Revisiting poverty trends and the role of social protection systems in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic: Working Paper

Quantifying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on poverty in Africa has been as difficult as predicting the path of the pandemic, mainly due to data limitations. The advent of new data sources, including national accounts and phone survey data, provides an opportunity for a thorough reassessment of...

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Main Authors: Abay, Kibrom A., Yonzan, Nishant, Kurdi, Sikandra, Tafere, Kibrom
Format: Artículo preliminar
Language:Inglés
Published: World Bank 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/127214
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author Abay, Kibrom A.
Yonzan, Nishant
Kurdi, Sikandra
Tafere, Kibrom
author_browse Abay, Kibrom A.
Kurdi, Sikandra
Tafere, Kibrom
Yonzan, Nishant
author_facet Abay, Kibrom A.
Yonzan, Nishant
Kurdi, Sikandra
Tafere, Kibrom
author_sort Abay, Kibrom A.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Quantifying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on poverty in Africa has been as difficult as predicting the path of the pandemic, mainly due to data limitations. The advent of new data sources, including national accounts and phone survey data, provides an opportunity for a thorough reassessment of the impact of the pandemic and the subsequent expansion of social protection systems on the evolution of poverty in Africa. This paper combines per capita gross domestic product growth from national accounts with data from High-Frequency Phone Surveys for several countries to estimate the net impact of the pandemic on poverty. It finds that the pandemic increased poverty in Africa by 1.5–1.7 percentage points in 2020, relatively smaller than early estimates and projections. The paper also finds that countries affected by fragility, conflict, and violence experienced the greatest increases in poverty, about 2.1 percentage points in 2020. Furthermore, the paper assesses and synthesizes empirical evidence on the role that social protection systems played in mitigating the adverse impact of the COVID-19 crisis in Africa. It reviews social protection responses in various African countries, mainly focusing on the impact of these programs and effectiveness of targeting systems. Although the evidence base on the protective role of social protection programs during the pandemic remains scarce, the paper highlights important findings on the impacts of these programs while also uncovering some vulnerabilities in social protection programming in Africa. Finally, the paper draws important lessons related to the delivery, targeting, and impact of various social protection programs launched in Africa in response to the pandemic.
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spelling CGSpace1272142025-11-06T05:03:13Z Revisiting poverty trends and the role of social protection systems in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic: Working Paper Abay, Kibrom A. Yonzan, Nishant Kurdi, Sikandra Tafere, Kibrom coronavirus coronavirus disease coronavirinae covid-19 poverty data surveys social welfare income fragility conflict violence evidence programmes social protection conflicts gross national product Quantifying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on poverty in Africa has been as difficult as predicting the path of the pandemic, mainly due to data limitations. The advent of new data sources, including national accounts and phone survey data, provides an opportunity for a thorough reassessment of the impact of the pandemic and the subsequent expansion of social protection systems on the evolution of poverty in Africa. This paper combines per capita gross domestic product growth from national accounts with data from High-Frequency Phone Surveys for several countries to estimate the net impact of the pandemic on poverty. It finds that the pandemic increased poverty in Africa by 1.5–1.7 percentage points in 2020, relatively smaller than early estimates and projections. The paper also finds that countries affected by fragility, conflict, and violence experienced the greatest increases in poverty, about 2.1 percentage points in 2020. Furthermore, the paper assesses and synthesizes empirical evidence on the role that social protection systems played in mitigating the adverse impact of the COVID-19 crisis in Africa. It reviews social protection responses in various African countries, mainly focusing on the impact of these programs and effectiveness of targeting systems. Although the evidence base on the protective role of social protection programs during the pandemic remains scarce, the paper highlights important findings on the impacts of these programs while also uncovering some vulnerabilities in social protection programming in Africa. Finally, the paper draws important lessons related to the delivery, targeting, and impact of various social protection programs launched in Africa in response to the pandemic. 2022-09-01 2023-01-16T15:21:17Z 2023-01-16T15:21:17Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/127214 en Open Access application/pdf World Bank Abay, Kibrom A.; Yonzan, Nishant; Kurdi, Sikandra; and Tafere, Kibrom. 2022. Revisiting poverty trends and the role of social protection systems in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic: Working Paper. Policy Research Working Papers 10172. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/38014
spellingShingle coronavirus
coronavirus disease
coronavirinae
covid-19
poverty
data
surveys
social welfare
income
fragility
conflict
violence
evidence
programmes
social protection
conflicts
gross national product
Abay, Kibrom A.
Yonzan, Nishant
Kurdi, Sikandra
Tafere, Kibrom
Revisiting poverty trends and the role of social protection systems in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic: Working Paper
title Revisiting poverty trends and the role of social protection systems in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic: Working Paper
title_full Revisiting poverty trends and the role of social protection systems in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic: Working Paper
title_fullStr Revisiting poverty trends and the role of social protection systems in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic: Working Paper
title_full_unstemmed Revisiting poverty trends and the role of social protection systems in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic: Working Paper
title_short Revisiting poverty trends and the role of social protection systems in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic: Working Paper
title_sort revisiting poverty trends and the role of social protection systems in africa during the covid 19 pandemic working paper
topic coronavirus
coronavirus disease
coronavirinae
covid-19
poverty
data
surveys
social welfare
income
fragility
conflict
violence
evidence
programmes
social protection
conflicts
gross national product
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/127214
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