The papers gathered together in this collection show that neither the market nor the state alone offers solutions to efficiency and equity problems commonly encountered in social sectors in poor nations. Innovative ways to address these important problems are explored, favouring an integrative approach to social provision. This approach involves the efforts of many providers, and avoids the inefficiencies of public supply and the social exclusion of the market mechanism.

Poverty in Africa presents a comprehensive picture on the extent of poverty in Africa and the institutional constraints to poverty reduction, Prepared by eminent economists the volume provides an analysis of poverty, income distribution and labour markets, and offers a range of tools for monitoring poverty and assessing the impacts of various poverty reduction programs. Prepared for the African Economic Research Consortium the book is relevant not only in sub-Saharan Africa, but also in other world regions at similar stages of development.

Efficient delivery of public services in Africa and other developing regions has for a long time been hindered by highly centralized government bureaucracies (Mwabu et al., 2001). In Kenya, several efforts have been made to reduce unnecessary layers of government to make service provision to the populace more effective. This book reports on recent decentralization and devolution innovations in Kenya. The volume is organized into three parts and contains a total of 12 chapters including the introduction. The chapters in Part 1 (Structures and Institutions) provide a comprehensive analysis of institutional and organizational environment in which decentralization and devolution reforms have been taking place over the last three decades. Part 2 (Principles and Processes) contains chapters that clarify decentralization and devolution concepts, with applications to selected local authorities. The chapters in Part 3 (Service Delivery and Financing) illustrate advantages of provision and financing of services at the local level, with a focus on the role of community participation in improving accountability and efficiency in resource use.

Malaria is a serious health and economic problem in Africa, afflicting more than half of the continent's population. Although HICV/AIDS, TB and nutritional deficiencies pose major development problems on the continent, the challenges presented by malaria are of a different kind, because the disease is widespread, persistent and grossly underestimated by the general population. The importance of malaria, along with HIV/AIDS and other diseases in the development agenda, is now recognised in Goal 6 of the Millennium Goals. This book provides the evidence required to design and implement malaria control strategies in Africa. The chapters analyse the nexus between poverty and malaria with a focus on policies that can be implemented at various levels of society to fight the disease. Malaria and Poverty in Africa is the outcome of a research sponsored by the African Economic Research Consortium (AERe. Augustin Kwasi Fosu is the Director, Economic Division of the United Nations Commision for Africa, Addis Ababa, and former Director of Research at the AERC, Nairobi. Germano Mwabu is Professor of Economics at the University of Nairobi. He was co-director of the AERC project on Poverty Income Distribution and Labour Markets in Sub-Saharan Africa.