Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa : Current and Emerging Issues

This volume discusses long-standing, but central, economic issues in Sub-Saharan Africa, including the nature of growth-poverty-inequality relations, agriculture, the labour market and openness, and globalization.

After many years of disappointing performance, Sub-Saharan Africa has shown impressive growth performance since the start of the millenium. However, the impact of this on poverty reduction is still not well understood and this led the African Economics Research Consortium in Nairobi to undertake a major collaborative research project on the linkages between growth and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa. This volume is based on research undertaken by world leading researchers on major issues influencing the extent to which growth can translate into poverty reduction. The volume includes two review chapters on the impact of growth on poverty reduction, and on the impact of widespread poverty on economic growth, and argues that both relationships are important for understanding how growth and poverty reduction interact. The volume focuses, in detail, on the role of agriculture, the labour market, the informal sector, the industrial sector, the global context, and macroeconomic issues. All chapters comprise an extensive review of the existing literature and highlight new and important directions. As more information on the evolution of poverty and living conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa emerge, this volume is important in helping to interpret and explain that evidence.