OECD-DAC Guidelines and Reference Series, 2006
After two decades of decline, investments in agriculture are on the rise. This reversal in national policies and donor programmes reflects increased awareness of the high proportion of the world's poor who live in rural areas and the vital contribution of agriculture to pro-poor growth and in achieving the internationally agreed poverty reduction targets. What is the role of agriculture in the rural economy and in people's livelihood strategies? What are the current challenges facing rural households and how can they overcome them? How can public policy best be tailored to a country's agro-ecological potential and the stage of transformation that it has attained?
This report results from work carried out by the DAC Network on Poverty Reduction (POVNET). The report identifies three priorities for action in the new global context: enhance agricultural sector productivity and market opportunities; promote diversified livelihoods on and off the farm; and reduce risk and vulnerability. The report concludes by highlighting ways in which the change process can be managed through strengthened partnerships between donors and their developing country partners, and between the public and private sectors.
Today, rural households face challenges much different than those faced by the "green revolution" producers who achieved sustained gains in agriculture productivity only a few decades ago. Over the past 20 years there has been a substantial decline in public sector support for agriculture and many producers have lost access to key inputs and services.While public sector provision of these services was not very efficient, it often provided the sole linkages to markets for poor rural producers. Today, such links are tenuous and complicated by much greater integration of the global economy. Smallholder producers now compete in markets that are much more demanding in terms of quality and food safety, and more concentrated and integrated than in the past. OECD agricultural subsidies further distort many of these same markets.
Background papers commissioned in the development of this report include Hazell, P. (2004) Smallholders and pro-poor agriculture growth [1] and Vorley, B. and T. Fox (2004) Global food chain: constraints and opportunities for smallholders [2]
See also Agricultural Markets and the Rural Poor by David Orden, Maximo Torero and Ashok Gulati also prepared for POVNET (available here [3]).
Available for download at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/43/46/36427716.pdf [4]