The Ten Commandments of Pro-Poor Growth

According to Mwangi S. Kimenyi in the latest issue of Poverty in Focus, trying to “highlight the importance of thinking about the poor as people rather than mere numbers and getting a better understanding of the economy and the linkages within sectors and regions”.

Pro-poor reform policies should:

1. Target activities which most poor are involved in, and because markets of the poor are generally not well integrated with other formal markets, pro-poor policies must influence markets of the poor directly and should not be based on assumed leakages from other sectors.
2. Focus on improving the functioning of markets where poor people participate.
3. Target low skill, labour intensive economic activities.
4. Seek to reduce market segmentation so that markets for the poor are better integrated in the economy. This means improving on the forward and backward linkages.
5. Ring-fence public expenditures for raising capabilities of the poor.
6. Target those groups that operate outside the markets with the aim of creating markets.
7. Include a food security policy.
8. Include policy initiatives that protect vulnerable populations from large swings in welfare.
9. Include policies that support accumulation of tradable assets by the poor.
10. Include institutional reforms that empower the poor through progressive diffusion of power.

By the same author: 

Economic Reforms and Pro-Poor Growth: Lessons for Africa and other Developing Regions and Economies in Transition
Source: World Bank Poverty and Growth Program