Southeast Asian Agricultural Growth: 1930–2010

This chapter examines the changing role of agricultural production in Southeast Asia from the early decades of the twentieth century to the first decade of the twenty-first century. The chapter argues that the key drivers of agricultural growth in Southeast Asia have been population growth, leading to increased domestic demand for food, and increased involvement in international trade, which in Southeast Asia led to the rapid growth in production of a number of crops for global as well as domestic markets. Many of these crops were not indigenous to the region, but were introduced from other parts of Asia, Central and South America and Africa. A third driver has been technological change, which increased output per unit of factor input (both land and labour). Institutional changes, including changes in land tenure systems, changes in labour contracts and changes in government policies towards agriculture have also been important, but these changes have occurred mainly in response to the changes brought about by population growth, international trade and technological change.