Pro-Poor AID: The World Bank Malawi, Ethiopia, Zambia

Not that you need any more amunition as to whether current AID policies are pro poor, still here is a summary and link to an article that Eldis.org reviewed.  The punch line, and I’m quoting here.

 ’This report states that not only have past policies of deep liberalisation insisted on by the World Bank increased hunger for the poorest people, but current partial liberalisation – the mix of imposed liberalisation from the outside together with ongoing state intervention in certain areas – is barely an improvement. It argues that the faults lie as much with national governments as with the World Bank, which are both essentially undemocratic, elitist actors, who are ignoring the needs of poor farmers.’

The article is called, Deadly combination: the role of southern governments and the World Bank in the rise of hunger.  The imact of World Bank policies on poor farmers in Malawi, Ethiopia and Zambia

The authors are: M. Curtis; Folkekirkens Nodhjaelp; Brot fur die Welt; Church of Sweden
Publisher: Norwegian Church Aid , 2007

So here are the questions, what do pro-poor governments look like?  How can donor agencies support a government that is pro-poor?  I’m guessing governments that implement systems that look for creative development solutions might be pro-poor.  I’m also guessing governments that refuse some types of aid and accept others are probably better equiped to articulate which support they need.  Either way the answer to these two questions are what I’d like to read about.