The Economics of Agricultural Development: World Food Systems and Resource Use

Economics of Agricultural development examines the causes, severity, and effects of persistent poverty, rapid population growth, and malnutrition in developing countries. It discusses potential solutions to these problems, and considers implications of globalization for agriculture, poverty, and the environment. The authors provide a broad view of development and world food issues, on the means for utilizing agricultural surpluses to further overall economic development, and on issues related to trade and capital flows. The roles of the government and of international institutions in promoting broad-based development are also explored. Economics of Agricultural development covers topics related to sustainability of the natural resource environment, gender roles in relation to agriculture and resource use, and the importance of macroeconomic policies as related to development and trade and the success and failures of such policies and the implications for what might be done in the future to encourage morerapid agricultural and economic development.

William A. Masters is Professor of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA.