The objective of the report is not to provide a critique of the content of Malawi’s PRSP to determine whether they are the most appropriate strategies for reducing poverty. Instead, the emphasis is on the process by which the PRSP has been developed, though issues of content enter the analysis to the extent that they reflect perceived biases and shortcomings in the way in which the PRSP concept has been communicated and put into practice. The report also analyses the potential for the PRSP approach generally to fulfil its promise.