The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a technical assistance (TA) grant of $400,000 to Government of Pakistan to research the determinants and drivers of poverty reduction and ADB's contribution in rural Pakistan.
The TA is from the Poverty Reduction Co-operation Fund, financed by the United Kingdom.
Rural poverty rose sharply in Pakistan in the 1990s, while the rural-urban gap in social indicators also increased significantly. Researchers have found that the rural poor lack access to adequate land, water, and finance; have little human capital; and face limited job opportunities in rural areas.
Against this background, the research seeks to not only identify the major determinants of rural poverty, but to also propose recommendations in designing the most effective rural poverty reduction interventions by the government, ADB, other development agencies, and NGOs/ RSPs.
"The TA will analyse the relationship between agricultural growth and rural poverty, as well as the link between rural poverty and transformation of the rural economy," said Marshuk Ali Shah, Country Director for ADB in Pakistan.
From this, the TA will recommend both farm and non-farm interventions and job generation schemes that would benefit the rural poor.
He stressed that, with the focus of the TA on rural poverty, its outputs and results will assist in implementing the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), which was finalised in December 2003, and will also help guide and inform future PRSP updates.
Naved Hamid, Senior Economic Adviser at ADB, added that an important aim of the TA would be to assess the effectiveness of interventions for rural poverty reduction and social safety net programs to identify interventions having the greatest impact.
THE TA RESEARCH HAS BEEN DIVIDED INTO FOUR MAJOR AREAS: Economics of rural poverty; Social structures and access to social services for the poor; Impact of governance and institutional factors on rural poverty; Effectiveness of interventions for rural poverty reduction and social safety net programs.
Gender and the environment-issues that cut across all aspects of poverty and drivers of poverty reduction-will be included in each area.
The Executing Agency for the TA is the Ministry of Finance (PRSP Secretariat). An advisory committee will be created, headed by the Ministry of Finance, to provide overall guidance for the TA. The TA will start in April 2004, and will be carried out over 18 months.
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