Did rapid smallholder-led agricultural growth fail to reduce rural poverty?: Making sense of Malawi’s poverty puzzle
Disappointment was widespread when rapid economic growth since 2005, coupled with a smallholder-targeted fertilizer subsidy program, failed to significantly reduce poverty in Malawi. Official estimates for 2011 showed a 1.7 percentage point decline in national poverty between 2005 and 2011, while ru...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Artículo preliminar |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
United Nations University
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151328 |
| _version_ | 1855513229124435968 |
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| author | Pauw, Karl Beck, Ulrik Mussa, Richard |
| author_browse | Beck, Ulrik Mussa, Richard Pauw, Karl |
| author_facet | Pauw, Karl Beck, Ulrik Mussa, Richard |
| author_sort | Pauw, Karl |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Disappointment was widespread when rapid economic growth since 2005, coupled with a smallholder-targeted fertilizer subsidy program, failed to significantly reduce poverty in Malawi. Official estimates for 2011 showed a 1.7 percentage point decline in national poverty between 2005 and 2011, while rural poverty increased marginally. In this study we estimate an alternative set of regional poverty lines using a cost of basic needs method that allows the consumption bundle to vary spatially and temporally while ensuring utility consistency. Our poverty figures suggest a substantial 7.3 percentage point decrease in national poverty over the analysis period, driven largely by a sharp reduction in rural poverty. These results are more consistent with the observed level of economic growth and improvements in several non-monetary dimensions of well-being. However, we find that extreme poverty did increase, suggesting that the most vulnerable people continue to be excluded from the benefits of economic policy and growth. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace151328 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publishDateRange | 2014 |
| publishDateSort | 2014 |
| publisher | United Nations University |
| publisherStr | United Nations University |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1513282025-12-08T10:29:22Z Did rapid smallholder-led agricultural growth fail to reduce rural poverty?: Making sense of Malawi’s poverty puzzle Pauw, Karl Beck, Ulrik Mussa, Richard cost analysis equality Disappointment was widespread when rapid economic growth since 2005, coupled with a smallholder-targeted fertilizer subsidy program, failed to significantly reduce poverty in Malawi. Official estimates for 2011 showed a 1.7 percentage point decline in national poverty between 2005 and 2011, while rural poverty increased marginally. In this study we estimate an alternative set of regional poverty lines using a cost of basic needs method that allows the consumption bundle to vary spatially and temporally while ensuring utility consistency. Our poverty figures suggest a substantial 7.3 percentage point decrease in national poverty over the analysis period, driven largely by a sharp reduction in rural poverty. These results are more consistent with the observed level of economic growth and improvements in several non-monetary dimensions of well-being. However, we find that extreme poverty did increase, suggesting that the most vulnerable people continue to be excluded from the benefits of economic policy and growth. 2014 2024-08-01T02:56:41Z 2024-08-01T02:56:41Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151328 en https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198744795.003.0005 Open Access United Nations University Pauw, Karl; Beck, Ulrik; and Mussa, Richard. 2014. Did rapid smallholder-led agricultural growth fail to reduce rural poverty? Making sense of Malawi’s poverty puzzle. WIDER Working Paper 123. Helsinki, Finland: United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER). https://doi.org/10.35188/unu-wider/2014/844-5 |
| spellingShingle | cost analysis equality Pauw, Karl Beck, Ulrik Mussa, Richard Did rapid smallholder-led agricultural growth fail to reduce rural poverty?: Making sense of Malawi’s poverty puzzle |
| title | Did rapid smallholder-led agricultural growth fail to reduce rural poverty?: Making sense of Malawi’s poverty puzzle |
| title_full | Did rapid smallholder-led agricultural growth fail to reduce rural poverty?: Making sense of Malawi’s poverty puzzle |
| title_fullStr | Did rapid smallholder-led agricultural growth fail to reduce rural poverty?: Making sense of Malawi’s poverty puzzle |
| title_full_unstemmed | Did rapid smallholder-led agricultural growth fail to reduce rural poverty?: Making sense of Malawi’s poverty puzzle |
| title_short | Did rapid smallholder-led agricultural growth fail to reduce rural poverty?: Making sense of Malawi’s poverty puzzle |
| title_sort | did rapid smallholder led agricultural growth fail to reduce rural poverty making sense of malawi s poverty puzzle |
| topic | cost analysis equality |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151328 |
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