Person:
Morris, Michael

Global Practice on Agriculture
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Agricultural development, Agricultural policy, Agricultural innovation systems
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Global Practice on Agriculture
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Last updated: January 31, 2023
Biography
Michael Morris is a Lead Agricultural Economist with the World Bank, where he manages lending operations, conducts research, and provides technical assistance. He has co-authored World Bank flagship publications on fertilizer policy, agricultural commercialization, and drylands development, and he contributed to the 2008 World Development Report Agriculture for Development. His areas of expertise include agricultural policy, farm-level productivity enhancement, marketing systems and value chain development, agricultural research and technology transfer, institutional strengthening, and capacity building. Prior to joining the World Bank in 2004, he served for three years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone; conducted dissertation research for two years in Senegal; and spent 16 years in Mexico, Thailand, and Washington with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

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    Agriculture Productivity Growth in Brazil: Recent Trends and Future Prospects
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-09-24) Arias, Diego; Vieira, Pedro Abel; Contini, Elisio; Farinelli, Barbara; Morris, Michael
    The industrialization process in Brazil begun in the 1960s and intensified in the 1970s, however the expected productivity growth of the overall economy and structural transformation did not happen. Since the end of the 1970s, the Brazilian labor productivity has been lower than many similar economies, currently representing around one fourth of the average labor productivity in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. One of the reasons for the weak productivity performance of the Brazilian economy in the past decades has been the manufacturing sector. Between 2000-2013, agriculture productivity rose by 105.6 percent, compared to only 11.7 percent in the services sector and -5.5 percent in the manufacturing sector. This report will focus mainly on policies related to key production factors (such as human, physical, and natural capital) and agriculture policies. The motivation for this report is to explore the evolution and source of the strong agriculture productivity growth that has occurred in Brazil in recent decades, identifying opportunities and challenges for future development of the sector. The goal is to look for opportunities to accelerate agriculture productivity growth, to have an increased impact on sector growth, jobs, environmental sustainability, and poverty reduction, as well as potentially to shed light on lessons that can contribute to efforts to boost productivity in other sectors within Brazil. The report is divided into five sections. Section one give introduction; section two describes the evolution and sources of agriculture productivity growth in recent years; section three evaluates the contributions of different factors of production, such as natural, human, and physical capital; section four explores the opportunities for further maximizing agriculture growth in Brazil through increases in productivity; and section five presents conclusions and policy recommendations on how to further maximize agriculture productivity in Brazil while having positive social (poverty reduction and jobs) and environmental impacts.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Agriculture Productivity Growth in Brazil: Recent Trends and Future Prospects
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-09-24) Arias, Diego; Vieira, Pedro Abel; Contini, Elisio; Farinelli, Barbara; Morris, Michael
    This report explains about the agriculture productivity growth in Brazil.Agriculture has been an island of success in terms of productivity growth in the last decades compared to other sectors of the Brazilian economy and compared to other country’s agriculture sector.Agriculture productivity growth in recent decades in Brazil has been mainly driven by investments in agriculture innovation, facilitation of sector financing, and trade liberalization. Trade liberalization has shown to be an important factor in the growth of agriculture productivity in recent decades, which can serve as an important experience for other Brazilian economic sectors that remain relatively close to trade. Agriculture productivity has room to grow further, improving productivity of lagging mid-size farmers and regions, reforming agriculture policies towards agriculture financing, agrologistics, and research and development(R&D).Experience within Brazil shows that agriculture productivity can continue to grow without depleting natural capital nor further increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Unlike the structural economic transformation of other countries, Brazilian agriculture productivity growth has been a net job creator. Agriculture productivity growth in Brazil can therefore continue its positive upward trend, while being environmentally sustainable, creating jobs, and increasing incomes for the rural poor.The motivation for this report is to explore the evolution and source of the strong agriculture productivity growth that has occurred in Brazil in recent decades, identifying opportunities and challenges for future development of the sector. The goal is to look for opportunities to accelerate agriculture productivity growth, to have an increased impact on sector growth, jobs, environmental sustainability, and poverty reduction, as well as potentially to shed light on lessons that can contribute to efforts to boost productivity in other sectors within Brazil. The report is divided into five sections. Following this introduction, Section two describes the evolution and sources of agriculture productivity growth in recent years; Section three evaluates the contributions of different factors of production, such as natural, human and physical capital; Section four explores the opportunities for further maximizing agriculture growth in Brazil through increases in productivity; and Section five presents conclusions and policy recommendations on how to further maximize agriculture productivity in Brazil while having positive social (poverty reduction and jobs) and environmental impacts.