106 Book Reviews
The Design and Management of Poverty Reduction Programmes and Projects
in Anglophone Africa, Michael Bamberger, Abdullahi M. Yahie, George Matovu
(eds), 1996, Economic Development Institute of The World Bank, EDI Learning
Resources Series, World Bank, Washington D C, ISBN:0-8213-2767-4, (p/b),
Price: N/K.
Poverty alleviation has become a timely topic in the developing countries in recent
years, particularly in the context of structural adjustment programmes (S APs). The
volume edited by Bamberger, Yahie and Matovu was published at a time when
several African countries were implementing poverty alleviation programmes. It
addresses important issues such as the development of guidelines for improving the
identification, design, implementation, and sustainability of poverty reduction
programmes and projects.
The volume under review is based on papers presented at a seminar in Kampala,
in 1991 on "theDesignandManagementofTargetedPovertyAlleviationProjects
in Anglophone Africa." The seminar was jointly organised by the Economic
Development Institute, the Poverty and Social Policy Division of the Africa
Technical Department of the World Bank and the Uganda Management Institute.
The main objectives of the planners, poverty programme managers and researchers
from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia who
attended were to review the participating countries' experiences with poverty
reduction programmes and to develop guidelines for improving the "identification,
design, implementation, and sustainability" of national programmes and
projects.
The volume, which is a compendium of 13 essays, begins with a lucid 8-page
overview which provides an excellent summary of poverty alleviation strategies in
Africa and guidelines for the design and management of poverty programmes and
projects. The essays are grouped into five broad parts that address: (a) approaches
to poverty alleviation in Sub-Saharan Africa; (b) key issues in poverty alleviation;
(c) lessons from project visits; (d) guidelines for the design and management of
targeted poverty alleviation projects; and (e) recommendations and conclusions.
Chukwuma Obidegwu provides a comprehensive and well-written discussion
of economic trends, adjustment and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. He argues that
the macro-economic reforms have generated extensive transitional problems (eg,
poverty) and marked socio-spatial inequalities. Abdullahi Yahie's essay on poverty
and approaches to poverty alleviation in Ghana, Uganda, Zambia and Malawi
evaluates the effectiveness of the economic development policies and poverty
programmes in the four countries.
Michael Bamberger offers a penetrating analysis of the crucial role of strategic,
conceptual, institutional and operational issues, in the design and management of
targeted poverty alleviation programmes. In the next chapter, which I found very
Book Reviews 107
instructive, Bamberger draws on extensive first-hand experience to examine
poverty alleviation approaches in Latin America and Asia (eg, social funds,
targeting, credit, etc) and their potential applicability in Africa.
George Matovu, David Kithakey and Abdullahi Yahie discuss decentrnlisation
and its effects on poverty alleviation efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa. Michael
Bamberger and Apollonia Kerenge examine gender issues in poverty alleviation
and highlight several "gender-basedforms of exclusion" such as women's limited
access to shelter, fuel and health services, plus increased exposure to environmental
problems. After examining the factors that hinder women's participation in antipoverty
programmes the authors suggest practical ways of making the programmes
more gender-sensitive. The two authors provide a rich overview of the issues that
adversely affect African women.
The role of NGOs in poverty alleviation programmes is examined by Abdou
Drabo and Abdullahi Yahie. The authors are, however, silent about the existing
power relations between NGOs that are often resource-rich and the shaky Structurally-
adjusting governments in the South. Joseph Okune examines the Programme
to Alleviate Poverty and Social Costs of Adjustment (PAPSCA) which was
introduced by the Government of Uganda to alleviate poverty and the social costs
of adjustment after the adoption of the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) in
1987. George Matovu and Abdullahi Yahie highlight the lessons learned from
three project visits undertaken during the seminar to an urban renewal project in
Kampala; the Rakai AIDS orphans project; and the Luwero war widows project.
Though interesting, the essay however seems out of place in the volume and should
not have been included. Abdullahi Yahie focuses on adapting the project cycle to
the special characteristics of poverty alleviation projects.
The essay by Abdullahi Yahie on "Improving the Selection and Design of
Poverty Alleviation Projects" takes the reader through practical ways of improving
anti-poverty projects. The penultimate chapter by Abdullahi Yahie provides useful
guidelines on how to improve the implementation and sustainability of poverty
alleviation projects. In the final chapter Michael Bamberger and Abdullahi Yahie
provide several practical recommendations and conclusions. A few of the more
interesting include recommendations on improving the identification, selcction,
design, implementation and sustainability of poverty alleviation projects.
Although the editors have produced a readable volume, some of the common
problems of an edited volume are evident. For example, the essays vary considerably
in their thoroughness, analytic depth and linguistic style. Nevertheless, this
volume is an important addition to the burgeoning literature on poverty and is a
valuable reference source for practitioners, policy-makers, development agencies,
and researchers.
Reviewed by Dr D S Tevera, Chairman. Department of Geography , University of
Zimbabwe.
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