It is generally recognized that small-farm agriculture plays a central role in economic development, both in supplying a significant portion of the domestic food crop supplies and in generating income for low-income families. For crops such as rubber, tea, coffee, and many fruits and vegetables,...

This report summarizes the results of the USAID-sponsored Beyond Mindelo conference on food security policy and the competitiveness of agriculture in the Sahel.

Summary This study compares contract and non-contract growers of apples and green onions in Shandong Province, China in order to explore the constraints on participation and the impact of contract farming on income. We find little evidence that firms prefer to work with larger farms, though all...

"In the 1970s and 1980s, most African countries sold fertilizer at subsidized prices through state-owned enterprises. In response to the fiscal cost and ineffective implementation of these subsidies, as well as pressure from international financial institutions, almost all of these countries...

"La creciente variabilidad y la fuerte tendencia al alza en los precios mundiales de alimentos durante los últimos dos años han sido motivo de preocupación debido a que pueden aumentar la pobreza y el hambre a nivel mundial. Al mismo tiempo, el aumento en los precios de alimentos es un...

This paper combines household survey and census data to construct a provincial poverty map of Vietnam and evaluate the accuracy of geographically targeted anti-poverty programs. First, the paper estimates per capita expenditure as a function of selected household and geographic characteristics...

"Economic reform programs assume that major goods are tradable, such that depreciation of the real exchange rate raises the value of output compared to factor costs in domestic currency. In Tanzania, major food staples that account for most real income are non-tradables in at least one-quarter...

Spatially disaggregated maps of the incidence of poverty can be constructed by combining household survey data and census data. In some cases, however, statistical authorities are reluctant, for reasons of confidentiality, to release household-level census data. This paper examines the loss in...

Geographic targeting is often recommended as a way to improve the impact of social spending and infrastructure investments on rural poverty. Previous research shows that such targeting is not very accurate unless the geographic units are small. Household surveys, however, rarely allow the...