Poverty Reduction Strategies During Post-conflict Recovery in Africa

The period 1990–2000 saw 19 major armed conflicts in Africa. Peace has been elusive, and the term ‘post-conflict’ often a sad misnomer. War is expensive and hence has powerful economic consequences. Civil war, which is now, by far, the most common form of conflict in Africa, is particularly damaging, reduces incomes, increases capital flight and diverts activity into subsistence livelihood. Post-conflict situations are characterised by unusually wide range of outcomes. While on average economies rebound from war, in some the economies decline and in others they revert to conflict after some time (Collier et al., 2003). Policy choices concerning the economic recovery of these hopeful but fragile situations have received far less attention than issues of humanitarian needs. The current efforts of many African countries coming out of conflicts to develop Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) reflect increased emphasis on mainstreaming poverty reduction through better inter-agency and inter-sectoral co-ordination, and through participatory consultation, consensus building and planning. In addition, it has been widely agreed upon that HIV/AIDS should be prominent in the Poverty Reduction Strategies of poor African countries in light of the challenges that the pandemic poses to poverty reduction efforts. PRSP has become the primary tool in nearly all African countries for articulation of the strategies for growth and poverty reduction. The paper provides the main challenges that the PRSP formulation faces in a post-conflict environment. The key questions discussed in the paper include: Can PRSP work in a post-conflict situation? Are PRSP really relevant at all in such countries? Does a PRSP formulated in a conflict-free country guarantee poverty reduction and overall welfare of the society? Since PRSPs in Africa came at a time when the continent had no choice, are they really home grown as often alleged? How have international donors engaged in the process and what is the way forward? The paper also reviews the historical perspective of conflicts in Africa and points out experiences in some of the conflict-affected African countries as they develop and implement their PRSPs. It concludes that not all African countries in post-conflict recovery have successfully developed their PRSPs. Some are still in the process of doing so and others who have endeavoured to draft one, have not correctly spelled out the donor-specific key objectives of the government's commitment to poverty reduction. Finally, PRSPs often emphasise consumption-related expenditures in mainly social sectors like education and health while ignoring the sectors where the poor are dominant (for example, agriculture). Quite often, the emphasis on such sectors do not lead to significant poverty reduction whether in a post-conflict or conflict-free country.