Energy and Environment

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and the Environment.

In October 2000, UNSO (now the Drylands Development Centre) undertook a review of existing Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs/IPRSPs) to evaluate the extent to which they address environmental issues. We reviewed PRSPs/IPRSPs for the following countries (that contain significant areas of ASAL):
Benin, Bolivia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

This preliminary review of the first PRSPs/IPRSPs developed, showed the following:

i) Little attention was paid to drylands, environmental and natural resource management issues in most PRSPs/IPRSPs reviewed.
ii) Most PRSPs have a strong focus on public expenditure, in particular on redeploying the resources previously used for servicing debt into areas that address poverty directly (i.e. health and education).
iii) Of the PRSPs/IPRSPs that mapped poverty within the nation, it is evident that many nations have a higher incidence of poverty in ASAL (like Kenya, Uganda and Ghana).

For the vast majority of the rural poor in Africa (and for the urban poor who rely on the goods and services that rural areas provide to cities) such pro-poor growth will depend upon the exploitation of natural resources (land, water and biodiversity). Therefore it is vital that PRSPs/IPRSPs address drylands, natural resource management and environmental issues. Many of the more recent IPRSPs/PRSPs have realized the importance of these issues, which are increasingly reflected in them. The Drylands Development Centre will continue to monitor these papers to ensure that the links between poverty and the environment are considered a priority (particularly in developing countries with significant ASAL).