Economic reform: Is it hurting the poor? A country specific study

This paper analyses how and why the welfare of the poor in Sudan has changed during the reform period of 1980s. The analysis indicates that the period was not only one of abysmal economic performance, but also revealed considerable deterioration on all poverty dimensions, incidence, intensity and degree of inequality among the poor. Though external shocks and civil war played a role in Sudan's socioeconomic crisis, the analysis also indicates that the 1980s economic reform was flawed as well. The sectors targeted by the reform failed to tap the impulses for equitable economic growth. An alternative broader-based reform favouring traditional agriculture and processing of its products would have reduced poverty without compromising between growth-oriented policies and social equity.© 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.