`This is a "must read" for anyone interested in value chain finance.---Kenneth Shwedel, Agricultural Economist --Book Jacket.

The world's demand for food is expected to double within the next 50 years, while the natural resources that sustain agriculture will become increasingly scarce, degraded, and vulnerable to the effects of climate change. In many poor countries, agriculture accounts for at least 40 percent of GDP and 80 percent of employment. At the same time, about 70 percent of the world's poor live in rural areas and most depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. 'World Development Report 2008' seeks to assess where, when, and how agriculture can be an effective instrument for economic development, especially development that favors the poor. It examines several broad questions: How has agriculture changed in developing countries in the past 20 years? What are the important new challenges and opportunities for agriculture? Which new sources of agricultural growth can be captured cost effectively in particular in poor countries with large agricultural sectors as in Africa? How can agricultural growth be made more effective for poverty reduction? How can governments facilitate the transition of large populations out of agriculture, without simply transferring the burden of rural poverty to urban areas? How can the natural resource endowment for agriculture be protected? How can agriculture's negative environmental effects be contained? This year's report marks the 30th year the World Bank has been publishing the 'World Development Report'.

A comprehensive resource for understanding the complexities of agricultural finance Agricultural Finance: From Crops to Land, Water, and Infrastructure is a pioneering book that offers a comprehensive resource for understanding the worldwide agriculture markets, from spikes in agricultural commodity prices to trading strategies, and the agribusiness industry generally to the challenges of feeding the planet in particular. The book also goes in-depth on the topics of land, water, fertilizers, biofuels, and ethanol. Written by Helyette Geman—an industry expert in commodity derivatives—this book explores the agricultural marketplace and the cycles in agricultural commodity prices that can be the key to investor success. This resource addresses a wide range of other important topics as well, including agricultural insurance, energy, shipping and bunker prices, sustainability, investments in land, subsidies, agricultural derivatives, and farming risk-management. Other topics covered include structured products and agricultural commodities ETFs; trade finance in an era of credit shortage; securitization and commodity-linked notes; grains: wheat, corn, soybeans; softs: coffee, cocoa, cotton; shipping as a key component of agricultural trade; and the major agricultural shipping routes and the costs. The book: Offers the first comprehensive resource that deals with the all aspects of agricultural finance Includes information that is crucial for pension funds, asset managers, hedge funds, agribusiness corporates, CTAs and regulators Covers a range of topics from agricultural bunker prices, futures, options to major shipping routes and the costs This text is a must-have resource for accessing the information required to trade successfully in the agricultural marketplace.

Agriculture credit is a more than enough book which will supply the rationale for the all researchers, academicians and industrialist with reference to this area. The book concentrates on the an assortment of concerns interconnected to agriculture credit like economics and significance of agriculture in the national economy, evolution of institutional credit to agriculture, importance of agricultural credit, agriculture credit delivery system in India, key indicators/input factors of agriculture sector, the impact of agricultural credit, challenges and outlook of agriculture the book over and done with that there is constructive association stuck between agricultural credit expenditure and income from agriculture and service. Also, there is affirmative rapport between institutional credit admittance and dimension of holding. The fiscal institutions provide credit more in the course of meandering foundations for farmers in the appearance of investment to fertilizer, authority and irrigation sub-sectors. The issue of the book has been tailored from a variety of Indian and foreign books, journals and periodicals. I am obliged to many erudite scholars, authors and government and private agencies whose input really enthused me to write this book. The arrangement of this book has been made intentionally straightforward and articulate to lend a hand the all anxious area individuals to comprehend all the impressions and its appliance and magnitude. Enough data with fitting source and apposite embellishment make the fretful persons get pleasure from the interpretation. It is likely that this book will take delivery of wide reception from all researchers, academicians and industrialist pertaining to it because of it's extensive in the person who reads its gracious approach.