Peruvians Fight Poverty, Create Jobs: Peru

This note reports on a USAID Chemonics initiative in Peru. The project, Proyekto de Reduccion y Alivio a la Pobreza (PRA), helped entrepreneurs in Peru's interior boost sales of their products by $78 million, helping create almost 40,000 jobs. The logic of the PRA project was as follows:

• The key to reducing poverty is to generate income;
• For rural entrepreneurs, it means finding people to buy their wares;
• Urban consumers and large businesses can contribute to demand;
• Linking small businesses with purchasing power can make a dent in rural poverty.

The note states that the PRA project showcased the work of Peruvian producers at international exhibitions and markets. This won local businesses and entrepreneurs lucrative contracts worth millions of dollars.The note also discuses a book, focussed on Peru, is called Attacking Poverty: A Market Approach, and is authored by the project managers of PRA. It:

• Spells out the PRA experience;
• Aims to offer a model for poverty reduction activities worldwide;
• Offers practical suggestions to help policy makers invest in physical and human capital and measure the efforts of social spending;
• Aims to change the way donors and policy makers conceive their projects.