Agricultural Growth for the Poor : An Agenda for Development

• ISBN13: 9780821360675
• ISBN10: 0821360671
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-06-01
• Publisher: World Bank

Summary

The majority of the world's poor depend directly or indirectly on agriculture. Despite the strong linkages between broad-based agricultural growth and poverty reduction, international support to agriculture sharply declined from the late 1980s. The need to raise agriculture's prominence in the development agenda has never been greater. This book seeks to articulate the World Bank's Rural Strategy on agriculture to the wider development community. It provides decision makers with the rationale for supporting agriculture by presenting the lessons learned on the policies, institutions, and priority investments that can sustain pro-poor agricultural growth.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Executive Summary	xv
1. The Role of Agricultural Growth in Development Strategies to Benefit the Poor	1	(20)
Agriculture's Central Role in Meeting the Millennium Development Goals	3	(8)
As Economies Change, Links between Agriculture and the Poor Change	11	(10)
2. The Rapidly Changing Context for Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities	21	(22)
The Changing Context: The Demand Side	22	(5)
The Changing Context: The Supply Side	27	(7)
The Changing Global Environment: From Commerce to Climate Change	34	(3)
Who's Who in Agriculture: Changing Players, Changing Partners	37	(2)
Rapid Change and the Need for New Approaches	39	(4)
3. Policies and Institutions to Accelerate Agricultural Growth for the Poor	43	(44)
Promoting the Global Agenda	45	(6)
An Agenda for Policies and Institutions at the National Level	51	(36)
4. Public Investments for Pro-Poor Growth	87	(28)
The Rationale for Public Sector Investment	88	(3)
Public-Private Partnerships to Promote Private Investment and Market Development	91	(2)
Declining Allocations of Public Expenditures to Agriculture: Causes, Effects, and Solutions	93	(2)
Public Investment in Physical Capital to Keep Agriculture Competitive	95	(7)
Public Investment in Human and Social Capital to Benefit the Poor	102	(3)
Public Investment in Natural Capital to Sustain the Environment	105	(3)
Matching Grants to Provide Public Goods and Income	108	(4)
Entry Points for Public Policy	112	(1)
Getting Policies, Institutions, and Investments Right	113	(2)
5. Tailoring Development Support to Diverse Agricultural Systems	115	(34)
Three Agricultural Megasystems	116	(2)
Five Pathways to Foster Agricultural Growth in Different Contexts	118	(2)
Agricultural Growth in Irrigated High-Potential Systems	120	(9)
Agricultural Growth in High- and, Medium-Potential Systems with Limited Access to Markets	129	(6)
Agricultural Growth and Sustainability in Marginal Drylands	135	(8)
Increasing the Impact of Investments in Diverse Agricultural Contexts	143	(6)
6. Getting Agriculture Back on the Development Agenda	149	(22)
Improving Investments in Agriculture	151	(12)
Conclusions: Increasing Impact and Getting Agriculture Back on the Development Agenda	163	(8)
Endnotes	171	(4)
References	175	(10)
Index	185