Do small farms have a future in the developing world? Agriculture and small farms have played a major role in development and poverty reduction in the past, but changing global conditions and donor policies, and the characteristics of today's poor countries are widely acknowledged as making this much more difficult now. The paper develops a typology of country contexts in which the differing roles and needs for small scale agriculture development are considered. It clarifies current debates regarding (a) the potential for small farm development as a driver of growth and poverty reduction and (b) the roles of governments and the private sector in promoting such development.

A joint FAO and World Bank study which shows how the farming systems approach can be used to identify priorities for the reduction of hunger and poverty in the main farming systems of the six major developing regions of the world.

References p. 25-28.

Textbook proceeding to a comparison of political development and development administration in Africa - examines the failure of capital flow, technology transfer and development aid to bring about economic and social development; emphasizes the need for decentralization, revival of local government, political participation, promotion of nongovernmental organizations and local level institution building and an indigenous management development style; considers the role of public enterprise. References.

The majority of the poor and hungry people in the world live on small farms and struggle to subsist on too little land with low input - low yield technologies. At the same time, many other smallholders are successfully intensifying and succeeding as farm businesses, often in combination with diversification into off-farm sources of income. This book examines the growing divergence between subsistence and business oriented small farms, and discusses how this divergence has been impacted by population growth, trends in farm size distribution, urbanization, off-farm income diversification, and the globalization of agricultural value chains. It finds that policy makers need to differentiate more sharply between different types of small farms than they did in the past, both in terms of their potential contributions towards achieving national economic growth, poverty alleviation, and food security goals, and the types of assistance they need. The book distinguishes between smallholders that are business oriented, subsistence oriented, and at various stages of transition to the non-farm economy, and discusses strategies appropriate for assisting each type. The book draws on a wealth of recent experience at IFAD and elsewhere to help identify best practice approaches.

Monograph proposing an economic development strategy for India which would emphasize agricultural development, food production, and improvement in the economic condition of low income groups - suggests measures for alleviating rural area poverty and creating employment opportunities, etc., and includes industrial growth trends and intersectoral linkages. References and statistical tables.