Poverty Reduction Strategies and Environment : A Review of 40 Interim and Full Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs)

This review systematically assesses the
focus of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) on
environment-related issues. A total of 40 Interim and full
PRSPs from countries in Africa, Latin America and Eastern
Europe, the Middle East, Central and East Asia are reviewed.
Four major questions: are posed: (i) What issues of
environmental concerns and opportunities are identified in
the PRSPs?; (ii) To what extent are poverty-environment
causal links analyzed?; (iii) To what extent are
environmental management responses and indicators put in
place as part of the poverty reduction efforts?; and (iv) To
what extent has the design and documentation of the process
allowed for mainstreaming the environment? The review
finds:: There is considerable variation across countries in
the degree of mainstreaming: from a high score of 2.2
(Mozambique) to a low of 0.3 (Sao Tome Principe). Scores
indicate the approximate level of attention given to
environmental matters in the PRSPs. Some variation across
countries is legitimate and to be expected, but there is no
reason to believe that the lower scoring countries are free
from concerns of environmental health and natural resources
degradation linked to poverty. Finally, it should be
recalled that a PRSP is only the written expression of an
underlying and still emerging process of participation and
implementation. What ultimately matters are the results on
the ground, which cannot be evaluated across 40 countries at
this point in time.