Tag Archives: Agriculture
The Limits of Technology in Development
Justin Sandefur reminds us of the limits of technology to resolving the problems of development and poverty over at CGD’s blog:
Bill Gates released his annual letter to the world, opening with a discussion of how Gates-funded agricultural research can help Tanzanian farmers. . . . Gates’ letter is so optimistic about agricultural innovation lifting Tanzanian farmers out of poverty, it feels almost impolite to point out that the main source of poverty reduction for Tanzania farmers in the past two decades has been essentially the opposite: leaving the farm. . .
Gates’ core idea that agricultural innovation can help small-scale farmers in situ. But this vision is at odds with the recent historical record of poverty reduction for Tanzanian farmers . . . (more…)
More on Africa, Economic Development, Policies, Poverty
What can Southeast Asia teach Africa about development?
Cross-posted from Global Dashboard.
Southeast Asia has consistently outperformed Sub-Saharan Africa in income growth. As the below chart indicates, its inhabitants were much poorer than Africans in 1960; today they are two and one-half times richer. In fact, over the past half-century, the region has been the most consistently successful in the developing world, growing almost continuously (apart from a brief hiatus after the 1997 Asian financial crisis).
