Since 1990, there have been considerable efforts to reduce absolute poverty in most developing countries. However, especially in Sub-Sahara Africa, progress has been slow. Literature shows that the academic debate on the determinants of poverty reduction takes place in disciplinary silos, where approaches that work well for high-income economies but ignore structural differences between high-income and developing countries are applied and deliver ambiguous results. ADAPTED is addressing this apparent research gap by delivering high-level training for early-stage researchers, aiming to avoid the existing silos, integrate developing country realities into poverty reduction approaches and bridge the attested knowledge gaps. The project aims at validating pathways towards poverty eradication, analysing interactions between poverty reduction and other policy areas and contributing to optimise the impact of poverty reduction policies.

The ADAPTED research programme is organised in three work packages (WP) that address the following broad research areas:

WP 1 - Validating Pathways: We want to investigate how effective different growth- and social protection-oriented policies are in improving poverty-related outcomes, given the large heterogeneity of low- and middle-income countries and the differences in the target groups that these policies are able to reach. (ESR projects 1-5).

WP 2 - Analysing Interactions: Poverty reduction-related policies are not implemented in a policy vacuum. Usually they are implemented side by side in settings, which are characterised by the existence of a multitude of other policies, which serve purposes other than poverty reduction. We therefore want to study poverty-related trade-offs and co-benefits within different growth- and social protection-oriented policy frameworks on the one hand, and between them and other policies on the other hand for deriving recommendations towards a policy mix responsive to poverty reduction. (ESR projects 6-10).

WP 3 - Optimising Impact: We want to identify mechanisms that increase the relevance and the quality of delivery of social protection schemes, which allow for an improved coordination of fragmented social policies, and support the design and implementation of poverty reduction-related policies in neopatrimonial environments. (ESR projects 11-15).

Summarising the research work of ADAPTED, it can be said that the mainstream models, all of them written to describe growth and development in high-income countries, fail to describe the persisting differences in the conditions of production and consumption that are characterising developing countries. ADAPTED has presented such descriptions, and it has brought about empirical evidence at different levels of investigation that economic growth does not mean a continuous increase in productivity and income that is beneficial for all, including the poor, but that, in developing countries, growth is driven by structural transformation of the workforce, is not inclusive and leaves the poor behind. This finding implies that, in middle- and low-income countries, pro-poor policies may have a much more important role in poverty reduction than previous literature has suggested. With a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, ADAPTED has studied the preconditions for implementing pro-poor policies, has analysed the interactions between poverty reduction and other policy areas, has identified resulting governance challenges, co-benefits and trade-offs, and has investigated the impact that different policy approaches have on poverty.

The detailed results of the ADAPTED research activities are visible from the publications of the ADAPTED Early Stage Researchers and Principle Investigators. Over the period 2021 - 2024 ADAPTED Early Stage Researchers completed 14 publications and additional 27 publications are forthcoming or under preparation.

A forthcoming publication involving a number of ADAPTED members is a special issue of the open access journal Politics and Governance, edited by three ADAPTED PIs, Andrew Fischer, Wil Hout, and Markus Kaltenborn, entitled "The Politics of Pro-Poor Policies in the Global South". The issue will be published in January 2026.

For dissemination of their research, ADAPTED ESRs actively took part in 38 conferences.