Uganda in the 1970s and early 1980s was one of Africa's more tragic economic stories. Emerging from civil war, it had to embark on reform in the early to mid-1980s from a position of severe political weakness. In the study, the effects of economic policy at the aggregate level are discussed in detail, but 'snapshot' empirical analyses of responses at the household level, both urban and rural, are also presented. Uganda was for many years considered to be Africa's 'worst case'; its recent recovery thus provides hope for similar countries in the region.

In spite of serious external shocks and political destabi-lisation in part of the country, Uganda has remained a good economic performer since the late 1980s, with over a decade of high per capita growth in excess of three per cent. This study concludes that Uganda 's medium to long-term success will depend on the achievements in institutional reforms, including raising the quality of the civil service, curbing corruption and implementing an effective regulatory framework. This is important as a poorly functioning public sector is both unable to uphold the rule of law, thus losing the public goodwill necessary for implementing new measures, and a burden on the private sector as it implies increased transaction costs.

This book provides an independent assessment of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Initiative for the World Bank as well as the broader development community. It offers a in-depth review of the progress thus far, with particular focus on the role and effectiveness of the Bank's support, drawing from extensive discussions with national stakeholders in Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRSP) countries, research and analytical work, and country case study reports on ten PRSP countries: Albania, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Tajikistan, Tanzania, and Vietnam. The author of The Poverty Reduction Strategy Initiative concludes that the Initiative has led to improvements in national strategies and processes in some low-income countries, such as an increased poverty focus, a higher profile for monitoring results, and better donor-government dialogue. However, the contribution to broad poverty reduction, especially in more difficult country environments, is largely in jeopardy without significant changes. The author argues that the Initiative should be reoriented toward improving domestic processes and less on completion of documents, customizing the approach to particular country circumstances, filling analytical gaps to better understand which actions will provide the greatest poverty pay-off, and making sure the assistance programs of external partners are anchored in the country's poverty reduction strategy.