Agriculture for Development – Revisited

Agriculture for Development – Revisited took stock of the state of affairs in using agriculture for development three years after the release of the World Development Report (2008) on the same subject.  In the end, the revisit stresses the need for three categories of initiatives to turn opportunities into development achievements: (1) Using agriculture for development is a highly complex undertaking that requires developing comprehensive country-level strategies; (2) extraordinary new opportunities exist in investing in agriculture for development, but more systematic efforts need to be made in discovering and demonstrating what works; and (3) enhanced implementation capacity in this complex undertaking is necessary for success, requiring strong investment in capacity building in using agriculture for development.

Event Photos

https://www.flickr.com/photos/59053315@N06/sets/72157626026239802/

Agenda

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1

8.00am – Breakfast (Program Participants Only)

PART I – Ann Harrison, Chair

8.30am – Introduction

• Ann Harrison, The World Bank
• Jean-Jacques Dethier, The World Bank

8.45-10.45am – Session 1. Re-conceptualizing the role of agriculture for economic development

• Agriculture for Poverty Reduction — Revisited. Martin Ravallion, the World Bank
• Agricultural Productivity, Economic Growth and Food Security. Douglas Gollin, Williams College
• Discussant: Pranab Bardhan, UC Berkeley

10.45-11.00am – Coffee break

11.00am-1.00pm – Session 2. Food price volatility and food security

• Managing Domestic Price Instability. Brian Wright, UC Berkeley
• Trade Distortions and Food Price Surges. Will Martin, the World Bank (written with Kym Anderson, University of Adelaide)
• Discussant: Maximo Torero, IFPRI

1.00-2.00pm – Lunch

PART II – Will Martin, Chair

2.00-4.00pm – Session 3. Technology adoption and a Green Revolution for Africa (ATAI project)

• Barriers to Farm Profitability in India: Mechanization, Scale and Credit Markets. Mark Rosenzweig, Yale University (written with Andrew Foster, Brown University)
• Adoption of Intensified Agricultural Technology in Africa. Christopher Udry, Yale University (written with Tim Conley, University of Western Ontario)
• Discussant: David Zilberman, UC Berkeley

4.00-4.15pm – Coffee break

4.15-6.15pm – Session 4. New Approaches to Rural Development

• Governance and Smallholder Farmer Competitiveness in High Value Food Chains. Jo Swinnen, Leuven University
• Dial “A” for Agriculture: Using ICT for Agricultural Extension. Jenny Aker, Tufts University
• Discussant: Jeremy Magruder, UC Berkeley

PART III – Ethan Ligon, Chair

7.30pm – Dinner session at UC Faculty Club. Revisiting the WDR 2008 Agriculture for Development

• Alain de Janvry, UC Berkeley
• Derek Byerlee, SPIA, CGIAR
• Elisabeth Sadoulet, UC Berkeley

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2

8.00am – Breakfast (Program Participants Only)

PART IV – Jean-Jacques Dethier, Chair

8.30-10.30am – Session 5. Structural transformations and income diversification

• The Farm Size Debate. Klaus Deininger, the World Bank
• Non-Farm Diversification and Rural Poverty Decline: A Perspective from the Indian Sample Survey and Village Study Data. Peter Lanjouw, the World Bank (written with Himanshu, JNU Delhi, Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay, ISI Delhi, and Rinku Murgai, World Bank)
• Discussant: Greg Traxler, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

10.30-10.45am – Coffee break

10.45am-1.00pm – Session 6. How to make agriculture for development into a reality: A roundtable discussion

• Kevin Cleaver (IFAD)
• Karen Brooks (World Bank)
• Greg Traxler (The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)

1-2.30pm – Lunch: Research agenda and policy perspectives on Agriculture for Development

• Justin Lin, Chief Economist, The World Bank

Part V (by SPIA invitation) – Derek Byerlee, Chair

Introductory Remarks, Derek Byerlee, Science Council/SPIA/CGIAR

Recent Advances in Impact Analysis Methods for Ex-post Impact Assessments of Agricultural Technology. Alain de Janvry, Andrew Dustan, and Elisabeth Sadoulet, UC Berkeley

• Discussion on future approaches:
• Mark Rosenzweig, Yale University
• Julian Alston, UC Davis
• Mywish Maredia, Michigan State University
• Greg Traxler, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The World Development Report 2008, “Agriculture for Development,” is available online.

Participants