Agriculture and Poverty Project

Summary

Reducing poverty requires both strong on-the-ground programs to meet immediate needs andalso the reshaping of the growth strategies of governments to give greater priority to the needs of the poor. There is limited knowledge about what forms of growth contribute most to reducing poverty, and little comparative analysis of development strategies across countries in the light of their impact on poverty. This project will
document the strategies of five major countries, examine their poverty reduction experiences and analyse empirically the links between various types and conditions of growth and poverty reduction. It aims to assist governments in the five countries to revise their development strategies to accelerate true poverty reduction.

The Project

The project aims are to:

• to define, by a comparative empirical analysis of these five countries, the key linkages between economic growth and poverty reduction and the forms of growth that are most conducive to poverty alleviation; and
• to identify, for each of the five countries, the most important changes in development strategy required to accelerate poverty reduction and the key issues that need to be addressed in implementing such changes.

This project focuses on five countries – China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and South Africa – which provide a wide diversity of development experience, but with one thing in common: in each, the issue of reshaping the development strategy to make it more effective in reducing poverty is under active discussion amongst policymakers. This is so, for example, in the Indian Planning Commission, and in the relevant agencies in China (such as the National Development and Reform Commission) in the preparation and implementation of  China’s 12th Five Year Plan (2011-15).

PROJECT REPORT TO BE RELEASED SOON: The Role of Agriculture in Poverty Reduction: Report to the ACIAR

Partner Organisations

• Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) is a statutory authority that operates as part of the Australian Government's development cooperation programs. The Centre encourages Australia's agricultural scientists to use their skills for the benefit of developing countries and Australia. ACIAR funds research projects that are developed within a framework reflecting the priorities of Australia's aid program and national research strengths, together with the agricultural research and development priorities of partner countries.
• World Vision Australia (WVA) is the Australian arm of a worldwide community development organisation that provides short-term and long-term assistance to 100 million people worldwide. WVA is Australia’s largest charitable group, and with the support of 400,000 Australians, helps over 20 million people every year. As well as providing relief in emergency situations, it works on long-term community development projects that address the causes of poverty and help people move towards self-sufficiency.
• International Poverty Reduction Centre of China (IPRCC), based in Beijing, was jointly established by the Chinese government, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other international organizations in December 2004. It is designed to provide a platform for knowledge sharing, information exchange and international collaboration in the areas of poverty reduction and development. IPRCC is mainly focused on four key areas: research, exchange, training and cooperation, and its overall goal is to enhance the
  poverty reduction process and contribute to world wide poverty reduction.
• Institute for Human Development (IHD), is based in New Delhi and is one of India’s premier institutions for the study of poverty, employment, social exclusion and protection. It also engages in various networking and advocacy activities like conferences, seminars, workshops, apart from bringing out publications to further its mission of an inclusive public policy regime and works closely with many international organisations (such as ILO, World Bank, IDRC, European Commission, IDS and UNDP) as well as various ministries under Central and State governments in India.
• SMERU Research Institute (SMERU) is a leading institution for research and public policy studies in Jakarta, with a major focus on poverty studies, policy development and implementation and on support and capacity building for NGOs operating in Indonesia. In poverty studies, SMERU has conducted poverty mapping, and studied the creation of poverty and human development indicators and the impact of labour market conditions, the social protection system and income inequality on poverty in Indonesia.

Key Researchers

• Professor Peter Sheehan, Director, CSES
   
• Professor Bhajan Grewal, Professorial Fellow, CSES
   
• Professor Adam Fforde, Professorial Fellow, CSES
   
• Dr Enjiang Cheng, Research Director, IPRCC,
   
• Professor Alakh Sharma, Director, IHD
   
• Professor Asep Suryahadi, Director, SMERU
   
• Helena Grunfeld, Research Scholar, CSES
   

Project Papers

The Role of Agriculture in Poverty Reduction: South Africa (PDF 1.1 MB)
Haroon Bhorat, Carlene van der Westhuizen and Elne Jacobs, 2011

Vietnam: A Discussion of Poverty, its Measurement and Likely Causes, with Special Reference to Agriculture (PDF 368 KB
Adam Fforde, 2011

Agriculture and Poverty Reduction: Literature Review and Outstanding Issues (PDF 295 KB)
Bhajan Grewal and Abdullahi Ahmed, 2011

The Role of Agriculture in Poverty Reduction: The Indian Experience (PDF 270 KB)
Alakh N. Sharma and Anjani Kumar, 2011

The Role of Agriculture in Poverty Reduction in Indonesia (PDF 295 KB)
Asep Suryahadi and Gracia Hadiwidjaja, 2011

Multidimensional Poverty in China: Some Preliminary Findings Based on CHNS 2000-2009 (PDF 540 KB)
Jiantuo Yu, 2011