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The Enterprise Africa! team conducts on-the-ground field research on enterprise-based solutions to poverty in Africa. The information they collect is analysed, sorted, and published in a wide range of formats for policymakers, the media, and others with an interest in Africa or poverty reduction. Check below to see some of our most recent publications.
Mercatus Policy Series
State Power, Entrepreneurship, and Coffee: The Rwandan Experience
Perhaps the greatest success story of Rwanda’s post-genocide economic restructuring is the revitalization of the country’s coffee sector, particularly the development of specialty coffee. A staple of the Rwandan economy since the 1930s, coffee remains a key export crop for Rwandans, generating millions of dollars of export revenue. This study highlights the positive results flowing from Rwandan coffee production: Liberalization strategies alleviate poverty and develop human capital and liberalization has had the unanticipated benefit of promoting post-conflict social reconciliation.
Community-Based Natural Resource Management and Poverty Alleviation in Namibia: A Case Study
Through community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), Namibians who form conservancies now have legal rights to manage wildlife and benefit from tourism. With these secure rights, and with help from NGOs and the government, something extraordinary is happening: wildlife numbers, which were decimated by war and poaching, are rising, and ecosystems are rebounding. Namibians also now have the chance to build businesses based on eco-tourism and related activities, and these businesses are helping to improve the lives of conservancy members.
Seeds of Hope: Agricultural Technologies and Poverty Alleviation in Rural South Africa
This study examines how the Combi-Pack, an innovative product of the Monsanto Company, is helping to combat hunger and poverty in rural South Africa. The the Combi-Pack is a box containing enough maize seed, herbicide, and fertilizer to plant ¼ hectare of maize, and are part of the phenomenon known as marketing to the “bottom of the pyramid.” Although Combi-Packs will not solve all the problems of rural poverty, they are helping to drive away hunger and better the lives of the rural poor.
The Effects of Property Titling in Langa Township, South Africa
Can property reforms create a path to prosperity? In Langa Township, South Africa efforts have been underway for well over a decade to provide secure, legal titles to previously disenfranchised citizens. Today, most homes—though not shacks—have titles. Can this policy serve as an example for others to follow? Has this government policy led to economic growth and poverty alleviation for Langa’s residents?
Taxing Alternatives: Poverty Alleviation and the South African Taxi/Minibus Industry
To better understand the challenges facing the industry, commuters, and policymakers, Enterprise Africa! researchers interviewed taxi operators, drivers, and association representatives as well as commuters and government officials to learn first hand the inner workings of the taxi industry, its contributions to poverty alleviation in South Africa, its complex development, and responses of taxi owners and associations to increasing competition.
Enterprise Africa! in the Media
CLICK HERE to read stories on Enterprise Africa! research in the US, UK, and African media by our scholars and others.
Recent Publications
A Matter of Life and DeathKarol Boudreaux In this article, Enterprise Africa! lead researcher Karol Boudreaux notes South Africa urgently needs to reform its labor market to halt the violence aimed at immigrants. |
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Pay For ItTyler Cowen In a recent Forbes Magazine article, Enterprise Africa! scholar Tyler Cowen claims that privatized water services, though not perfect, offer promising advances in meeting the needs of poor consumers |
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Urbanisation and Informality in Africa's Housing MarketsKarol Boudreaux A maze of regulations and administrative barriers has imposed high transaction costs on formal-sector housing entrepreneurs. By raising the costs of providing low-income housing, African governments bear much responsibility for driving formal-sector entrepreneurs out of the housing market and for driving their citizens into slums. |
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A New Call of the Wild: Community-Based Natural Resource Management in NamibiaKarol Boudreaux The Namibian government is currently addressing twin goals of environment protection and rural economic development by means of an innovative policy of community-based natural resource management. This policy, implemented by a legislative amendment in 1996, is helping to revive a previously decimated environment. At the same time, the policy is empowering local people. |
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Book Review of Paul Collier's "The Bottom Billion"Karol Boudreaux In this book review, Karol Boudreaux notes that Paul Collier makes a strong case that the world’s billion poorest people face unique challenges that call for strategic development assistance. In the end, however, Ms. Boudreaux emphasises that what is needed most is sustained entrepreneurship. |
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Empowering the Poor through Property RightsKarol Boudreaux As a member of the Working Group on Property Rights of the U.N. Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, chaired by Madeleine Albright and Hernando de Soto, Enterprise Africa! lead researcher Karol Boudreaux contributed to chapter two of Making the Law Work for Everyone Volume II, titled, “Empowering the Poor through Property Rights.” |
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International Property Rights Index 2008Karol Boudreaux Enterprise Africa! lead researcher Karol Boudreaux comments on land titling efforts in Africa as a means of erasing the problems of poverty. |
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Fair Trade Proponents Should Have More HumilityPhilip Booth |
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'Promise' of Africa Goes UntoldPeter Parisi Much of the news that comes out of sub-Saharan Africa routinely involves civil wars, poverty, famine and government corruption, but "there's a lot of promise in Africa," says Karol Boudreaux, lead researcher for Enterprise Africa. |
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Mercatus On Policy - Planting Seeds of HopeKarol Boudreaux, Daniel Sacks Despite tremendous worldwide economic progress over the past 50 years, hunger and food insecurity remain the daily reality for people around the world. In Africa alone, millions struggle against the ravages of hunger. However, one innovation, the Combi-Pack is showing great potential to reduce hunger and poverty among smallholder farmers in South Africa. |
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