20 March 2012, Rome - Keeping track of statistics related to food and agriculture is an important part of efforts to reduce hunger and foster development. Making those numbers more accessible and meaningful to people who need to use them is the idea behind the newly revised FAO Statistical Yearbook.
The yearbook, the foremost collection and reference point for statistical data on food and agriculture, provides a snapshot of related economic, environmental and social trends and issues. It breaks down a myriad of numbers gathered from around the world into four broad thematic categories: the state of the agricultural resource base; hunger dimensions; feeding the world; and sustainability.
Each section of the yearbook is accompanied by background and narrative text, charts, maps and references to additional publications, all of which offer a broader and more in-depth look at a wide range of topics.
Examples of issues examined in the publication include the pressure placed on land and water resources by agriculture, such as overuse and pollution; the potential impact of women's lack of access to agricultural tools and land on national economic and social development; the status of investment in agriculture; the spectrum of malnutrition; food wastage and losses; agriculture and environmental sustainability; and food price volatility.
"The yearbook is a ‘one-stop shop' for all statistical indicator needs. This new product helps researchers, policy-makers, NGOs, journalists — whoever needs statistical information — to more easily narrow the focus to a particular subject and use that as a springboard to get into deeper issues," said Pietro Gennari, FAO Statistics Division Director.
"The broad sweep of this new yearbook reminds us that the eradication of hunger cannot be separated from responses to other global challenges," Gennari added.
Overall, the statistics in the yearbook reflect the growing recognition among governments, donor agencies and others that agriculture must be the mainstay of any development agenda and economic growth policies.
As the sector is intertwined with almost every topic on the development agenda, a major challenge is to capture and monitor the multiple roles of agriculture. This is especially pertinent in developing countries, which account for 98 percent of the world's hungry, and where agriculture remains central to national economies.
The publication also helps to deepen understanding about how the much-needed increases in agricultural productivity must be weighed against broader social and environmental costs, in order to achieve truly sustainable development.
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Showing posts with label agriculture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label agriculture. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Agriculture public spending and growth in Indonesia
While the empirical literature on the direction and magnitude of the impact of public spending on growth is mixed, there is growing evidence that, at the macroeconomic and microeconomic levels, public expenditure can impact development. Public investment focused on areas where there are market failures and public good externalities have a highly positive rate of return and yield benefits that substantially outweigh the costs. In contrast, poorly-implemented efforts in activities that are better suited to private activities can be counter-productive.
In the literature on growth, several empirical studies have focused on both the traditional and new channels through which different types of public spending can affect growth.2 A direct effect relates to an increase in the economy’s capital stock (physical or human) reflecting higher flows of public funds, especially when they are complementary to those privately financed. Public investment can also contribute to growth indirectly by increasing the marginal productivity of both publicly and privately supplied production factors. For example, public expenditure on agriculture research and development (R&D) can promote higher productivity by improving the interaction between physical and human capital production inputs. Other components of public spending, related for instance to the enforcement of land property rights, can also exert a positive indirect effect on growth by contributing to better use of existing assets. There is also growing evidence suggesting that, in developing countries, externalities associated with infrastructure public spending may be more important than commonly thought by having a sizable impact on human capital as well.
There are limits to the positive impact that public spending may have on growth. Regarding the total level of public spending, an implicit common result in recent empirical studies seems to support an inverse U-shaped relationship theory, according to which public spending may affect growth positively (after controlling for the negative effects associated with its financing) up to a certain point, above which additional spending may lead to negative growth as the needs for additional (and likely distortionary) financing increase. This caveat on the limits to government intervention should inform policy analysis regarding the likely impact of public spending on growth, as increasing the size of the budget beyond a certain threshold may be associated with efficiency losses.
Both the composition as well as the level of spending matter for growth. Regarding the composition of public spending, some items can trigger a complementary effect by either stimulating private spending or providing additional counterpart funding for growing private sector investments, such as safe roads, and reliable communications and energy supply. On the contrary, some other budget items can crowd out private spending, either by reducing incentives for private investors entering in a particular market or sector, or by triggering higher public deficits and accumulated public debt in need of financing, which reduces the credit available for the private sector and, in the long run, leads to higher interest rates.
Several empirical studies find that, whilst controlling formally for the government budget constraint, under certain fiscal policy conditions (for example, fiscal stability and a relatively small government budget size), at least some categories of public expenditures do exhibit positive growth effects.7 In particular some authors (Gemmel, 2007; Moreno-Dodson, 2008), provide empirical support for the view that in a developing country context, “productive” public expenditure triggers a growth-enhancing effect.
World Bank.Author: Armas,Enrique Blanco; Osorio, Camilo Gomez; Moreno-Dodson, Blanca; Abriningrum, Dwi Endah. Document Date: 2012/02/01. Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper.Report Number: WPS5977
In the literature on growth, several empirical studies have focused on both the traditional and new channels through which different types of public spending can affect growth.2 A direct effect relates to an increase in the economy’s capital stock (physical or human) reflecting higher flows of public funds, especially when they are complementary to those privately financed. Public investment can also contribute to growth indirectly by increasing the marginal productivity of both publicly and privately supplied production factors. For example, public expenditure on agriculture research and development (R&D) can promote higher productivity by improving the interaction between physical and human capital production inputs. Other components of public spending, related for instance to the enforcement of land property rights, can also exert a positive indirect effect on growth by contributing to better use of existing assets. There is also growing evidence suggesting that, in developing countries, externalities associated with infrastructure public spending may be more important than commonly thought by having a sizable impact on human capital as well.
There are limits to the positive impact that public spending may have on growth. Regarding the total level of public spending, an implicit common result in recent empirical studies seems to support an inverse U-shaped relationship theory, according to which public spending may affect growth positively (after controlling for the negative effects associated with its financing) up to a certain point, above which additional spending may lead to negative growth as the needs for additional (and likely distortionary) financing increase. This caveat on the limits to government intervention should inform policy analysis regarding the likely impact of public spending on growth, as increasing the size of the budget beyond a certain threshold may be associated with efficiency losses.
Both the composition as well as the level of spending matter for growth. Regarding the composition of public spending, some items can trigger a complementary effect by either stimulating private spending or providing additional counterpart funding for growing private sector investments, such as safe roads, and reliable communications and energy supply. On the contrary, some other budget items can crowd out private spending, either by reducing incentives for private investors entering in a particular market or sector, or by triggering higher public deficits and accumulated public debt in need of financing, which reduces the credit available for the private sector and, in the long run, leads to higher interest rates.
Several empirical studies find that, whilst controlling formally for the government budget constraint, under certain fiscal policy conditions (for example, fiscal stability and a relatively small government budget size), at least some categories of public expenditures do exhibit positive growth effects.7 In particular some authors (Gemmel, 2007; Moreno-Dodson, 2008), provide empirical support for the view that in a developing country context, “productive” public expenditure triggers a growth-enhancing effect.
World Bank.Author: Armas,Enrique Blanco; Osorio, Camilo Gomez; Moreno-Dodson, Blanca; Abriningrum, Dwi Endah. Document Date: 2012/02/01. Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper.Report Number: WPS5977
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
China.Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation in Irrigated Agriculture Project
The project development objective is to enhance adaptation to climate change in agriculture and irrigation water management practices through awareness-raising, institutional and capacity strengthening, and demonstration activities in the 3H basin. The reallocation is necessary to adjust for the appreciation of the Chinese currency over the US dollar since the time of project effectiveness, and to shift resources away from slow progressing activities towards faster moving activities
World Bank. Document Date.2011/10/19.Document Type.Project Paper.Report Number 65186.Volume No.1 of 2
China.Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation in Irrigated Agriculture Project : restructuring (Vol. 1 of 2) :
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Saturday, December 3, 2011
Pakistan.Punjab Irrigation Productivity Improvement Program Project
Major Sector (Sector) (%) Agriculture, fishing, and forestry (Irrigation and drainage) (70%) Agriculture, fishing, and forestry (Agricultural extension and research) (30%).Themes (%) Water resource management (40%) Rural services and infrastructure (40%) Other environment and natural resources management (20%).Environmental Category B. Bank Team Lead Ahmad,
World Bank.Masood.Borrower/Recipient GOVERNMENT OF PUNJAB.Implementing Agency PUNJAB OFWM DIRECTORATE
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Ghana.Commercial Agriculture Project
The Government of Ghana has received an advance on the proceeds of a credit from the International Development Agency (IDA – World Bank Group) to finance the preparation of the GCAP – Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project. The project preparation is under the overall responsibility of MoFA. The development objective of GCAP is to improve the investment climate for agri-business and establish inclusive Private Public Partnerships (PPPs) and smallholder linkages aimed at increasing on-farm productivity and value addition in selected value chains.
Ghana’s current agricultural policy framework and national development plan emphasizes the importance of graduating from a subsistence-based small-holder system to a sector characterized by a stronger market-based orientation based on a combination of productive small-holders alongside larger commercial enterprises engaged in agricultural production, agro-processing and other activities along the value chain.
A major thrust of the new approach centres on enhancing the role of commercial agriculture and strengthening agricultural value chains. Under the program the Government is seeking to broaden and deepen private sector investment in agriculture – noting that it is already occurring but can be augmented – in the following ways:
Friday, November 11, 2011
India - Assam Agricultural Competitiveness Project: restructuring
The objective of the Assam Agricultural Competitiveness Project (AACP) for India
is to increase the productivity and market access of targeted farmers and
community groups.
The extension will enable the Bank to continue working with
the project authorities to provide the necessary implementation support as well
as it will provide more time to process the additional financing from the Bank,
as requested by Dietary Energy Supply (DEA) in September 16, 2011to scale up the
impact of this project.
As such, the additional financing will support
consolidation of the activities undertaken in AACP, enhance long term
sustainability of project measures and impact, and would provide for the Bank
with a credible strategy in exiting from this successful operation. This will be
the second extension of the project. The first extension was for 21 months and
the project was extended from March 31, 2010 to December 31, 2011.
Document Date: 2011/10/21. Document Type: Project Paper. Report Number: 65036.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
World Bank.India,The project Karnataka Watershed Development II is now in the pipeline.
As noted in the India Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) 2009-12, national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at more than 9 percent per annum from 2004-2007. High rates of investment and savings and strong export growth, and rapid growth generated substantial public and private resources for investment and development programs.
From 2008 to 2010, average annual GDP has moderated to approximately 6.5 percent due to the global recession. More than 400 million people still subsist on under USD1.25/day, with the majority living in rural areas and dependent on agriculture or other land-based resources.
Agriculture accounts for around 16 percent of Indian GDP. Approximately 60 percent of India’s population depends on agriculture for primary livelihood, largely from rainfed agriculture.
Out of a net sown area of 141 million hectares in India, approximately 68 percent are under rainfed cultivation, mostly in arid and semi-arid areas. Thirteen states, including agriculture as used in the PAD includes crops, horticulture, livestock and agro-forestry, all components of rural land-use in India.
Document Date: 2011/11/09.Document Type: Project Information Document.Report Number: AB6853.Volume No: 1.Country: India. Doc Name: India-Karnataka Watershed Development II
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World Bank.China Technology Needs Assessment
The proposed project development objective is to enhance client capacity to assess climate mitigation and adaptation technology needs and adopt global best practices.
Project Description [from section 3 of PCN]
Component 1: Technical Oversight, Synthesis and Dissemination. This component will support technical oversight and results synthesis of the technology assessments. An important component of this task will be peer review of the assessment methodologies and the sector level results. This component will also provide an outlet for dissemination through a series of workshops coordinating the steering committee and other stakeholders.
Component 2: Technology Assessments at the Sector and Provincial Levels. This component will support technology assessments of identified mitigation and adaptation sectors and several provinces.
Component 3: Capacity Building to Support Climate Technology Networks, TNA, and Technology Transfer. This component will consist of capacity building activities to support one national center, two sectoral centers, and five provincial networks with their own climate technology databases and personnel to serve as knowledge hubs in their respective areas. It will also include capacity building activities to better understand technology transfer mechanisms and the barriers to timely and widespread deployment of global best practice options.
Component 4: Project Management Office. This component will support the establishment and operation of the Project Management Office (PMO).
Project location (if known).
China, nationwide.
Borrower’s Institutional Capacity for Safeguard Policies [from PCN] The Government of China, through the Division of International Policy and Negotiations of NDRC and the national GEF focal point, has requested US$ 5 million from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to contribute to its own TNA. As one of the main counterparts of the Bank at the central level, NDRC is familiar with Bank's safeguard policies and procedures.
Document Date: 2011/11/08.Document Type:Integrated Safeguards Data Sheet.Report Number: AC5386. Volume No:1
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