This paper examines agricultural policies in 18 developing countries over the period 1961-1985. We measure productivity with both a nonparametric Malmquist index and a production function, confirming previous findings of declining agricultural productivity, but with sufficident inconsistencies...

This paper reviews the current literature on Chinese agricultural growth in the past three decades, and finds that fertilizers, price reforms, human capital growth, and demographic changes are the main factors for the continuous growth of agricultural outputs and farmer income. The costs for the...

We review nonparametric estimation of efficiency and productivity, by which we mainly mean activity analysis, or data envelopment analysis (DEA). The review covers topics that we hope will be of special interest to those doing research in the realm of agriculture. We also include a brief...

Burundi, a small fragile economy, went through sporadic civil war since its independence in 1962 during which rampant insecurity had adverse impact on the country’s social and economic development. While Burundi is agriculturally rich, high rate of growth of rural population places...

Genetically Modified Crops (GMO foods) have been widely available to farmers since 1996. The Gene Revolution, based on recombinant DNA (rDNA) genetic engineering techniques, is seen by proponents as both supplanting Green Revolution varieties, based on conventional plant breeding techniques, and...

The Private Sector Development Project (PSDP) was a culmination of the renewed commitment of the Government of Ghana to accelerate the pace of development of Ghana’s private sector. The project was also a direct result of the Business Community’s own assessment of Lingering issues which...

In spite of healthy demand for a renaissance in economic policy for agricultural development, the academic supply response is found wanting. The infusion of public economics into the economics of agricultural development, which thrived during the 1970s and 80s, has stagnated due to the lack of...

This paper examines changes in agricultural productivity in18 developing countries over the period 1961-1985. We use the nonparametric, output- based Mamquist index to examine whether the results from such approach confirm results from other methods that have indicated declining agricultural...

No country has been able to sustain a rapid transition out of poverty without raising productivity in its agricultural sector. Despite this historical role of agriculture in economic development, both the academic and donor communities lost interest in the sector, starting in the mid-1980s. This...