Agricultural productivity growth is widely seen as an essential instrument of poverty reduction, food security and broader economic growth. Paradoxically, however, the agricultural sector is often neglected by African governments in what is often termed ‘urban bias’. This paper explores what...

This paper analyzes how Cambodian farmers and the government can respond to the rise of rice price. The study estimates rice production response in Cambodia using the Cambodia Socio-Economic Surveys (CSES) conducted in 2004 and 2007. The results indicate that agricultural productivity is far...

The recent surge in food prices around the world may reverse the gains of reducing hunger and poverty in the recent years. This paper employs factor and sequential typology analysis using data for 175 countries to identify groups of countries categorized according to four measures of food...

Given its vast land resources and favorable water supply, the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) natural agricultural potential is immense. However, the economic potential of the sector is handicapped by one of the most dilapidated transport systems in the developing world (World Bank, 2006)....

The impact of education on farmers' choice of activities and household welfare are modelled and estimated using farm household data for rural Ethiopia. We find that education has significant effects on household welfare. Schooling increases the adoption of new technologies and facilitates entry...

In an effort to alleviate rice shortages, the Iranian government is attempting to encourage the private sector to become more involved in the rice market and trade of Iran. To this end, the multi rate foreign exchange system, which was adopted for several years mainly to support consumers, is...

In spite of rapid overall economic growth in the 1990s, rural poverty in Pakistan did not decline. Panel data covering rural households in four districts in Pakistan suggest that real incomes of many households declined between the early 1990s and 2002, in spite of modest gains in agricultural...

This study examined in 2005 t he impact of World Bank Expanded Programme for Root and Tuber Production (RTEP) on the poverty alleviation of peri-urban and rural communities in Benue State, Nigeria. It aimed at delineating causal effect disparity in poverty alleviation of two major producer...

This study evaluates the welfare implications of tariff reforms in the cereals sector of the SADC region. Applying the global simulation model (GSIM), a multi-country partial equilibrium model, to the cereals industries of thirteen SADC countries, the study computes price and welfare effects of...