Sustainability, Growth and Poverty Alleviation : A Policy and Agroecological Perspective

Developing countries are under enormous pressure to produce more food for their growing populations, conserve natural resources, and reduce poverty. In the short term, however, these objectives may compete with one another.

This book focuses in particular on the interactions between agricultural growth and environment and between environment and poverty. The chapters analyze and illustrate these interactions with case study evidence from the developing world in general and from specific agroclimatic zones in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The contributors also discuss the implications of these links for development policies, agricultural technologies, and social and economic institutions. With a clearer picture of how these goals interact, policymakers and researchers can design strategies for working more effectively to meet them.

Contributors: Akinwumi A. Adesina, Elizabeth Bailey, Edward B. Barbier, Joachim von Braun, Rafael Celis, Kanchan Chopra, D. Layne Coppock, Aércio S. Cunha, Hartwig de Haen, Thomas E. Downing, Amare Getahun, Narpat S. Jodha, John M. Kerr, Michael Lipton, Peter J. Matlon, Peter Oram, Martin L. Parry, Prabhu L. Pingali, Rudolph A. Polson, C. H. Hanumantha Rao, Thomas Reardon, Sergio Ruano, Vernon W. Ruttan, Donald R. Sawyer, P. V. Shenoi, Ammar Siamwalla, Dunstan S. C. Spencer, Richard N. Tutwiler, Mario A. Vedova, Stephen A. Vosti, Patrick Webb, Meri L. Whitaker

Published for the International Food Policy Reaserch Institute

Stephen A. Vosti is a research fellow in the Environment and Production Technology Division at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Thomas Reardon is associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Michigan State University.