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Improving the Lot of the Farmer: Development Challenges in Timor-Leste during the Second Decade of Independence

Author

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  • Mats Lundahl

    (Stockholm School of Economics)

  • Fredrik Sjöholm

    (Lund University and Research Institute of Industrial Economics)

Abstract

Large segments of the rural Timorese population survive on subsistence farming characterized by simple production methods and low output. Broad-based improvements in Timorese living standards require increased agricultural output. This article discusses what determines agricultural development in Timor-Leste and how such development can be achieved. The main causes of low agricultural output are found to be scarcity of land and capital, poor technology and education, and lack of government support, such as extension services and provision of infrastructure. We construct a model of an agricultural household to examine how increased market incentives will affect agricultural output and incomes. The effects of different price changes on household production, consumption, sales, income, and leisure are investigated. We find that the objective of increasing the living standard of Timorese farmers may in part be achieved via increased earning opportunities outside agriculture. © 2013 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Mats Lundahl & Fredrik Sjöholm, 2013. "Improving the Lot of the Farmer: Development Challenges in Timor-Leste during the Second Decade of Independence," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 12(2), pages 71-96, Summer.
  • Handle: RePEc:tpr:asiaec:v:12:y:2013:i:2:p:71-96
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Anne Booth, 2004. "Africa in Asia? the development challenges facing Eastern Indonesia and East Timor," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 19-35.
    2. Lundahl, Mats & Sjöholm, Fredrik, 2006. "The Oil Resources Of Timor-Leste: Curse Or Blessing?," EIJS Working Paper Series 229, Stockholm School of Economics, The European Institute of Japanese Studies.
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    Cited by:

    1. Doraisami, Anita, 2018. "The Timor Leste Petroleum Fund, veterans and white elephants: Fostering intergenerational equity?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 250-256.
    2. Lundahl, Mats & Sjöholm, Fredrik, 2020. "Economic Challenges for East Timor," Working Papers 2020:14, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    3. Sonia Akter & Namrata Chindarkar & William Erskine & Luc Spyckerelle & Julie Imron & Lucia Viana Branco, 2021. "Increasing smallholder farmers’ market participation through technology adoption in rural Timor‐Leste," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(2), pages 280-298, May.
    4. Bhanupong Nidhiprabha, 2019. "Commodity Price Cycles, the Agricultural Trap, and Thailand's Incessant Subsidies," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 18(2), pages 49-69, Summer.

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      More about this item

      Keywords

      Timor-Leste; agriculture; poverty; development; rural;
      All these keywords.

      JEL classification:

      • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
      • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
      • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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