Agricultural change and rural poverty c.1

Has the "green revolution"-the dramatic bio technological progress in food production-left the rural poor behind? Recently this question has generated immense controversy. In Agricultural Change and Rural Poverty, leading development specialists examine the complexities of this issue and present conclusions with major implications for development policy.

Much of the book builds on ideas of the late Indian economist Dharm Narain. His seminal work on the interrelationships between poverty, food prices, and the growth performance of agriculture has in many ways set the agenda for research. Dharm Narain's concept of economic time and temporal change, for example, pointed toward one of this text's notable findings: the enormous short-term fluctuation in the number of rural people in absolute poverty.

India offers a large base of poverty data superimposed on a highly variegated background and much of this book's analysis focuses there. The authors report significant differences in poverty levels from one locale to another despite similarities in average income and stage of development. Such differences provide the basis for understanding more about the causes of poverty and the means of treating it. Then comparisons are made and lessons drawn from Japan, Southeast Asia, and Africa.

The text ultimately endorses accelerated growth in agricultural production, but not without important caveats. Improved technologies may interact with credit and land markets in a manner deleterious to the poor. And the positive effects of production growth may be outweighed by rural population growth. In periods of rising food prices, therefore, steps must be taken to protect the poor as consumers. But agriculture's role in producing food and in enlarging and diversifying opportunities for employment make its growth an essential component in a sustained program of development,