Agriculture and poverty reduction : literature review and outstanding issues

The aim of this paper is to review the recent literature on the relationship between growth in agriculture and poverty reduction. In section 2, we first discuss the issues relating to the measurement of poverty, because these matters are central to assessing the impact of agriculture on poverty reduction. This is followed in section 3 by a discussion of the incidence of poverty, first globally and then in the five countries that are the focus of this project. In section 4, we consider the role of agriculture in poverty reduction in general and in the five countries in particular. In section 5, the main conclusions of the literature review are presented and outstanding issues are noted. In the final section, we suggest that a co-ordinated strategy is needed for poverty reduction, which goes beyond reliance on any one sector of the economy. The key elements of such a strategy are accordingly outlined in section 6.