The Context of Poverty

Abstract

This is a study of the aspirations, roles, actions and effectiveness of European development agencies in trying to improve the lot of the poor. Yet inevitably the main determinants of the possibilities and chances of succeeding rest with the specific partner country — the nature of its poverty, its culture, its politics and government attitudes, policies and capacities. It is appropriate therefore to begin with a brief review of the poverty situation in the seven poor or relatively poor countries which form the focus of this study. Although these seven countries are not necessarily representative of the poverty context in the developing world as a whole, they do cover three continents: India and Nepal in Asia, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe in Africa, and Bolivia in Latin America. The types of problems and opportunities posed are reasonably typical of many of the other country contexts in which the European agencies work.