Transcript Chapter 1: Human Misery

Chapter 10:
Agricultural and Rural
Development
Contribution of Agriculture

Produce
– food to meet basic nutritional needs
– raw materials to help the industry
– cash crops for export
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Create employment and income for a
large number of people
Contribution of Agriculture

Create demand for finished consumer
and capital goods

Employ a large percentage of the labor
force

Generate a large percentage of the GDP
Performance of Agriculture
Per Capita food production in 1970-94:
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Remained stable in the Middle East (excluding
Israel)
Index of Per Capita Food Production
Reasons for Poor Performance
Insufficient of investment in rural areas:
–
Human capital (education, nutrition, health)
–
Social capital (roads, homes, electricity, irrigation)
–
Land: water supply, fertilization, mechanization
–
Technological advancement: (high yield seed
variety, better planting methods)
Reasons for Poor Performance
Unequal land distribution
–
Large & powerful landowners
–
Small family farmers and peasants
–
Sharecroppers, landless peasants, and farm
workers
Agricultural Dualism
Commercial farming:
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Very large landholdings
Massive government subsidies
Subsistence farming:
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Small family farms
Sharecropers
Landless peasants
Agricultural Dualism
Problems:
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Poverty
Land and income disparity
Rapid population growth
Growing number of landless peasants
Lack of government programs, helping
small farmers
Massive R-U migration
Role of Women
Daily tasks:

Home-making, child rearing

Food processing for consumption and
storage
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Farming: weeding, harvesting, raising
livestock
Role of Women

Cash crop labor

Generate income through cottage industry
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60-80% of farm labor in Asia
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Subject to gender discrimination in education
and employment
Rural Development Strategies
Technological change and innovation:
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Modern irrigation structure
Modern mechanical and chemical inputs
High seed varieties
Modern farming techniques
Appropriate technology: labor-intensive
Rural Development
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Institutional and Pricing Policies
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Parity pricing: equalization of unit farm
and nonfarm prices

Distribution systems and farmers
cooperatives
Pattern of Land Ownership in ME & NA
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Private land owned by landlords and peasants
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Public land owned by the government
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Land under religious trust
Rural Development Strategies
Land Reform:
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Distribute fertile land between small farmers and
landless peasants
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Compensate owners for loss of land
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Provide supportive services to help increase production
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Establish rural industries and jobs to curb R-U migration