Improving agricultural productivity for poverty alleviation through integrated service provision with public-private sector partnerships: Examples and issues
Improving agricultural productivity for poverty alleviation through integrated service provision with public-private sector partnerships: Examples and issues

Author: Hussain, Intizar

Publisher: IWMI

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 35

ISBN-13: 9290905360

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Enduring low agricultural productivity is one of the major causes of rural poverty in South Asia. Based on a review of recent empirical studies, this paper focuses on three key questions: (1) why is agricultural productivity low in the region?; (2) what are the key constraints and opportunities for enhancing agricultural productivity; and (3) what are the effective mechanisms to improve access to key productivity enhancing technologies, factors and services. Two major points raised in the paper are: (a) improved management of land and water is important for increasing productivity, but equally important is farmer access to non land and water-related inputs and services, which through their complementary relationships with water, increase the productivity and value of water. Even if most of the constraints related to land and water are removed through improved management, the resulting gains in productivity may not be sufficient-in the presence of constraints related to other factors and services-to have any significant impacts on poverty. Therefore, in order to generate any major increases in productivity, improved access for farmers to non land and water-related factors and services is also important; (b) access to these factors and services can be improved by providing them in an integrated manner with public-private sector partnerships. Based on examples of various models, initiatives and practices from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, China, Sub-Saharan Africa and other countries, the study suggests a framework for integrated services provision in the agriculture sector, and raises key research issues and questions to be explored.

Farming Systems and Poverty
Farming Systems and Poverty

Author: John A. Dixon

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 9789251046272

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.

New Directions for Smallholder Agriculture
New Directions for Smallholder Agriculture

Author: Peter B. R. Hazell

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2014-03-06

Total Pages: 641

ISBN-13: 0191003565

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The majority of the poor and hungry people in the world live on small farms and struggle to subsist on too little land with low input - low yield technologies. At the same time, many other smallholders are successfully intensifying and succeeding as farm businesses, often in combination with diversification into off-farm sources of income. This book examines the growing divergence between subsistence and business oriented small farms, and discusses how this divergence has been impacted by population growth, trends in farm size distribution, urbanization, off-farm income diversification, and the globalization of agricultural value chains. It finds that policy makers need to differentiate more sharply between different types of small farms than they did in the past, both in terms of their potential contributions towards achieving national economic growth, poverty alleviation, and food security goals, and the types of assistance they need. The book distinguishes between smallholders that are business oriented, subsistence oriented, and at various stages of transition to the non-farm economy, and discusses strategies appropriate for assisting each type. The book draws on a wealth of recent experience at IFAD and elsewhere to help identify best practice approaches.

Cooperatives, Economic Democratization and Rural Development
Cooperatives, Economic Democratization and Rural Development

Author: Jos Bijman

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2016-01-29

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1784719382

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Agricultural cooperatives and producer organizations are institutional innovations which have the potential to reduce poverty and improve food security. This book presents a raft of international case studies, from developing and transition countries, to analyse the internal and external challenges that these complex organizations face and the solutions that they have developed. The contributors provide an increased understanding of the transformation of traditional community organizations into modern farmer-owned businesses. They cover issues including: the impact on rural development and inclusiveness, the role of social capital, formal versus informal organizations, democratic participation and member relations, and their role in value chains. Students and scholars will find the book’s multidisciplinary approach useful in their research. It will also be of interest to policy-makers seeking to understand the wide diversity of organizational forms and functions. NGOs, donors and governments seeking to support rural developments will benefit from the discussions raised in this book.

Producer Companies in India
Producer Companies in India

Author: Sukhpal Singh

Publisher: Allied Publishers

Published: 2014-07-17

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 8184249187

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Organising small producers for dealing with production and market risks has been an issue of much debate and research. The co-operative model has been the predominant form of organization of such producers in the past across the developing world and more so in India whether for input supply or output handling and marketing. In 2002, the Companies Act was amended to make space for producer or farmer companies under the Act. As a result, over the last decade, hundreds of producer companies have been promoted by different stakeholders like government, NGOs, farmers’ unions and some corporate agencies to link farmers with markets and create better bargaining power to deal with modern and changing markets. In this context, this study examines the nature and process of promotion of producer companies in India and their performance and dynamics across four states, commodity sectors, and promoters within agricultural sector with the help of case studies of two dozen such companies. It compares and contrasts the Indian producer company structure with traditional co-operatives and with similar innovations in other contexts like Sri Lanka’s farmer companies. The study analyses the performance and the problems of the producer companies from various perspectives, and examines policy and organizational issues to provide guidelines for better structuring and management of this innovative form of producer collectivization in India and the developing world.

Reducing Rural Poverty in Asia
Reducing Rural Poverty in Asia

Author: Nurul Islam

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2006-02-28

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13: 9781560223016

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Fight rural poverty through the creation of significant policy mechanisms, microenterprises, and employment programs The majority of the world’s poor live in Asia, and most of these live in rural areas. These areas are also infamous for the food insecurity and malnutrition associated with poverty. Making even a modest dent in rural Asian poverty has the potential to realize large gains in global human development. Reducing Rural Poverty in Asia provides evidence-based guidelines for policymakers in developing countries, for researchers focusing on development problems, and for the international development assistance community in the continuing search for ways to effectively reduce poverty in the developing world. Detailed examinations are clearly presented on the efforts for poverty alleviation through microenterprise development and rural public employment programs that focus on public works and household/small-scale industries. Asia-based case studies of various microenterprises and rural public employment projects reveal important policy mechanisms and the effectiveness of each poverty reduction measure. Tables, figures, and relevant glossaries make unfamiliar terms and difficult information easy to understand. Part I of Reducing Rural Poverty in Asia: presents a framework for the analysis of rural microenterprises with a focus on microfinance highlights the main findings of country-specific case studies suggests guidelines for an appropriate strategy for the provision of microfinance to reach the poor, alleviate poverty, and create financial stability analyzes the issues relating to public wage employment schemes and the principal findings of the case studies draws policy conclusions for the formulation of effective public employment schemes Part II of Reducing Rural Poverty in Asia presents case studies conducted in India, Bangladesh, and the Philippines—along with revealing conclusions. These studies include: the SIDBI Foundation for Micro Credit in India—including the continuing problem of the exclusion of the poorest the Maharashtra Rural Credit Project in India and concerns about the sustainability of the financial infrastructure the Small Enterprises Development Project in Bangladesh and the high rate of return on capital from financed enterprises the successes of the Grameen Uddog, Agrani Bank Micro-Enterprise Development Unit (MEDU), and Kishoreganj Community-Based Projects in Bangladesh the income-stabilizing role of the Employment Guarantee Scheme in Maharashtra, India guidelines for the Public Works Employment policy and implementation in the Philippines Reducing Rural Poverty in Asia is a concise overview of the crucial research undertaken at the request of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and makes this a vital resource for researchers, educators, students, policymakers, and development experts working towards the goal of poverty reduction.

Mastering the Risky Business of Public-Private Partnerships in Infrastructure
Mastering the Risky Business of Public-Private Partnerships in Infrastructure

Author: Manal Fouad

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2021-05-10

Total Pages: 61

ISBN-13: 1513576569

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Investment in infrastructure can be a driving force of the economic recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of shrinking fiscal space. Public-private partnerships (PPP) bring a promise of efficiency when carefully designed and managed, to avoid creating unnecessary fiscal risks. But fiscal illusions prevent an understanding the sources of fiscal risks, which arise in all infrastructure projects, and that in PPPs present specific characteristics that need to be addressed. PPP contracts are also affected by implicit fiscal risks when they are poorly designed, particularly when a government signs a PPP contract for a project with no financial sustainability. This paper reviews the advantages and inconveniences of PPPs, discusses the fiscal illusions affecting them, identifies a diversity of fiscal risks, and presents the essentials of PPP fiscal risk management.

Sustainability, growth, and poverty alleviation
Sustainability, growth, and poverty alleviation

Author: Stephen A. Vosti

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2007-01-01

Total Pages: 436

ISBN-13: 0801856078

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Developing countries are under pressure to produce more food for their growing populations, conserve natural resources, and reduce poverty. In the short term, however, these goals may compete with one another. This book focuses on the interactions between agricultural growth and environment and between environment and poverty. The chapters analyze and illustrate these interactions with case study evidence from the developing world in general and from specific agroclimatic zones in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The contributors also discuss what these links mean for development policies, agricultural technologies, and social and economic institutions. With a clearer picture of how these goals interact, policymakers and researchers can design strategies for working more effectively to meet them.

Sustainable Intensification
Sustainable Intensification

Author: Jules N. Pretty

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-06-25

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 1136529276

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Continued population growth, rapidly changing consumption patterns and the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are driving limited resources of food, energy, water and materials towards critical thresholds worldwide. These pressures are likely to be substantial across Africa, where countries will have to find innovative ways to boost crop and livestock production to avoid becoming more reliant on imports and food aid. Sustainable agricultural intensification - producing more output from the same area of land while reducing the negative environmental impacts - represents a solution for millions of African farmers. This volume presents the lessons learned from 40 sustainable agricultural intensification programmes in 20 countries across Africa, commissioned as part of the UK Government's Foresight project. Through detailed case studies, the authors of each chapter examine how to develop productive and sustainable agricultural systems and how to scale up these systems to reach many more millions of people in the future. Themes covered include crop improvements, agroforestry and soil conservation, conservation agriculture, integrated pest management, horticulture, livestock and fodder crops, aquaculture, and novel policies and partnerships.