This report addresses the impact of rising smallholder incomes on local non-agricultural development in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. It determines how increased rural incomes are spent on a mix of goods and services, and debates the implications of these spending patterns for growth in rural areas through the alleviation of demand constraints. These results make it possible to identify areas of intervention necessary for sustaining growth originating from stimulus to tradable agriculture from economic reforms.

Cash transfer programs are rare in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper describes the evolution of a cash transfer program in major urban centers of Mozambique, from its inception in 1990 through two major reorganizations until October 1998. Appropriate design, strong multisectoral political support and adequate administrative capacity are critical factors determining the success of such programs.

The purpose of this paper is to understand to what extent such a strategy is appropriate for the low income rice-based countries of the Indochina-Myanmar Region1 (IMR). On the one hand, the arguments in favor of agricultural diversification and agrofood based rural industrialization seem even more pressing than for the lower-middle income countries of Southeast Asia.

Developing countries allocate scarce government funds to investments in rural areas to achieve the twin goals of agricultural growth and poverty alleviation. Choices have to be made between different types of investments, especially infrastructure, human capital and agricultural research, and between different types of agricultural regions, e.g., irrigated and high- and low-potential rainfed areas. This paper develops an econometric approach and provides empirical evidence on the impact of government investments in rural India using district-level data.

This paper has been prepared as part of the Zambia country study of the Macroeconomic and Regional Integration in Southern Africa (MERRISA) project and serves as a background paper for modeling exercises. The paper focuses on analyzing institutional constraints on the development of the agricultural sector in Zambia. It argues that by changing some of the rules and neglecting to integrate these changes into the complete institutional setting, policymakers have been unable to achieve their goals. Other constraints on Zambia's agricultural development are of a more technical nature.

This paper investigates empirically the factors that influence real agricultural wage rates in Ghana, based on 1957 to 1991 data. The Johansen cointegration framework is used to examine long-run relationships among agricultural and urban wage rates, the domestic terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture, urban unemployment, capital stock in agriculture and the size of the rural population. An error correction model is then used to investigate short-run dynamic relationships among the variables.

In response to slow growth in the agricultural sector and as part of a general shift towards a more market-oriented economy, the Government of Egypt started liberalizing the agricultural sector in 1987. Controls over wheat production and marketing were eliminated and wheat producer prices were brought closer to international levels. As a result, there has been remarkable increases in wheat crop area and yields, causing wheat production to triple from 1986 to 1998.

Identification of Land Quality Indicators (LQIs) is a key requirement of sustainable land management. They are required to assess, monitor, and evaluate changes in the quality of land resources and environmental impacts. The Land Quality Indicator (LQI) program monitors the environment and the sector performance of managed ecosystems. The program is being developed on a national and regional scale, but it is also part of a larger global effort to improve natural resource management. The LQI program recommends addressing issues of land management by agroecological zones.

La presente Ley establece, con carácter de orden público, normas tendientes a asegurar la protección y conservación del ambiente, promoviendo una política de desarrollo sustentable compatible con tales objetivos, al fin de hacer posible una óptima calidad de vida para las generaciones presentes y futuras que habiten en el territorio provincial. El título I (Del ambiente) introduce normas generales de política ambiental (arts. 5-13) y define el marco institucional (arts. 14-26). A este último respecto, el artículo 14 crea la Secretaría de Gestión Ambiental de la Provincia.

Examines women’s land and property rights in Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia. Considers the legal and other impediments hindering these rights in situations of conflict and reconstruction. Outlines the practical problems faced by women in connection with the legal and traditional structures regarding land and property rights, and makes some suggestions about how the situation can be rectified.

The comparative effects on GDP and household incomes associated with various pathways of agricultural growth in Zimbabwe are investigated, based on SAM (social accounting matrix) multiplier analysis. Among the five growth paths considered, the smallholder road to agricultural development yields the largest increase in national income. It benefits smallholder households the most, but the income gains to the two other low-income household groups are lower compared to those arising from the four other agricultural growth paths.