A fundamental reappraisal is currently taking place about how best to tackle the chronic poverty and hunger which are prevalent, and increasing, throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa. Typically, governments and donors have reacted to these problems only after they have become acute. Moreover, responses tend to be reactive and short-lived, focusing on humanitarian assistance; and, once the crisis has been alleviated, attention drifts away and the problem is forgotten until another "emergency" once more pushes it into the headlines.

In the face of growing evidence, governments and donors alike are recognising that such treatment provides little more than a temporary dressing to a festering sore. In this series of briefs, the case is presented for a different approach an approach which not only provides for and protects the poor and hungry but also seeks to promote them out of poverty. In situations where this approach has already been applied, it is becoming evident that individuals, previously victims of circumstance, can regain control over their lives, that national economies can benefit and that the dependency culture can be overturned. This approach is through predictable social transfers.