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"Urbanization and Decentralization: The changing urban-rural linkages and opportunities of decentralization of services" Joachim von Braun, Center for Development Research (ZEF) University of Bonn, Germany This paper explores the relations between urbanization and decentralization. Ever stronger linkages between urban and rural areas represent a challenge for sustainable development. Until now, the widespread view in the economic policy and research, categorizing "rural" as more "remote farming areas" and urban as "crowded cities", has led to their separate treatment, missing important sustainability footprints and poverty-reducing inter-linkages between them. The reality is different. In fact, the farming areas (the very rural) and the megacities (the very urban) co-evolve along a continuum with multiple types of flows and interactions. These dynamics are bringing the two spaces ever closer in space and livelihood patterns, leading to the loss of traditional distinctions between them. This gives an important potential role to decentralization of government, and decentralization of services in particular. Decentralization is an instrument for efficient and participatory governance. It has emerged as one of the most important governance reforms in recent history: Approximately 80 percent of all developing and transition countries have implemented this reform in past three decades. Based on a systematic review of country experiences this paper highlights the need for new attention to the spatial dimensions of development and to urban-rural linkages for sustainable development and reviews the evidence of synergies and pitfalls between urbanization and decentralization with concepts of economic geography, and institutional economics. There is evidence that the poorer segments of societies often do not benefit as much from decentralization as the better-off, and in some cases, decentralization even makes matters worse for them. An important reason for this mixed experience is the fact that the impact of decentralization on poverty depends on design- and context-specific factors. Institutional arrangements that work in one situation may not be appropriate for another, which has led to the appeal to move "from best practice to good fit." Against this context, this paper addresses the specific question: how to guide urban-rural linkages toward sustainable development. Strong linkages enhance people's welfare and growth because they facilitate the flow of resources to where they have the largest net economic and social benefits. However, such linkages cannot be taken for granted in development; they must be optimally invested in to help reduce transaction costs related to the linkages of diverse types and stimulate positive externalities and spillover effects. Urban-rural linkages need more policy attention, which requires that adequate institutional and organizational structures be put in place, necessitating appropriate coordination mechanisms between central and local governments.

Following an overview on the fast changing global context of agriculture, and food and nutrition security, this paper provides a framework for identifying the set of essential international public goods for a well-functioning world agriculture and food system: natural resource management related to biodiversity, water, and soils; climate change adaptation and mitigation; trade and food reserves; competition policy and standards for foreign direct investment; international research and innovation; responding to and preventing food and nutrition emergencies; and trans-boundary food safety and health related investments and standards. The deficiencies of the current institutional arrangements in support of agricultural development and food and nutrition security are reviewed and a perspective for re-design is presented. It comprises three focal clusters of organizational setups under a global platform: a cluster on food and nutrition security for the poor; a second one on protection of natural resources; and a third one on enhanced sustainable intensification and productivity growth. A gradual approach toward re-design based on current building blocks of international organizations is proposed, allowing for more involvement of non-government global actors as well as intensified government-to-government (G-to-G) networking in order to improve international public goods delivery in support of development goals. Some re-design actually occurs already in this direction, but it is rather ad hoc. To move the re-design process forward more strategically, and less ad hoc needs a high-level, broad based, legitimized time-bound dialogue forum that embraces the whole set of international public goods for agricultural development and food and nutrition security, and addresses the organizational implications.

High food prices from 2007 through mid-2008 had serious implications for food and nutrition security, macroeconomic stability, and political security. The unfolding global financial crisis and economic slowdown have now pushed food prices to lower levels. Yet the financial crunch has also decreased the availability of capital at a time when accelerated investment in agriculture is urgently needed. The food and financial crises will have strong and long-lasting effects on emerging economies and poor people. A synchronized response is needed to ease the burden on the poor and allow agriculture to face new challenges and respond to new opportunities. Three sets of complementary policy actions should be taken: (1) promote pro-poor agricultural growth, (2) reduce market volatility, and (3) expand social protection and child nutrition action. Agriculture requires strategic investment action, and the food-insecure poor need a bailout now. ; PR ; IFPRI1; Food Security, Hunger, Famine, and Crises; World Food Issues

Early economic theory suggested that economic growth associated with the globalisation of agriculture would lead to more equal distribution of income and resources. However at the start of the 21st century it is apparent that the opposite is happening: agriculture is becoming increasingly divided both globally and within many countries, undermining long term growth and fostering political conflict. ; IFPRI3 ; DGO ; Non-PR

The three chapters in Part III report synthesis is findings from the microlevel IFPRI research in The Gambia, Guatemala, Kenya, the Philippines, and Rwanda, as well as from the other case studies presented in Part V. Any attempt to synthesize and generalize on the basis of the detailed case studies runs the risk of excessively extrapolating from special circumstances and of losing insights gained from these case studies, whose strengths are the detailed~assessments of the commercialization-production-income-consumption-nutrition chain and the important feedbacks from these elements. This chapter, on the first elements of the commercialization chain, is therefore to be seen in the context of the following two chapters, and all the three synthesis chapters together are to be seen in the context of the rich insights from the individual studies discussed later. ; PR ; IFPRI1; Globalization, Market and Trade Policy; nobio ; DGO