9 research outputs found

    Heavy clouds but no rain

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    The thesis discusses different theories about agricultural growth and their applicability in Sub-Saharan Africa. Starting in a debate about lack of expected results from economic reform programmes, the study goes on to describe the situation prevailing on the Mossi Plateau of central Burkina Faso. This area has been selected as a case where agricultural reforms have been implemented properly, and hence positive results from liberalisation in terms of agricultural growth should be expected. In spite of this, what is found is an increasing level of income diversification, combined with the upholding of self-subsistence farming with traditional methods. The factor explaining the prevalence of income diversification is the level of reluctance to change. Underlying this reluctance to change are four indigenous institutions: the upholding of social relationships, the household as the basic production unit, customary land tenure and the upholding of local power structures. These four institutions are also found to influence the level of economic dynamism more broadly. Hence, they determine the scope for agricultural growth. However, some growth is taking place first and foremost in the fields of vegetable gardening, cotton cultivation and cattle breeding. In these areas change is possible because it can take place without challenging the identity of Mossi peasantries. Some members of households are also able to be more dynamic than others since they have roles that are freer. The indigenous institutions that guide Mossi economic behaviour are rules that are constitutive, that is, the upholding of them contribute to create meaning for those who follow them. In this they way, they belong to logic of appropriateness. Based on these findings neoclassic as well as New Institutional Economic theories are criticised, as are other theories that indirectly make the assumption that agricultural growth is hindered or held back by an irrelevant institutional pattern. In order to make sense, theories about agricultural growth in Sub-Saharan Africa need to take indigenous institutions into consideration and give them a proper role

    Understanding poverty in Africa? : A navigation through disputed concepts, data and terrains

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    In any international comparison, sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the most pervasive poverty. The study of African societies requires the study of numerous dynamics, processes and situations with links to poverty issues. Recent methodological innovations hold that research into poverty should be multidimensional, dynamic and cross-disciplinary. But how can such research be undertaken? This volume comprises two separate articles. The first provides an overview of major conceptual positions on poverty. With the focus on theoretical and methodological issues, it argues that the epistemological and normative elements have not been sufficiently emphasised in the attempts to bring different disciplinary approaches together. Such elements constitute fundamental dividing lines in the poverty debate. However, the article goes on to argue that the capability approach has promising potential for bridging these divides.The second article is an empirical study of recent poverty developments in Tanzania and Burkina Faso. Common to both countries – one in East and the other in West Africa – is that a largely subsistence agricultural sector dominates their economies. The article combines quantitative and qualitative methods to show that regional differences in the structures of agricultural production may in large part explain variations in poverty

    More Tax, Better Governments

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    It has been argued that aid donors should focus more on supporting low-income countries to broaden their tax base and raise overall taxation. Besides increasing revenue, this has also a political objective. When citizens are taxed without excessive coercion, taxation can contribute considerably to improved governance and accountability, and to state building. Due to the effects of the financial crisis, calls for increased mobilisation of domestic resources are now being renewed. But is broadened taxation a viable strategy? Some signs of progress are visible in sub-Saharan Africa. However, governments and donors need to see taxation as part of the broader framework of social contracts and not to lose sight of the bigger picture

    Why is agriculture so important to reducing poverty?

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    Over the last few years, there has been both talk about and action regarding the long-term neglect of agriculture in development. An agricultural revival has occurred, with African governments committing themselves to spending at least 10 per cent of their budgets on agriculture. Donors such as the World Bank and many bilateral organizations are refocusing on the sector. This is partly due to the prevalence of rural poverty in sub-Saharan Africa as well as in South Asia. Despite this, the debate on the appropriate role of agriculture in economic growth lingers on among academics and policymakers. In particular, agriculture’s contribution to broader economic growth is questioned. Should growth be driven by agriculture or by something else? Recent empirical studies and earlier theoretical work demonstrate that growth in the agricultural sector has contributed more to poverty reduction than growth in non-agricultural sectors. This paper discusses this issue and highlights some of the preconditions for the achievement of this outcome
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