Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) 2018-2022.

This Poverty Reduction Strategy is a 5-years nationwide sectoral document in line with the goals of the National Development Plan (NDP) for 2018-2022. Main goal is reducing poverty by at least 25 percent, by 2022. The strategic plan envisages (i) improving standards of living; (ii) protection against risks and hazards; (iii) achievement of economic empowerment needed to turn the poor into productive individuals economically and socially integrated. These objectives will be achieved through (1) sustainable income from work; (2) improved health status; (3) improved education; (4) suitable housing and environment responsive to challenges; (5) effective social protection; and (6) emergency response activities. The Strategy gives particular attention to the issue of financing and the costs of each activity. Regarding domestic financing, resources will come from (i) annual allocations of the general investment and current budgets; and (ii) savings generated from decentralization, with a consequent increased efficiency of implementation and local community’s ownership of the activities. The Strategy focuses on specific priority activities for specific poor areas, among others (i) financial and economic policies; (ii) investment policy; (iii) monetary policy; (iv) agricultural policy; and (v) trade policy.
To help eliminate hunger and malnutrition, the Strategy proposes school feeding programs in poor areas.
In order of making agriculture more productive and sustainable, interventions will aim at (i) establishing local associations for small farmers to provide agricultural services such as water use, maintenance, mechanization, storage, cooling and transport in small farming communities; (ii) encouraging farmers to plant trees and create different orchards according to their suitability for the regions; (iii) stimulating the increase of agricultural production; and (iv) diversifying rural economic activity to include complementary or nutritious activities for agricultural production and generate new value added.
Rural poverty will be reduced by improving living conditions in the areas through (i) connection of rural and poor areas to the public water network to grant water supply; (ii) meeting the need of poor areas for schools and reduce the existing gap, also taking into account the specificity of girls' education and giving priority to the training of teachers in rural areas; (iii) providing job opportunities for poor rural women; and (iv) encouraging graduates of agricultural and veterinary to establish agricultural projects and companies that provide employment opportunities in rural areas.
To enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems, the Strategy envisages (i) the establishment of agricultural cooperatives to provide agricultural services such as marketing and finance; and (ii) creation of suitable jobs for women, enhancing and involving them in the agricultural sector, even with dedicated programs.
The resilience of livelihoods to disasters will be increased training poor farmers on methods of agriculture and irrigation responsive to climate change.