Swaziland Poverty Reduction Strategy and Action Plan (PRSAP) 2007.

The present Poverty Reduction Strategy and Action Plan (PRSAP) 2007 provides the framework for poverty focused planning and budgeting in the short to medium term. Poverty reduction will be central to all sectoral development plans and the medium term expenditure framework. Part 3 defines the Overarching Policy Objective as follows: The overriding goal of the PRSAP is to reduce poverty by more than 50% by 2015 and then ultimately eradicate it by 2022. This goal is in line with the Vision 2022 which states that by 2022 Swaziland will be classified in the top 10% of middle income developing countries according to the human development index. The general Policy Objective is to create an environment that will empower the poor to participate actively in uplifting their standards of living by taking advantage of existing and future opportunities. Central to this is the transformation of the agricultural sector, structural reforms, investing in the lives of the poor to reduce their risks and vulnerability and restructuring the public expenditure pattern. The PRSAP puts emphasis on creating linkages with the manufacturing sector through support to industrial output while at the same time obtaining the means to increase incomes of the poor and fulfilling their basic needs. Nevertheless, it is necessary to identify the poor in Swaziland in terms of where they live, how they live, how they derive their livelihood, their gender patterns etc.