growth from below

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a development philosophy asserting that sustainable and equitable economic growth must be rooted in the economic empowerment of the poorest and most marginalised populations — smallholder farmers, informal workers, micro-entrepreneurs, and rural communities — rather than driven primarily by large capital investments, elite consumption, or trickle-down effects from the top of the income distribution; growth from below emphasises investment in basic education, primary healthcare, rural infrastructure, smallholder agricultural productivity, and microfinance as the foundations of an inclusive growth process that expands productive capacity and purchasing power throughout the economy; the concept challenges the assumption that growth driven by elite accumulation will eventually benefit the poor through spillover effects, insisting instead that the poor must be active agents and primary beneficiaries of the development process