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This book examines the role of agriculture in the economic transformation of developing low- and middle-income countries and explores means for accelerating agricultural growth and poverty reduction. In this volume, Mellor measures by household class the employment impact of alternative agricultural growth rates and land tenure systems, and impact on cereal consumption and food security. The book provides detailed analysis of each element of agricultural modernization, emphasizing the central role of government in accelerated growth in private sector dominated agriculture. The book differs from the bulk of current conventional wisdom in its placement of the non-poor small commercial farmer at the center of growth, and explains how growth translates into poverty reduction. This new book is a follow up to Mellor's classic, prize-winning text, The Economics of Agricultural Development.
Listed as a Best Books of 2017: Economics by Financial Times.
List of contents
1. Introduction.- 2. The Economic Transformation.- 3. Measuring the Impact of Agricultural Growth on the Economic Transformation.- 4. Poverty, Food Security, and Nutrition.- 5. Capital Formation and the Exchange Rate.- 6. The Farm, The Farmer, and Labor Supply.- 7. Land and Land Tenure.- 8. Government and the Institutions of Modernization.- 9. Physical Infrastructure.- 10. Education and Health.- 11. Prices and Price Policy.- 12. Research and Extension.- 13. Purchased Inputs.- 14. Finance for the Small Commercial Farmer.- 15. Cities, Consumption, and Marketing Dynamics.- 16. The Role of Foreign Aid.- 17. Conclusion.
About the author
John W. Mellor is Professor Emeritus, Cornell University, USA, and President of John Mellor Associates, Inc., a policy consulting firm. He was previously Professor of Agricultural Economics, Economics and Asian Studies; Associate Director and Acting Director of the Center for International Studies, Cornell University; Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute; and Chief Economist of the United States Agency for International Development. He was the recipient of the Wihuri Prize (Finland) and the Presidential Award (The Reagan White House, USA) for efforts to alleviate hunger, and he is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Agricultural Economics Association.
Summary
Provides comprehensive and original coverage of agriculture’s key role in economic development
Focuses on the economic transformation of low- and middle-income countries
Draws from Mellor’s several decades of experience in international agricultural development
Features major broadening and quantification to Mellor’s acclaimed 1966 text
Additional text
“The book offers a detailed roadmap for government-driven structural transformation via small-farm agriculture. The prose in the book is remarkably accessible to practitioners, students, and applied economists. … amount of detail Mellor offers from agricultural development in different developing countries is an achievement, and the book makes for an engaging read.” (Sumit Mishra, Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Vol. 63 (2), 2019)
Report
"The book offers a detailed roadmap for government-driven structural transformation via small-farm agriculture. The prose in the book is remarkably accessible to practitioners, students, and applied economists. ... amount of detail Mellor offers from agricultural development in different developing countries is an achievement, and the book makes for an engaging read." (Sumit Mishra, Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Vol. 63 (2), 2019)
