The agenda for the BASIS conference on Escaping Poverty Traps: Connecting the Chronically Poor to Economic Growth, held in Washington D.C. on February 26-27, 2009.

1. February 26‐27, 2009
J.W. Marriott Hotel, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave
Washington, D.C.
Day One – February 26, 2009
Plenary Session 9‐9:30 a.m.
Chairs: Michael Carter, University of Wisconsin
and Andrew Shepherd, Chronic Poverty Research Centre
Welcome and Goals for Conference William Hammink,
Acting Assistant Administrator USAID
Plenary Session 9:30‐11:00 a.m.
Assessing Chronic Poverty
Chair: Chris Delgado, World Bank
Chronic Poverty: Extent, Heterogeneity,
and Solutions
Why Are There So Many Poor People in
Africa and South Asia?
Discussant
Andrew Shepherd, Director, Chronic
Poverty Research Centre
Andy McKay, Chronic Poverty Research
Centre
Shantayanan Devarajan, Chief Economist
for Africa, World Bank
Michael Carter, University of Wisconsin
Coffee Break 11:00‐11:15 a.m.
Plenary Session 11:15 a.m.‐12:15 p.m.
How, Where and When Agriculture Can Be Used to Address Chronic Poverty
Chair: Mike Lurie, US Department of State
Affordable Food for All
Including the Productive Poor in
Agricultural Development
Discussant
Josette Lewis, Director USAID Office of
Agriculture
Cheryl Morden, International Fund for
Agricultural Development
Thomas Jayne, Michigan State
Lunch 12:30‐2:00 p.m.
Chair: Alonzo Fulgham, Acting Administrator, USAID
Speaker: The Honorable Richard G. Lugar, US Senator: “Chronic Poverty
and Global Food Security”

2. 2
Plenary Session 2‐3:30 p.m.
Connecting the Chronically Poor to Agricultural Growth:
The BASIS Pilot Project Agenda
Chair: Timothy Mahoney, Oxfam America
Flexible Response to Food Insecurity: Food
Aid Programming and Impact in a New Era
Matching Financial with Technological
Innovations in Southern Africa
Altering Poverty Dynamics with Index
Insurance in Northern Kenya
Discussants
Chris Barrett, Cornell University
Dean Yang, University of Michigan
Michael Carter, University of Wisconsin
Arlene Mitchell, Gates Foundation
David Nevill, Syngenta Foundation
Coffee Break 3:30‐3:45 p.m.
Plenary Session 3:45‐5:15 p.m.
Poverty Dynamics and Growth: What Do We Know?
Chair: Michael Carter, University of Wisconsin
Poverty Traps and Structural Poverty in
South Africa
Determinants and Consequences of
Chronic and Transitory Poverty in Nepal
Parallel Realities in Rural Bangladesh:
Exploring Poverty Dynamics Using
Mixed Methods
Food Poverty Dynamics in Burkina Faso:
An Analysis Based on Agricultural Data
Discussants
Ingrid Woolard, University of Cape Town
(work with J. May)
Saurav Bhatta, Open Learning Exchange
Nepal, and University of Illinois at Chicago
(work with S. Sharma)
Peter Davis, University of Bath
Bob Baulch, Chronic Poverty Research
Centre
Andy McKay, Chronic Poverty Research
Centre (work by S. Kabore, C. Wetta, and
F. Zida)
William Wallace, World Bank, Jakarta
John Hoddinott, International Food
Policy Research Institute
Book Launch and Reception: 5:30‐7:00 p.m.
Poverty Dynamics: Interdisciplinary
Perspectives (Oxford University Press)
Reception sponsored by Oxford
University Press [to be confirmed]

3. 3
Day Two – February 27, 2009
Plenary Session 8:45 a.m.‐9:00 a.m.
Summary of Day 1 and Introduction to Day 2
Michael Carter, University of Wisconsin, and Lena Heron, USAID
Plenary Session 9:00 a.m.–10:30 a.m.
Asset Transfers and Cargo Nets
Chair: Brad Barham, University of Wisconsin
Escaping Poverty Traps – Connecting the
Chronically Poor to Economic Growth
Poverty and Land Ownership in South Africa
Land Reform and Human Capital
Accumulation: Household Level
Evidence from West Bengal
Discussants
David Hulme, University of Manchester
Malcolm Keswell, University of Cape Town
Klaus Deininger, World Bank (with S. Jin)
Admos Chinowu, University of Manchester
Jolyne Sanjak, Millennium Challenge
Corporation
Coffee Break: 10:30‐10:45 a.m.
Parallel Sessions 10:45 – 12:15 p.m.
Interrupting the Intergenerational
Transmission (IGT) of Poverty
Chair: Andy McKay, Chronic Poverty
Research Centre
Conflict and IGT of Poverty in Northern
Uganda, Kate Bird, Overseas
Development Institute (work with K.
Higgins)
Inheritance and IGT of Poverty in Sub‐
Saharan Africa: Policy Considerations,
Elizabeth Cooper, University of Oxford
Impact of Mothers’ Intellectual Human
Capital and Long‐run Nutritional Status on
Child Human Capital Outcomes in
Guatemala, Agnes Quisumbing, International
Food Policy Research Institute (work with J.
Behrman)
Discussant: Gáspár Fajth, UNICEF
Adverse Incorporation and Social
Exclusion: Why thinking in these terms is
central to tackling chronic poverty
Chair: Tony German, Development Initiatives
Challenging the Politics of Exclusion in
Uganda? The Case of the Northern Uganda
Social Action Fund , Frederick Golooba‐
Mutebi, Makerere Institute of Social
Research, Uganda (work with S. Hickey)
Adverse Incorporation and Agrarian
Change in South Africa: Can the Policy
Contradiction be Fixed? Andries du Toit,
University of the Western Cape
Social Exclusion Inside a Bilateral Aid
Agency: The Use and Otherwise of the
Concept, Sam Hickey, Chronic Poverty
Research Centre (work by A. de Haan)
Discussant: Andy Norton, World Bank

4. Lunch: 12:15‐1:30 p.m.
Chair: Gene Kahn, General Mills
Speaker: John Mellor “Agriculture and Economic Growth”
Plenary Session 1:30‐2:30 p.m.
Integrating the Productive Poor into Markets
Chair: Lena Heron, USAID
Using an Agro‐enterprise Learning
Alliance for Inclusive Value Chain Support
Making Value Chains Work for the Poor
Access to Local and National Policy
Processes
Discussant:
Shaun Ferris, Catholic Relief Services
Ruth Campbell, ACDI‐VOCA
Khalid el Harizi, International Fund for
Agricultural Development
Natalie DiNicola, Monsanto International
Partnership for Development
Plenary Session 2:30 –4:00pm
Social Protection
Chair: Susan Bradley, USAID
Social Transfers, Chronic Poverty and
Growth
Political Dynamics in Social Protection in
Uganda: Issues, Opportunities and
Challenges
Household Dynamics, Chronic Poverty
and Social Protection in Indonesia
Ethiopia's Productive Social Safety Net
Discussant
Armando Barrientos, University of
Manchester
Charles Lwanga‐Ntale, Development
Research and Training, Uganda
Asep Suryahadi, SMERU Research
Institute, Jakarta
John Hoddinott, International Food
Policy Research Institute
Carlo del Ninno, World Bank
Plenary Session Roundtable: 4:00‐5:00 p.m.
Formulating a Policy Agenda to Address Chronic Poverty
Participants include:
Michael Carter, University of Wisconsin
Brian Greenberg, InterAction
Cheryl Morden, International Fund for Agricultural Development
Josette Lewis, USAID
Andrew Shepherd, Chronic Poverty Research Centre