This paper develops a two-sector model of growth where agriculture is considered explicitly. Key features of the model include: the reliance of agricultural production on a fixed but degrading resource base, the use by the farm sector of industrially produced inputs and differing rates of technological progress in the two sectors. On the demand side, the low income elasticity for food as well as the life-sustaining function of food consumption are recognized. In this simplified framework, the sustainability of growth can be related to the existence of a steady state reflecting the ability of the economy to feed its population. This property is used to identify the characteristics within and outside of agriculture conducive to the sustainability of a land-constrained economy. The empirical application identifies sub-Saharan Africa as the region of the world facing the most important challenges in terms of sustainability. The second part of the paper makes use of the transitional properties of the model to analyse the relationship between agricultural productivity and growth performance. For a closed economy, the model unambiguously supports the view that high agricultural productivity is conducive to fast growth and industrialization. Once the country is allowed to trade, however, the relationship becomes more complex, but a numerical experiment illustrates how trade liberalization can accelerate the growth of a country poorly endowed in agricultural resources.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association) in its series 2000 Annual meeting, July 30-August 2, Tampa, FL with number
21762.
Length: Date of creation: 2000 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea00:21762
Contact details of provider: Postal: 555 East Wells Street, Suite 1100, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202 Phone: (414) 918-3190 Fax: (414) 276-3349 Email: Web page: http://www.aaea.org More information through EDIRC
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (AgEcon Search).
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Pinstrup-Andersen, Per & Pandya-Lorch, Rajul & Rosegrant, Mark W., 1997.
"The world food situation,"
Food policy reports
7, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
[Downloadable!]