Growth, Safety Nets and Poverty : Assessing Progress in Ethiopia from 1996 to 2011

Hill, Ruth Vargas ; Tsehaye, Eyasu

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: POVERTY REDUCTION;    ECONOMIC GROWTH;    SAFETY NETS;    ACCESS TO SERVICES;    AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-8380
RP-ID  :  WPS8380

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

In the past 10 years, Ethiopiaexperienced high and consistent growth, invested in publicgoods provision to poor households, and saw impressive gainsin well-being for many households. This paper exploitsvariation in sectoral growth and public goods provisionacross zones and time, to examine whether poverty reductionwas driven by growth and provision of public goods and whattype of growth -- growth in agriculture, manufacturing, orservices -- was more effective at reducing poverty. Thepaper pays particular attention to controlling for otherdrivers of poverty reduction and instrumenting growth in asector of particular policy focus -- agriculture -- toidentify causal effects. The analysis finds that reductionsin poverty were largest in places where agricultural outputgrowth has been higher, safety nets have been introduced,and improvements in market access have been made.Agricultural output growth caused reductions in poverty of2.2 percent per year on average post-2005, and 0.1 percentper year prior to 2005. The government's policy focuson stimulating productivity gains in smallholder cerealfarmers contributed to this growth, but only when theweather was good, and prices were high. Access to marketswas essential: agricultural growth reduced poverty in placesclose to urban centers, but not in remote parts of the country.