The paper analyzes the welfare impacts of alternative sequencing scenarios of agricultural market reforms in Malawi using a profit maximization approach. The simulation results show that, contrary to the sequencing path adopted in the 1980's, Malawi's Government should have liberalized the maize...

Joint liability group lending is currently the lending technology of choice of microfinance institutions because of the success of the Grameen Bank, which is using the technology to successfully lend to millions of poor Bangladeshi women. The analysis and findings presented in this brief are the...

In agrarian developing countries the natural environment is a key determinant of both poverty and nutritional status. Climate, terrain, and soil characteristics drive the agricultural system, determining in large part cropping patterns, choice of crops, yield rates, and overall productivity...

A primary focus of the IFPRI 2020 Vision initiative is to find ways for people to attain food security, that is, sufficient food to lead healthy and productive lives. But what is "sufficient"? And is providing access to food the primary means of protecting people (particularly women and...

This paper reviews hypotheses about the impacts of rural population growth on agriculture and natural resource management in developing countries and the implications for productivity, poverty, and natural resource conditions. Impacts on household and collective decisions are considered, and it...

"The rural nonfarm economy (RNFE) accounts for roughly 25 percent of full-time rural employment and 35-40 percent of rural incomes across the developing world. This diverse collection of seasonal trading, household-based and large-scale agroprocessing, manufacturing and service activities plays...

The impact of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) on people's lives and on development is staggering. Millions have died and livelihoods have been devastated, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Agriculture and natural resources are important components of...

This report provides an evaluation of the community-level effects of the Programa Nacional de Educacion, Salud, y Alimentacion (PROGRESA) using household-level data from various rounds of PROGRESA's evaluation sample (the Encuesta de Evaluacion de los Hogares [ENCEL] surveys).Other reports in...

The impact of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) on people's lives and on development is staggering. Millions have died and livelihoods have been devastated, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Agriculture and natural resources are important components of...

Undernutrition of children 0-60 months old in Mozambique is much higher in rural than in urban areas. Food security is about the same, although substantial regional differences exist. Given these outcomes, we hypothesized that the determinants of food security and nutritional status in rural and...