Post on 16-Jan-2016
description
Inclusive Agricultural and Rural Development in Sub-Saharan
Africa
Chris BarrettCornell University
November 16, 2004
USAID BASIS CRSP Policy ConferenceCombating Persistent Poverty in Africa
Washington, DC
1) Huge numbers need help: >500 mn Africans live on $2/day or less … to grow to >610 mn by 2015
2) The aggregate $2/day poverty gap for SSA ~$190 bn/yr or about 62% of gross income (PG ~ 38%) … or leverage through high return investments
3) Overwhelming majority live in rural areas and depend – directly or indirectly – on agriculture
4) Ag productivity stagnated for a generation
Must re-ignite rural farm/non-farm productivity growth!
The Daunting Challenge
Sub-Saharan Africa Per Capita Food Production
90
95
100
105
110
115
120
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Per
Cap
ita
Fo
od
Pro
du
ctio
n (
1989
-91=
100)
Data source: FAO
How To Meet This ChallengeContext-specific, multi-dimensional asset
thresholds that separate growth / decline
Climbing out of poverty traps and keeping the non-poor out of poverty traps requires:
- increase productivity of assets (markets/technologies)
- facilitate asset building and protection (cargo/safety nets)
- remove exclusionary mechanisms (finance/social networks)
Start with the familiar, then move to more novel …
Familiar 1: Increasing Asset Productivity
Improve agricultural technologies and uptake:
- renew investment in NARES (incl. universities)
- integrate three methods of agricultural TFP growth:
▪ Traditional GR methods (maize, cassava, etc.)▪ Biotechnology (NERICAs, DRVs, etc.)▪ Agro-ecological methods (SRI, agroforestry, etc.)
- one-off stimuli (starter packs, FFW)
Improve terms of trade for poor
- reduce costs of mkt participation (roads, ICT, contracts)
- level playing field (farmer groups, outgrowers, business skills and support services)
Improve non-farm productivity
- stimulate private sector investment, esp. in post-harvest processing (labor demand, K deepening)
Familiar 2: Facilitate Asset Building
Human capital (labor primary asset of poor):
- Education: key to remunerative non-farm employment and to technology uptake /agricultural intensification
Natural capital (one of two legs for ag growth):
- soil and water conservation (crowding-in investments)
- soil nutrient replenishment (IFs, bulk phosphate, etc.)
- water management (harvesting, small-scale irrigation)
Physical capital;
- minimum scale of non-farm capital (“micro” finance?)
Cargo net strategies for those seemingly trapped in persistent poverty
Novel 1: Safety Nets for Asset Protection
Human capital (labor primary asset of poor):
- Health and nutrition: preventive health care and ensuring adequate nutrition … keys to avoiding falling into long-term poverty traps (Kenya, Madagascar, Zimbabwe)
- Workfare schemes to avoid asset liquidation responses
Livestock:
- animal disease control, restocking projects
Keys: 1) Multidimensional asset protection essential
2) Need to set safety nets at critical asset thresholds
3) Beware trying to do too much with safety nets
Novel 2: Remove Exclusionary Barriers
Financial services (exchange across time):
- In order to make time work for the poor, must be able to borrow, insurance and save (SRI, dairy, tea)
- Micro-finance sometimes promising, but beware (KDA)
Socio-political exclusion:
- public goods access (roads/electricity … argan case)
- racial, gender, religious, ethnic, caste barriers (traders, information, safety nets, occupations, finance):
need to do more than tear down formal barriers …
need to bridge the divides those barriers create(d)
Conclusions and Policy Implications
1) Many familiar: improve productivity and build assets ... But need to fund and prioritize these longstanding prescriptions
2) Poverty traps imply some more novel approaches: safety nets and removing exclusionary institutional mechanisms
3) Need progress on multiple fronts … will require significant resources (financial, human and technical)
… but alternatives are continued deepening persistent poverty ~$190 bn/year and growing
Thank you!