Aid to developing-country agriculture: investing in poverty reduction and new export opportunities

Pinstrup-Andersen, Per; Cohen, Marc J. 1998. Aid to developing-country agriculture;investing in poverty reduction and new export opportunities. 2020 Policy Brief. 56. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/161466

Asia’s economic crisis continues to reverberate globally, demonstrating the pivotal place of developing countries in world trade. It is now well established, if counterintuitive, that broad-based agricultural growth in developing countries boosts their agricultural imports. Aid can play a catalytic role in agriculture-led growth, but developing-country governments bear primary responsibility. They must create and maintain rural infrastructure; facilitate small farmers’ access to inputs and credit; invest in agricultural research, basic education, primary health care, and nutrition; and offer incentives to protect natural resources.