Person:
Gautam, Madhur
Author Name Variants
Fields of Specialization
Agriculture,
Rural development
Degrees
Departments
Global Practice on Agriculture
Externally Hosted Work
Contact Information
Last updated
January 31, 2023
Biography
Madhur Gautam is a Lead Economist with the Agriculture Global Practice at the World Bank. He has a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Maryland. His experience at the World Bank over the past 25 years spans Development Economics (Research), the Agricultural Policies Unit, the Independent Evaluation Group, and Operations. He has focused mainly on agricultural and food policy analysis and strategy, and has wide experience in economic and policy analysis and dialogue in Africa and South Asia.
Publication Search Results
1 - 3 of 3
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Publication
Debt Relief for the Poorest : An OED Review of the HIPC Initiative
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2003-04)The review by the Operations Evaluation Department finds the Heavily Indebted poor Countries (HIPC) initiative highly relevant in addressing a key obstacle facing many poor countries. If the anticipated debt relief is delivered in full, the initiative will succeed in substantially achieving its fundamental goal of reducing the excessive debt burden of the qualifying countries. But the legitimizing process that helped make the initiative a reality has also expanded its objectives. The initiative seeks to provide a "permanent" exit from debt rescheduling, promote growth, and release resources for social expenditures targeted at poverty reduction. Achieving these objectives will require actions by donors and the HIPC governments that are beyond the scope and means of the initiative. Unmanageable debt is a problem that needs to be effectively dealt with, but it is also a result of economic and political factors constraining growth and poverty reduction. The HIPC Initiative is thus an important but small part of the overall development assistance framework. Having provided the HIPCs with an opportunity for a "fresh start," the international community still faces a challenge in helping these countries set out on a sustainable path for growth and poverty reduction. -
Publication
Agriculture and Water Policy : Toward Sustainable Inclusive Growth
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-03)This paper reviews Pakistan's agriculture performance and analyzes its agriculture and water policies. It discusses the nature of rural poverty and emphasizes the reasons why agricultural growth is a critical component to any pro-poor growth strategy for Pakistan. It supports these arguments by summarizing key results from recent empirical analysis where the relative benefits of agricultural versus non-agricultural led growth are examined. The results also provide an illustration of farm and non-farm linkages. It summarizes recent performance of the agriculture sector, and discusses key characteristics of its sluggish productivity growth. Three key issues related to increasing productivity are discussed: namely technology, water use and water management, and policy reforms related to markets and trade that can strengthen the enabling environment and contribute to the promotion of diversification towards high value agriculture. -
Publication
Indonesia : The Challenges of World Bank Involvement in Forests
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2000-01)This case study is one of six evaluations of the implementation of the World Bank's 1991 Forest Strategy. This and the other cases (Brazil, Cameroon, China, Costa Rica, and India) complement a review of the entire set of lending and nonlending activities of the World Bank Group and the Global Environment Facility. A review of World Bank assistance to Indonesia in the forest sector since 1991 faces two challenges. The first is maintaining a distinction between an assessment based on quick solutions to outstanding problems and one based on long-term underlying objectives and historical facts, and how they shaped government and Bank actions toward Indonesia's forests until 1997. The second challenge is to assess the performance of the Bank's 1991 Forest Strategy in a situation where, despite largely adopting the principles that its strategy espouses, the Bank has been unable to influence the rate of destruction of natural forests. Following a brief discussion of the background and context to the current forest sector situation in Indonesia, this review is divided into two parts. The first part presents the state of the forests and the forest sector and identifies the pressures on forests and the key issues. The second part assesses the Bank's involvement in the sector and concludes with the main findings of the review.