ABSTRACT
How do the pace and the pattern of agricultural growth affect poverty? Are there ways in which an agricultural growth strategy can be designed to have a positive impact on poverty?
Theoretical and empirical analysis has led to divergent answers to these questions. Much depends on the nature of technological progress and its diffusion among different groups of farmers, on its impact on the growth of income and productivity, as well as on the initial conditions under which the growth process is initiated - particularly the distribution of assets, especially land. Frequently, access to land as well as to fixed and working capital for financing modem inputs is unequal, as is access to education, training and research. For growth to reduce poverty and promote equity, the access to all of these factors must be widely diffused. In many countries, experience with the direct redistribution of assets, particularly land, and with public measures directing inputs or resources to poor farmers, has not been very promising. The political and administrative obstacles in the way of direct assaults on poverty are very substantial. This enhances the importance of the povertyalleviating effects of the growth process itself. To the extent that the latter are positive, the need for a more direct redistribution of assets for povertyalleviating measures may be less urgent.
