About CROP CROP, the Comparative Research Programme on Poverty, is a response from the academic community to the problem of poverty. The programme was initiated in 1992, and the CROP Secretariat was officially opened in June 1993 by the director-general of UNESCO, Dr Federico Mayor. In recent years, poverty alleviation, poverty reduction and even the eradi- cation of poverty have moved up the international agenda, and the CROP network is providing research-based information to policymakers and others responsible for poverty reduction. Researchers from more than one hundred countries have joined the CROP network, with more than half coming from so-called developing countries and those in transition. The major aim of CROP is to produce sound and reliable knowledge that can serve as a basis for poverty reduction. This is done by bringing together researchers for workshops, coordinating research projects and publications, and offering educational courses for the international community of policymakers. CROP is multidisciplinary and works as an independent non-profit organi- sation. The CROP Secretariat is located at the University of Bergen, Norway. CROP is a programme under the International Social Science Council (which has also helped finance this publication). For more information contact: CROP Secretariat UNIFOB Global Nygårdsgaten 5 N-5020 Bergen Norway Tel: +47 5558 9740 Fax: +47 5558 9745 email: crop@uib.no website: www.crop.org