This paper assesses the current rural development practice against the main trends in recent rural development thinking, based on evidence from four country case studies. While much progress has been made in understanding the need to look beyond only agriculture for the promotion of productive...

Increasing problems of rural unemployment in Indonesia are at the core of this report. Numbers of unemployed increased dramatically after the 1997 economic crisis and millions of people searched to be reabsorbed in rural labour markets. Agricultural land is scarce, however, and entry barriers...

This report documents the main findings of the vulnerable profiling work carried out in Viet Nam, in cooperation with national partners and under the framework of a UNDP “Policy and Strategy for Sustainable Food Security in Viet Nam” project, as a means to support the planning of appropriate...

This paper examines food security in the context of conflict in West Africa. The analysis developed in the paper recognises the importance of defining conflict type and the trends in conflict so that conflict and post-conflict policies may be implemented. The relationship between food security...

As shown empirically for many transition economies, even small changes in assumptions on economies of size and adult equivalence scales are likely to produce significant changes in the analysis of poverty and its distribution across households and individuals. Since such exercises are then used...

Land use change is a key requirement for improving rural incomes and making a significant reduction in poverty levels globally. Over 70% of the world’s poor are located in rural areas, with land use as a major source of subsistence. Improving the productivity of their land use systems is...

The Food Security and Agricultural Projects Analysis Unit (ESAF) of FAO has undertaken a number of pilot studies to develop a methodology for understanding why certain groups of people are vulnerable to becoming food insecure. The studies use the sustainable livelihoods approach adopted for food...

This paper examines the PROGRESA and PROCAMPO cash transfer programs in Mexico and evaluates their impact on household food security and nutrition. These two programs differ in their gender targeting, with PROGRESA aimed at women and PROCAMPO generally at men, and program conditionality, with...

An agribusiness firm’s choice to expand activities through contract farming rather than plantations, buying directly from open markets or other means reflects differences in transaction costs found in different types of procurement systems. Smallholders may enter contracts to reduce...

The purpose of the present Conceptual Framework document, developed in the context of FAO’s “Initiative to Review and Update National Agricultural, Rural Development and Food Security Strategies and Policies”, is to propose a flexible general approach to addressing food security through...