International Food Policy Research Institute
sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty
Ending Global Poverty, published in May 2005, examines innovative and effective strategies enabling the world’s poorest people, even those living in stagnant economies, to escape from extreme poverty. The book reviews sixteen poverty traps affecting the poor, and describes the key capabilities and assets that the poor need to escape from such poverty traps. Featured programs, often run by international and local NGOs, were selected through three screens: systematic interviews with practitioners, juried prizes and awards for poverty programs, and reviews of rigorous impact assessments. Many of the best strategies for breaking out of poverty traps have been devised on the ground by people from the developing world, though usually with much-needed assistance from outside. The book demonstrates that progress can be made through incentives for local innovations relevant to resolving local constraints to poverty reduction. Forty selected case studies of programs providing the basic capabilities and assets needed by the poorest and most isolated of the poor are presented, from Africa, the Andes and Central America, and Bangladesh and elsewhere in rural Asia. The final portion of the book shows how citizens, donors, church members, organizations, communities, and businesses can meaningfully participate in the struggle to end global poverty.
The book's description can be found at: http://www.palgrave-usa.com/Catalog/product.aspx?isbn=140396534X
A review of the book can be found in Foreign Affairs' September/October 2005 issue, as well as in the Washington Post at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/09/AR2005070900113.html