Microfinance has become an important tool for poverty reduction in many parts of the world, including Asia and the Pacific region. Microfinance institutions (MFIs) target the poor through innovative approaches which include group lending, progressive lending, regular repayment schedules, and...

This paper addresses the conceptual and practical difficulties in interdisciplinary cooperation between the natural sciences and the social sciences. The perspective taken is that of Rural Development Sociology of the Social Sciences group of Wageningen University and Research Center. It is...

The chicken industry in the Philippines has diverse components. The commercial sector is characterized by large-scale, industrialized production systems of broilers and layers of exotic hybrids. On the other hand, the backyard sector is made up of many smallholders who keep a few native or...

Economic growth among Southeast Asian countries during the last 25 years has averaged at five percent per year and has been accompanied by a decline in the relative importance of agriculture in the national output and employment. The response of poverty to this growth and structural...

The fishery sector has become a large and dynamic contributor to Philippine agriculture. However, the sector confronts the problem of high poverty and alarming threats to its resource base. Policy responses to these problems have been implemented in recent years, but serious gaps remain....

Especially when viewed in the context of the ongoing market liberalization, small land use systems are often considered to be inefficient in terms of commodity production because further externalities, which might also be welfare-relevant, are not sufficiently accounted for. The assessment of...