Covers the period from the early 1960s until 1987.

Pakistan's cotton, textile, and apparel industries are key sectors of the nation's economy; their performance can contribute to either a rise or fall in poverty. These vital industries have faced a variety of challenges and opportunities in recent years, including world cotton price instability, liberalization of the multilateral clothing and textile trade, and sharp swings in the Pakistani macroeconomic situation. Using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model and drawing on a national survey of Pakistani households, the authors of this report evaluate the consequences of several recent or prospective economic changes on Pakistan's cotton, textile, and apparel industries and poverty levels. The economic changes include an increased inflow of foreign capital, higher world cotton and textile prices, government subsidization of the textile industry, increased productivity in the cotton and textile sectors, and other possible developments. By presenting these scenarios, the report offers policymakers and analysts a guide to anticipating and shaping the future of economic growth and poverty reduction in Pakistan.

The integration of traditional agriculture into local, national, and international markets is part of a development strategy oriented toward growth. Crop specialization and market integration are seen to hold the promise of wider employment opportunities, larger incomes, and improved consumption and nutrition for the rural poor. Such agricultural development also leads to the emergence of a rural service sector that provides additional employment. But whether the poor obtain a fair share, directly or indirectly, of the gains from commercialization of agriculture is largely determined by the policies and programs adopted. In Commercialization of Agriculture Under Population Pressure: Effects on Production, Consumption, and Nutrition in Rwanda, Research Report 85, Joachim von Braun, Hartwig de Haen, and Juergen Blanken examine the driving forces and the effects of commercialization in a study site in Rwanda, one of the most densely populated areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. This study represents part of IFPRI's continuing research on ensuring food security and alleviating poverty through agricultural commercialization. The present study assesses the interaction of increased commercialization with population growth and the results for production, household real income, family food consumption, expenditures for nonfood goods and services, and the nutritional status of the sample population. It also develops a long-term perspective for agricultural, employment, and nutrition policies.

This paper describes the methodology for a series of background papers that measure incentives in India's agriculture. The first study on sugarcane and sugar shows that the domestic market has been isolated from world markets by extensive controls, but between 1965 and 1995 there was a significant downward trend in the ratio of domestic to international sugar prices. This paper is the first in a series of studies to provide background data and protection and incentive indicators for 13 major Indian crops, which have been estimated in connection with extensive research on Indian agricultural incentives. The general methodology of the studies is described in the first section of the paper. The second section of the paper focuses on sugarcane and sugar. It shows that between 1965 and 1994 real domestic prices of sugar and cane were quite stable in India, declining an average of 0.6 percent (sugar) and 0.3 percent (cane) a year. During the same 29 years the free market price of sugar fluctuated widely (expressed in Indian rupees) but in real terms increased about 1.3 percent a year. This contrast in trends reflects the real devaluation of the rupee after 1986 but meant that by the early 1990s, at world sugar prices of US 13-15 cents a pound or higher, India's domestic prices were roughly equivalent to, or below, world reference prices. Because of the fluctuations in world free market prices, nominal protection of sugar and sugarcane production in India-as measured by differences between domestic prices and border reference prices-also fluctuated. Nominal protection was: * High during low world prices in the 1960s and the mid-1980s. * Negative when world prices were high in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. * Moderate to low by previous standards between 1989 and 1994. Incentives for cane production did not change much when allowance is made for the nominal protection of tradable inputs (principally fertilizers) or subsidies for the principal nontradable imports (canal irrigation, credit, and electricity for pumpsets). Incentives for cane production were somewhat higher in Uttar Pradesh than in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Half of Indian cane production is used by artisanal producers of gur and small-scale de facto unregulated producers of khandsari sugar. Because of India's complex regulatory system-especially in the important sugar-producing state, Uttar Pradesh-incentives are significantly higher for unregulated activities than for the modern sugar mill sector. Regulations subject sugar mills to controls that require them to: * Sell specific quantities of their sugar production at low levy prices. * Sell molasses production at a fraction (0.1 or less) of open market and border prices. * Pay minimum prices (for specific quantities of cane) at above-free-market prices, except in years of cane shortages. This paper is a product of Trade, Development Research Group. Garry Pursell may be contacted at [email protected].

Developing a Sustainable Economy in Cameroon is an ambitious effort as the authors try to set a blue print for Cameroon's economy. In the 1980s facing economic crisis, and as dictated by the structural adjustment programme, Cameroon sharply cut public investment expenditures before later cutting government consumption which were followed by privatisation, liquidation of public companies and reduction in the size of the public sector. All these measures are believed to have had devastating effects on the economy. Given the performance of the economy so far the authors suggest that much more effort, with a strong commitment of the main stakeholders, is required to guarantee sustainable economic development in Cameroon. Truly, very few countries in Africa possess such enormous human and natural resources as Cameroon does. This volume brings out the challenges Cameroon faces in its quest for development as well as for designing appropriate strategies for addressing those development challenges.

The link between trade liberalisation and poverty has arguably been one of the most debated topics in development policy debate. Existing studies on the subject have primarily used multi-country cross-sectional data, and there is a growing concern about the limitations of this approach in providing a sound empirical basis for informing the policy debate. These limitations point to the need for undertaking in-depth analyses within individual countries over time. In order to examine the connection between trade liberalisation and poverty, this book provides case studies of trade policy reforms and poverty reduction outcomes of seven countries in South Asia - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The South Asia region allows for an excellent comparative study given the widespread emphasis on liberalisation reforms in the region over the past two decades, as well as highlighting significant inter-country differences in terms of the timing and comprehensiveness of reforms, and the heavy concentration of world poverty in the region. This book is a useful contribution to studies on South Asia, as well as International Trade and Development Economics.

Production and policy trends for food crops. Methodology for measuring economic incentives and comparative advantage. Data sources and general assumptions. Analysis of incentives and government intervention. Regional comparative advantage of food crop.