This paper examines the relationship between rurality and poverty, and the role the agricultural sector can play in rural development, poverty reduction, and overall development. The historical views regarding the role of the primary sector in development are presented, and then using original...

The paper reviews the implications for rural development of current transformations in agriculture. It first identifies some of the driving forces - in addition to the impact of rising incomes in some but not all developing countries - behind the transformation process: changing market chains,...

In spite of the fact that the Ugandan National Agricultural Research System has developed and released several production-enhancing technologies over a century, yields of most major crops at the farm level have been low. Given that about 80 percent of Uganda’s labor force is employed in...

This paper examines three software and/or information technology enabled services (ITES) industries—two in the early stages of development (in the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and the Philippines) and one mature one (in India). Being latecomers to offshoring work, the PRC and...

Workfare programs aim to reduce poverty by providing low-wage work to those who need it. They are often turned to in a crisis when there is no time for a rigorous evaluation. This paper offers some simple analytic tools for a rapid ex-ante appraisal of an existing workfare program. For pedagogic...

Targeted Human Development Programs (THDPs) are integrated poverty reduction programs designed to increase the capacity of the poor to accumulate human capital. The programs are directed primarily to poor and vulnerable families with pre-school and school-age children. Their main long-term...

This paper reviews the contribution of agriculture and rural development to poverty reduction by examining the transformation of five territories in four countries of Asia (Malaysia and People's Republic of China) and Latin America (Brazil and Peru) that have experienced substantial reductions...

Mid-way into the Cotonou Agreement’s target year 2020, this study is aimed at a comparative analysis of its effectiveness in poverty reduction in West Africa. The Agreement’s existing “Aid Effectiveness” is usually based on an iterative analysis, rather than a pre- and post-impact...

Many rural poor people in developing countries depend on agriculture and are highly influenced by climatic change. Adaptation to climate change impacts is increasingly being observed in both physical and ecological systems as well as in human adjustments to resource availability and risk at...