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The rural economy in Bangladesh has powerfully advanced economic growth and substantially reduced poverty, especially since 2000, but the remarkable transformation and unprecedented dynamism in rural Bangladesh remain an underexplored, underappreciated, and largely untold story. Dynamics of Rural Growth in Bangladesh: Sustaining Poverty Reduction tells that story and inquires what specific actions Bangladesh might take—given the residual poverty and persistent malnutrition—to accelerate and channel its rural dynamism to sustain the gains in eliminating poverty, achieving shared prosperity, and advancing national aspirations to achieve middle-income status. The central element of this study, undertaken with the Government of Bangladesh Planning Commission to address key questions elicited through extensive consultation, is an empirical analysis that illuminates the underlying dynamics of rural growth, particularly the role of agriculture and its relationship to the nonfarm economy. Using all sources of data available for the macro-, meso-, and microhousehold levels, the analysis provides new evidence on changes in the rural economy and the principal drivers of rural incomes. It also examines market performance for high-value agricultural products and agriculture–nutrition linkages, based on new surveys and analysis. The resulting evidence, examined in light of the rich knowledge of rural development in Bangladesh, is used to delineate the implications for policy and the strategic priorities for sustaining future rural development, poverty reduction, food security, and nutrition. The effects of policy reforms, changes in technology, and investments in infrastructure and human capital described here, along with the persistent enterprise of rural Bangladeshi households, offer a compelling case study of how mutually reinforcing actions can trigger the highly-sought-after virtuous cycle of rural development. The findings clearly demonstrate the pro-poor nature of agricultural growth and its catalytic role in stimulating the rural nonfarm economy. They show that households have no linear or predictable pathway out of poverty; instead, they wisely employ a combination of farm and nonfarm income strategies to climb out of, and then stay out of, poverty. The results represent a strong contribution to the global thinking on rural transformation and on how agriculture in particular sustains the economic momentum that fosters poverty reduction and more widespread prosperity.

India has pursued an active food security policy for many years by using a combination of trade policy interventions, public distribution of food staples, and assistance to farmers through minimum support prices defended by public stocks. This approach has been quite successful in stabilizing staple food prices, but comes at a high cost, and with potential risks of unmanageable stock accumulation. Based on a rational expectations storage model representing the Indian wheat market and its relation to the rest of the world, we analyse the cost and welfare implications of this policy, and unpack the contribution of its various elements. To analyse alternative policies, we assume that social welfare includes an objective of price stabilization and assess optimal policies corresponding to this objective. We consider fully optimal policies under commitment as well as optimal simple rules, and show that adopting simple rules can achieve most of the gains from fully optimal policies. ; L'Inde a poursuivi une politique de sécurité alimentaire active pendant de nombreuses années en utilisant une combinaison de politiques commerciales, de distribution publique, et d'assistance aux agriculteurs à l'aide d'un prix minimum d'achat défendu par du stockage public. Cette approche a réussi à stabiliser les prix alimentaires des denrées de base, mais à un coût très élevé, et avec le risque potentiel d'une accumulation de stocks hors de contrôle. En utilisant un modèle de stockage à anticipations rationnelles représentant le marché du blé indien et sa relation au reste du monde, les auteurs analysent les coûts et les bénéfices en termes de bien-être de cette politique, ainsi que de chaque élément séparément. Pour analyser des politiques alternatives, ils font l'hypothèse que la fonction de bien-être social inclut un objectif de stabilisation des prix et ils définissent les politiques optimales correspondants à cet objectif. Enfin les auteurs considèrent des politiques optimales avec engagement, mais aussi des règles simples de ...

India has pursued an active food security policy for many years by using a combination of trade policy interventions, public distribution of food staples, and assistance to farmers through minimum support prices defended by public stocks. This approach has been quite successful in stabilizing staple food prices, but comes at a high cost, and with potential risks of unmanageable stock accumulation. Based on a rational expectations storage model representing the Indian wheat market and its relation to the rest of the world, we analyse the cost and welfare implications of this policy, and unpack the contribution of its various elements. To analyse alternative policies, we assume that social welfare includes an objective of price stabilization and assess optimal policies corresponding to this objective. We consider fully optimal policies under commitment as well as optimal simple rules, and show that adopting simple rules can achieve most of the gains from fully optimal policies. ; L'Inde a poursuivi une politique de sécurité alimentaire active pendant de nombreuses années en utilisant une combinaison de politiques commerciales, de distribution publique, et d'assistance aux agriculteurs à l'aide d'un prix minimum d'achat défendu par du stockage public. Cette approche a réussi à stabiliser les prix alimentaires des denrées de base, mais à un coût très élevé, et avec le risque potentiel d'une accumulation de stocks hors de contrôle. En utilisant un modèle de stockage à anticipations rationnelles représentant le marché du blé indien et sa relation au reste du monde, les auteurs analysent les coûts et les bénéfices en termes de bien-être de cette politique, ainsi que de chaque élément séparément. Pour analyser des politiques alternatives, ils font l'hypothèse que la fonction de bien-être social inclut un objectif de stabilisation des prix et ils définissent les politiques optimales correspondants à cet objectif. Enfin les auteurs considèrent des politiques optimales avec engagement, mais aussi des règles simples de stabilisation, et ils montrent que les règles simples peuvent atteindre la plupart des gains générés par les politiques optimales.

India has pursued an active food security policy for many years by using a combination of trade policy interventions, public distribution of food staples, and assistance to farmers through minimum support prices defended by public stocks. This approach has been quite successful in stabilizing staple food prices, but comes at a high cost, and with potential risks of unmanageable stock accumulation. Based on a rational expectations storage model representing the Indian wheat market and its relation to the rest of the world, we analyse the cost and welfare implications of this policy, and unpack the contribution of its various elements. To analyse alternative policies, we assume that social welfare includes an objective of price stabilization and assess optimal policies corresponding to this objective. We consider fully optimal policies under commitment as well as optimal simple rules, and show that adopting simple rules can achieve most of the gains from fully optimal policies. ; L'Inde a poursuivi une politique de sécurité alimentaire active pendant de nombreuses années en utilisant une combinaison de politiques commerciales, de distribution publique, et d'assistance aux agriculteurs à l'aide d'un prix minimum d'achat défendu par du stockage public. Cette approche a réussi à stabiliser les prix alimentaires des denrées de base, mais à un coût très élevé, et avec le risque potentiel d'une accumulation de stocks hors de contrôle. En utilisant un modèle de stockage à anticipations rationnelles représentant le marché du blé indien et sa relation au reste du monde, les auteurs analysent les coûts et les bénéfices en termes de bien-être de cette politique, ainsi que de chaque élément séparément. Pour analyser des politiques alternatives, ils font l'hypothèse que la fonction de bien-être social inclut un objectif de stabilisation des prix et ils définissent les politiques optimales correspondants à cet objectif. Enfin les auteurs considèrent des politiques optimales avec engagement, mais aussi des règles simples de stabilisation, et ils montrent que les règles simples peuvent atteindre la plupart des gains générés par les politiques optimales.

India has pursued an active food security policy for many years by using a combination of trade policy interventions, public distribution of food staples, and assistance to farmers through minimum support prices defended by public stocks. This approach has been quite successful in stabilizing staple food prices, but comes at a high cost, and with potential risks of unmanageable stock accumulation. Based on a rational expectations storage model representing the Indian wheat market and its relation to the rest of the world, we analyse the cost and welfare implications of this policy, and unpack the contribution of its various elements. To analyse alternative policies, we assume that social welfare includes an objective of price stabilization and assess optimal policies corresponding to this objective. We consider fully optimal policies under commitment as well as optimal simple rules, and show that adopting simple rules can achieve most of the gains from fully optimal policies. ; L'Inde a poursuivi une politique de sécurité alimentaire active pendant de nombreuses années en utilisant une combinaison de politiques commerciales, de distribution publique, et d'assistance aux agriculteurs à l'aide d'un prix minimum d'achat défendu par du stockage public. Cette approche a réussi à stabiliser les prix alimentaires des denrées de base, mais à un coût très élevé, et avec le risque potentiel d'une accumulation de stocks hors de contrôle. En utilisant un modèle de stockage à anticipations rationnelles représentant le marché du blé indien et sa relation au reste du monde, les auteurs analysent les coûts et les bénéfices en termes de bien-être de cette politique, ainsi que de chaque élément séparément. Pour analyser des politiques alternatives, ils font l'hypothèse que la fonction de bien-être social inclut un objectif de stabilisation des prix et ils définissent les politiques optimales correspondants à cet objectif. Enfin les auteurs considèrent des politiques optimales avec engagement, mais aussi des règles simples de stabilisation, et ils montrent que les règles simples peuvent atteindre la plupart des gains générés par les politiques optimales.

Kenya's economy is diverse, with both agricultural and industrial potential. However, the economy has not performed especially well over the past two decades, and evidence suggests that poverty and inequality has not declined much. Therefore, it is imperative that Kenya's government foster stronger growth and a process of income generation that benefits the broader population. As discussed in the next section, numerous studies emphasize the importance of rural development in Kenya, largely because a majority of the population, especially poor households, lives in rural areas, where they rely heavily on agricultural incomes. Urban households also depend on rural areas as a source of food and as a market for nonagricultural goods. However, Kenya's ninth National Development Strategy has not taken a particularly optimistic view of agriculture's potential contribution to economic growth—it targets an annual growth rate of around 4 percent per year, with agriculture growing at a little more than 3 percent (Kenya 2002). ; PR ; IFPRI1 ; DGO; DSGD

Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- FOREWORD / PREFÁCIO -- PRÉFACE / PRÓLOGO -- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY / RESUMO EXECUTIVO -- RÉSUMÉ ANALYTIQUE / RESUMEN -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Evolution of Debt and the Debt Problem -- 3 The HIPC Initiative -- 4 Design of the Initiative -- 5 Implementation Experience -- 6 Likely Outcomes - Preliminary Findings -- 7 Findings and Recommendations.

Front Cover -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Executive Summary: The Elusive Promise of Productivity -- 1. Sources of Growth in Agriculture -- Improving Agricultural Productivity: Traversing the Last Mile toward Reducing Extreme Poverty -- Poverty Reduction, Productivity Growth, and Economic Transformation -- Trends in Land and Labor Productivity -- Conceptualizing Sources of Agricultural Growth -- The Increasing Importance of TFP in Driving Agricultural Output Growth -- What Will Accelerate Agricultural TFP? -- Annex 1A. Issues in Measuring Agricultural Productivity -- Notes -- References -- 2. Misallocation and Productivity Growth -- The Potential for Productivity Gains from Reallocation -- Insights on Farm Size and Productivity -- Labor Productivity and Structural Transformation -- Annex 2A. Microdata Sources for Measuring Labor Productivity in China and India -- Annex 2B. Distribution of Workdays by Farm and Nonfarm Activities in a Typical Month for an Average Adult Worker in India -- Annex 2C. Labor Productivity Differences by Farm Size -- Annex 2D. Labor Productivity Differences by Education Level -- Annex 2E. Drivers of Wage Differentials between Farm and Nonfarm Work in China -- Notes -- References -- 3. Investing in Innovation -- Agriculture Innovation Policy in a Changing Global Context -- Agriculture R& -- D Spending Worldwide: Increasing but Uneven -- Revitalizing Public Research -- Providing Incentives for Private Innovation -- Concluding Remarks -- Annex 3A. Market Liberalization in Africa's Maize Seed Industry -- Annex 3B. Do Plant Breeders' Rights Stimulate Investment in Crop Improvement? -- Annex 3C. Herbicide Demand and Regional Harmonization of Regulations in Africa -- Notes -- References -- 4. Improving the Enabling Environment for Technology Adoption.