Rapid structural transformation and urbanization are transforming agriculture and food production in rural areas across the world. This textbook provides a comprehensive review and assessment of the multi-faceted nature of agriculture and rural development, particularly in the developing world, where the greatest challenges occur. It is designed around five thematic parts: Agricultural Intensification and Technical Change; Political Economy of Agricultural Policies; Community and Rural Institutions; Agriculture, Nutrition, and Health; and Future Relevance of International Institutions. Each chapter presents a detailed but accessible review of the literature on the specific topic and discusses the frontiers in research and institutional changes needed as societies adapt to the transformation processes. All authors are eminent scholars with international reputations, who have been actively engaged in the contemporary debates around agricultural development and rural transformation.

Integrated Rural Development (IRD) is a dual concept that focuses on improving the overall quality of the lives of people living in rural areas while also focusing on meeting their basic daily needs. In developing countries, agriculture supports the livelihoods of a great deal of its populace. It is the main driver of rural development and economic growth. This book pays particular attention to the features of the current wave of globalization. It examines the vital role agriculture plays in the development of a country. It explores the impact of the current wave of globalization that is driven majorly by technological advancements in Information, Communication and Telecommunication (ICT) technologies in agriculture and rural development. Specially, it focuses on the adoption of modern agricultural technologies in developing countries, the role of agriculture in rural development, the position of ICT in agricultural transformation, agricultural production in the face of climate change and the political economy of the agricultural sector.

The current wave of globalization has shrunk the world into a global village. It has impacted on each and every aspect of the human life. This book explores the impact this wave has had on the agricultural sector, and examines the various opportunities that the globalization process presents for the transformation of agriculture, and enhancement of rural development. While exploring the challenges presented by the same, the book with an eye of optimism, further explores the opportunities presented by those challenges.

The present publication contains four in-depth reviews on current and emerging issues in the economic analysis of food, agriculture and rural development, written by well-known scholars in the field. The selection of the issues for in-depth review was the result of a survey conducted among FAO staff involved in policy assistance activities in the main developing regions. Thus, the choice reflects their and, by extension, the policy-makers' perception as to the main research priorities in the economic analysis of agriculture, rural development, poverty and food security

Globalization and Agriculture: Redefining Unequal Development focuses on the development of national agriculture of nine countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia from two different and complementary angles. One angle is the opportunities created by globalization for agricultural production and how the countries have dealt with the expansion of the world, as a consequence of the world market. The other angle is the social and economic consequences of globalization for agricultural and rural development. The case studies included in this book prove that the contradictory meanings referred above are indeed representative of different facets and features of globalization.

This book explores how rural gender relations are changing in a globalizing world that fundamentally impacts on the structure of agricultural life in rural areas and urban-rural relations. It analyses the development of rural gender relations in specific places around the world and looks into the effects of the increasing connectivity and mobility of people across places. The themes covered are: gender and mobility, gender and agriculture, Gender and rural politics, rurality and Gender identity and women and international development. Each theme has an overview of the state of the art in that specific thematic area and integrates the case-studies that follow.

The globalization process and the internal policy reforms that the developing countries have implemented during the past decade have changed the relative prices of practically all their inputs and outputs. Agricultural producers have therefore been forced to change the structure and methods of their production. The objective of this book is to review the impact of globalization on a number of issues. These include the effects of changes in global trading rules and regulations, the removal of trade barriers and the elimination of many country-specific trade agreements.