Academic literature on the topic 'Pro-poor agricultural research'

The growing research interest in the pro-poorness of growth is the main issue today. Reducing economic poverty and inequality through pro-poor growth is the aim of policies in many countries. Pro-poor growth is good for poverty eradication if it can be achieved. Ethiopia is a good example of a country where growth was pro-poor between 1990 and 2018 but the pro-poor growth was reversed in 2016. The paper examined what led to pro-poor growth between 1990 and 2018 and what may have been responsible for the reversal in 2016. Unit root test reveals that all the series are nonstationary at level and stationary at first difference and have one cointegration relation between the variables. The dynamic ordinary least squares method was used to analyze the Ethiopian time series data from World Bank Development Indicators between 1990 and 2018 for the determinant of pro-poor growth. Regression analysis shows that job creation was responsible for the pro-poor growth between 1990 and 2018. The results of the analysis showed that human capital, industrial, and services growth have negative impacts on poorest people, whereas employment and agriculture growth have positive impacts on poorest people. In the richest income group, human capital, and industrial and service growths have positive impacts while agricultural growth and employment have negative impacts.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, economic growth is essential for poverty reduction, and pro-poor growth is the renewed focus of today’s political debate. The present paper adds to the literature on the growth–inequality relationship. It provides an in-depth analysis of the potential role of agriculture in promoting pro-poor growth in rural and urban areas compared with that of other activities. This aspect still lacks rigorous empirical support. Using the Nexus project SAMs by the International Food Policy Research Institute, this study identifies the level of ‘keyness’ of 36 activities (12 are agricultural) in nine Eastern, Western, and Central African countries using the inter-industry linkages analysis. Afterwards, it investigates the income distribution multipliers effects of activities growth across households classified in quantiles in rural and urban areas. Therefore, the paper adds to the literature, mainly focused on rural poverty and information on the growth effect on urban poverty, which is important in the context of rapid urbanization and the growing number of poor people in African cities. Apart from country-specific factors, the results confirm the strong integration of agriculture with the economy. The growth of key agricultural activities presents the most pronounced multiplicative effect on the income of rural households in the lowest quantiles. Poor urban households also benefit from their growth, but not to the same extent as rural households with an increase in the rural–urban income gap.

SUMMARYScores of assessments of the impacts of agricultural research have been carried out over the years. However, few appear to have been used to improve decision making and the effectiveness of research programmes. The Institutional Learning and Change (ILAC) Initiative emerged within the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), with the goal of strengthening learning from experience and using lessons to improve pro-poor innovation. It is testing approaches for expanding the contributions of impact assessment and evaluation to learning, decision making and improvement.

Does agricultural activity affect human mortality? This research paper provides an empirical analysis on this important question by separately regressing agricultural outputs and its components on human mortality rate in Nigeria over the period 1981–2019. Employing the autoregressive distributed lag estimator, a long run relationship exist between agricultural outputs and human mortality rate in Nigeria. Regarding the parameter estimates, findings showed that the indirect relationship between agriculture outputs and mortality is statistically insignificant in the long run. More so, in the short run, the current level of agriculture outputs reported a significant positive coefficient whereas the first lag has a significant negative parameter. Concerning the agriculture components, in the long run, fishing activity negatively and significantly influenced human mortality whereas forestry activity directly impacted on human mortality rates. The influence of both crop and livestock productions on mortality rate is not statistically established in the long run. The study therefore suggests the need for government to adopt pro-poor policies that is capable of improving investments in agricultural activities by both public and private sectors so as to curtail human mortality rate in the country.

Extreme natural hazards, particularly the hydro-meteorological disasters, are emerging as a cause of major concern in the coastal regions of India and a few other developing countries. These have become more frequent in the recent past, and are taking a heavy toll of life and livelihoods. Low level of technology development in the rural areas together with social, economic and gender inequities enhance the vulnerability of the largely illiterate, unskilled, and resource-poor fishing, farming and landless labour communities. Their resilience to bounce back to pre-disaster level of normality is highly limited. For the planet Earth at crossroads, the imminent threat, however, is from a vicious spiral among environmental degradation, poverty and climate change-related natural disasters interacting in a mutually reinforcing manner. These, in turn, retard sustainable development, and also wipe out any small gains made thereof. To counter this unacceptable trend, the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation has developed a biovillage paradigm and rural knowledge centres for ecotechnological and knowledge empowerment of the coastal communities at risk. Frontier science and technologies blended with traditional knowledge and ecological prudence result in ecotechnologies with pro-nature , pro-poor and pro-women orientation. The rural communities are given training and helped to develop capacity to adopt ecotechnologies for market-driven eco-enterprises. The modern information and communication-based rural knowledge centres largely operated by trained semi-literate young women provide time - and locale - specific information on weather, crop and animal husbandry, market trends and prices for local communities, healthcare, transport, education, etc. to the local communities. The ecotechnologies and time- and locale-specific information content development are need-based and chosen in a ‘bottom-up’ manner. The use of recombinant DNA technology for genetic shielding of agricultural crops for coastal regions against abiotic stress (induced by the water- and weather-related natural disasters), strengthens the foundations of sustainable agriculture undertaken by the resource-poor small farm families.

In the context of the 2014 Village Law, village government intervention in agricultural development is very important in improving the welfare of village communities. This study aims to determine the intervention of the village government on agricultural development programs and to find out the opportunities and limitations of the village government in agricultural development in the village. This research uses a qualitative method with a literature study approach. This study uses Henry Bernstein's theory of agrarian political economy. Data collection was carried out through secondary data sourced from books, journals, the internet, official documents related to village government and agricultural development. Data analysis used the interactive model Miles, Huberman and Saldana. The scope of this research is limited to village government intervention in the planning and implementation of agricultural development. The findings in this study are that the change in the system from centralization to decentralization has also changed the planning of agricultural development programs in villages that are more decentralized, participatory between the community and the village government. The recommendations/implications of these findings are expected to be able to contribute findings/ideas to studies of rural development in Indonesia, particularly the role of village governments in agricultural development and a political economy perspective in agricultural development to alleviate poverty, food security, and increase the income of people in rural areas. In addition, recommendations for village government intervention in development that are more pro-poor in rural areas.

This book covers a wide range of issues relating to food security (in order of hierarchy) including the globalisation and liberalisation of trade, the WTO Agreement on Agriculture and Intellectual Property Rights, market reforms, technological options, diversification and research needs, water security, and household food security. Further, recommendations are made to cope with challenges of food insecurity. The authors emphasise the need of continuity of the current trend of reforms and devising new policies for the agricultural, food, and natural resources sectors. The issues of poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition are being faced across South Asia. These are important not only on economic grounds but also on ethical grounds. The volume’s twenty one chapters, divided into seven parts, have been contributed by twenty-nine experts. Part I discusses economic reforms, trade, technology, and food security. The authors analyse food security situation in the region in the longrun perspective and discuss policy imperatives to cope with this challenge. Among the recommendations, are the need for investment in human resources, improvement in rural infrastructure, development of pro-poor technologies, and promotion of regional cooperation.

In spite of many years of quality agricultural research and overall agricultural and economic growth, there has been slow progress in the reduction of rural poverty in many developing countries. There is agreement that technology alone is unable to solve the problem of poverty. There are many other issues that need to be considered - some are agroecological and some are social-economic-cultural-institutional-infrastructural. There has recently been fruitful discussion on poverty-focused agricultural research within national and international agricultural research systems. But the actual application of these new ideas and discussions in research has been limited. Although all agree that there is a need to discover ways to achieve greater impact on poverty from research that has been conducted, there is as yet no clear evidence of achievement based on practical experiences. There is little or no real discussion in the literature that demonstrates whether the approach to research affects poverty status. This thesis revisits different interventions and identifies gaps in the literature in understanding approaches to agricultural research. It examines whether working directly with poor men and women farmers in partnership with organisations can contribute to poverty reduction. It also explores a range of values, asking whether they can make pro-poor research and development more effective and, more importantly, whether a value-based research management approach can significantly contribute to poverty elimination. The experience of a recently completed IRRI-managed and DFID-funded project, the Poverty Elimination Through Rice Research Assistance (PETRRA) project, which claimed to have used a value-based approach to agricultural research management, was used as a case study to learn about the effectiveness of such an approach. The project was implemented in Bangladesh for 5 years with more than 50 national and international partners and in close collaboration with the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI). A qualitative research methodology was used to explore the effectiveness of the value-based research management approach utilised by the project. The values included working with the poor men and women farmers on their demands and priorities, conducting research that ensures participation of men and women farmers, working with partners who work with the poor farmers, and developing networks and linkages to sustain technologies and innovations and communicate results to a large number of poor farmers for impact. Under PETRRA, a competitive research commissioning approach was used in the selection of partners. The research method involved interviewing the research partners that led research and development subprojects 4 years on from the completion of the project. This group represents the intermediary group that made the link between two large groups: i) the national-international agricultural research and development system and ii) the users, the poor men and women farmers or the farmer groups. During the interviews, the partners of PETRRA evaluated their experience with the value-based approach that was adopted by PETRRA and analysed its effectiveness. The research revealed that the experience of engaging with values and the value-based management approach was mostly positive. The scientists from national and international research centres and development professionals from government, non-government, and private organizations were successful in linking agricultural research, values, and the need for a management approach to achieve the objective of poverty reduction. They were able to see the strengths of the values when they were used in combination to complement each other. They observed the superior effectiveness in poverty reduction of research outputs in the form of technologies and other innovations that were developed through a value-based approach. They also identified the need for and effectiveness of the contribution of continuous capacity-building efforts on the part of the project management unit in support of a value-based approach. There was clear evidence of capacity-building impact on individual partners and their respective organizations as many of these individuals and organizations sustained the learning after the project ended. Many technologies and innovations, networks, and tools that were developed in the respective subprojects were successfully used by poor farmers, some were replicated by other organizations, and some were mainstreamed and internalised within the organizations that developed them. Many partner organizations involved were substantially changed. Those who had no previous agricultural programme became champions in agriculture, and those who had never worked with resource-poor men-women farmers became leader organizations in conducting such programmes. Many individuals and organizations became advocates and became known nationally. All such evidence indicates the effectiveness of the value-based agricultural research management approach. The thesis concludes that pro-poor agricultural research and development is possible, even within a traditional setting. The challenge is to create a management approach around research and development activities that is value-based and that can facilitate a learning environment where all actors can contribute, play their due role, and get credit for it.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of History and Politics, 2011

The chapter frames the book in terms of the recent debates on smallholder agriculture and the empirical context of sub-Saharan Africa and presents the aims of the book. Moreover, it outlines the theoretical basis for the book departing from theoretical perspectives on pro-poor agricultural growth, gender-based differences in agricultural productivity, linkages to the non-farm sector, and gender-based aspects of such diversification. The chapter details the research design employed by the project and how it has evolved over time, and lists the countries and regions in which the data have been collected. The longitudinal data gathered in 2002, 2008 and 2013/15 are described, as are the complementary qualitative data collected since 2008. Finally, the chapter summarizes the structure of the book.

AbstractThis chapter looks at food system innovations and digital technologies as important drivers of productivity growth and improved food and nutrition security. The analysis emphasizes a mix of research feasibility and technology-enabling policy factors necessary to realize pro-poor benefits. Given their transformative potential and the urgency of developing the enabling R&D and policy trajectories required for impact, we highlight genome editing bio-innovations, specifically CRISPR-Cas9, to address sustainable agricultural growth; and digital technologies, including remote sensing, connected sensors, artificial intelligence, digital advisory services, digital financial services, and e-commerce, to help guide the operations and decision-making of farmers, traders, and policymakers in agricultural value chains.The analysis points to the need to close critical gaps in R&D investments, capabilities, and enabling policies and regulations to accelerate the scaling and adoption of innovations. At the global level, the engagement of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with global players should be facilitated to strengthen intellectual property (IP) access and the management of innovations; and North–South, South–South, and triangular cooperation should be promoted to strengthen LMICs’ regulatory capabilities. At the national level, countries need to invest in science-based participatory approaches to identify and adapt technologies to local conditions; close regulatory gaps through evidence-based frameworks that enable the rapid development, deployment, and safe use of innovations; close institutional and human capacity gaps by addressing limitations in institutional capacities and coordination, while training a new generation of scientists with the skills needed to develop and deliver innovations; develop an understanding of political economy factors for a nuanced knowledge of actors’ agendas to better inform communications and address technology hesitancy; close digital infrastructure gaps in rural areas by promoting simultaneous investments in digital infrastructure and electrification, reducing data costs, and improving digital literacy; and develop sustainable business models for digital service providers to help them achieve profitability, interoperability, and scale to reach a sustainable critical mass, and thus facilitate the adoption of food system innovations.

There is a “deep-rooted inequality situation in the Thai economy and society” (Krongkaewa & Kakwanib, 2003). This inequality permeates all aspects of Thai society, highlighting Thailand’s current economic vulnerability as they try to address policies that will support sustainable growth while reducing these inequalities. With growing concern about the digital divide, Thailand is an important and interesting region to study. These concerns have highlighted a widening technology gap causing a “new type of poverty called information poverty” (Marshall, Taylor, & Yu, 2003; UNDP, 1998). There has been very little prior research that has examined the take-up of information technology in this region. Although the digital divide has been the concern of all countries, there are now additional concerns about the information divide, which could increase further the gap between developed and developing countries. Education has been highlighted as an important area of policy focus. However, should developing countries such as Thailand be targeting their education resources towards specific fields that will support research and development into new technologies aimed at reducing the digital and information divide? “Women produce more than half the world’s food and spend most of their income on family welfare and food, but a lack of access to services, education and technologies keeps them uninvolved in the decision-making processes” (Sarker, 2003). Due to this lack of skills or literacy, women are unlikely to be able to directly use or even to understand the importance on information technology (Sarker, 2003). Thailand’s policy commitment to advancing science and technology should be in juxtaposition with higher “educational expenditures, technical training, and building institutions necessary to create a knowledge society” (Wilson III, 2000). This would support the notion that “pro-poor public access policies” would help overcome some of the educational and access barriers, as long as they were developed with “effective regulatory mechanisms” (Sarker, 2003). This research incorporates an analysis of educational trends within 31 non-agricultural Thai businesses in Chiang Mai, with a collective total number of employees of over 3,000, that were subjects of a pilot study conducted in the north of Thailand. This article considers the educational trends of employees in these businesses, which may support electronic enablement and digital divide reduction.

There is a “deep-rooted inequality situation in the Thai economy and society” (Krongkaewa & Kakwanib, 2003). This inequality permeates all aspects of Thai society, highlighting Thailand’s current economic vulnerability as they try to address policies that will support sustainable growth while reducing these inequalities. With growing concern about the digital divide, Thailand is an important and interesting region to study. These concerns have highlighted a widening technology gap causing a “new type of poverty called information poverty” (Marshall, Taylor, & Yu, 2003; UNDP, 1998). There has been very little prior research that has examined the take-up of information technology in this region. Although the digital divide has been the concern of all countries, there are now additional concerns about the information divide, which could increase further the gap between developed and developing countries. Education has been highlighted as an important area of policy focus. However, should developing countries such as Thailand be targeting their education resources towards specific fields that will support research and development into new technologies aimed at reducing the digital and information divide? “Women produce more than half the world’s food and spend most of their income on family welfare and food, but a lack of access to services, education and technologies keeps them uninvolved in the decision-making processes” (Sarker, 2003). Due to this lack of skills or literacy, women are unlikely to be able to directly use or even to understand the importance on information technology (Sarker, 2003). Thailand’s policy commitment to advancing science and technology should be in juxtaposition with higher “educational expenditures, technical training, and building institutions necessary to create a knowledge society” (Wilson III, 2000). This would support the notion that “pro-poor public access policies” would help overcome some of the educational and access barriers, as long as they were developed with “effective regulatory mechanisms” (Sarker, 2003). This research incorporates an analysis of educational trends within 31 non-agricultural Thai businesses in Chiang Mai, with a collective total number of employees of over 3,000, that were subjects of a pilot study conducted in the north of Thailand. This article considers the educational trends of employees in these businesses, which may support electronic enablement and digital divide reduction.