"Systems of agricultural production and poverty: To improve life in a changing world"

Why small farmers, despite producing a good part of the food consumed in developing countries, are generally the poorest population? What options for development are available for each of the agricultural systems in these countries?

The FAO and the World Bank analyse in this study (the complete version available through Internet, click here) 20 systems of agricultural production-the way of life for some two billion farmers and their families-in an attempt to understand what options these rural people have to rise out of their poverty. The publication, of prime importance on the future of agriculture in developing countries, has helped update the Rural Development Strategy of the World Bank.

Throughout some 400 pages, it is shown that the options for development can differ markedly from one system to the other, from production diversification to boosting rural employment unrelated to agriculture. This helps in understanding, with the aid of an electronic atlas of the agricultural systems, why it is impossible to provide an effective response to the needs and priorities of rural people without having first understood the world in which they live or the endless decisions that they have to make each day.

The General Director of the FAO, Jacques Diouf, and the president of the World Bank, James D. Wolfensohn, note that the book is aimed at a very broad public: "We hope," they assure in the prologue, "that those responsible for the policies, the researchers, the non-governmental organizations and the sector of agribusiness find the suggestions and findings interesting and capable of spurring new ideas."

"Does Quanxi Matter to Nonfarm Employment?"

Due to the scarcity of arable land in China, the rural people have to turn more and more to non-agricultural activities to boost their income. The functioning of the non-agricultural work market is crucial to determine who has access to this type of employment. Some prior studies have identified the human capital as the key factor determining the selection of workers in the rural non-agricultural economy. Based on a detailed analysis of the domestic economy of northern and north-eastern China, this document shows that the Quanxi (social networks) have played a fundamental role. With limited possibilities for non-agricultural employment and poor market information, the rural people with better social contacts have better possibilities to find employment outside agriculture.

This study, published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), is available in its entirety on-line.