A POLICY AGENDA FOR PRO POOR AGRICULTURAL GROWTH

Economic growth has been low and the incidence and numbers of poor people remain very high in some parts of the world, notably in sub Saharan Africa and some parts of South Asia. Projections for poverty reduction suggest that these regions are likely to continue to hold very large numbers of very poor rural people in the foreseeable future. Theoretical arguments and empirical evidence suggest that in poor agrarian economies both the processes of structural change within national economies and micro-economic relations within rural economies give agriculture (and particularly intensive cereal based growth) a pre-eminent and unique role in economic development and in poverty reduction. However, reliance on pro-poor agricultural growth as the main weapon against rural poverty today faces more difficult challenges than those faced in the green revolution areas in the latter part of the 20th century, due to a number of features that together increase risk and uncertainty and raise costs and/or lower returns to agricultural investment. Many of these difficulties are endogenous to today's poor rural areas, others result from broader processes of global change, but it is argued that some are the direct result of policies supporting liberalisation and withdrawal of the state. A review of the green revolutions of the 20th century suggests that state interventions in agricultural markets were widely used and important in supporting sometimes short periods of critical market and technological development in the process of rural growth. Unfortunately the benefits of such interventions have been overlooked as a result of their very evident inefficiency and high costs, without a clear understanding of their institutional benefits. Policy and research implications of this analysis are discussed.Food Security and Poverty, International Development,

Priorities and Preconditions for Successful Investment in Smallholder Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa

In the past couple of years, there has been resurgence in interest in smallholder agriculture as a potential driver for growth and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, there remains considerable skepticism as to whether public investment in smallholder agriculture will lead to the desired growth and poverty reduction, given a general pessimism about "absorptive capacity" for (public) investment in Africa, the perception of failure of past agricultural investment and the observation that current conditions are unconducive to agricultural growth in Africa. This paper combines experiences of two UK-based NGOs dedicated to promoting smallholder agriculture and strengthening rural livelihoods in Africa with insights from academic literature on African agriculture and rural markets to set out an agenda for investment in smallholder agriculture in Africa. It identifies priorities for public investment, but also key issues related to "absorptive capacity" that need to be addressed if such investment is to succeed in generating agricultural growth and poverty reduction. Particular emphasis is placed on: a) investment in human and organisational capacity of smallholder farmers; b) investment in coordinated service provision to equip producers to respond to evolving market opportunities; c) the process of developing and implementing credible agricultural development strategies at both national and local level, and; d) reform of Ministries of Agriculture to support this process.International Development,

Institutions and economic policies for pro-poor agricultural growth

"This paper draws together findings from different elements of a research project examining critical components of pro-poor agricultural growth and of policies that can promote such growth in poor rural economies in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Agricultural growth, a critical driver in poverty reducing growth in many poor agrarian economies in the past, faces many difficulties in today's poor rural areas in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Some of these difficulties are endogenous to these areas while others result from broader processes of global change. Active state interventions in 'kick starting' markets in 20th century green revolutions suggest that another major difficulty may be current policies which emphasize the benefits of liberalization and state withdrawal but fail to address critical institutional constraints to market and economic development in poor rural areas. This broad hypothesis was tested in an analysis of the returns (in agricultural growth and poverty reduction) to different government spending in India over the last forty years. The results reject the alternate hypothesis underlying much current policy, that fertilizer and credit subsidies, for example, depressed agricultural growth and poverty reduction in the early stages of agricultural transformation. The results show initially high but then declining impacts from fertilizer subsidies; high benefits from investment in roads, education and agricultural R&D during all periods and varying benefits from credit subsidies over four decades; low impacts from power subsidies; and intermediate impacts from irrigation investments. These findings demand a fundamental reassessment of policies espousing state withdrawal from markets in poor agrarian economies. Given widespread state failure in many poor agrarian economies today, particularly in Africa, new thinking is urgently needed to find alternative ways of 'kick starting' markets ways which reduce rent seeking opportunities, promote rather than crowd-out private sector investment, and allow the state to withdraw as economic growth proceeds. Authors' AbstractAgricultural growth ,Poverty, Rural ,South Asia Rural poor ,Africa, Sub-Saharan ,Agrarian economies ,Globalization ,Green Revolution ,Poverty alleviation ,Government spending policy India ,

A Policy Agenda for Pro-Poor Agricultural Growth

Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia are likely to hold large numbers of very poor rural people into the foreseeable future. Although both history and theory suggest a pre-eminent role for agricultural growth in poverty reduction in poor agrarian economies, such growth today faces new difficulties. Many of these difficulties are endogenous to today’s poor rural areas, others result from broader processes of global change, but some are due to changes in the dominant policy environment, emphasizing liberalization and state withdrawal. Examination of 20th century Green Revolutions suggests that active state interventions were important in supporting critical stages of agricultural market development. Unfortunately such interventions’ benefits in institutional development are easily overlooked, whereas their high costs are much more visible. Policy implications are discussed

A POLICY AGENDA FOR PRO POOR AGRICULTURAL GROWTH

Economic growth has been low and the incidence and numbers of poor people remain very high in some parts of the world, notably in sub Saharan Africa and some parts of South Asia. Projections for poverty reduction suggest that these regions are likely to continue to hold very large numbers of very poor rural people in the foreseeable future. Theoretical arguments and empirical evidence suggest that in poor agrarian economies both the processes of structural change within national economies and micro-economic relations within rural economies give agriculture (and particularly intensive cereal based growth) a pre-eminent and unique role in economic development and in poverty reduction. However, reliance on pro-poor agricultural growth as the main weapon against rural poverty today faces more difficult challenges than those faced in the green revolution areas in the latter part of the 20th century, due to a number of features that together increase risk and uncertainty and raise costs and/or lower returns to agricultural investment. Many of these difficulties are endogenous to today's poor rural areas, others result from broader processes of global change, but it is argued that some are the direct result of policies supporting liberalisation and withdrawal of the state. A review of the green revolutions of the 20th century suggests that state interventions in agricultural markets were widely used and important in supporting sometimes short periods of critical market and technological development in the process of rural growth. Unfortunately the benefits of such interventions have been overlooked as a result of their very evident inefficiency and high costs, without a clear understanding of their institutional benefits. Policy and research implications of this analysis are discussed

A REVIEW OF ZIMBABWES AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIC POLICIES: 1980 2000

Agricultural and Food Policy,

Priorities and Preconditions for Successful Investment in Smallholder Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa

In the past couple of years, there has been resurgence in interest in smallholder agriculture as a potential driver for growth and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, there remains considerable skepticism as to whether public investment in smallholder agriculture will lead to the desired growth and poverty reduction, given a general pessimism about "absorptive capacity" for (public) investment in Africa, the perception of failure of past agricultural investment and the observation that current conditions are unconducive to agricultural growth in Africa. This paper combines experiences of two UK-based NGOs dedicated to promoting smallholder agriculture and strengthening rural livelihoods in Africa with insights from academic literature on African agriculture and rural markets to set out an agenda for investment in smallholder agriculture in Africa. It identifies priorities for public investment, but also key issues related to "absorptive capacity" that need to be addressed if such investment is to succeed in generating agricultural growth and poverty reduction. Particular emphasis is placed on: a) investment in human and organisational capacity of smallholder farmers; b) investment in coordinated service provision to equip producers to respond to evolving market opportunities; c) the process of developing and implementing credible agricultural development strategies at both national and local level, and; d) reform of Ministries of Agriculture to support this process