Other Agriculture Study

331 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10986/2199

Items in this collection

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9

Agricultural Risk Management in the Caribbean : Lessons and Experiences, 2009-2012
(Washington, DC, 2012-10) World Bank
The purpose of this report is to summarize the main results and lessons learned during the implementation of the World Bank technical assistance (TA), which are valuable to the ongoing discussion on agricultural risk management in the region. The report is organized as follows. Section two summarizes the program risk management strategies, including initial objectives and final outcomes. In particular, it describes how these objectives change in order to respond to the countries' particular demands. Section three presents the methodology and basic principles applied in the four stages of the program implementation. Six country cases are summarized in section four with a complete description of final outputs and recommendations. Finally, section five presents the main conclusions and lessons learned.
El Salvador Country Land Assessment
(Washington, DC, 2012-06) World Bank
This study assesses the alignment of land use, land tenure, and land market outcomes in El Salvador with public policy aspirations in recent decades for efficient, inclusive, and environmentally sustainable development in both urban and rural spaces. In doing so the study indirectly gauges the effectiveness of land sector institutions in facilitating such developmental outcomes in agricultural production, urbanization, and forest management. Chapter 1 briefly reviews some of the prominent struggles over land in El Salvador and outlines the salient features of today's institutional framework for land governance. Chapter 2 asks the question, "How effective have public policy interventions, including the Agrarian Reform, been in reducing rural inequality and tenure insecurity?". Chapter 3 explores what has happened to the lands transferred to Agrarian Reform cooperatives under the last iterations of the Agrarian Reform. Chapter 4 asks the question, "How has land governance in El Salvador responded to the challenges of urban land supply in the last decade?". In Chapter 5 the extent to which urban spatial expansion in El Salvador has been occurring in an inclusive way is explored. Chapter 6 presents the findings of the original analyses of land use in relation to deforestation. Chapter 7 analyzes available land market data in three Departments, Ahuachapan, Santa Ana, and Sonsonate, to identify trends and land use dynamism in the first decade of this century. Chapter 8 looks at the study's empirical findings from a more integrated, cross-sectoral perspective so that their implications for public policy are better understood. The final Chapter of the study presents policy options for consideration by the Government of El Salvador and the country's civil society organizations in order to address the key challenges related to land tenure, land use, and territorial planning.
Tunisia Agricultural Finance Study : Main Summary Report
(Washington, DC, 2012-05-07) World Bank
The Tunisia agricultural finance study was carried out in response to a request made in December 2009 by the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) for support for a study on the key constraints in agricultural finance. Technical and financial support was specifically requested for: (i) a comprehensive diagnostic analysis of the current mechanisms and problems of financing of the agricultural sector in Tunisia, including those by financial institutions and from budget resources, foreign direct investment, and insurance; (ii) a comparison of the Tunisian experience with successful experiences made in other comparable countries; and (iii) the formulation of concrete proposals. The diagnostic part was also requested to include the regulations pertaining to agricultural credit, other constraints impeding the development of agricultural finance, such as costs, profitability, professional organizations, extension services, research etc., and to look at the indebtedness of smallholders. It was also requested that the recommendations help to: (i) better define the objectives to be achieved in terms of financing of agriculture; (ii) increase the participation of the financial sector in financing agriculture; (iii) help identify need for support by different types of farmers; (iv) identify new instruments geared at qualitative and technological changes; (v) reduce the indebtedness of farmers; and (vi) help improve the subsidies for agricultural investment. There are two main written outputs of the Tunisia agricultural finance study. The experts working on the study have compiled a great deal of detailed background information diagnosing the current situation, describing practices in other countries, and providing recommendations on how to improve the situation in Tunisia. These details are provided in the accompanying full technical report, which should be of interest to technicians. The present report the main summary report provides a summary of the main findings and recommendations for policy makers.
Strengthening Quality, Growth, and Performance in Agriculture Finance : Lessons from India
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-02) AgriFin
This report presents the key message, lessons, and insights from agrifin's first knowledge exchange event, held in Hyderabad, India, March 7-12, 2011. Agrifin is a special initiative aimed at building capacity in agriculture finance for commercially-oriented smallholders and small and medium enterprise (SME) agribusiness market segments. The initiative, managed by the World Bank, through generous support from the bill and Melinda gates foundation, provides matching grant funding to financial institutions and regulated microfinance institutions that have a demonstrated potential for scaling up sustainable business models in agriculture finance. in complement to the grant funding, agrifin fosters learning in the agriculture finance space by facilitating peer-to-peer exchanges, such as this event, as well as by documenting and sharing lessons learned with the broader public, based but not exclusively on agrifin grant recipients' experiences. This event provided an opportunity for agrifin's partner financial institutions in Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Senegal, Sri Lanka, and Uganda, together with senior World Bank experts, to learn about sustainable practices in agricultural lending. Participants had the opportunity to engage with senior officials from three prominent financial institutions in India (Andhra Bank, BASIX, and HDFC Bank).
Subsidies as an Instrument in Agriculture Finance : A Review
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011) Meyer, Richard L.
This paper presents a literature review of issues related to recent subsidies and investments in the financial sector that have been designed to address the immediate effects of the crises and to develop the financial institutions necessary to modernize agriculture. Section two of the paper discusses the impact of recent food, fuel, and financial crises on developing countries and the emergency actions taken by countries and international agencies to reduce the suffering inflicted on poor people. It also discusses the challenge of finding a balance between pragmatic immediate responses and longer-term objectives. The third section discusses the role of finance in agricultural development and poverty alleviation. Section four deals with the challenge of creating credit markets in developing countries. The fifth section covers shifts in the paradigm used to intervene in credit markets and summarizes the main features of the old directed-credit and the new financial systems paradigms. This is followed by a sixth section that summarizes highlights in the development of the microfinance industry. It covers guidelines created for developing microfinance, microfinance penetration into rural areas and agriculture, innovations and prospects for future agricultural lending, and insights gained about the impact of finance on poor households. The seventh section addresses topics related to the demand for credit, including rates of return earned in agriculture and in microenterprises, and research results analyzing sensitivity of loan demand to interest rates. Section eight describes major interventions by international agencies and points the way forward for agricultural credit. It reviews the debates about the use of grants and subsidies, especially in the food, fertilizer, and credit markets, and the rationale for smart subsidies. It then describes experiences in five major areas of international agency activities: micro-insurance and weather-index-based insurance, credit guarantee funds, warehouse receipts, specialized agricultural development banks, and agricultural investment funds. Section nine summarizes the main conclusions based on literature consulted for this review. It identifies major lessons learned with suggestions for priorities that Improving Capacity Building in Rural Finance (CABFIN) members might consider supporting in their projects and programs.
Farm Mechanization : A New Challenge for Agriculture in Low and Middle Income Countries of Europe and Central Asia
(Washington, DC, 2010-01) World Bank
This report shows that trends in farm mechanization are attributable to differing approaches to reform and differing agricultural resource endowments. The level of reform determines the pattern and extent to which labor and capital change, with land reform and commodity market liberalization as the underlying forces for change. These reforms substantially raise the incentives to invest as a means to increase productivity and incomes. In countries where this initial threshold of reform has not been attained agricultural incomes grow more slowly and there is less incentive to invest. Where the incentives to invest are high a second round of reform is necessary to facilitate investment reforms which deepen and strengthen financial markets and improve the business environment.
Lebanon Agriculture Sector Note : Aligning Public Expenditures with Comparative Advantage
(Washington, DC, 2010-01) World Bank
Agriculture is a small but stable part of the Lebanese economy. Approximately 20 to 25 percent of Lebanon's active population is involved in the sector in one way or another. This note is a synthesis of previous work written on agriculture development in Lebanon and related public expenditures in the sector. It starts with an overview of the agriculture sector in Lebanon and its role and contribution to the economy. Approximately eight percent of Lebanese households live below the poverty line. Among major economic sectors, agriculture has the highest rate of poverty. Over 20 percent of heads of households engaged in this sector are very poor. The North governorate is among the hardest hit areas with one in four agriculture workers likely to be poor. Agriculture sector development could play an important role in pro-poor growth. This note aims to focus on an agriculture sub-sector with significant growth potential. The Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis explains that Lebanon is relatively more competitive in fruits and vegetables than in cereals and livestock. First, Lebanon is a relatively water scarce country and livestock put a greater strain on water resources than fruits and vegetables. Second, cereals are a lower-value crop than fruits and vegetables, and have more volatile returns. Third, competitiveness in cereal markets requires producing in high volume. Lebanon is a small country that is very dependent on cereal imports, comprising roughly 83 percent of consumption. Thus, profitability is limited by a constraint on economies of scale. Moreover, making significant investments to reduce cereal import dependency may actually reduce food security by putting further strain on Government of Lebanon's (GoL's) fiscal balance, thereby limiting its ability to respond to food-price shocks. Livestock growth is also unattractive from a food security perspective because it would significantly increase domestic demand for cereals, increasing the country's exposure to market volatility.
Pakistan - Rural Factor Markets : Policy Reforms for Growth and Equity
(Washington, DC, 2004-11-19) World Bank
Accelerating rural economic growth and reducing rural poverty requires a comprehensive strategy built on sound analysis covering all major aspects o f the rural economy including agricultural output markets, input markets (seeds, fertilizer, extension), factor markets (land, water, labor and credit), the rural non- farm economy, and targeted interventions. This report focuses on one aspect o f this complex puzzle - rural factor markets. It builds on earlier work on output and input markets, and anticipates future analytical work on the rural non-farm economy and other key aspects o f the rural economy. The report identifies the main factor market inefficiencies in rural Pakistan, provides estimates of their impact in terms of efficiency and equity, and suggests policy measures to improve the functioning of these markets, increase rural incomes and help reduce rural poverty. In presenting the results, each factor is discussed in turn, drawing on descriptions of institutional constraints and statistical analysis of recent household survey data. Key new findings include quantitative estimates of the importance of linkages across factor markets and the impact of factor market inefficiencies on agricultural output and revenues. In addition, the report shows that for the 61 percent of rural poor households that do not cultivate crops (agricultural laborers and non-farm households), expanding output of major crops may not be sufficient to significantly raise their incomes, even with substantial multiplier effects on the rural non-agricultural economy.
Poland - The Functioning of the Labor, Land and Financial Markets : Opportunities and Constraints for Farming Sector Restructuring
(Washington, DC, 2001-12) World Bank
This study identifies several factors that inhibit efficiency improvements in the farming sector, both in themselves and through the dynamics of their mutual interaction. The study observes that incentives faced in the labor market have important implications for the land structure and, and in many ways, are at the heart of the problem of low labor productivity in agriculture. The study finds that, while rural households are increasingly diversifying their income sources out of farming, they have not moved away from rural areas because of the incentives to hold onto small agriculture plots and because of the high costs of formal employment outside agriculture. Instead, households have increasingly relied on so-called unearned income (pension benefits and other social transfers) and settled for informal employment in rural areas. This has done little to advance the social condition of rural households, or to improve agricultural productivity. This incentive to hold onto small agricultural plots, as well as other factors limiting the availability of land for commercial farming, has lead to an increasingly polarized land structure, with small farms becoming smaller, and large farms consolidating, albeit slowly.