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Rural Poverty and Markets

Year of publication 2009

Author J. Edward Taylor with Alberto Zezza and Ali Arslan Gurkan;Agriculture and Economic Development Analysis Division

Category Meeting document

Series title FAO Agricultural Economics Working Paper

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) Access by smallholder farmers to transparent and competitive markets is a fundamental part of any pro-poor growth strategy. This includes access to agricultural markets, but as the nonagricultural component of rural economies grows, it also includes markets for nonagricultural goods and for both farm and nonfarm wage work. Both public-sector investments and development projects need to address these problems, helping the rural poor gain access to high-value chains in markets for goods as well as for labor. As the economic and policy landscape changes, so do the ways in which development projects are conceptualized and implemented. The development project that sets up a farmers’ cooperative and leaves it to fend for itself in a complex marketplace is a thing of the past. The new rural reality requires a more comprehensive, market-oriented and context-specific approach in which rural stakeholders, private investors and donors actively participate. This paper reviews the relevant literatu re on these issues, proposes a framework for analysis and relates it to emerging evidence to tease out policy relevant conclusions.

Language English

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