Harvesting Prosperity

Harvesting Prosperity

Author: Keith Fuglie

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781464813931

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This book documents frontier knowledge on the drivers of agriculture productivity to derive pragmatic policy advice for governments and development partners on reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity. The analysis describes global trends and long-term sources of total factor productivity growth, along with broad trends in partial factor productivity for land and labor, revisiting the question of scale economies in farming. Technology is central to growth in agricultural productivity, yet across many parts of the developing world, readily available technology is never taken up. We investigate demand-side constraints of the technology equation to analyze factors that might influence producers, particularly poor producers, to adopt modern technology. Agriculture and food systems are rapidly transforming, characterized by shifting food preferences, the rise and growing sophistication of value chains, the increasing globalization of agriculture, and the expanding role of the public and private sectors in bringing about efficient and more rapid productivity growth. In light of this transformation, the analysis focuses on the supply side of the technology equation, exploring how the enabling environment and regulations related to trade and intellectual property rights stimulate Research and Development to raise productivity. The book also discusses emerging developments in modern value chains that contribute to rising productivity. This book is the fourth volume of the World Bank Productivity Project, which seeks to bring frontier thinking on the measurement and determinants of productivity to global policy makers.


managing Agricultural Risk at the Country Level

managing Agricultural Risk at the Country Level

Author: Olivier Mahul

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 37

ISBN-13:

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Abstract: This paper describes the index-based livestock insurance program in Mongolia designed in the context of a World Bank lending operation with Government of Mongolia and implemented on a pilot basis in 2005. This program involves a combination of self-insurance by herders, market-based insurance, and social insurance. Herders retain small losses, larger losses are transferred to the private insurance industry, and extreme or catastrophic losses are transferred to the government using a public safety net program. A syndicate pooling arrangement protects participating insurance companies against excessive insured losses, with excess of loss reinsurance provided by the government. The fiscal exposure of Government of Mongolia toward the most extreme losses is protected with a contingent credit facility. The insurance program relies on a mortality rate index by species in each local region. The index provides strong incentives to individual herders to continue to manage their herds so as to minimize the impacts of major livestock mortality events; individual herders receive an insurance payout based on the local mortality, irrespective of their individual losses. This project offered the first opportunity to design and implement an agriculture insurance program using a country-wide agricultural risk management approach. During the first sales season, 7 percent of the herders in the three pilot regions purchased the insurance product.


Farming Systems and Poverty

Farming Systems and Poverty

Author: John A. Dixon

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 9789251046272

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A joint FAO and World Bank study which shows how the farming systems approach can be used to identify priorities for the reduction of hunger and poverty in the main farming systems of the six major developing regions of the world.


Working with Smallholders

Working with Smallholders

Author: World Bank

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2023-11-09

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781464819629

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"Smallholder farmers are the stewards of more than 80 percent of the world's farms. These small family businesses produce about one-third of the world's food. In Africa and Asia, smallholders dominate the production of food crops, as well as export commodities such as cocoa, coffee, and cotton. However, smallholders and farm workers remain among the poorest segments of the population, and they are on the frontline of climate change. Smallholder farmers face constraints in accessing inputs, finance, knowledge, technology, labor, and markets. Raising farm-level productivity in a sustainable way is a key development priority. Agribusinesses are increasingly working with smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income countries to secure agricultural commodities. More productive smallholders boost rural incomes and economic growth, as well as reduce poverty. Smallholders also represent a growing underserved market for farm inputs, information, and financial services. Working with Smallholders: A Handbook for Firms Building Sustainable Supply Chains (third edition) shows agribusinesses how to engage more effectively with smallholders and to develop sustainable, resilient, and productive supply chains. The book compiles practical solutions and cutting-edge ideas to overcome the challenges facing smallholders. This third edition is substantially revised from the second edition and incorporates new material on the potential for digital technologies and sustainable farming. This handbook is written principally to outline opportunities for the private sector. The content may also be useful to the staffs of governmental or nongovernmental development programs working with smallholders, as well as to academic and research institutions."--


The Man who Fed the World

The Man who Fed the World

Author: Leon F. Hesser

Publisher: Leon Hesser

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 9781930754904

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The Man Who Fed the World provides a loving and respectful portrait of one of America's greatest heroes. Nobel Peace Prize recipient for averting hunger and famine, Dr. Norman Borlang is credited with saving hundreds of millions of lives from starvation-more than any other person in history? Loved by millions around the world, Dr. Borlang is recognized as one of the most influential men of the twentieth century.


Government Support to Agricultural Insurance

Government Support to Agricultural Insurance

Author: Olivier Mahul

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2010-03-08

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 0821382195

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Governments in developing countries have been increasingly involved in the support of agricultural (crop and livestock) insurance programs in recent years. In their attempts to design and implement agricultural insurance, they have sought technical and financial assistance from the international community and particularly from the World Bank. One of the recurrent requests from governments regards international experience with agricultural insurance, not only in developed countries, where in some cases agricultural insurance has been offered for more than a century, but also in middleand low-income countries. Governments are particularly interested in the technical, operational, financial, and institutional aspects of public support to agricultural insurance. 'Government Support to Agricultural Insurance' informs public and private decision makers involved in agricultural insurance about recent developments, with a particular focus on middle- and low-income countries. It presents an updated picture of the spectrum of institutional frameworks and experiences with agricultural insurance, ranging from countries in which the public sector provides no support to those in which governments heavily subsidize agricultural insurance. This analysis is based on a survey conducted by the World Bank s agricultural insurance team in 2008 in 65 developed and developing countries. Drawing on the survey results, the book identifies some key roles governments can play to support the development of sustainable, affordable, and cost-effective agricultural insurance programs.


Enabling Productive But Asset-Poor Farmers to Succeed

Enabling Productive But Asset-Poor Farmers to Succeed

Author: Eugene Gurenko

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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This paper examines how market-based risk financing instruments could enable asset-poor but productive farmers exposed to production shocks to engage in riskier but higher-return agricultural activities. The financing of these exogenous shocks is addressed in a conceptual framework based on an optimal allocation of capital where the farm is viewed as a business unit. The approach allows for (1) testing the business viability of a specified crop by assessing the minimum business capital required to ensure the continuity of the business after the occurrence of an adverse production shock; and (2) designing an optimal risk financing program to finance the minimum capital requirements using a combination of instruments (insurance, savings, and borrowing). The authors provide numerical and graphical examples to illustrate the relevance of this financial approach to the specific issues of agricultural risk management.


Indonesia, Law and Society

Indonesia, Law and Society

Author: Timothy Lindsey

Publisher: Federation Press

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 756

ISBN-13: 9781862876606

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Since the first edition, Indonesia has undergone massive political and legal change as part of its post-Soeharto reform process and its dramatic transition to democracy. This work contains 25 new chapters and the 4 surviving chapters have all been revised, where necessary. Indonesia: Law and Society now covers a broad range of legal fields and includes both historical and very up-to-date analyses and views on Indonesian legal issues. It includes work by leading scholars from a wide range of countries. There is still no comparable, English language text in existence.