Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP)

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) describe a country's macroeconomic, structural, and social policies and programs to promote growth and reduce poverty, as well as associated external financing needs. PRSPs are prepared by governments through a participatory process that involves civil society and development partners, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers provide the basis for World Bank and IMF assistance as well as debt relief under the HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) Initiative. PRSPs should be country-driven, comprehensive, partnership-oriented, and participatory. A country only needs to write a PRSP every three years; however, changes can be made to the content of a PRSP using an Annual Progress Report.  For more information, please refer to the  World Bank Povertynet website.

Zambia Poverty and Vulnerability Assessment

The report documents poverty in Zamia along a number of dimensions, including material deprivation, human deprivation, vulnerability, destitution, and social stigmatization. The report identified a number of basic actions to facilitate growth in the rural sector; these include (1) a (revived) system of regular manual maintenance of rural roads; (2) simple systems of animal disease control; animal movement control; health inspection of abattoirs, etc.; (3) a revival and refocus of agriculture extension services and research, with an emphasis on promoting diversity of production and a de-emphasis on the mono-cropping of maize; and (4) a revisiting of the Government's approach to the maize sector, including whether there is still a need for Zambia to be self-sufficient in maize, to provide inputs on arbitrarily changing terms, or to ban exports.

For more information, please refer to the  Zambia Poverty and Vulnerability Assessment.  

Zambia Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) - Fifth National Development Plan, 2006 - 2010

The resurgence of planning to tackle the challenges of wealth creation and poverty reduction is both timely and imperative. The re-emergence of planning following nearly two decades of the preoccupation with stabilisation and adjustment signals the realisation of several realities that the Government shares with bilateral and multilateral bodies as well as with civil society. Principal among these is the recognition that in spite of the reasonable level of growth during the years of structural reforms, poverty remains pervasive.

What is even more disconcerting is the realisation that the depth of poverty and its severity have been fast worsening as the majority of Zambians continue to subsist on the equivalent of less than $1 a day. National statistics show that the poverty level in the country in 2004 averaged 68 percent while the rural regions’ average is much higher. Under such conditions, poverty is slowly compromising the sustainability of all that the country has achieved since independence.

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