CROP / About

CROP - the Comparative Research Programme on Poverty - is an international NGO initiated by the International Social Science Council (ISSC). The CROP Secretariat is localised at the University of Bergen, Norway. Dr. Tom Skauge is the Scientific Director of CROP.

CROP is organised around an extensive international and multi-disciplinary research network, which is open to all poverty researchers and others interested in a scientific approach to poverty. The General Assembly of ISSC appoints the CROP Scientific Committee to advise the Programme, Professor Atilio Boron is the Chair. The members of the Scientific Committee are outstanding poverty researchers representing different geographical regions and scientific disciplines worldwide.

CROP is a response from the academic community to the problem of poverty. CROP concentrates on research. The major aim is to produce sound and reliable knowledge, which can serve as a basis for poverty reduction. CROP has attracted researchers from all over the world and gained respect as an independent voice in an area where many different interests are involved. The global phenomenon of poverty has entered the international political agenda. Politicians and major humanitarian organisations are looking for solutions, hoping that researchers can provide the answers. There is a great potential for developing poverty research, to create new insights between disciplines and across national boundaries. CROP has created an intellectual arena where such interests can meet. Regional workshops, international conferences and projects are organised for researchers to meet face to face to discuss topics of mutual interest and develop new ideas. Such arenas are of particular importance when researchers from different cultures and disciplines are to co-operate and engage in comparative studies.

Main objectives for CROP are:

consider how the social sciences can better contribute to the understanding of poverty in a global context;
compare the different theoretical approaches so as to understand better their links and relationships;
consider how scholars working within different paradigms can develop a joint arena for multi-paradigmatic poverty research.
establish an international scientific network which will give impetus to a long-term research program;
generate and secure high quality data of importance for different social science approaches to the comparative study of poverty;
create a body of scientific knowledge which can be used for poverty reduction

CROP has been selected by the Norwegian Research Council as a "node" for poverty research in Norway directed towards the South.

CROP is a non-profit organization. For information on financing, see CROP Annual Reports and CROP Plan of Actions.

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