Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy Paper.

The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) is a cross-sectoral national strategy paper of Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its main objective is sustainable and effective improvement over a three-year span in the living conditions of the people for a 25-year generation by targeting the main causes of poverty.
The PRSP among others provides measures for food security. In this area, it notes that a sector recovery program has been developed by the Government with participation from the various development partners. The objective is to restore and exceed the pre-crisis production level. Poor production in the primary sector is borne out by food insecurity, malnutrition, shortage of quality side, price increases, and the underdevelopment of processing, farm product conservation, and fisheries. Strategy in the agricultural sector is also aimed at diversifying production and improving yields. The final results sought are restoration of food self-sufficiency, the production of marketable surpluses, and improved yields. The gains in question could be invested in other income-generating activities and contribute to increasing non-agricultural employment in rural areas.
The document also provides for measures for environmental protection, fisheries and forestry management. In the area of environment, it indicates that to consolidate the necessary link between safeguarding the environment and the pursuit of development, the Government will implement a strategy focused on the following priority actions: (1) conducting an ongoing public awareness and education program on safeguarding the environment; (2) implementing the strategy on the conservation of biodiversity, in particular through the protection and restoration of plant cover; (3) defense of natural forests and expansion of afforested areas; and (4) implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the protection and conservation of water and water resources, and maintaining environmental health, as well as the prevention of natural disasters. Further, in the area of fisheries, the first activity would be to supervise those active in fishery, modernize fishery equipment and materials, and facilitate access to credit. In the long term, the actions to be taken will focus on introducing fish processing and conservation techniques in order to reduce the losses sustained in periods of overproduction or during transport. Regarding forests, the following actions will be pursued: strengthening the institutional capacities of the administrations with responsibility for forests and the conservation of nature; ensuring the participation of the governmental authorities, NGOs, local communities, the private sector, local entities, donors, international development NGOs; promoting local forest management methods and preserving biodiversity and environmental services.
Vis-à-vis the poor rural population, the Government’s efforts will be focused on: (1) the development of various subsectors, in particular in the areas of agriculture, rural development, construction, and the environment, with a view to improving skills to create greater possibilities and equal opportunities for men, women, and youth to find suitable employment; (2) promoting cooperative entrepreneurship, including formulation of the program to create decent rural and peri-urban employment and self-employment; (3) promoting labor-intensive approaches and methods, and disseminating them to the administrations, in particular in the context of executing reconstruction works and sectoral projects; (4) introducing microcredit for financing micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises; (5) promoting employment and vocational training, including by establishing training, education, and employment programs and projects in favor of disadvantaged groups, with due regard for gender (youth, women, the disabled, etc.); and (6) strengthening the partnership with the private sector. The State will also encourage and support the implementation of formal and informal social safety nets, especially promoting access to mutual health associations and other solidarity-driven structures. These actions will be taken while continuing the recommended reforms in respect of: (i) the national strategy for social protection of vulnerable groups; (ii) gender inclusion strategies for development policies and programs; and (iii) combating violence against women and girls.
In terms of increasing rural production, the Paper notes that in the short term, increasing the monetary incomes of rural families will inevitably involve cash crops, principally coffee, tea, cotton, and potatoes. These crops, production of which has fallen to almost nothing, will benefit from reactivation and sustained promotion efforts in order to make a significant contribution to poverty reduction and improving the well-being of rural families. According to the document, the development of the agricultural export subsectors will, of necessity, involve the development of non-traditional products that are readily exportable and have a high commercial value. For this to occur, in the short term it will be necessary to introduce a production and distribution plan for market garden seeds and plans for fruit production, to train supervisors and line personnel in the sector, and to organize and guide producers’ associations.
An integrated program for rebuilding the herd will also be established, and would include highly prolific short-cycle small livestock in order to rapidly achieve results that can help improve the living standards of rural families. In addition, this type of livestock farming lends itself well to agro-sylvo-pastoral integration. Increasing rural family incomes also entails the promotion of crafts, making it possible to create non-agricultural jobs and reduce imports. To develop this subsector, it is proposed that actions be taken in terms of training, supervision, and financing. The support should begin in particular with the organization and creation of groupings and associations of artisans, extending loans, rehabilitating units destroyed during the conflicts, and creating a rural development support fund.
Lastly, the PRSP contains measures for its implementation and monitoring. The key institutions responsible for the implementation are the Interministerial Commission Responsible, chaired by the Minister of Planning, and the Interministerial Committee Responsible for Monitoring Programs Concluded with International Financial Institutions, chaired by the Minister of Finance. The national implementation institutions will be responsible for implementation, monitoring, and evaluation in collaboration with the other stakeholders in the process, and will clarify the execution timetable for the actions. According to it, among others, the Government intends to establish a participatory monitoring and evaluation mechanism that functions both horizontally (participation of all partners) and vertically (participation of all levels, from the base to the summit).