FOR THE SAKE OF THE POOR, "BUY GRENADA"

The government of Grenada is about to embark on a Country Poverty Assessment that will determine the characteristics, extent, geographic concentration, severity and causes of poverty in Grenada. The information generated by this assessment can help direct policy and decision making and possibly attract financial resources to help alleviate poverty.
However, these assessments are not without controversy. All these papers and consultations cost a lot of money, are often heavily influenced by foreign interests, and are not likely to have a great impact on poverty alleviation.
But a poverty assessment is not an optional exercise for any developing country government. It is a condition for receiving aid, obtaining country loans or being eligible for debt relief through the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
The idea behind the Poverty Assessment is to conduct research that can provide information to draft a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), which is also a requirement for aid, loans and debt relief. In turn, the ‘PRSP’ is supposed to be a tool for understanding poverty, engaging citizens, and directing policy with the aim of alleviating poverty.
Supporters of the PRSP’s claim that these conditionalities put poverty first on development agendas, while also encouraging participatory decision making from all sectors of society (civil society, the private sector, faith based organizations and the government). Critics claim that the PRSP is merely an extension of the Structural Adjustment Programmes, of the 1980’s and 1990’s which were also forced upon developing countries by the IMF and World Bank. Critics claim that Structural Adjustment Programmes and now PRSP’s compromise the sovereign right of developing countries to determine their own development priorities and spending.
Supporters on the other hand, argue that the foreign influence on policies, research and spending help to protect the poor from governments who may not use aid, loans or debt relief wisely. This concern may be valid for some countries, but the policies are applied with a broad brush that does not discriminate between the responsible governments and those which are less accountable to their citizens.
Structural Adjustment Programmes forced governments to embrace ‘free market’ policies and to cut social spending (such as education), privatizing public utilities, devaluing currencies and opening markets to imports. These actions have been sharply criticised for worsening the conditions of the poor, as well as hurting domestic markets. The PRSP’s are now supposed to identify ways to alleviate poverty without changing the core structure of the world market system.
Grenadians and visitors to the island who are blessed with employment and the power to make consumer choices can use their spending power to help the poor, and foster Grenada’s economic independence. When shopping for meat, milk, eggs or vegetables, purchasing locally made products before the imports will help support local employment, production and trade, which in turn, will help alleviate poverty. By buying products that are produced or made locally, consumers are protecting their domestic market. In this way, whether the Poverty Assessment and the PRSP makes a difference or not, Grenadians can engage in poverty alleviation and support Grenada on their own terms.