The Storm of Poverty Reduction Strategy in Africa: Chronology of Experiences from South Africa

The paper present the trend of government programmes and interventions used in tackling the endemic problem of abject poverty. The pluralistic nature of these programmes is encouraged by the dynamic socio-economic circumstances within South Africa domain. Concerns raised from “Towards a Ten Year Review” emphasised the necessity to harmonize all Government’s development programmes under a single structure or “Social compact”. In view of the importance of agriculture, particularly for developing countries, a large aspect of the development discourse around agriculture has been focused on poverty alleviation. Across all nine provinces, the noticeable and critical problem is poverty which the government needs to contend with and address. The challenges faced presently in the reduction of poverty are numerous. Key programme responses of the South African government considered in this paper are: Legal context, Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR), Local government transformation, Land reform programme, Skill support and Development Programme, Farmer support and Extension services, Support for emerging farmers, National Public Works Programme (NPWP), Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Strategy (ISRDS), Social grants and unemployment, Education and poverty reduction, Agriculture Black Economic Empowerment (AgriBEE), Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS), Local Economic Development (LED) and Donors’ in poverty alleviation through Official Development Assistance (ODA).