Agriculture and Rural Development in a Globalizing World
Challenges and Opportunities
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Book Description
Rapid structural transformation and urbanization are transforming agriculture and food production in rural areas across the world. This textbook provides a comprehensive review and assessment of the multi-faceted nature of agriculture and rural development, particularly in the developing world, where the greatest challenges occur.
It is designed around five thematic parts: Agricultural Intensification and Technical Change; Political Economy of Agricultural Policies; Community and Rural Institutions; Agriculture, Nutrition, and Health; and Future Relevance of International Institutions. Each chapter presents a detailed but accessible review of the literature on the specific topic and discusses the frontiers in research and institutional changes needed as societies adapt to the transformation processes. All authors are eminent scholars with international reputations, who have been actively engaged in the contemporary debates around agricultural development and rural transformation.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
Prabhu Pingali and Gershon Feder
Part 1: Agricultural Intensification and Technical Change
2. Modern Agricultural Technology Adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Four-Country Analysis
Gershon Feder and Sara Savastano
3. Revisiting the Farm Size–Productivity Relationship: New Evidence from Sub-Saharan African Countries
Pasquale Lucio Scandizzo and Sara Savastano
4. From Land Grabs to Land Development: The Past and Potential of Private Investment in Frontier Agriculture
Derek Byerlee, William A. Masters, and Daniel S. Robinson
5. Staples Production: Efficient "Subsistence" Smallholders Are Key to Poverty Reduction, Development, and Trade
Michael Lipton
Part 2: Political Economy of Agricultural Policies
6. Transforming African Economies and the Evolving Structure of African Agriculture
Johann Kirsten and Frikkie Liebenberg
7. Origins and Some Empirical Tests of Theories of Agricultural Evolution
John Murray McIntire
8. Toward More Evidence-based Decision-making in the Land Sector: Can It Help to Close Implementation Gaps?
Klaus Deininger
9. Food Price Changes, Domestic Price Insulation, and Poverty (When All Policymakers Want to Be Above Average)
Kym Anderson, William J. Martin, and Maros Ivanic
10. Institutional Constraints and Options for Expanding the Biotechnology Revolution in Developing Countries
Greg Traxler
Part 3: Community and Rural Institutions
11. Beyond Hype: Another Look at Index-based Agricultural Insurance
Peter Hazell and Ulrich Hess
12. Beyond Water Markets: Second-best Water Allocation Policy?
Mark W. Rosegrant, Man Li, and Wenchao Xu
13. Reflections on Community-Driven Development
Jacomina de Regt
Part 4: Agriculture, Nutrition, and Health
14. Agricultural Change and Health and Nutrition in Emerging Economies
Joachim von Braun
15. Understanding the Multidimensional Nature of the Malnutrition Problem in India
Prabhu Pingali and Tanvi Rao
Part 5: Future Relevance of International Institutions
16. Structural Transformation and the Transition from Concessional Assistance to Commercial Flows: The Past and Possible Future Contributions of the World Bank
Uma Lele, Sambuddha Goswami, and Gianluigi Nico
17. The Relevance of the CGIAR in a Modernizing World: Or Has It Been Reformed ad infinitum into Dysfunctionality?
Alex F. McCalla
Editor(s)
Biography
Prabhu Pingali is a professor in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, New York, with a joint appointment in the Division of Nutritional Sciences. He is Founding Director of the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI).
Gershon Feder is Chair of the Publications Review Committee at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington DC. Previously he held various positions at the World Bank, most recently Senior Research Manager at the Development Research Group.
Reviews
"How do agriculture and rural development practices need to adapt to meet the needs of a world experiencing rapid globalisation and urbanisation? Such a broad but timely question demands in-depth and wide-ranging analysis, and this volume in Earthscan's Food and Agriculture series provides just that." - Spore (the newsletter of CTA), number 185