers', researchers' and NGO's capacity to design, implement and lobby for policies that enable people to escape poverty, help them stay on an upward trajectory out of poverty and prevent their impoverishment.
The geographical focus of the research is on three East African countries (Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania) characterised by high poverty levels. These three countries have experienced significant political and institutional changes in the last decade which have led to varied outcomes in terms of policies. The research will compare the experience of these three countries in order to identify in each the successful policies and programmes and the political and institutional pre-conditions for their implementation, while also creating evidence of how these policies may be scaled-up and exported in other countries.
The research is led by the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network (based at the Overseas Development Institute) in partnership with three East African research bodies (one in each of the countries involved) and sees the involvement of UK-based and African-based senior and junior researchers. Most of the research activities will be conducted in Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia: these include the collection of qualitative data on the field through life history interviews and groups meetings with policy makers, as well as activities for the dissemination of the findings of the project. Part of the data analysis and the writing up of the research findings will be done in UK, so as dissemination events targeted at the UK academic community and UK-based donors, NGOs, practitioners and policy makers.
Planned Impact
Who will benefit from this research?
Direct beneficiaries
Direct beneficiaries will be policy-makers at the East African region level (i.e. based at the Africa Union, UN Economic Commission for Africa, East Africa Legislative Assembly and East African Community), at the country ministerial level and at the local government level, a wide range of Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organisations and local media. At the outset of the project, in each country there will be a scoping exercise to obtain a gender-balanced list of policymakers, practitioners, activists and academics to be involved in a Reference Group. This will be the project's major vehicle for policy makers and practitioners to share experience of policies and programmes that work using the results from the project.
Other direct beneficiaries will be the people directly involved in the project's activities, including life histories interviews and focus groups.
Two categories of indirect beneficiaries
The first category includes the people living in poverty in the three case-study countries and in low-income countries more broadly.
The second category includes donors, policy-makers, NGOs and other stakeholders working towards poverty reduction in UK and other high-income countries, as well as the public opinion in UK and other high-income countries.
How will they benefit from this research?
Through engagement in the project activities and dissemination of its outputs, all beneficiaries will see their understanding of poverty and of poverty dynamics improved and will acquire awareness of the importance of addressing poverty dynamics in policy making.
Direct beneficiaries
The main impact will be capacity building for policy-makers and practitioners, and stronger policy engagement and influence for the other stakeholders. Members of the Reference Group will have the opportunity to learn about examples of successful scaling-up of anti-poverty programmes, acquire evidence of what policy change is desirable and the requisite interventions package, and increase their awareness of the political and institutional preconditions to implement them. They will improve their ability to design and implement poverty eradication policies which account for poverty dynamics and are more strongly evidence-based.
The encounter and exchange of experiences between policy-makers and researchers of different African countries will promote south-south learning. Policy makers at the East African regional level, targeted by the project's dissemination activities, will draw lessons from the project's findings to enrich and strengthen their countries' poverty reduction strategies.
Members of NGOs and CSOs will have the opportunity to raise key issues with policy makers at the national level, influence the policy recommendations of the research project itself, and make their voice count in the formulation of the national policy agenda.
Other stakeholders of the project (i.e. poor people participating in interviews and focus groups) will be better able to recognise their needs and articulate them in demands to politicians and local institutions.
Indirect beneficiaries
Poor people in low-income countries will benefit from the adoption of policies and programmes that are more effective in taking into account their needs: more people escape poverty, poverty escapes are more sustainable and less people fall back into poverty. Women and girls will benefit from the design of policies that take into account the gendered aspect of land, urbanisation, migration and education policies.
Donors, researchers and international policy-makers will learn about the factors that influence pathways into and out of poverty and on the policies that can support and replicate routes out of it. They will bring this knowledge to the international debate on poverty reduction and apply it to their policy-making, especially in reference to the implementation of the post-2015 agenda.
Direct beneficiaries
Direct beneficiaries will be policy-makers at the East African region level (i.e. based at the Africa Union, UN Economic Commission for Africa, East Africa Legislative Assembly and East African Community), at the country ministerial level and at the local government level, a wide range of Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organisations and local media. At the outset of the project, in each country there will be a scoping exercise to obtain a gender-balanced list of policymakers, practitioners, activists and academics to be involved in a Reference Group. This will be the project's major vehicle for policy makers and practitioners to share experience of policies and programmes that work using the results from the project.
Other direct beneficiaries will be the people directly involved in the project's activities, including life histories interviews and focus groups.
Two categories of indirect beneficiaries
The first category includes the people living in poverty in the three case-study countries and in low-income countries more broadly.
The second category includes donors, policy-makers, NGOs and other stakeholders working towards poverty reduction in UK and other high-income countries, as well as the public opinion in UK and other high-income countries.
How will they benefit from this research?
Through engagement in the project activities and dissemination of its outputs, all beneficiaries will see their understanding of poverty and of poverty dynamics improved and will acquire awareness of the importance of addressing poverty dynamics in policy making.
Direct beneficiaries
The main impact will be capacity building for policy-makers and practitioners, and stronger policy engagement and influence for the other stakeholders. Members of the Reference Group will have the opportunity to learn about examples of successful scaling-up of anti-poverty programmes, acquire evidence of what policy change is desirable and the requisite interventions package, and increase their awareness of the political and institutional preconditions to implement them. They will improve their ability to design and implement poverty eradication policies which account for poverty dynamics and are more strongly evidence-based.
The encounter and exchange of experiences between policy-makers and researchers of different African countries will promote south-south learning. Policy makers at the East African regional level, targeted by the project's dissemination activities, will draw lessons from the project's findings to enrich and strengthen their countries' poverty reduction strategies.
Members of NGOs and CSOs will have the opportunity to raise key issues with policy makers at the national level, influence the policy recommendations of the research project itself, and make their voice count in the formulation of the national policy agenda.
Other stakeholders of the project (i.e. poor people participating in interviews and focus groups) will be better able to recognise their needs and articulate them in demands to politicians and local institutions.
Indirect beneficiaries
Poor people in low-income countries will benefit from the adoption of policies and programmes that are more effective in taking into account their needs: more people escape poverty, poverty escapes are more sustainable and less people fall back into poverty. Women and girls will benefit from the design of policies that take into account the gendered aspect of land, urbanisation, migration and education policies.
Donors, researchers and international policy-makers will learn about the factors that influence pathways into and out of poverty and on the policies that can support and replicate routes out of it. They will bring this knowledge to the international debate on poverty reduction and apply it to their policy-making, especially in reference to the implementation of the post-2015 agenda.
Organisations
- Overseas Development Institute (Lead Research Organisation)
- University of Zimbabwe (Collaboration)
- Rethink Mental Illness (Collaboration)
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) (Collaboration)
- Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) (Collaboration)
- Association of Ethiopian Microfinance Institutions (Collaboration)
- University of Malawi (Collaboration)
- National Council of Applied Economic Research (Collaboration)
- University of Zambia (Collaboration)
Publications
Diwakar V
(2023)
The Relationship Between Psychosocial Interventions and Child Wellbeing in Zambia.
in Child indicators research
Diwakar V
(2022)
A tale of triple disadvantages: Disability, chronic poverty and gender inequality in rural Bangladesh
in Global Social Policy
Chinsinga B
(2022)
Using political settlements analysis to explain poverty trends in Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda and Tanzania
in World Development
Eichsteller M
(2022)
The role of agriculture in poverty escapes in Kenya - Developing a capabilities approach in the context of climate change
in World Development
Diwakar V
(2022)
Sustaining escapes from poverty
in World Development
Woldehanna T
(2022)
Social capital as a double-edged sword for sustained poverty escapes in Ethiopia
in World Development
Bird K
(2022)
Linking human capabilities with livelihood strategies to speed poverty reduction: Evidence from Rwanda
in World Development
Diwakar V
(2019)
Immiserizing Growth - When Growth Fails the Poor
| Description | • In most situations the proportion of households making sustained escapes from poverty are few, and usually less than those being impoverished + those making temporary escapes. In the countries investigated to date it remains a challenge to escape poverty and then stay out if it. • Sustained escapes are often associated with household economic diversification away from agriculture into other occupations or investment fields. Few governments promote 'growth from below' adequately. • The constraints on sustaining escapes vary. In Ethiopia it is mainly the inherent riskiness of the environment; in Rwanda and Tanzania it has much more to do with the presence or absence of government policies or implementation. • Measures to further gender equality are instrumental in improving the situation of chronically poor households. • The analysis of political settlements does not reveal any straightforward correspondence with poverty dynamics outcomes. An apparently 'good' political settlement, from a poverty reduction point of view, can lead to both positive and negative policy and poverty dynamics outcomes. By contrast a poor political settlement, from a poverty reduction point of view, can leave people with the economic freedom they need to take advantage of market incentives. Please see Synthesis paper for further details. We discovered: • That sustaining escapes out of poverty is a real challenge - providing some explanation for why the extreme poverty reduction which has occurred does not translate easily into moderate poverty reduction. • That government policies can be a tremendous help (eg health insurance in Rwanda, the Productive Safety Net Programme in Ethiopia) or a hindrance (some government economic policies in Rwanda and Tanzania). Poverty-proofing policies, including policies not specifically designed to reduce poverty, is an urgent need in the policy-making process. • That social policies are easier to reach poor or vulnerable people than economic policies. • All governments promote 'growth from above'. However, it is 'growth from below' |
| Exploitation Route | We met our initial objectives, with the exception of developing an understanding of resilience thresholds, which is work in progress. The Ethiopian, Rwandan and Tanzanian governments should all find various findings of significant interest to inform their attempts to eradicate extreme poverty. In particular: • The Ethiopian government will be interested in the importance of idiosyncratic shocks, and the researchers' recommendation that it should expand the range of social protection to develop policies to combat these (eg health insurance). The Ethiopian research partners are well placed to advance this issue. • The Rwandan government will be interested that its social policies are having very beneficial impacts, but a number of its economic modernisation policies are having negative effects on the poor. This finding will require sensitive handling by partners and policy intermediaries. • The Tanzanian government will view positively the researchers' strong concurrence with the importance of social protection and health insurance. But it will find more challenging the need to 'poverty-proof' its policies more generally. The Prime Minister's Office has already engaged with the researchers on these issues through the end of project stakeholder meeting at which a national report was presented. All three governments and others will want to re-assess the importance of promoting 'growth from below' as well as 'growth from above'. International development agencies will be able to re-evaluate their strategies in terms of how they contribute to sustaining escapes from poverty. • USAID's Center for Resilience has supported similar studies in 10 countries, with strong engagement from country Missions. • Several DFID country offices have shown interest in using the research to inform their own strategies. • The Ikea Foundation has requested the support of CPAN as it reformulates its global strategy. • Both Global Affairs Canada and the Swedish Government (SIDA) has expressed interest in a long terms partnership on these issues. • UNDESA regularly invites CPAN to its deliberations on poverty eradication. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Description | The Chronic Poverty Coalition in Rwanda is taking shape, with our Rwandan partner being able to raise funds for it. The process is still ongoing but this is a remarkable sign of interest in the initiative and a confirmation of the importance of the research developed. On the latter, the poverty dynamics study and findings have been particularly relevant and timing in Rwanda and have raised interest across other donors - CPANis currently embarking on a wider study based on the one developed under this award. |
| Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Description | Chronic Poverty Coalition - Tanzania |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Development of policy engagement strategiy and communication plan - Tanzania |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Development of policy engagement strategy and communication plan - Ethiopia |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Development of policy engagement strategy and communication plan - Rwanda |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Poverty Advisory Network - Rwanda |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Title | Methodological Guide |
| Description | In the framework of the project, the Gender and Methodology Advisor has developed a Methodological Guide to inform and lead the field work in the three countries of implementation. The research guide covers the concepts and methods designed for the mixed methods study of transformative sustained escapes from extreme poverty in Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia. Being the study comparative, a key is to ensure that the understanding of concepts, categories of analysis and use of field methods is consistent across the three east African country teams, and that the categories of analysis cohere between the quantitative and qualitative analysis (where possible). After discussing /defining research hypotheses and key aims, the guide moves onto a discussion of key concepts and their methodological implications, namely, how concepts help us define the dimensions of the study, this includes, • time (how long escaped), • magnitude of escape (measured as distance from extreme poverty based on monetary, multidimensional and/or well-being ladders), • space (choosing regional sub-samples) and • structural groupings of people (ethnicity, gender, age, disability). The guides then analyses the methods which address the causes of sustained escapes, discussing the quantitative analysis of panel data. This focuses on measurable factors and then moves from factors to combinations of factors (or recipes) through, for instance, qualitative comparative analysis which gives several 'recipes; for sustained escape in each country. Qualitative analysis can support findings on factors and recipes and enables to understand how both fit into pathways and contextually based processes of sustained escape. Additionally, the guide turns to the qualitative research protocol and begins with comments on how to proceed with the political economy analysis. This includes: (i) interviews with policy makers regarding the evolution of settlements and their impact on sustainable escapes, (ii) choice of key policies to evaluate (iii) their evaluation in the life histories and (iv) qualitative comparative analysis used to explore how different types of political economy settlements affect directly and indirectly the nature and causes of sustained poverty escapes. Lastly, the guide discusses the protocol for gathering community and life histories and associated key informant interviews. It covers the techniques of the qualitative inquiry into sustained escapes and subsequent write up. Analysis will of these histories will use traditional approaches as well as process tracing. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | buinvreob |
| Title | SETTING COMPARABLE POVERTY LINES |
| Description | Most (monetary) poverty line in use in developing countries have two components: a food poverty line and a non-food component. The food poverty line is the cost of purchasing a minimum number of Kcal per person (or per adult equivalent) per day according to a detailed list of the food consumption patterns (the food basket) prevailing for people in the country being analysed. The non-food component is an allowance for purchasing essential non-food commodities (clothing, shelter, etc.), and is usually estimated econometrically. When the food poverty line and the non-food component are added together, a 'total' or 'upper' poverty line is produced. When analyzing poverty quantitatively, one of the issues that is encountered is that of measurement error. This means that the aggregate measure of welfare (consumption expenditure or income per person, or perhaps per adult equivalent) is measured with some (inevitable) statistical error. So when the welfare measure is compared with a poverty line (how the poverty line is set), we should expect there are some misclassifications: poor people with expenditures (or incomes) close to the poverty line who are wrongly classified as non-poor, and non-poor people with expenditures just above the poverty line who are wrongly classified as poor. As poverty lines are often (although not always) close to the mode of the expenditure (or income) distribution, these misclassifications of poverty status due to measurement error are often quite large. When studying poverty dynamics, the problem gets even worse, as we have two or three (sometimes more) panel waves (usually survey years), in which people's poverty status has to be assessed, and misclassifications will occur in each panel wave. To reduce, but not overcome entirely this problem, the Quantitative Advisor in the project suggested to adopt a brand new approach, which is innovative in the field. The new approach implies setting a 'band' around the poverty line. Consequently, people whose expenditures (or incomes) are within, say, + or - 5% of the poverty line in any of the panel waves are not considered when classifying those who have moved out or into poverty. Essentially what this 'band' does is to prevent people whose initial expenditure is near to poverty line (and are therefore 'near poor' or 'near non-poor') and who experience a small change (say 10 Birr or 375 R.Fr or T.Sh 1000) in their per capita expenditures from 'tripping over the poverty line'. This approach is currently analysed in the framework of the project as a potential solution to the difference in the level of poverty line among the three countries. The national poverty lines (used by the national statistics offices) in Ethiopia and Tanzania are set according to the two-component procedure described above, with the food 'basket'(and, therefore, the food poverty line) being based on consumption of Kcal 2,200 per person per day. Thus, it is possible for us to argue that these poverty lines are 'comparable'. However, in Rwanda, the daily calorie requirement used in determining the poverty component of the national poverty line is 2,500 Kcal per person per day. If the non-food allowance is then estimated econometrically, this means that the Rwandan national poverty line will be higher (in terms both calorie and overall purchasing power) than the Ethiopian and Tanzania ones. Adopting a "band" around the poverty line could be a solution to the problem of comparability of poverty lines across countries, and could set a precedent for further research in the same field. The approach is currently under discussion among project partners. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | ebyqvirgeyi |
| Title | Analysis of panel data: Detailed panel-data analysis for Ethiopia, Tanzania and Rwanda to investigate the factors associated with sustained escapes from poverty in these countries |
| Description | The researchers in the three country teams (Ethiopia, Tanzania and Rwanda) have developed a quantitative analysis of panel data in their respective countries. Specifically, in Tanzania the data panel analysis was developed to produce poverty transition matrices that were used to guide the sampling of communities and households for qualitative work. This will allow further analysis to determine the factors associated with sustained escapes. In Rwanda these data sets have been built in cooperation with NIRS (National Institute of Statistics Rwanda) and the quantitative project adviser and a paper detailing the approach has also been produced. In Ethiopia the coordination has taken place with the Central Statistics Agency (CSA). The research team obtained the panel date (3 wave) and started the analysis. They analyzed national poverty using one-dimensional measure for the wave 1,2 and 3 data. Accordingly, they developed apoverty dynamics matrix and they are about to start the next phase of the panel data analysis. |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | This data analysis is particularly relevant and a fundamental part of the research as it, in combination with the qualitative analysis, contributes to the identification of poverty dynamics in the three countries. |
| Title | CPAN country studies of poverty dynamics |
| Description | Our study explores the ways in which households can sustain these poverty escapes. It synthesises a mixed-methods analysis of existing threewave panel data and qualitative in-country research across eight countries (Table 2) to make comparisons between country contexts. The aim is to identify why some households escape poverty only to fall back into poverty (a transitory poverty escape) or descend into poverty for this first time (impoverishment), while other, more resilient households are able to escape poverty and remain 'non-poor' (a sustainable poverty escape). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This iterative, integrated combination of data permits analysis of poverty status and dynamics, the use of econometric techniques to explore the correlates of the outcomes, and a deeper exploration of factors and processes through the life history-based work. Integration and triangulation is achieved by sequencing the quantitative and qualitative analysis. The sequencing of fieldwork (at both the community and capital city levels) with analysis of panelised household survey data enables the research to explore processes and causality in considerable depth, and for individual decision-making processes to be understood in the context of household, community and macro changes. |
| URL | https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/12471.pdf |
| Title | Collection of life histories |
| Description | Life Histories are in-depth interviews which explore the key events and moments during an individual's life that contribute to improve their situation, getting worse or stagnating. While panel data provides important information on the proportions of people on different poverty trajectories, qualitative data is needed to explore further why some households are successfully improving their situation while others are not. This is a unique methodological approach that CPAN has implemented in this second phase of the project in partnership with the research teams in the three countries (Rwanda, Ethiopia and Tanzania). Specifically: Tanzania: conducted field work and data collection in February 2017 after a training workshop in which six experienced qualitative researchers were trained and they participated in qualitative data collection in Morogoro region. As a result of the data collection and its analysis, Tanzania developed 21 anonymous life histories which highlight some of the elements that commonly affect the poverty dynamics in the country. ADD MORE Rwanda: Rwanda hold the training on life history collection in January, including a pretest at the beginning of February. As a result in February/March the research teams is developing field work. An important element of the data collection in Rwanda is that it is developing at the same time of focus group discussions. ANYTHING MORE? Ethiopia: Training and field work were developed between October and November 2016 and all data were collected. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The collection and analysis of life histories produces an impact at different levels: 1- Improvement of local skills: through the training, local research team's capacities are enriched and built. As such, research teams are able to replicate the life histories approach and therefore include such methodological analysis in their work 2- Improvement in the level and analysis: the analysis of poverty in the three countries benefit from an innovative and unique approach that merges quantitative and qualitative techniques and that allow to identify the most common elements that influences the fluctuation of poor households. 3- Clearer information for advocacy: this new methodology contributes to an easier identification of priorities, and consequently recommendations, that can be used in policy advocacy efforts, especially at the national level. |
| Description | Covid Collective |
| Organisation | Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) |
| Country | Afghanistan |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Conducting quantitative analysis, drafting reports, and collaborating with partner to develop poverty monitoring bulletins and run workshops with key stakeholders. |
| Collaborator Contribution | • New, effective solidarities and relationships and collective action, helping tackle global development challenges. • Transformations in perspective, worldview and practice - including universality, mutual learning, genuine integration of social science - moving from the margins to centre stage. |
| Impact | https://www.covid-collective.net/ http://www.chronicpovertynetwork.org/covid19-poverty-monitor/ethiopia-april |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Ethiopia |
| Organisation | Association of Ethiopian Microfinance Institutions |
| Country | Ethiopia |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | CPAN has supported the AEMFI team in Ethiopia as below: - Providing contractual support for the partnership agreement - Providing administrative support - Providing support in the identification of the requirements (Terms of References) to select the Stakeholders and Reference Groups' members - Providing support in the development of a policy advocacy and communication strategy - Coordinating AEMFI work with Project's advisors (Gender and Methodology Advisor, Quantitative Advisor, Political Economy Advisor) - Providing reference document for field work (Methodological Guide) - Moderating discussions and providing guidelines for setting poverty lines that are comparable across other countries involved in the project - Providing a matrix to compare policies across countries - Support the team in the implementation and monitoring of the project through weekly meeting with project coordinators and through monthly meeting with project leaders |
| Collaborator Contribution | The AEMFI in Ethiopia has contributed to the development and implementation of project's activities in Tanzania. Specifically, AEMFI has: - - Selected the research team members - Selected stakeholders and reference group's members - organised Stakeholders and Reference Group workshops - participated in the Consortium Meeting where all project's partners met and discussed the project work plan and the project's methodological guidelines and implications - provided a work plan for field work - contributed to the methodological discussions and implications of the project at the country level - participated in project's meeting (both at the project coordinators and project leaders levels) - coordinated and worked together with Project's advisors on the methodological guide, the setting of poverty line |
| Impact | AEMFI is responsible for the country work in Ethiopia, specifically the following tasks: • Stakeholder mapping • Stakeholder workshop • Establish Reference Group • Meeting of Reference Groups to identify key policies • Participating in the Consortium meeting of three national teams • Starting the analysis of panel data • Starting the literature and policy evaluation review • Starting the selection of sample frame for qualitative data collection |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Poverty Monitoring Initiative |
| Organisation | National Council of Applied Economic Research |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We have started a Poverty Monitoring Initiative which builds on the data and analysis we have done previously using the ESRC and other funder-supported research. This is an attempt to surface what is happening to poor and vulnerable people in high poverty countries, to bring this to the attention of policy makers and practitioners, and to draw out policy implications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Carrying out surveys and interviews, collecting and analysing data to feed into reports and bulletins. |
| Impact | CPAN Covid-19 Poverty Monitor bulletins are compiled using a combination of original qualitative data collection from a small number of affected people in each country, interviews with local leaders and community development actors, and secondary data from a range of available published sources. https://odi.org/en/events/poverty-monitoring-in-the-context-of-covid-19/ |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Poverty Monitoring Initiative |
| Organisation | University of Malawi |
| Country | Malawi |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have started a Poverty Monitoring Initiative which builds on the data and analysis we have done previously using the ESRC and other funder-supported research. This is an attempt to surface what is happening to poor and vulnerable people in high poverty countries, to bring this to the attention of policy makers and practitioners, and to draw out policy implications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Carrying out surveys and interviews, collecting and analysing data to feed into reports and bulletins. |
| Impact | CPAN Covid-19 Poverty Monitor bulletins are compiled using a combination of original qualitative data collection from a small number of affected people in each country, interviews with local leaders and community development actors, and secondary data from a range of available published sources. https://odi.org/en/events/poverty-monitoring-in-the-context-of-covid-19/ |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Poverty Monitoring Initiative |
| Organisation | University of Zambia |
| Country | Zambia |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have started a Poverty Monitoring Initiative which builds on the data and analysis we have done previously using the ESRC and other funder-supported research. This is an attempt to surface what is happening to poor and vulnerable people in high poverty countries, to bring this to the attention of policy makers and practitioners, and to draw out policy implications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Carrying out surveys and interviews, collecting and analysing data to feed into reports and bulletins. |
| Impact | CPAN Covid-19 Poverty Monitor bulletins are compiled using a combination of original qualitative data collection from a small number of affected people in each country, interviews with local leaders and community development actors, and secondary data from a range of available published sources. https://odi.org/en/events/poverty-monitoring-in-the-context-of-covid-19/ |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Poverty Monitoring Initiative |
| Organisation | University of Zimbabwe |
| Country | Zimbabwe |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have started a Poverty Monitoring Initiative which builds on the data and analysis we have done previously using the ESRC and other funder-supported research. This is an attempt to surface what is happening to poor and vulnerable people in high poverty countries, to bring this to the attention of policy makers and practitioners, and to draw out policy implications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Carrying out surveys and interviews, collecting and analysing data to feed into reports and bulletins. |
| Impact | CPAN Covid-19 Poverty Monitor bulletins are compiled using a combination of original qualitative data collection from a small number of affected people in each country, interviews with local leaders and community development actors, and secondary data from a range of available published sources. https://odi.org/en/events/poverty-monitoring-in-the-context-of-covid-19/ |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Rwanda |
| Organisation | Rethink Mental Illness |
| Department | Research |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | CPAN has supported the IPAR team in Rwanda as below: - Providing contractual support for the partnership agreement - Providing administrative support - Providing support in the identification of the requirements (Terms of References) to select the Stakeholders and Reference Groups' members - Providing support in the development of a policy advocacy and communication strategy - Coordinating IPAR work with Project's advisors (Gender and Methodology Advisor, Quantitative Advisor, Political Economy Advisor) - Providing reference document for field work (Methodological Guide) - Moderating discussions and providing guidelines for setting poverty lines that are comparable across other countries involved in the project - Providing a matrix to compare policies across countries - Support the team in the implementation and monitoring of the project through weekly meeting with project coordinators and through monthly meeting with project leaders |
| Collaborator Contribution | IPAR has contributed to the development and implementation of project's activities in Rwanda. Specifically, IPAR has: - Selected the research team members - Selected stakeholders and reference group's members - organised Stakeholders and Reference Group workshops - participated in the Consortium Meeting where all project's partners met and discussed the project work plan and the project's methodological guidelines and implications - provided reports for the stakeholders and reference group's workshop - provided a report for the Consortium Meeting - provided a work plan for field work - contributed to the methodological discussions and implications of the project at the country level - participated in all project's meeting (both at the project coordinators and project leaders levels) - coordinated and worked with Project's advisors on the methodological guide and on the setting of the poverty line - IPAR is engaging the NISR for panel data availability, and in cooperation of the Quantitative Advisor has developed a paper on Rwanda's approach to panel data analysis - Sstarted working on the Literature and policy evaluation review. A framework is being developed for policies that have impacted poverty alleviation as a first step towards literature review. Next step will be getting interviews with selected policy makers. - Developed a paper on Rwanda's approach to qualitative research guided by the concepts guide by the Gender and Methodology Advisor. Households will be identified from panel data and followed-up with collection of life histories. |
| Impact | IPAR is responsible for the country work in Rwanda and has produced the following outputs: • Stakeholder mapping • Stakeholder workshop • Establish Reference Group • Meeting of Reference Groups to identify key policies • Participating in the Consortium meeting of three national teams • Starting the analysis of panel data • Starting the literature and policy evaluation review • Starting the selection of sample frame for qualitative data collection |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Tanzania |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) |
| Country | Tanzania, United Republic of |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | CPAN has supported the ESRF team in Tanzania as below: - Providing contractual support for the partnership agreement - Providing administrative support - Providing support in the identification of the requirements (Terms of References) to select the Stakeholders and Reference Groups' members - Providing support in the development of a policy advocacy and communication strategy - Coordinating ESRF work with Project's advisors (Gender and Methodology Advisor, Quantitative Advisor, Political Economy Advisor) - Providing reference document for field work (Methodological Guide) - Moderating discussions and providing guidelines for setting poverty lines that are comparable across other countries involved in the project - Providing a matrix to compare policies across countries - Support the team in the implementation and monitoring of the project through weekly meeting with project coordinators and through monthly meeting with project leaders |
| Collaborator Contribution | The ESRF in Tanzania has contributed to the development and implementation of project's activities in Tanzania. Specifically, ESRF has: - Selected the research team members - Selected stakeholders and reference group's members - organised Stakeholders and Reference Group workshops - organised and hosted the Consortium Meeting for all project's partners to meet and discuss the project work plan and the project's methodological guidelines and implications - provided reports for the stakeholders and reference group's workshop - provided a work plan for field work - contributed to the methodological discussions and implications of the project - participated in all project's meeting (both at the project coordinators and project leaders levels) - coordinated and worked together with Project's advisors on the methodological guide, the setting of poverty line and with the political economy advisor on the political settlements in Tanzania. - Worked on the qualitative data analysis (selecting districts and enumeration areas (village/street); using the national panel survey to identify households (selected 10 out of the 24 households surveyed in each EA); contacting all leaders at regional, district, ward and village/street levels; FGD with knowledgeable people on poverty issues (and focus on escapes and what sustains them); FGD with men and with women to develop the wellbeing classification as per the research guide; carry out life history interviews with a man and a woman in each selected household; key informant interviews at community level (successful traders and farmers, government employees); final FGD to feedback information) |
| Impact | The Economic and Social Research Foundation has been responsible for the country work in Tanzania, specifically the following tasks : • Stakeholder mapping • Stakeholder workshop • Establish Reference Group • Meeting of Reference Groups to identify key policies • Consortium meeting of three national teams • Starting the analysis of panel data • Starting the literature and policy evaluation review • Starting the selection of sample frame for qualitative data collection |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | A REFERENCE GROUP MEETING - Tanzania |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | conference hall. The meeting was attended by a wide variety of representatives as initially identified from: the government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs); private sector; civil society; and research institutions. The meeting was an opportunity to share research findings with reference group members and in turn receive input from them. This group of experts was formed at the inception of the project to inform the research process and it was involved at all stages of the research project. Opening of the meeting The workshop began at 02.32 pm with participant's self introduction and a brief welcoming remark from Prof. Flora Kessy (the team leader) who welcomed workshop participants, appreciated for their availability and stressed on the significance of their contribution overtime towards successful accomplishment of the assignment since its inception. Mr. Abel Songole (facilitator) briefly highlighted on the activities of the meeting and invited researchers to present the study findings. Meeting Proceedings The presentation was made jointly by Prof. Flora Kessy and Prof. Kim Kayunze. The first presenter (Prof. Kim Kayunze) made a brief presentation on purpose and objectives of the study. He highlighted on country's poverty reduction policy focus since 2000 and challenges encountered, experienced poverty dynamics, and lastly ended up by describing a rationale behind the decision to undertake this particular study. Prof. Flora Kessy presented on methodology employed in implementing the assignment such as: three components (qualitative, quantitative, and political settlements); data collection in Morogoro regions (Kilosa, Mvomero and Morogoro urban districts); Focus Group Discussions, Key Informant Interviews, as well as Life Histories were among the methods used in data collection. She went on highlighting identified factors responsible for household chronic poverty prevalence, reasons for impoverishment and sustained poverty escapes. She finally presented on political settlement component, how it has been differently defined and its influence on policy effectiveness in the country and lastly the slot was brought to an end by recommendations and conclusion. The facilitator invited meeting participants for in depth discussion of the research findings Meeting Discussions The reference group members participated fully and actively in the discussions. Some of their productive concerns, questions, views and suggestions among others included the following: • The reasons behind Morogoro region's three districts (Kilosa, Mvomero and Morogoro urban) selection to represent the whole country; • There is a need to establish a strong link between political settlements and poverty reduction in the report; • There is no clear evidence on a role played by tax holidays granted to small businesses in reducing poverty for MSMES operators; • More relationship needs to be illustrated on argument that "increased efforts on tax collections resulted into closure and loss of business opportunities, financial exclusion and hence poverty fall back"; • Though pre harvest financing is very important, finance diversification is more important; and • The research team could have better approached the political settlement analysis by drawing lessons from the past four government regimes and try to place its implication on the fifth phase. Wrap-up and Closing Prof. Flora Kessy on behalf of the project team extended his heartfelt appreciations to the reference group members for their attendance and active participation project activities in general and in the discussions in particular. The meeting was officially closed around 17:10 hours followed by evening tea and departure. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Consortium meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | As part of the project implementation, a consortium meeting was held in Dar es Saalam, Tanzania (from the 23rd and 24th November 2015). The consortium was jointly organized by Chronic Poverty Advisory Network (CPAN) at Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and the Economic Social Research Foundation (ESRF), Tanzania who also hosted the meeting. The meeting brought together project team leaders from ODI, country project leaders and administrators of the projects in the respective countries to further discuss the proposed methodology sampling and analytical tools for the research, and to work on specific country project work plans with the ODI team. During the consortium, the research teams were also joined by the Tanzanian Policy makers to learn from experiences of Ethiopia, Rwanda, and the work by ODI with regard to poverty reduction. The Consortium Meeting aimed to lay-out the aims, objectives and methodological approach of the project and carry out training on fieldwork concepts and methods. Ethiopia: Wolday Amha, Tassew Woldehanna Rwanda: Alfred Bizoza, Lilian Mutesi Tanzania: Flora Kessy, Oswald Mashindano, Abdel Songole, Hossana Mpango, Vivian Kasi CPAN: Andrew Shepherd, Chiara Mariotti, Anne Mdee, Stefania Perna Advisors: Lucia da Corta (Gender and Methodology Advisor), Bob Baulch (Quantitative Advisor - remotely) Consortium Meeting report Day 1: 23rd November 2015 The session on day 1 was facilitated by Ms Flora Kessy, Principal Research Associate, ESRF and Project Leader for ESRF. Presentations were made from each country team from Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania on stakeholder and reference group workshops that were held in respective countries before the consortium. Points raised from presentations for discussions; • The Targeting/ mapping of key stakeholders • Whether country teams managed to identify Policies and programs that tackle chronic poverty, prevent impoverishment and sustain escapes from extreme poverty. • The number of meetings annually to be held • The number of reference members • Issues to do with motivation for the reference members at least covering transport costs • The size of the Stakeholder groups Vs the reference group • The composition of reference group, whether it is mainly policy makers or includes academicians and practitioners. • The specific role of reference members which is to offer advice as the research goes on, as they should feed onto the process. The Gender and Methodology Advisor, Lucia da Corta, made a presentation on the comparative analysis. Some of the views she pointed out are; The study is comparative thus the need for consistency across the country teams as far as understanding of concepts, categories of analysis and use of field methods. This consistency is crucial for the subsequent comparison of findings in data analysis. The categories of analysis cohere between the quantitative and qualitative analysis (where possible) and the qualitative and quantitative findings will be linked to the political economy analysis. Sampling will be done within the existing panel data : criteria need to be contextualized for the 3 countries, to allow a generic model. Will also depend on the geographic areas the panel data includes and the resources available. All countries should ensure in the sample a representation of communities that are remote, less remote and urban. Tanzania has sampled using a livelihood criteria (cash crop, grain, remoteness and then age and gender), other countries can gauge if this works for them) Life's histories will help to get better quantitative in depth data than panel data will do and possibly uncover the power relations. It was agreed that the issue related to the sampling be discussed in the next skype meeting after some clarification on the structure of the panel especially in Rwanda and Ethiopia . The Quantitative Advisor, Bob Baulch, made a presentation through skype on how to analyze poverty dynamics using panel data. He raised key issues to do with comparability for the research team to think about: Using common poverty lines/thresholds ( both food and non-food items) Per capita or per adult equivalent expenditures (or incomes) Seasonality Tracking protocols He also raised some sampling issues for members to discuss; Assumption is the sites (villages) selected will be a sub-sample of sites (EAs?) selected by the national panel survey A purposive sample of sites will be done (but not of households) As with the Bangladesh study, sites should be selected to ensure as much geographic spread as possible (e.g., including some sites from all the agro-ecological zones in the country) For the policy evaluation work, it would also be useful to select some sites with the key interventions and those without it There is usually a trade-off between representativeness and survey costs/travel time A written note should be prepared and circulated in advance on how the sites are to be selected, so that the probability of each sites being selected can be estimated He advised country team members to establish a relationship with National Statistics offices (NISR for Rwanda) to produce transitional matrixes for each of the villages using 2014 data. This will help in the sampling for the life histories, noting that this may require negotiations. Summary by Andrew Shepherd, CPAN Director and Project Leader, of issues raised during the DAY 1 1. Multi-dimensional poverty. 2. Resilience Threshold. 3. Sampling. 4. Monetary poverty lines. 5. Modelling poverty dynamics. Day 2: 24th November 2015 Mr Oswald Mashindano (Principal Research Associate, ESRF) facilitated the day's meeting Each of the country teams grouped up with their respective advisors to develop their country action plans detailing the timelines, activities, outputs, who will be involved and deliverables. The team was joined by Tanzanian policy makers where experiences on poverty reduction strategies from Ethiopia and Rwanda were shared. ODI also presented work they have previously done. The audience benefited from those experiences and a rich discussion with the policy makers. Dissemination and communication On communications, Ms Stefania Perna, CPAN Project and Communictaion Officer, highlighted in her presentation the role of the reference groups and advised on how to keep them engaged. She pointed out that the developing an engagement strategy to influence stakeholders is paramount for this ESRC Project but importantly to influence policy. She explained the process for policy makers' engagement. She reminded the country teams that in terms of communication the project should aim to produce synthesis reports from reference group meetings, national reports, policy briefs, national launch events as well as journal articles. Policy evaluation In his presentation Andrew Shepherd, CPAN Director, highlighted the need for the literature review to focus on programme evaluations, other sources relevant for policy evaluation will be the panel data analysis, the reference group meetings and the Qualitative work which will particularly contribute in producing a commentary on how policies are doing, the disadvantages. So there will be need to allow in the research tools time for discussions on policies) He reminded the research team that we will be looking out for Impacts, Outcomes, Quality of implementation of programmes/policies /issues of inclusion & exclusion and why and Disaggregate these outcomes accordingly- for the food poor, vulnerable and poor. As regards Political settlements, he highlighted that the idea is to capture how political system is shaped and how it influences policies, programs, whose impact or outcomes this research is interested in. He mentioned that it's about bargains, impositions struck between the elites, relationships developed between state and society He noted that political systems evolve over time, the evolutions tend to be slow and there could be a sharp change especially with regime change. Which then begs the Question that if all the three countries have strong parties why are the outcomes different? He encouraged the country team members to read the working papers circulated He asked the country team leaders to identify a counterpart in each team to work with Fred Golooba the Political economist and develop a programme for the research. The aspect of Gender Country teams were reminded to ensure that half of the life histories be women. The idea is to interview 2 persons in a household (preferably a male and female. In case of a Female Headed Household, we can interview an elderly son or father.) The research will look into gender norms and how they can improve and Gender will be a disaggregated factor when we do policy evaluation in the qualitative and quantitative Next steps • Next meeting all national team leaders will need to agree on the poverty measure to use • Identify where and when country teams will need the Advisors. • Plan the meetings with advisors for all national teams • Members encouraged to read the research guide (Section 5 protocol on qualitative research), discussion needs to go on email or over skype as there was no time to go over the qualitative aspect in depth. Members should ensure that all national teams are included in the email discussion. • Bob Baulch (the quantitative advisor) can be contacted on email incase of any clarifications • There will be need to develop a communication strategy of the stakeholders. Project leaders to take lead in identifying at least the key stakeholders and to lead the development of a communications plan • The country teams need to establish a quick communication mechanism to inform others on upcoming issues in the qualitative research (say email a one page report stating what is coming up from fieldwork). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Inclusive, Sustainable Economic Transformation - Kenya as a potential pioneer |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | ODI is organising a virtual roundtable on inclusive, sustainable economic transformation with a focus on Kenya - because we feel Kenya has the potential to pioneer the new twenty-first century approach to economic transformation, which aims to achieve a 'triple win'. The foundation is Kenya's remarkable renewable energy sector. Over a period of time ODI will be exploring similar potentials in other countries. The roundtable will be composed of decision-makers and specialists focused on economic transformation, sustainability and inclusion. It will produce a brief on how to move forwards with this combined agenda, and decide whether further research or stakeholder engagement would be useful. ODI's team for this event and project includes experts on economic transformation, sustainability as well as inclusion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | National Report's Dissemination Workshop - Tanzania |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Introduction The Tanzania research team organized a half day national reports dissemination workshop on January 19, 2018 that was held at the Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) main conference hall. The meeting was attended by a wide variety of representatives from: the government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs); private sector; civil society organizations; higher learning and research institutions. The workshop was intended to validate and disseminate research findings with key policy makers and other relevant key actors in poverty reduction. Opening of the meeting The workshop began at 09.00 am by Mr. Abel Songole (facilitator) warmly welcoming workshop participants, appreciated for their availability and stressed on the significance of their contribution. This was followed by a round of participant's self introduction and a brief welcoming remark from Prof. Fortunata Makene who represented the ESRF's Executive Director. The facilitator briefly highlighted on the activities of the meeting and invited researchers to present the study findings. Meeting Proceedings The presentation was made by Prof. Flora Kessy, Prof. Kim Kayunze and Dr. Remidius Ruhinduka. Prof. Flora Kessy made a brief presentation on introduction, objectives of the study and qualitative analysis (data collection, reasons for: chronic poverty, impoverishment and sustained escapes) resilience key features, while Dr. Remidius Ruhinduka took the participants through the quantitative component especially on the national poverty trajectories, official poverty lines, and use of National Panel Survey (NPS) data. Finally Prof. Kim Kayunze presented about political settlement concept and how it has been differently defined and its influence on policy effectiveness in the country overtime since independence. Lastly, the research findings presentations were brought to an end by recommendations and conclusion, marking the beginning of live deliberations from the floor. The facilitator invited meeting participants for in depth discussion of the research findings. Plenary Discussions The facilitator appreciated the presenters for commendable presentations and invited the floor for plenary discussions on presented research findings in terms of questions, opinions, seeking clarification (s) etc. : • The more clarification on the importance of toilet type as a variable in driving poverty down ; • Culture and tradition factors are missing in the report taking into account their role in influencing poverty; • In efforts to spearhead financial inclusion for poverty reduction, public private trade should be largely promoted; • Explore more on how insufficient extension services are directly related to chronic poverty; • The recently introduced sports betting is alleged to increase poverty among individuals involved, analysis could touch base on such situation and recommend the best way to undertake it; • The report (s) could have consulted more literatures including reports from Market Infrastructure, Value Addition and Rural Finance (MIVARF), and Five Year Development Plans second phase (FYDP II); • The research findings contain inputs that can inform the Planning Commission on preparing 2018/19 budget suggestions; • Relevant policies and strategies could have been analyzed in a way that non responsive ones are identified and factors responsible for such situation be clearly provided; • Leveraging technology in poverty reduction efforts is significant alongside advocating economic and financial literacy; • The research report needs to take into considerations security as an essential factor in poverty reduction; • The findings could come up with strong evidence on why economic growth figures are improving while poverty increases at the same time; and • Is there a need for a standalone social protection policy or the same is impliedly made available in other related policies? Wrap-up and Closing Prof. Flora Kessy on behalf of the project team extended his heartfelt appreciations to the workshop organizers and participants for their time and inputs that made the half day event turn successful. The meeting was officially closed around 01.10 pm. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | National Stakeholders' workshop Ethiopia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The project's partner in Ethiopia (AEMFI) has conducted a stakeholder mapping. They have identified a list of people (spanning national policy makers, NGOs, bilateral and multilateral donors, academics, researchers and the media) and invited 25 to a stakeholder workshop. This was aimed at discussing the objectives of the project at the national level and was a key activity of the first phase of the project. The workshop produced a report, which details the activities and discussions developed during the meeting. The national stakeholders involved are: MoFED-Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, NPC- National Planning Commission, MoA-Ministry of Agriculture, FeMSEDA-Federal Micro and Small Enterprises Development Agency, MoWCYA-Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs, UNICEF- United Nations Children's Fund, IDPR-Institute of Development and Policy Research, REST- Relief society of Tigray, WB-The World Bank, CCRDA- Consortium Christiane Relief and Development Association The report can be read below. Stakeholders" workshop Report - Africa Avenue, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, August 17th, 2015 Introduction Association of Ethiopian Microfinance Institutions (AEMFI/EIFTRI) has commenced a project that aimed to increase the understanding of the factors associated with sustained escapes from extreme poverty. The project is run by Chronic Poverty Advisory Network (CPAN), and it involves three east African countries, including Ethiopia, Tanzania and Rwanda. The project planned to focus on issues related with: i) how to tackle chronic poverty?; ii) how prevent impoverishment?; and iii) what should we need to do for sustainable escape from extreme poverty? Particularly, the project aimed to produce informed policies which could facilitate the process of sustained escape from extreme poverty. Moreover, the project is expected to benefit policy makers, households in poverty, donors, and NGOs to adopt knowledge based strategies for sustained poverty escape. To this end, the research team in Ethiopia launched the project through its first stakeholder workshop with the aim of directly engaging with policy makers, practitioners, academic institutes, academicians, donors, media, and NGOs, aiming to influence policies, strategies and activities towards sustained escape poverty rather than poverty reduction. The purpose of the report is to present the outcomes of the stakeholder workshop held at AEMFI/EIFTRI conference hall, African Avenue, Addis Ababa, on the 17th of August 2015. Establishing the stakeholder workshop The research team established the potential stakeholders for the workshop based on their poverty related activity as well as their close work relationships with our institute in similar projects run by the institute. Moreover, the selection was motivated by two basic needs: first, their potential contributions to the research; second, their interest and power to use the research outputs in designing or improving policies and programs in their respective organization. Once the team identified the potential stakeholders, our office sent a formal invitation letter along with the project description to each respective offices and individuals. We identified and invited about thirty four stakeholders and twenty two of them were attended the workshop. The workshop attendees were ranging from high government official to a broad of NGOs and academicians. The participants names are find in the annexes part of the report. Workshop objective The following were the objectives of the workshop: i. To introduce the aim and the scope of the project and each phase outcomes. ii. To improve research communication. iii. To Build joint ownership of the research project and plan the process of engagement iv. To hold open discussion with the participants in different issues related with the subject matter, including on what efforts were made on multidimensional poverty in Ethiopian context, what were the knowledge and policy gaps regarding sustained escape from extreme poverty, the need to study how policies can facilitate sustained escape from extreme poverty and to consider how political and institutional pre-conditions are key factors to implement the policies successfully. v. To identify important inputs relating to multidimensional poverty, factors for exterem poverty and relevant policies through participants" input exercise. vi. To perform stakeholders mapping and analysis and define the reference group. Welcome speech and introduction about the project and official launching of the project, Tassew Woldehanna (PhD) Dr. Tassew, associate professor at Addis Ababa University, opened his remarks by welcoming the attendees and presented detailed information about the project. He also acknowledged the significance and usefulness of the stakeholder workshop, and he mentioned that the input of stakeholders is important to produce dependable results from the project. The following were his key points: ? He highlighted and described the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs), "get the world to zero poverty and hunger by 2030", and he argued on the need to have three key policy areas to get to zero poverty; a) a policy towards tackling chronic poverty, b) a policy to stop impoverishment, and c) a policy for sustained escape from poverty. ? In his remark, he emphasized on why understanding the factors that are associated with chronic poverty, impoverishment, and sustained escape from poverty is crucial. He also mentioned that chronic poverty and sustainable escape from poverty varies from country to country due to demographic characteristics of the households, political ideology of a country, and institutional set ups in respective countries. ? Following the above highlights, he presented the specific objectives of the project. Providing policy makers with quantitative and qualitative evidence on the key factors that enable sustained escapes from extreme poverty-defined in both monetary and multi-dimensional terms; establishing context specific and multi-dimensional "resilience threshold" beyond which impoverishment is unlikely and the policy implications; and building the capacities of East Africa policy makers, development practitioners, researchers, and NGOs to design, implement and lobby for policies that enable people to escape poverty; are some the specific objectives he remarked. ? He talked about the research methodology, and as he said an innovative combination and sequencing of quantitative and qualitative (Q-squared) research methodology will be used by the research team. Regarding the data, he said the Ethiopian Rural Socio Economic Survey (ERSS) will be used. ? He described the need to establish stakeholder and reference groups in the project, and mentioned that the reference group will be involved in a number of activities through the project, and it will help in identifying the country"s key policies with a track record and/or the potential for supporting poverty escapes. ? Lastly, he introduced the phases of the project. Presentation on identification of issues and policies of sustained pathways out of multidimensional poverty, Wolday Amha (PhD) Dr. Wolday, Executive director of AEMFI/EIFTRI, highlighted the following issues during the presentation: He remarked that in unidirectional poverty analysis, a poor person is identified using a poverty line or threshold. In contrast, as he highlighted in the multidimensional measurement setting, where there are multiple variables, identification is a substantially more challenging exercise. For example, the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) combines ten indicators reflecting education, health and standard of living and complement the income-poverty measure. He concluded this section with the following word, "ending poverty means addressing its multiple dimensions" ? Sustained escape from extreme poverty (sustained over time): As he described, "sustained escape does not only focus on ensuring men and women currently living in poverty are able to escape it, but the new individuals do not become impoverished and those who have escaped poverty do not once again fall below the poverty line". He also mentioned whether there is a resilience threshold: a combination of endowments which makes a household significantly less likely to fall into poverty in the future. To this end, he proposed that the project will make efforts to identify the different thresholds and how pathways for sustained poverty escape differ according to (a) structural inequalities or group characteristics (for instance on the basis of gender, ethnic group, age or occupation) (b) the type of political settlement. ? Possible research questions in studying sustainable escape from extreme poverty: The following are some of the research questions he highlighted; what factors shape pathways into and out of extreme poverty? What is the relationship between individual and household characteristics and sustained poverty escapes? identify the multidimensional resilience thresholds beyond which impoverishment is unlikely, what are the strategies that can facilitate sustained poverty escape of households and individuals?.. ? Policy interventions to enable sustainable poverty escapes: He said that identification of policies that can help individuals and households to adopt strategies that facilitate sustained poverty escape is important. Moreover, he also stressed the economic, political and institutional pre-conditions under which these policies can be successfully implemented in addressing poverty reduction and development. Discussions and Participants' Input Exercise Participants were active in providing valuable comments and raising questions on specific issues. Some of the remarks and questions from the participants are the following: 1) CCARE ? The participant from CCARE said that he is happy to have a model which helps us understand multidimensional poverty and sustained poverty escape. ? He highlighted his concern that though the Growth Transformation Plan II (GTPII) aims Ethiopia to be among middle income by 2025, adverse weather may affect all interventions over the years and he asked how the project considers this fact. ? Asked, how do you define schooling (attendance, training, skill)? ? Asked, how do you view other human development index which put Ethiopia bottom of the line? are the strategies that can facilitate sustained poverty escape of households and individuals?.. ? Policy interventions to enable sustainable poverty escapes: He said that identification of policies that can help individuals and households to adopt strategies that facilitate sustained poverty escape is important. Moreover, he also stressed the economic, political and institutional pre-conditions under which these policies can be successfully implemented in addressing poverty reduction and development. Discussions and Participants' Input Exercise Participants were active in providing valuable comments and raising questions on specific issues. Some of the remarks and questions from the participants are the following: 1) CCARE ? The participant from CCARE said that he is happy to have a model which helps us understand multidimensional poverty and sustained poverty escape. ? He highlighted his concern that though the Growth Transformation Plan II (GTPII) aims Ethiopia to be among middle income by 2025, adverse weather may affect all interventions over the years and he asked how the project considers this fact. ? Asked, how do you define schooling (attendance, training, skill)? ? Asked, how do you view other human development index which put Ethiopia bottom of the line? are the strategies that can facilitate sustained poverty escape of households and individuals?.. ? Policy interventions to enable sustainable poverty escapes: He said that identification of policies that can help individuals and households to adopt strategies that facilitate sustained poverty escape is important. Moreover, he also stressed the economic, political and institutional pre-conditions under which these policies can be successfully implemented in addressing poverty reduction and development. Discussions and Participants' Input Exercise Participants were active in providing valuable comments and raising questions on specific issues. Some of the remarks and questions from the participants are the following: 1) CCARE ? The participant from CCARE said that he is happy to have a model which helps us understand multidimensional poverty and sustained poverty escape. ? He highlighted his concern that though the Growth Transformation Plan II (GTPII) aims Ethiopia to be among middle income by 2025, adverse weather may affect all interventions over the years and he asked how the project considers this fact. ? Asked, how do you define schooling (attendance, training, skill)? ? Asked, how do you view other human development index which put Ethiopia bottom of the line?are the strategies that can facilitate sustained poverty escape of households and individuals?.. ? Policy interventions to enable sustainable poverty escapes: He said that identification of policies that can help individuals and households to adopt strategies that facilitate sustained poverty escape is important. Moreover, he also stressed the economic, political and institutional pre-conditions under which these policies can be successfully implemented in addressing poverty reduction and development. Discussions and Participants' Input Exercise Participants were active in providing valuable comments and raising questions on specific issues. Some of the remarks and questions from the participants are the following: 1) CCARE ? The participant from CCARE said that he is happy to have a model which helps us understand multidimensional poverty and sustained poverty escape. ? He highlighted his concern that though the Growth Transformation Plan II (GTPII) aims Ethiopia to be among middle income by 2025, adverse weather may affect all interventions over the years and he asked how the project considers this fact. ? Asked, how do you define schooling (attendance, training, skill)? ? Asked, how do you view other human development index which put Ethiopia bottom of the line?are the strategies that can facilitate sustained poverty escape of households and individuals?.. ? Policy interventions to enable sustainable poverty escapes: He said that identification of policies that can help individuals and households to adopt strategies that facilitate sustained poverty escape is important. Moreover, he also stressed the economic, political and institutional pre-conditions under which these policies can be successfully implemented in addressing poverty reduction and development. Discussions and Participants' Input Exercise Participants were active in providing valuable comments and raising questions on specific issues. Some of the remarks and questions from the participants are the following: 1) CCARE ? The participant from CCARE said that he is happy to have a model which helps us understand multidimensional poverty and sustained poverty escape. ? He highlighted his concern that though the Growth Transformation Plan II (GTPII) aims Ethiopia to be among middle income by 2025, adverse weather may affect all interventions over the years and he asked how the project considers this fact. ? Asked, how do you define schooling (attendance, training, skill)? ? Asked, how do you view other human development index which put Ethiopia bottom of the line?are the strategies that can facilitate sustained poverty escape of households and individuals?.. ? Policy interventions to enable sustainable poverty escapes: He said that identification of policies that can help individuals and households to adopt strategies that facilitate sustained poverty escape is important. Moreover, he also stressed the economic, political and institutional pre-conditions under which these policies can be successfully implemented in addressing poverty reduction and development. Discussions and Participants' Input Exercise Participants were active in providing valuable comments and raising questions on specific issues. Some of the remarks and questions from the participants are the following: 1) CCARE ? The participant from CCARE said that |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | National Stakeholders' workshop Rwanda |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The project's partner in Rwanda (IPAR) has conducted a stakeholder mapping. They have identified a list of 40-50 people (spanning national policy makers, NGOs, bilateral and multilateral donors, academics, researchers and the media) and invited them to a stakeholder workshop. This was aimed at discussing the objectives of the project at the national level. The workshop produced a report, which details the activities and discussions developed during the meeting. The stakeholders involved have been: Rwanda: Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, University of Rwanda, Action aid, UNDP, Ministry of Local government /LODA RALGA UNECA National Institute of Statistics, Ministry of Trade and Industry, National Youth Council, National Women Council The report can be read below. STAKEHOLDERS' WORKSHOP: Kigali, Rwanda (28th October 2015) held at UMUBANO HOTEL. Wprkshop report Executive Summary The workshop was the first stakeholder workshop organized by the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR- Rwanda) held under the research project: Understanding and Supporting Sustained Pathways Out Of Extreme Poverty and Deprivation. This Research project is being implemented by CPAN in partnership with three East African research bodies, the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research ( IPAR-Rwanda) is one of them for the case of Rwanda. e This workshop is part the methodological approach for this study and has brought together stakeholders identified as key actors from the stakeholder mapping that was done earlier during the inception phase of the project who included policymakers, practitioners and academics in Rwanda. These policy makers will be engaged at different stages of this research project. . The overall objective of this workshop sought to pinpoint anti-poverty policies and strategies that is those which help individuals and households to adopt strategies that tackle chronic poverty; prevent impoverishment and that facilitate sustained poverty escapes from extreme poverty. The views in the workshop were diverse and generated constructive discussions among the participants. 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background The Research Project under which this stakeholder's workshop was held is titled 'Understanding and supporting sustained pathways out of extreme poverty and deprivation' is led by CPAN in partnership with three East African research bodies and will see the participation of both UK-based and African-based researchers. The proposal was submitted by the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network (CPAN) at ODI to the ESRC-DFID Joint Fund for the Poverty Alleviation Research Call. The project will be led by CPAN in partnership with three East African research bodies and will see the participation of both UK-based and African-based researchers. The project is based in three Eastern African Countries: Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Rwanda. IPAR- Rwanda is the leading research institution for the case of Rwanda. The project focuses on three poverty dynamics towards "Zero Extreme Poverty in 2030: i) Tackle chronic poverty; ii) Prevent impoverishment and iii) Sustain escapes from extreme poverty. Previous report by CPAN shows that social assistance, pro-poorest growth and education are core policy areas for all three poverty dynamics, to be complemented by country- or region-specific policies. CPAN has also recently produced a series of challenge papers that provide new evidence on the opportunities and constraints for the elimination of chronic poverty and which are based on analysis of panel data of the type proposed in this research. The overall aim of the research project is to increase the understanding of: the factors associated with sustained escapes from poverty, how policies and programmes can support these escapes and the political and institutional pre-conditions under which these policies can successfully be initiated. In the following sub-sections, we provide some of the notes taken during the above stakeholder's meeting to guide for further reflection on the subject matters. 1.2 Welcome Remarks The welcoming remarks were delivered by Ms Eugenia Kayitesi, the Executive Director of the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research, Rwanda (IPAR Rwanda). She highlighted the objective of the research project as to increase the understanding of the factors associated with sustained escapes from poverty, how policies and programmes can support these escapes and the political and institutional pre-conditions under which these policies can successfully be initiated. Ms Kayitesi emphasized the relevance of the workshop by mentioning that workshops and policy dialogues are one of the many ways IPAR-Rwanda engages with policy makers, and other stakeholder in achieving its mandate of impacting policy through evidence based research. She committed IPAR's efforts to continue engaging policy and decision-makers in debates and dialogues through workshops, discussion forums and workshops like this one to come up to solutions to address various issues for the development of our country. She concluded her remarks by thanking ODI for this timely research subject and the participants for their valuable time to contribute to the discussion. She testified her confidence that the research would build on a strong country-specific knowledge base. She wished all participants fruitful deliberations. Executive Director, IPAR Rwanda Ms Eugenia Kayitesi giving her opening remarks 1. WORKSHOP PRESENTATIONS 2.1.1 Presentation -IPAR Rwanda Prof Alfred Bizoza, IPAR's Director of Research and co-leader of this Research project, made the first presentation on the research objectives, research questions and the proposed methodology. He spoke about the expected roles of stakeholders and the reference group members. He briefly talked about the proposed reference members also mentioning the guiding criteria. His presentation was to set the stage of all the day's activities and give a more detailed context of these research objectives. 2.1.2 Presentation -Ministry of Economic Planning The second presentation was made by Mr. Sekamondo Francois, an expert from Ministry of Finance and Planning. He spoke on Rwanda's anti poverty policies and strategies highlighting some key findings from the current surveys which indicated that there has been a sustained trend in poverty reduction from 2000 to 2014 (58.9% to 39.1%) and per capita GDP growth increased from US$211 to US$718 during the same period towards the 2020 target of US$ 1240 . He mentioned that poverty is reducing but needed to reduce faster. Mr Sekamondo pointed out current policies and programs that have yielded good results in in terms of poverty reduction and economic growth. The challenge ahead , he mentioned, is to maintain momentum. Examples of these included the Crop Intensification Program (CIP) in the agriculture sector and other redistributive or social protection programmes such as , Ubudehe and VUP program, One Cow per poor family, One cup of milk per child in schools, Mutual health insurance 'Mituelle de sante' to mention but a few. Mr Sekamondo, Expert from MINECOFIN giving his presentation 2.2 Discussion Micheal Munyaneza, the facilitator of the workshop opened the floor for comments and questions. The specific questions and comments on the first presentation made by Prof Alfred Bizoza were as follows: ? A representative from Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) was proposed as one of the reference group members as most pro poor programs are implemented under MINAGRI and Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) and a large population of 'poor' Rwandans are engaged in the agriculture sector. ? A comment from a representative of UNICEF reiterating the need to have LODA and MINALOC as part of the reference group because they are part of the social protection working group and mentioned that the research can inform the work that is being done by MINALOC. ? A representative from UN WOMEN emphasized the need to cater for country specificities and contextualization as the research is being conducted in 3 different countries. For example in the case of Rwanda the expected level of stratification cannot include sensitive variables like ethnicity and therefore advised to be removed. ? A participant from MIGEPROF mentioned the need to add MIGEPROF and MYICT because they initiated a youth and women access to finance program which is contributing to poverty reduction. ? A representative from LODA questioned the availability of panel survey for EICV 1,2,3,4 surveys from the National Institute of Statistics and Research (NISR). ? A participant from Ministry of Local Government added the need to add social protection interventions in addition to the variables mentioned. Also suggested that instead of including UNDP in the reference group, instead put DFID and World Bank as key players in poverty reduction programs. Professor Bizoza responded to the question noting that IPAR will contact NISR for the data, he hoped that EICV 4 panel data will be generated and said that IPAR may as well aggregate the data at sector level and get a panel representative to the study. The specific questions and comments on the second presentation by Sekamondo were as follows: ? Why the gini coffiecent increased between 2000 (0.507) and 2005 (0.448) ? What are the core categories of Ubudehe and how are they interlinked with other particular programmes? ? Will IPAR use the available data on districts in the study for further investigation? ? Clarity on why GDP growth was sharp yet reduction of inequality was low, where is the problem. The presenter in response said that in 2000 Rwanda was recovering 6 years after the genocide. Rwanda was concentrating on investments and the pro poor programs started in 2003 and outcomes were registered in 2005 thus the decrease. EDPRS was introduced in 2008 and Girinka program and Ubudehe in 2006 and investments increased up and till now. In addition in the year 2000, the Gini coefficient was high because there were high number of refugees coming into the country and they were being given developmental facilities. During that time, the developmental facilities were low and the investments were down. There are four categories under Ubudehe which is a community wealth ranking program that can be used looking at specificities of different programs. The categories which are still under review are; The first category has the very poor; these do not have a house or cannot to pay rent, have a poor diet, and cannot get basic household tools and clothes. The second category groups those who have their own houses or can afford to rent a house; mostly get food and earn a wage from working with others. In the third category are those who have at least one person in the family working in the government or the private sector (earning a monthly salary). While the fourth category includes people who earn high incomes; people who own houses; people who can afford a luxurious lifestyle. The government uses Ubudehe classification when determining who merits welfare services One participant noted that a study conducted by UNWOMEN showed that the level of resilience is still low even when there seemed to be poverty reduction in general. 2.3 Working Session in Small Groups: 2.3.1 Background Participants were asked to count from one to three and they formed three groups. Each Group was asked to identify: a chair and a secretary, secretary would then present the outcome during the plenary discussion. They were tasked to: (1) identify anti-poverty policies and programmes, in addition to those presented in the MINICOFIN presentation, (2) categorize the policies and programmes into the following three categories: • Policies/programmes that tackle chronic poverty ; • Policies that prevent people from impoverishment; • Policies/Programmes that sustain escapes from extreme poverty Group members were then asked to rank each of the policy/programme identified under the above categories in terms of observed or perceived impact using the following rank: 1 = Low impact 2= Moderate Impact 3= High Impact -3 = No Impact yet observed Group members identified anti-poverty policies and programmes in Rwanda with potential to support poverty escapes and they went ahead to categorize them into the three categories. They later on ranked them using the given scale. In the following sub-section, we provide a summary description of each of the policy or programme identified in terms of the objective or the rationale for their introduction by the government of Rwanda. The details of the categorization and ranking can be found in ANNEX 1 of this document. 2. LIST OF POLICIES AND PROGRAMS 3.1 Policies i. 12 Years basic education policy In August 2010 , the President of the Republic of Rwanda made a new commitment to increase access to education to twelve years to enable all Rwandan children to complete full secondary education by 2018. Implementation of this policy began in 2012 with increased access to upper secondary being phased in over three years. ii. OVC Policy The main objective of this national policy is to protect the rights of the child and to ensure the physical and psychosocial long-term development of orphans and other vulnerable children. The Government of the Republic of Rwanda is committed to meeting the needs of the most vulnerable children through the provision of appropriate services and protection from harm. A vulnerable child is a person under 18 years exposed to conditions, which do not permit him/her to fulfill her/his fundamental rights for her/his harmonious development. iii. TVET policy The TVET policy has a vision to develop a regional and international TVET system that produces men and women quality graduates, with employability skills that respond to the changing demands of employers and the country's labor market, providing them with the opportunity to engage in decent work, work for themselves be competent entrepreneurs and engage in lifelong learning'. i. National gender policy The National Gender Policy highlights principal guidelines on which sectoral policies and programmes will base to integrate gender issues in their respective social, cultural, economic and political planning and programming. Implementation of the policy requires joint action of different actors, decision-makers, development workers and the entire population The National policy against Gender Based Violence ( GBV) The overall vision of this Policy is to ultimately build a Rwandan society that is GBV-free and, in the interim, to have a Rwandan society that can effectively and efficiently prevent and respond to GBV. The main mission of this policy is to contribute to the socio-economic development and promotion of human rights in Rwanda through the prevention of and response to gender-based violence. ii. Integrated Child rights policy (ICRP) The vision of the ICRP is to create an environment in which child's development, survival, protection and participation are ensured through a well coordinated and multi-sectoral approach, where the welfare of the children is ensured, their dignity and right to reach their full potential are guaranteed, and their responsibilities are fulfilled. iii. Water sanitation policy Rwanda has committed itself to reaching very ambitious targets in water supply and sanitation, with the vision to attain 100% service coverage by 2020. The importance of adequate water supply and sanitation services as drivers for social and economic development, poverty reduction and public health is fully acknowledged in Rwanda's flagship policy documents and political goals. iv. Nutrition food and nutrition strategic plan The NFNSP 2013 2018 outlines actions that address the most serious remaining problem regarding nutrition as presented in the NFNP. These include as the highest priority, the persistently high level chronic malnutrition in children under two years which is also noted specifically in the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy for 2013-201(EDPRS 2). 3.2 Programs i. School feeding This program was |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | National Stakeholders' workshop Tanzania |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The project's partner in Tanzania (ESRF) has conducted a stakeholder mapping. They have identified a list of people (spanning national policy makers, NGOs, bilateral and multilateral donors, academics, researchers and the media) and invited them to a stakeholder workshop. This was aimed at discussing the objectives of the project at the national level. The workshop produced a report, which details the activities and discussions developed during the meeting. From the identified 57 stakeholders, a total of 15 members of the Reference Group were selected and only 9 attended the RG meeting The report can be read below. Stakeholders' Workshop Report - Kunduchi Beach Hotel, Dar es Salaam November 09, 2015 1.0 Official Opening The workshop was officially opened at 09.00am after registration of all participants. The facilitator requested all participants to do self-introduction themselves by providing the name, the organization they are representing and their expectations from the workshop. The facilitator further welcomed the participants, appreciated their attendance and stressed on the significance of their contributions towards the success of the research project. The aims of the workshop were narrated as follows; • Introduce the research objectives to the stakeholders • Map out policies with a track record of, or the strong potential for, supporting poverty escapes • Generate and understand the political processes and the different interests surrounding these policies • Map out, analyze and identify stakeholders who will form the project reference group 2.0 An Overview of the Research Project The first presentation by Dr. Oswald Mashindano, Principal Research Associate, ESRF, provided an overview of the envisaged research project. It highlighted the collaborative nature of the research project, that is, the collaboration between Chronic Poverty Advisory Network (CPAN) under Oversees Development Institute (ODI) in the UK with partners in African Institutions notably the Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) in Tanzania, Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR) in Rwanda and Association of Ethiopian Microfinance Institutions (AEMFI/EIFTRI)/Addis Ababa University (AAU) in Ethiopia. The research project is funded by the Department for International Development (DfID) through the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The overall aim of the research project was narrated as to discuss and increase the understanding of the factors associated with: 1. Sustained escape routes from poverty 2. How policies and programs can support these escapes, and 3. The political and institutional pre-conditions under which these policies can successfully be initiated (see Annex 3 for the power point presentation). 3.0 An Overview of the Research Project The second presentation was delivered by Prof. Flora Kessy, Principal Research Associate, ESRF, and it dwelt on key issues and policies for sustained pathways out of multidimensional poverty. Background was provided on poverty status in Tanzania based on the Basic Needs and Multi-Poverty Index (MPI) indicators. The essence was to refresh the minds of the participants on the milestones ahead in reducing absolute and extreme poverty/chronic poverty and sustenance of the poverty escapes. Further, presentation was done on the drivers and maintainers of household poverty; evidence on the factors for poverty escapes and sustained escapes; importance of sustaining poverty escapes; and further pathways of sustained poverty escape e.g. contribution of gender and inequalities at various levels in sustaining the escapes. The research methodology including the primary data generation and the envisaged analyses (political economy of sustained poverty and pathways to impact) was narrated. Annex 4 shows the power point presentation for this session. 4.0 Discussion The discussion session was divided into two parts: 1. Discussion of key issues emanating from the presentations, e.g. on understanding of the research process and key outcomes 2. Mapping out policies with a track record of, or the strong potential for, supporting poverty escapes. 3. Discussion of political processes and the different interests surrounding these policies. 4.1 General Discussion • Given previous numerous efforts channeled in poverty reduction, there is an understanding on what poverty is and why poverty has not been reduced as expected. Thus, the title of this project could be "Road to Zero Poverty" instead of understanding and supporting sustained pathways out of extreme poverty and deprivation. This title assumes that there is no knowledge which may not be the case. • The presentations focused more on sources of qualitative rather than quantitative data. The presenters provided further clarification on the Q-squared methodology and sources of quantitative data and the envisaged analysis. Major source of quantitative data will be the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) mainly Household Budget Survey (HBS) and Panel Surveys, among others. • Clarification was needed on the specific poverty aspect that the research will tackle. The presenters clarified that the project focuses on chronic poverty i.e. poverty experienced by individuals or households over an extended period of time unlike to ordinary poverty. Experiences will be learnt from households that have escaped poverty and stayed out of it for a long time. • In addition to what was presented, participants mentioned the following other factors that make people fall into poverty (drivers of poverty): ? Climate shocks ? Cultural issues; lack of hard working spirit ? Gender imbalances e.g. unpaid work performed by women ? Ownership of productive resources such as land ? Large household in relation to the household's income ? Empowerment of Local Government • There was a concern about the scale of the three poverty dynamics of the project which are: (i) tackling chronic poverty, (ii) prevent impoverishment, (iii) sustain escapes from extreme poverty. It was noted that although the three items are inter-related, the item on preventing impoverishment is too broad and therefore highly demanding. It may not therefore be possible for this project to achieve. Presenters noted that although preventing impoverishment is a broad, more focus is on people very close to the poverty line to prevent them from falling below the poverty line. • Sustainability of income generating activities is key for ensuring sustained escapes from poverty for the marginalised sections of the society such as women, youth, people living with disabilities, the elderly, children and the rural population. • For policies to be effective in addressing chronic poverty there must be coordination and linkages of all interventions and institutions e.g. Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) and National Economic Empowerment Council (NEEC) that deal with poverty eradication so as to avoid duplication of efforts and therefor use available resources properly. • To tackle chronic poverty effectively, it is important to first, establish clearly the context specific factors that can make households/individuals chronically poor, that is, factors that can make someone remain in poverty for a long time. Thereafter, the tackling mechanisms will be identified based on the identified factors. • This theme is relevant and pertinent. It matches very well with the fifth phase government's priorities which include economic transformation through industrialization, enhancement of equitable access to increased growth, hard work, fight against corruption and economic saboteurs, empowerment of the local communities and micro scale enterprises, and the fight against poverty. • Over the years, poverty tackling mechanisms have been through projects mainly funded by donors and development partners. To address the three poverty dynamics, the country needs to move from the project approach towards the programs approach. Enough domestic resources have to be mobilised in order for country programs to be implemented in all sectors. • There is a need to establish gaps between the demand side of poor communities and the supply side which are mainly policies, programs and interventions for addressing chronic poverty. • Good governance and accountability are key ingredients in overcoming poverty. 4.2 Mapping Policies In light of their experience with poverty situation in the country, the presentation on the MPI indicators in Tanzania, and the current political economy landscape, workshop participants were requested to map out key policies and strategies that will contribute towards moving households out of poverty, sustain the escapes, and prevent the impoverishments. Employment creation policies The lack of employment creation and the phenomenon of jobless growth in the non-agricultural sectors was as mentioned as a concern. The project was asked to learn from other countries with similar context on what policies will stimulate movement of labor from low to higher productivity activities, for example, from agriculture to manufacturing and within the sectors, for example, from subsistence farming to high-value crops. Income and social redistribution policies The discussion on income and social redistributive policies centered on the current Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) Productive Social Safety Net (PSSN) and support that has been given to various group for income generation, notably women. It was cautioned that as much as cash transfers are necessary for smothering consumption of poor households (addressing consumption shocks), this is not sustainable. More needs to be done in terms of support to sustainable productive avenues. Examples of women groups in various areas that have been supported through development grants, assisted to identify productive opportunities in the rural areas were provided. It was mentioned that based on evidence generated from various evaluation studies, the households of the members of these groups have moved out of poverty and that the escapes have been sustained given that these women have productive assets. The facilitators noted that the examples provides on these policies can be used to address the intersecting inequalities in particular gender. Policies to Empower Local Government Authorities (District Councils) The Local Government Authorities (LGAs) in Tanzania face a number of constraints. They do not have full autonomy despite the fact that the program of Decentralization by Devolution (D-by-D) which started many years back was meant to do so. Consequently, LGAs do not have the freedom to make key decisions on resource allocation. Furthermore, the budget allocated to LGAs by the Central Government is very inadequate to enable them execute all the priorities in their annual plans. LGAs further experience long delayed disbursements of the approved resources from the Central Government. The planning and therefore budgeting process are not robust enough to make implementation of the District Development Plans (DDPs) effective. In addition, LGAs face some political interference which slows down the pace of implementation of the DDPs. These challenges faced by the LGAs have been affecting the functioning of the Local Government in Tanzania, and yet these are the most relevant government units for poverty reduction and therefore community development . Capacity Building Policies Limited capacity and limited involvement of the critical mass of implementers (key players at lower level): For many years capacity building at all levels particularly the lower level i.e. District Councils (headquarters), Ward and Village or community levels was lacking and yet these are key players in terms of implementation of all national development policies including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Two major capacity building areas that were particularly identified during the workshop include human resource capacity (skills development), and financial resources capacity. Human resource capacity building was associated with improved education and health systems, which will also address the critical shortage of experts in strategic areas in the country while financial resource capacity building was associated with resource mobilization skills; budgeting; strategic resource allocation; timely disbursement; revenue collection/mobilization; financial management and efficient resource utilization. This is another area which explains poor performance of the just concluded MDGs in Tanzania. 5.0 Reference Group Prof Kessy introduced the notion of Reference Group to the workshop participants and their role throughout the project t life cycle. Before the workshop, a group of individuals were selected by the research team to serve in the Reference Group. The selection took into consideration their expertise and experience in poverty and policy issues. Tables 1 and 2 below show the proposed list of members and those who agreed and participated in the workshop. Facilitators invited the members in Table 2 to a meeting that was held in the afternoon of 9th November 2014. A report with proceedings of this meeting is submitted separately. 6.0 Wrap-up and Closing Remark The presenters extended their sincere appreciations to the workshop participants who despite other pressing responsibilities in their respective institutions/ organizations decided to spare their precious time to attend the workshop and provide very useful information to guide the research project. The workshop was officially closed at 01:00pm but the Reference Group Members were invited for another meeting. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Policies and programmes to support poverty reduction - Rwanda event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | In Rwanda, poverty and extreme poverty have fallen from respectively 57 and 39 percent to 39 and 16 percent in the last 10 years. These figures are encouraging. However, in order to keep the pace of poverty reduction, there is a need to understand the factors driving this trend and how to foster it. To achieve a better understanding of how escapes from extreme poverty and deprivation can be sustained over time, the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR) and the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network (CPAN) have worked together on a research project "Understanding and supporting sustained pathways out of extreme poverty and deprivation". The project has been informed by two overall questions: (1) 'What factors shape pathways into and out of poverty and people's experience of these, and how can policy create sustained routes out of extreme poverty in ways that can be replicated and scaled up?';(2) 'What political and institutional conditions are associated with effective poverty reduction and development, and what can domestic and external actors do to promote these conditions?. As a result of an in-depth desk and field analysis, the IPAR-Rwanda and the CPAN have produced a report on poverty dynamics in Rwanda, which they aim to present and discussed at the 7th IPAR's Annual Conference. The conference provided policy makers with the latest evidence on policies and programmes which can assist in achieving positive poverty outcomes and sustained escapes out of poverty, both from Rwanda as well as countries to which Rwanda looks or could look for inspiration. The key issues discussed revolved around economic growth rates and patterns and policies; social protection; human development; transformational social, economic and environmental change; governance and institutions. The conference covers the research carried out on poverty reduction and the associated initiatives and policies to "Get to Zero" as well as on inequality reduction.The conference will also serve as the launch of the Poverty Advisory Group in Rwanda. This group will be hosted at IPAR and will consist of a team of research experts on poverty reduction. The goal of the network is to recurrently inform decision makers on the priority factors and strategies leading to poverty and extreme poverty reduction in Rwanda. The conference developed over one full day to report on the findings of research in Rwanda on poverty, poverty dynamics (sustaining escapes from poverty, stopping impoverishment and tackling chronic poverty). Additionally, the event brought keynote speakers from other developing countries which Rwandan policy makers like to learn from as well as one or two neighbouring African countries. The overall aim of the conference was to provide policy makers with the latest evidence on policies and programmes which can assist in achieving positive poverty outcomes and sustained escapes out of poverty, both from Rwanda as well as countries to which Rwanda looks or could look for inspiration. Speakers included key decision-makers and/or senior researchers from Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Bangladesh, Nepal and United Kingdom. A crossnational presentation on how to achieve sustained escapes from poverty, and another about the efficacy and implementation of graduation style programmes was part of the final presentations to Rwandan decision makers. In addition, there was a good spread of presentations and papers on the Rwandan experience and beyond. The conference was attended by some senior decision-makers in the Rwanda government including the Ministry of Finance and Economy's Chief Economist. There was representation from several ministries and donor agencies. The Rwanda national report is not yet published; impact would need to be assessed subsequently. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://www.ipar-rwanda.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=85&Itemid=262&lang=en |
| Description | Project's coordinators regular meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | CPAN in coordination with the national project's team in Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia have held a series of regular virtual meeting since October 2015. The main objective of these meetings has been to: - monitor the correct implementation of project activities, - coordinate the project's activities across countries (especially for project's activities that are common to the three countries), - provide a forum for discussion and information exchange for project's coordinators - coordinate and lead the drafting of the policy engagement and communication strategy in each country, providing support and explanations on each step Heretofore, approximately 10 meetings have taken place, allowing project's coordinators to discuss project's activities in the three countries, to exchange information and providing a space where project coordinators can exchange lesson learned, doubts and questions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015,2016 |
| Description | Project's leaders regular meetings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | CPAN, in collaboration with national teams involved in the project, has held a series of monthly virtual meeting with project's leaders in the three countries since January 2016. The final objective of these meetings is to provide a forum for discussion and information exchange among project's leaders, especially on issues related to the research's methodology. Currently 3 meetings have been held (in January, February and March 2016, involving project leaders from the three countries, CPAN members and the three advisors (Gender and Methodology Advisor, Quantitative Advisor, Political Economy Advisor). These meetings have been evaluated as particularly helpful by the project's teams as they offer an opportunity to discuss, to exchange information and get suggestions on the several project's methodological activities and implications. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015,2016 |
| Description | Reference Group Workshop Ethiopia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | During the stakeholder workshop, the country team has identified the members of the Reference Groups. Each Reference Group comprises national policy makers, practitioners, activists, academics and researchers with the experience, time and interest to engage with the project from start to finish. The aim of the Reference Group is to be the project's major vehicle for policy makers and practitioners to share experience of policies and programs that work using the results from the project. After the Stakeholder Workshops, the Ethiopia team has also held a Reference Group Workshop. In this meeting, the national Reference Group has been asked to identify the country's key policies with a track record of or the potential for supporting poverty escapes. The meeting was attended by members of the planning commission. The initial idea was to include different government offices (i.e. Ministry of Finance, economy, development and the planning commission). Since the government has undergone some changes, the planning commission will be the only invited. Plus a research centre. Ethiopia: Reference group took place on the 20th November 2015 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Reference Group Workshop Rwanda |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | After the Stakeholder Workshops, the Rwanda team has also held a Reference Group Workshop. In this meeting, the national Reference Group has been asked to identify the country's key policies with a track record of or the potential for supporting poverty escapes. Rwanda: Reference group meeting on the evening of the 28th October REFERENCE GROUP MEETING Kigali, Rwanda, 28th October 2015, UMUBANO HOTEL @2PM Executive Summary The reference group meeting was the first reference meeting organized by the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR- Rwanda) held under the research project: Understanding and Supporting Sustained Pathways Out Of Extreme Poverty and Deprivation. This Research project is being implemented by CPAN in partnership with three East African research bodies, the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR-Rwanda) is one of them for the case of Rwanda. This reference group meeting is part the methodological approach for this study and has brought together stakeholders identified as key actors from the stakeholder mapping that was done earlier during the inception phase of the project who included policymakers, practitioners and academics in Rwanda. These policy makers will be engaged at different stages of this research project. . The overall role of reference group meeting will be to generate information in the form of a participatory assessment of policies that address poverty dynamics in each context, as well as of the political and institutional pre-conditions for their implementation. This particular reference meeting sought to identify reference group members who will be involved throughout the research. The views in the reference group meeting were diverse and generated constructive discussions among the participants. 1. INTRODUCTION Professor Alfred Bizoza, Director of Research, IPAR-Rwanda, welcomed the potential reference group members to the afternoon session and introduced Mr Golooba Mutebi the session facilitator but also the political economy advisor the research teams under this research project 1.1 Role of Reference group members 1. Mr Golooba Mutebi the facilitator of the session and the political economy advisor to the project reiterated the roles of the reference group members. 2. He highlighted that the researchers are banking on the reference group members to know which policies are having an impact and those which are not. He said that there may be no time to focus on those emerging but specifically those which have been implemented for a good time now. Members will have to make the decision whether they are impacting. 3. Reference group members will also try to figure out the pre conditions for their implementation and possibilities of scaling up. He called upon the members to commit to providing comments and feedback on research outputs a critical role, reference members will need to play. This will ease validation of the report if this is played well. 2. Identification of reference group members The facilitator spoke about the reference members identified by the IPAR Research team who were identified using the following criteria: • Representation in the following levels: - Policy maker at East African region level - Policy Maker at Country level - Civil Society / NGO - Academic Institution • Directly involved in Poverty Reduction ( Either at policy level and Implementation ) 2.1 List of reference members proposed to the meeting by IPAR Ministries and government agencies Research academic institutions Civil society Development partners Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning University of Rwanda Action aid UNDP Ministry of Local government /LODA RALGA UNECA National Institute of Statistics Ministry of Trade and Industry National Youth Council National Women Council 2.2 Discussion The facilitator of the session opened the floor for participants to give their views and the following are some of their comments: • A member commented saying that there is need to seek commitment from the Ministries in order to support the all process and involvement of reference members. Members of the meeting advised to identify key persons first then write to the respective institution seeking for their commitment. • A member of the participants suggested that a consideration be made for members to return to their respective institutions and find out who can be nominated to the reference group meeting. But the political advisor mentioned that it is okay to suggest people who have been working in this area and who understand the political context of the country and then IPAR can approach them for commitment. • A participant noted that before suggesting a person there is need to first of all indicate the time they will need to allocate to the project. He said this relating to the fact that those he had in mind who have been involved in poverty work are very busy. He wondered what motivation they would get from participating as reference group members. The facilitator intervened saying that the time allocation also depends on the motivation and interest they have in the findings of the research and how it relates to the work they have done or are doing. This he said was what underlies commitment. • Another participant questioned the inclusion of BNR as a potential institution for reference and its relevance. The research leader replied saying that BNR has a research unit and can provide data on macroeconomic policies, financial stability and there are knowledgeable person's in the institution • A participant wondered what one of the roles to do with discussing the institutional pre conditions for the implementation and scaling up of policies, meant. The political advisor replied saying that they reference group members will need to talk about what is happening in politics that might affect decisions. • The facilitator also wondered if there is any donor working group that can be represented. The participants were told that there is a development partners group which includes EU, UNICEF and DFID. Members resolved that the Chair of the group who happens to be from DFID be invited to participate. • A member seconded that the National Youth Council be confirmed as a member of the reference group meeting given that they have done several poverty impact studies on youth, and can be contacted to share them. 3. Closing remarks Professor Bizoza thanked participants for attending the meeting. He appreciated the Political economy advisor for his presence and for facilitating the reference group meeting. He highlighted that IPAR will come up with a confirmed concrete list of proposed reference group members building on the list proposed. To end his remarks on behalf of the Executive Director, he appreciated the commitment of the participants shown during the all day and called upon their commitment throughout the project lifespan. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Reference Group Workshops Tanzania |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | After the Stakeholder Workshops, the Tanzania team has also held a Reference Group Workshop. In this meeting, the national Reference Group has been asked to identify the country's key policies with a track record of or the potential for supporting poverty escapes. Tanzania: Reference group meeting took place on November 09, 2015 Report on Reference Group Meeting - Kunduchi Beach Hotel, Dar es Salaam - 9thNovember 2015 Overview The reference group meeting was held back to back with the stakeholders meeting on 9th November 2015. The main objective of this meeting was to clarify the roles of the Reference Group and their engagement throughout the project lifecycle and provide more details on the nature of the envisaged collaboration with other Chronic Poverty Advisory Network (CPAN) partners and objectives of the research. Mapping of policies and strategies for sustaining escapes and preventing impoverishments was done in the stakeholders meeting and there was no need to repeat the exercise with this group since it is a sub-set of the stakeholders group. Collaboration The research titled "Understanding and Supporting Sustained Pathways Out of Extreme Poverty and Deprivation" is a collaborative research between Chronic Poverty Advisory Network (CPAN) under the Oversees Development Institute (ODI) and selected research institutions in Africa. It is a two years research project to be implemented in three countries in Africa (Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania). The Institutions in Africa include: • Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF), Tanzania • Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR), Rwanda • Association of Ethiopian Microfinance Institutions (AEMFI/EIFTRI) and Addis Ababa University (AAU), Ethiopia. Objectives of the Research Project The facilitators elaborated more on the objectives of this research. The overall aim of this project is to increase our understanding of the factors associated with sustained escapes from poverty, of how policies and programs can support these escapes and the political and institutional pre-conditions under which these policies can successfully be initiated. Our specific objectives are to: 1. Provide policy makers with quantitative and qualitative evidence of the key factors that, under different prevailing political settlements and for different groups of the population, enable sustained escapes from extreme poverty and deprivation, defined in both monetary and multi-dimensional terms. 2. Pinpoint the policies which help individuals and households to adopt strategies that facilitate sustained poverty escapes. 3. Establish context-specific, and probably multi-dimensional 'resilience thresholds', beyond which impoverishment is unlikely, and the policy implications. 4. Build the capacities of East African policy makers, development practitioners, researchers and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) to design, implement and lobby for policies that enable people to escape poverty, help them stay on an upward trajectory out of poverty and prevent their impoverishment (i.e. policies that address all three poverty dynamics). 5. Inform on the institutional and political conditions and the strategic alliances that, in different contexts, are necessary for fine-tuning and scaling-up policies that address poverty dynamics. Involvement of the Reference Group It was noted that the members of the Reference Group will be involved in a number of activities throughout the project, as "receivers" of the outputs produced, as "learners" and as "co-producers" of knowledge. Given their involvement with the policy makers at various levels, it is envisaged that they use the generated knowledge to influence change. Our theory of change is participate in Reference Group meetings, contribute and learn, and use the knowledge the effect change. Project Phases PhaseI: In Phase 1 (October - November 2015), the ESRF Director requested a group of 15 people to take part in the study as members of the Reference Group. However, only 8 responded and attended the stakeholders meeting. As noted above, stakeholders identified the country's key policies with a track record of or the potential for supporting poverty escapes. Members of Reference Group participated in the workshop. It was agreed with the 8 members of the Reference Group that the research team in collaboration with ESRF management will continue to make a follow up with other members in order to get at least 12-15 members. Phase II: During phase 2 (December 2015 - May 2016), the research team will keep the Reference Group informed about the progress of analytical work, and fieldwork, and provide the members with verbal feedback on emerging results, and early drafts of any outputs. Reference Group members will be encouraged to provide feedback to the research teams. Phase III: In Phase 3 (June - November 2016), and with the emerging research results in hand, workshops of the Reference Group will undertake participatory policy evaluation, discussing the poverty impact of the policies/programs initially identified, other policies which have emerged in the course of the research, as well as the political and institutional pre-conditions for their implementation and scaling up. Putting together actors with different stakes on the issues discussed, the workshop is expected to generate significant insights on the political processes and the different interests surrounding these policies. The knowledge so created will inform the national report and the two synthesis reports, while also directly improving the participants' capacity to think and act strategically about poverty reduction. The Way Forward It was agreed that ESRF make an official invitation, explaining the nature of the expected roles by the members of Reference Group so that members use these appointment letters to inform management in their organizations. In addition to that, it was also agreed that ESRF follow up all members of the Reference Group who could not attend the workshop and give them the feedback on what has been decided. Lastly, members of the Reference Group were informed that there will be regular meetings whose dates and venues will be communicated in advance.The members of Reference Group were given a copy of the Tanzania Human Development Report (THDR) which shows among others the poverty status using various poverty measures the paths towards a transformative growth. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Result dissemination workshop - Ethiopia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The team had conducted more than three stakeholder workshops since the inception of the project. The first one was organized on the 17th of August 2015, aiming to introduce the research project and to perform stakeholders mapping and analysis and define the reference group. The second one was Reference Group (RG) meeting at the National Planning Commission on the 19th of November, 2015. The research team members were connecting and discussing the status and the first result of the research with the reference group members and development partners of the government of Ethiopia (GoE) at different level and different occasions, this includes high profile government officials. The last result dissemination workshop was held on the 18th of February 2018 at AEMFI. About 13 key stakeholders participated in the workshop; this includes experts from urban food security and job opportunity agencies, microfinance directors, university professors, USAID, researchers and NGOs. Workshop objective The main purpose of the workshop was to present and discuss the outcomes of the quantitative and qualitative research. The following were also the objectives of the workshop: i. To create a dialog platform about how to fight of poverty andensure sustained escapes; ii. To present the existed policy framework on poverty reduction and the current outcomes at national level; iii. To hold an open discussion with participants on the main findings and the way forward; iv. To identify future poliies focused on poverty analysis. Welcome speech, Ato Teshome Kebede, Executive Director Ato Teshome gave his remarks by welcoming the attendees and presenting the aim and the importance of the research project. He also acknowledged the significance and usefulness of the workshop, and he mentioned that, as the problem of poverty is multifaceted, such workshop will produce policy oriented dialog across sectors and create behavioural changes and strengthen network. Presentation The research team members (Dr. Yisak Tafere and Manex Bule Yonis) presented both the quantitative and qualitative findings and open the floor for discussion. Discussions Participants made their remarks and raised questions. The following are few of the reflections from the participants. 1) Urban food security and job creation agency • The representative said that the research allows us to improve our understanding on poverty dynamics in Ethiopian and, more importantly, we have gained better understanding on the driving forces that allow to escape poverty sustainably. • She suggested that the findings should be disseminates across all offices working, directly or indirectly, on poverty. • She suggested that it will be more important if the factors are presented by under a rural/urban perspectives. 2) Association of Ethiopian Microfinance Institutions • The Director described the importance of such researches on the process to eradicate poverty in the country and recommended to keep doing research on poverty dynamics. • He asked why is credit is not supporting households to move out from poverty sustainably. The research team members as well as participants reflect their opinion on this regard. Possible cases discussed includes: the amount of the credit, cost of the credit, timing of the loan and the purpose of the loan. The house suggested in-depth analysis on correlation between credit and poverty in the country. 3) Addis Ababa University • Asked, why the poverty incidence between the study and the national figure is different. The team explained the difference of the data sets that were applied for this research and for the official estimate. • Asked, whether the research consider the recent re-classification of urban centers. The team replied that as the data set is panel we never apply any geo-data change. • Asked, why consumption not income for the poverty estimate. He also raised the issue of poverty line and asked why the team is not come up with new poverty line or how is accurate the official one. The team said, consumption is better way of poverty measurement in countries like Ethiopia as income data usually are skewed. The team applied the official poverty line. • Suggested to study the effect of alcoholism on poverty dynamics. 4) USAID • Remarked that the research could improve policymakers' understanding towards sustainable escape out of poverty. • Remarked that asset building programs need to be available and cover wide areas in the rural part of the Ethiopia. • Remarked that the agriculture sector is the main way of escaping poverty for rural poor and hence modernizing the sector and expand irrigation could help the process of reliance in the rural sector. 5) EDRI • Expressed the importance of such research and discussed why appropriate and efficient interventions are necessary to tackle the effects of shocks on keeping households to remain poor or impoverished. • Asked, why support packages are not helping households to escape poverty sustainably. The team said that this needs further analysis however participants there are scenarios that could explain this for example most support packages lack to have livelihood component that could support households to save and invest. • Suggested further analysis on the association between poverty and access to credit. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Training of life history data collection and running focus groups at the community level |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | A workshop on how to train local researchers in the collection of life histories has developed in each of the three partnering countries (Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania). These workshops were fundamental to the development of the project as they enabled local researchers to develop fieldwork as well as to collect and analyse the data used to create anonymous life histories. The workshop targeted qualitative researchers in the national research teams and were led by experienced researchers that had either worked with CPAN in the past, therefore were familiar with the life histories approach, or that have been trained by CPAN. To this regard, a methodological guide was developed during phase 1 of the project to guide the trainers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017 |
| Description | Understanding and supporting sustained pathways out of extreme poverty - ODI event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | If the world is to 'Get to Zero' extreme poverty this will require, not just ensuring that men and women currently living in poverty are able to escape it, but that new individuals do not become impoverished and that those who have escaped poverty do not once again fall below the poverty line. Recent research by ODI that examined poverty dynamics in 14 countries revealed a disturbing trend: In countries like Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, a significant proportion of rural households that escaped poverty fell back into it during the following 8 to 10 years. Many non-poor rural households also became poor during the same period. As a result, the rate of rural households descending into poverty (becoming impoverished) in these countries exceeds the rate of those sustainably escaping it. Investigating such trend has therefore emerged as an absolute priority for CPAN. As result of an in-depth desk and field analysis, CPAN, in partnership with research organisations in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Nepal Bangladesh and Uganda, has produced a series of country case studies that shed light on the conditions that have allowed, or failed to allow, a sustained escape from poverty. CPAN has organised this conference is to provide CPAN's target audience with the latest evidence on policies and programmes which can assist in achieving positive poverty outcomes. The key issues discussed revolved around economic growth rates, patterns and policies; social protection; human development; transformational social, economic and environmental change; governance and institutions. The event aims to bring together renowned international economists, opinion leaders and national researchers to discuss poverty dynamics and the policies that could support sustained escapes from poverty. This event was split into different sessions, each of which discussed sustaining escapes from poverty, stopping impoverishment and tackling chronic poverty. The sessions were informed by the research findings of the country case studies and synthesis report, and relevant policy implications and recommendations have been discussed among donor agencies, development practitioners and policy-makers from developing country governments and international organisations. The conference gathered around 100 people between those present and the others joining online through the online streaming. Each panel presentation was followed by an open discussion with the audience (online too). Social media were widely used throughout the conference by the event's organisers but also by participants, who used the conference's hashtag #NeverFallBack to share information. The hashtag itself become popular on Twitter and contributed to the dissemination of concepts such as growth from below and poverty dynamics. Interest in this findings has been showed after the conference by relevant implementing organisations and donors. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.odi.org/events/4532-sustaining-pathways-out-extreme-poverty |
| Description | Webinar on Poverty monitoring in the context of Covid-19 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This webinar brought together researchers, practitioners and policy makers to discuss the impacts of the virus and short-term policy responses on the world's poorest, and the adjustments to immediate policy responses needed to prevent impoverishment, hunger and destitution. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://odi.org/en/events/poverty-monitoring-in-the-context-of-covid-19/ |