Resource information
The Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) is a five year strategy designed to accelerate the progress already achieved and to shape the country’s development in the future. The document has a multi-sectoral approach and a national coverage, relating to the period from 2013 to 2018. The EDPRS is guided by the revised targets of the Vision 2020 adopted in May 2012 which outlined the clearly the objectives to be achieved as a pre-requisite for rapid growth and poverty reduction. The document is developed upon four thematic areas: 1) Economic transformation for rapid growth; 2) Rural development; 3) Productivity and youth employment creation; 4) Accountable governance.The strategy aims at eliminating hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. Food security is included among the cross-cutting issues developed in Chapter 6.The document also aims at making agriculture more productive and sustainable. This objective is outlined not only under thematic area 1 (Economic transformation for rapid growth), but also under thematic area 2 concerning rural development. Special attention is given to the green economy approach to economic transformation.As regards the reduction of rural poverty, the strategy establishes the following objective: sustainable poverty reduction is achieved through broad-based growth across sectors in rural areas by improving land use, increasing the productivity of agriculture, enabling graduation from extreme poverty, and connecting rural communities to economic opportunity through improved infrastructure.The EDPRS aims at enabling more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems. The priority areas of intervention outlined in the field of rural development include: integrated approach to land use and human settlements (where the challenge is how to manage and administer a range of land use issues, from dealing with land allocation to dealing with land disputes amongst smallholders); connecting rural communities to economic opportunity through improved infrastructure (water supply and sanitation, quality road network and rural feeder roads extended, access to electricity for the rural population.Increasing the resilience of livelihoods to disasters is among the cross-cutting issues outlined in the strategy. Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Management will touch all priority areas and is mainstreamed in all priority sectors. The most important are: agriculture, infrastructure, education, environment and natural resources, private sector development, energy, urbanization, information communication technology, health, youth and social protection. Measures include investment in rapid response disaster management equipment, early warning systems, and awareness campaigns directed to residents of vulnerable areas.The fourth thematic area of the strategy is devoted to accountable governance. The priority areas in this field include increased citizens' participation, awareness and demand for accountability.
