The Peru Poverty Reduction and Alleviation Project (PRA), an initiative of The United States Agency for International Development in Peru (USAID-Peru), was designed to contribute to poverty reduction by generating sustainable income and employment opportunities and mobilizing private-sector investment in key economic corridors, defined as natural commercial networks linking rural areas with intermediate cities that exhibit high rates of poverty and the potential for economic growth.

The project contributes to the reduction of poverty through the generation of sustainable income and employment, promoting and providing productive businesses in 10 Economic Service Centers (ESCs) to assist individual client firms to overcome specific obstacles to business expansion.  PRA starts by identifying a specific demand, and then works backwards, through technical assistance and organization of supply, to meet that demand.  Furthermore, PRA places special emphasis on assisting alternative development zones in areas with illicit coca production.

 

The following four principles underpin PRA’s approach to poverty reduction and enterprise development:

1. PRA attacks poverty through a demand-driven approach to economic growth. Demand drives the diverse economics players – private enterprises and entrepreneurs to invest in, and develop these economic corridors. Production is focused on what can be sold, not on selling what has been produced.  PRA defines demand not in the abstract but in the identification of specific buyers — private enterprises and entrepreneurs — with names, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses. Demand is seen and articulated through the lens of specific private enterprises.

2. The focus of PRA is not on sectors, products or groups of producers, but rather individual business enterprises.  The work to reduce poverty falls on the private sector to generate sustainable income and employment opportunities.  The role of the State is to complement the work of the private sector through the creation of basic economic infrastructure (roads, energy, and irrigation water), thus promoting a more just environment.

3. PRA’s interventions are implemented in economic corridors characterized by a high incidence of poverty but with identified economic growth potential.  This economic “corridor” approach allows for dynamic linkages between the largest cities and local regional strongholds.  Building these linkages allows for numerous value chains between the producers.

4. PRA is renowned for reaching our goals and quantifying our progress based on our strong monitoring and evaluation component.  We created a system of concrete, quantifiable indicators that allow us to continually evaluate our progress to be able to measure our achievements.