Public works and social protection in sub-Saharan Africa: do public works work for the poor?
Anna McCord.
- Cape Town, South Africa : UCT Press, 2012.
- 224 pages Colour illustrations: 23 cm
"Published in 2012 in Tokyo by United Nations University Press."
Includes bibliographical references (pages 196-215) and index.
Summary: Explores the concept of the Public Works Programme (PWP) and interrogates its social protection performance in the context of chronic poverty. Reviews over 200 PWPs in eastern and southern Africa. Examines the function and limitations of PWPs, and outlines major programme choice and design issues, drawing lessons from the international context, and challenging the assumptions underlying these policy preferences, thus opening the way for more informed and appropriate policy selection. Makes a case for a reconsideration of the function of PWPs in the current social protection discourse, and argues that the current PWP approach may not look so attractive from the beneficiary perspective.
Adult
9781919 895482 Paperback (pbk)
Public works 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?