Public works and social protection in sub-Saharan Africa : do public works work for the poor? / Anna Gabriele McCord.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McCord, Anna.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public works--Africa, Sub-Saharan.

Public works.

Poverty--Government policy--Africa, Sub-Saharan.

Poverty.

Poverty--Africa, Sub-Saharan--International cooperation.

International cooperation.

Poverty--Government policy.

Sub-Saharan Africa.

Physical Description:

xxix, 224 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Tokyo ; New York : United Nations University Press, 2012.

Summary:

Widely implemented throughout Asia, Latin America and Africa, often with funding from major international donor agencies, Public Works Programmes are perceived to present a 'win-win' policy option. They respond to the growing challenge of long-term under- and unemployment, providing jobs for the chronically poor while also creating assets for the state. As such, PWPs offer a welfare transfer which is also a tangible economic investment, promoting livelihoods and stimulating growth. But are they effective instruments for providing social protection and responding to unemployment, and are they designed to ensure that the best outcomes for the poor are achieved? McCord explores these critical questions, drawing on research into more than 200 PWPs across Africa, using extensive field analysis, survey work, and interviews with PWP workers themselves, as well as public works experience from Asia, the USA and Latin America.

Examining the potential and limitations of PWPs in providing social protection, McCord outlines major programme choice and design issues, exploring the assumptions underlying current policy preferences. While celebrating the performance of some programmes, the book makes a case for reconsidering the function of PWPs as a means of social protection. It argues that as currently designed, many programmes in the region may not offer significant social protection benefits for the working age poor. Book jacket.

Contents:

Setting the scene : sub-Saharan African public works in context. The history of PWPs

Public works programming in sub-Saharan Africa. Defining public works. The PWP typology

The typology of PWPs in sub-Saharan Africa

A schema of PWP objectives

Poverty alleviation. The social protection function of public works programmes. Definition of social protection. Evaluating the performance of public works programmes. Current evaluation approaches. The impact of the wage. The transfer and stabilisation benefits of the wage

The duration of the wage transfer

The adequacy of the wage

Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF) PWP case study. The three vectors : assets. The value of assets created

Social infrastructure

The importance of asset production in different types of PWP

Public works and social protection in sub-Saharan Africa. The three vectors : skills.

Conceptual clarifications

Are PWP an appropriate vehicle for skills development?

Two South African case studies : context, methodology and analytical overview. The unemployment and social protection context

Overview of the case study programmes. Assessing programme incidence. PWP access : targeting and rationing practices

Incidence findings. Labour market findings. How to assess the labour market status of beneficiaries. The impact of programme participation on multi-dimensional aspects of poverty. Measuring the poverty impact

Conclusion : re-evaluating the assumptions inherent in public works programmes. Problems with the current evidence base

Why do PWPs remain so popular?

Notes:

"Published in 2012 in South Africa by UCT Press, an imprint of Juta and Company Ltd."

Includes bibliographical references (pages [196]-215) and index.

ISBN:

9789280812046

9280812041

OCLC:

729346541