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Agriculture, Development, and Urban Bias

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  • Bezemer, Dirk
  • Headey, Derek

Abstract

Summary Throughout history, agriculture-led development strategies with state support programs have been essential to achieving rapid economy-wide growth, poverty reduction, and structural transformation. Yet over the last three decades, the domestic and international policy environments have continued to discriminate against agricultural development in the poorest countries. This paper studies the causes and manifestations of this "urban bias," including discrimination in domestic pricing policies and in the international trade regime, decreasing financial support from LDC governments and aid donors, and increasing neglect of agriculture in development theory and economic research. The authors conclude that urban bias remains a persistent and paramount obstacle to sustained growth and poverty reduction in the least developed countries.

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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by Elsevier in its journal World Development.

Volume (Year): 36 (2008)
Issue (Month): 8 (August)
Pages: 1342-1364

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Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:36:y:2008:i:8:p:1342-1364

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Dorward, Andrew & Kydd, Jonathan & Poulton, Colin & Bezemer, Dirk, 2007. "Coordination risk and cost impacts on economic development in poor rural areas," MPRA Paper 7028, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  2. Headey, Derek & Malaiyandi, Sangeetha & Fan, Shenggen, 2009. "Navigating the perfect storm: Reflections on the food, energy, and financial crises," IFPRI discussion papers 889, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
  3. Montalvo, Jose G. & Ravallion, Martin, 2009. "The pattern of growth and poverty reduction in China," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5069, The World Bank.
  4. Richard Grabowski, 2011. "The evolution of the state and taxation: role of agriculture," International Journal of Development Issues, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 10(3), pages 188-203, September.
  5. Derek Headey & Shenggen Fan, 2008. "Anatomy of a crisis: the causes and consequences of surging food prices," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 39(s1), pages 375-391, November.
  6. Larson, Donald F. & Otsuka, Keijiro & Kajisa, Kei & Estudillo, Jonna & Diagne, Aliou, 2010. "Can Africa replicate Asia's green revolution in rice ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5478, The World Bank.
  7. Dethier, Jean-Jacques & Effenberger, Alexandra, 2012. "Agriculture and development: A brief review of the literature," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 175-205.
  8. Kaminski, Jonathan & Headey, Derek & Bernard, Tanguy, 2009. "Institutional reform in the Burkinabè cotton sector and its impacts on incomes and food security: 1996-2006," IFPRI discussion papers 920, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
  9. Boubacar, Inoussa, 2010. "Agricultural Productivity, Drought, and Economic Growth in Sahel," 2010 Annual Meeting, February 6-9, 2010, Orlando, Florida 56321, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
  10. Diao, Xinshen & Fan, Shenggen & Headey, Derek & Johnson, Michael & Nin Pratt, Alejandro & Yu, Bingxin, 2008. "Accelerating Africa's food production in response to rising food prices: Impacts and requisite actions," IFPRI discussion papers 825, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
  11. Headey, Derek D. & Benson, Todd & Kolavalli, Shashidhara & Fan, Shenggen, 2009. "Why African governments under-invest in agriculture: results from an expert survey," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 51818, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
  12. Berdegué, J. & Jara, B. & Modrego, F., 2012. "Ciudades, territorios y crecimiento inclusivo en Chile," Working papers 103, Rimisp Latin American Center for Rural Development.
  13. Headey, Derek & Bezemer, Dirk & Hazell, Peter B., 2008. "Agricultural exit problems: Causes and consequences," IFPRI discussion papers 802, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
  14. Shifa, Abdulaziz, 2011. "The Dual Policy in the Dual Economy - The Political Economy of Urban Bias in Dictatorial Regimes," Research Papers in Economics 2011:22, Stockholm University, Department of Economics.
  15. Headey, Derek & Chiu, Alice & Kadiyala, Suneetha, 2011. "Agriculture's role in the Indian enigma: Help or hindrance to the undernutrition crisis?," IFPRI discussion papers 1085, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

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