“Sachs Report and Beyond” A Review of Recent Reports Revisiting the Role of Agriculture in Development and Poverty Alleviation Conducted by WUR on request of LNV and DGIS

Reports Reviewed 1.DFID (2005). Growth and poverty reduction: the role of agriculture 2.FAO (2005). Agricultural trade and poverty: can trade work for the poor? 3.InterAcademy Council (2004): Realizing the promise and potential of African agriculture. 4.NEPAD (2002). Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP): 5.OECD (2006). Promoting Pro-Poor Growth: Agriculture. 6.UN Millennium Project (2005). Halving Hunger: It Can Be Done. 7.World Bank (2005). Agricultural Growth for the Poor: an agenda for development.

Why Is Agriculture ‘Back on the Agenda’ 2/3 of the poor live in rural areas: agriculture is key to MDGs Consequences of declining donor investment Food insecurity and hunger remain endemic Agriculture underpins development Impacts of market liberalization and global trade Potential consequences of climate change and natural resource degradation

Analytical Framework Increasing Productivity Providing Access to Resources and Services Making Markets Work for the Poor Institutional Arrangements Formal and informal At local, national/regional and international scales Developing and applying pro-poor and sustainable technologies and production systems that enhance land and labour productivity and economic returns Providing producers / local entrepreneurs / rural communities with equitable and secure access to natural resources and livelihood services Creating trade and market conditions that enable small scale / poor producers and rural entrepreneurs to access and participate in markets

A New Agenda for Agriculture From …To … AgricultureAgriculture in context One rural WorldMultiple rural worlds ProductionLivelihoods Ag = ProductionAg = inputs + production +post- harvest + value adding + marketing TechnologyTechnology and Institutions On-farm employmentDiversified employment Public sector drivenPublic and private sector driven Supply orientatedMarket orientated Local and national marketsLocal, national, regional and global markets Adapted from OECD Report

Based on Dorward, Kydd and Poulton (1998) Smallholder Cash Crop Production under Market Liberalisation: A New Institutional Economics Perspective. CAB International, Wallingford. WeakStrong Technology Development Weak Strong Institutional Development AB CD Developing markets and technologies The focus is often only on developing strong technology (from A to B), or only on developing strong institutions (from A to C), both of which fail on their own. Development needs to focus on developing technologies and institutions together, to realise both strong technologies AND institutions (moving within the space from A to D).

Key Messages from Reports (1) Recognise and respond to diversity Increase productivity (on sustainable basis) Participatory science and technology Best fits Create equitable global trading conditions Create conditions for market participation by the poor Tenure and resource security Financial services Access to information Infrastructure

Key Messages from Reports (2) Encourage private sector investment and engagement (PPPs) Empower rural poor to influence policy (producer and local organisations) Improve Pro-poor national policy and strategy Deal strategically with risk and vulnerability and the consequences of climate change

Positive Examples Many examples exist The study is capturing some But … Are these just ‘islands of success’ How sustainable is the external support / investment ? To what extent is significant up-scaling possible? Much work is required to capture and learn from current successes (and failures)

Emerging questions (from WUR study team) How to realise the recommendations from the reports in the face of … Lack trade reform by OECD countries Weak governance systems in developing countries Limited funds for public services and goods Limited market internalisation of social and environmental costs Who is responsible at what scale? Who pays for what? Is there sufficient understanding of the ‘pro-poor’ growth (market) concepts underlying the new agenda? Is the agenda naive about power and politics?

Small group discussions Four groups based on domains Productivity Resources and services Markets Institutions A 5 minute introduction will be given by a member of WUR study group Written summaries of each domain are available

Focusing questions From your experience/knowledge what do you see as the critical factors for positive change in this domain? Consequently what are two key suggestions you would like to make regarding future directions for the Dutch development sector