Using case studies from six Asian countries, this paper (a) assesses the relevance of underlying rationales for public intervention in foodgrain markets, (b) documents the existing policies and regulations that support operation of grain parastatals, (c) provides estimates of benefits and costs...

It has been long hypothesized that lack of access to credit is the main reason why, despite higher profitability of High Yielding Varieties (HYVs), farmers in developing countries continue to allocate a portion of their land to traditional crop varieties. The empirical testing of this hypothesis...

Like many other Asian countries, the causal relationship between agricultural productivity and the incidence of rural poverty has been a widely debated subject in Bangladesh. A number of studies argued that the real agricultural wage rate was declining during the period when the country had...

It is argued that dairying is vital to future viability of many small farms in East Africa and that high transactions costs for dairy production and marketing limit participation by asset- and information-poor smallholders. Case studies from Kenya and Ethiopia illustrate the role of dairy...

The author argues that African rural areas behave differently from rural areas in fully commercialized market economies. In commercialized economies, price signals quickly induce factor flows, including items such as investment and technological change. A need for more food is quickly translated...

The high use of modern inputs in Egypt's agricultural system well before the reforms has been very favorable to the development of private markets, particularly in the fertilizer sector. The level of adoption being very high, the usual demand constraints did not operate and traders' entry was...

"The overall objective of this research project is to assess the impacts of different types of government policies (pertaining to the domestic and external sectors) on the status of food security in the country, with particular emphasis on the paddy/rice sector....The study concludes by drawing...

" Indonesian economy has experienced some major changes during the last three decades and transformed from a predominantly agricultural economy to one that relies more heavily on its non-agricultural sector. Within agriculture, there has also been a change in the contribution of different sub...

"Using detailed trader surveys in Benin, Madagascar, and Malawi, this paper investigates the presence of increasing returns in agricultural trade. After analyzing margins, costs, and value added, we find little evidence of returns to scale. Motorized transport is found more cost effective for...

"Although there is little consensus on the impact of trade liberalization on poverty and food security, it is nevertheless widely acknowledged that there is a need for governments to establish safety-nets to guard against any potentially harmful effects on the poor and vulnerable sections of...