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A World without Farmers ? The Lewis Path Revisited

Author

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  • Bruno Dorin

    (Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, CIRED - centre international de recherche sur l'environnement et le développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Jean Charles Hourcade

    (CIRED - centre international de recherche sur l'environnement et le développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Michel Benoit-Cattin

    (Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement)

Abstract

This paper questions the Lewis Path perspective of a "world without agriculture" which underpins the "structural transformation" paradigm of "modern growth." It shows that the Lewis Path is only one of four potential structural paths, and that half of the world's population is spiralling into a "Lewis Trap" with more farmers and an increasing income gap between them and other workers. After showing how land constraints and the productivity dynamics outside agriculture might prevent this population from switching to a Lewis Path, it delineates the condition of an alternative path that would not transfer the disparity problem to cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Bruno Dorin & Jean Charles Hourcade & Michel Benoit-Cattin, 2013. "A World without Farmers ? The Lewis Path Revisited," CIRED Working Papers hal-00866413, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:ciredw:hal-00866413
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-00866413
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Avoiding the Lewis path
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2013-11-19 21:51:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Bina Agarwal & Bruno Dorin, 2017. "Group farming in France: Why are some regions more conducive to cooperation than others?," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 132017, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    2. Desquilbet, Marion & Dorin, Bruno & Couvet, Denis, 2013. "Land sharing vs. land sparing for biodiversity: How agricultural markets make the difference," TSE Working Papers 13-435, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Oct 2015.
    3. Bina Agarwal & Bruno Dorin, 2019. "Group farming in France: Why do some regions have more cooperative ventures than others?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 51(3), pages 781-804, May.
    4. Kpadonou, Rivaldo & Barbier, Bruno & Denton, Fatima & Owiyo, Tom, 2015. "Linkage between and determinants of organic fertilizer and modern varieties adoption in the Sahel," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212016, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Esther Laske & Sandrine Michel, 2022. "What contribution of agroecology to job creation in sub-Saharan Africa? The case of horticulture in the Niayes, Senegal," Post-Print hal-03766499, HAL.
    6. Fertö, Imre, 2014. "The Structural Transformation in Central and Eastern European Agriculture," CEI Working Paper Series 2014-9, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    7. , Aisdl, 2017. "Structural transformation, agriculture and livestock in Vietnam (1970-2015)," OSF Preprints y8d6b, Center for Open Science.
    8. Bago, Jean-Louis & Koutaba, Aude E. A. & Valéa, Aristide B., 2018. "Factors Affecting Adoption of Improved Crops by Rural Farmers in Niger," AfricArxiv b8ezn, Center for Open Science.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agriculture; Productivity; Development; Structural transformation; Poverty; Agro-Ecology; Productivité; Développement; Transformation structurelle; Pauvreté; Agro-Ecologie;
    All these keywords.

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