Research report, trade policy, exchange rate, agricultural policy, agricultural production, agriculture, Zaire since 1960 - economic policy, economic analysis, economic development, food import volume, food security, inflation, balance of payments, cash crop export volume, statistical analysis. Bibliography, graphs, statistical tables.

Focuses on the effects of Nigeria's trade and exchange rate policies on agricultural incentives especially during the 1970s, the period of the oil boom. Attempts to determine the degree of protection granted to agriculture compared with other sectors, and assesses how these policies affected the allocation of resources both within agriculture and among the other sectors.

Covers the period from the early 1960s until 1987.

Agricultural plan, policy, and performance; institutional development of agricultural research; Allocation of financial and personnel resources for research; Research management and incentives; Agricultural research priorities and structure.

The integration of traditional agriculture into local, national, and international markets is part of a development strategy oriented toward growth. Crop specialization and market integration are seen to hold the promise of wider employment opportunities, larger incomes, and improved consumption and nutrition for the rural poor. Such agricultural development also leads to the emergence of a rural service sector that provides additional employment. But whether the poor obtain a fair share, directly or indirectly, of the gains from commercialization of agriculture is largely determined by the policies and programs adopted. In Commercialization of Agriculture Under Population Pressure: Effects on Production, Consumption, and Nutrition in Rwanda, Research Report 85, Joachim von Braun, Hartwig de Haen, and Juergen Blanken examine the driving forces and the effects of commercialization in a study site in Rwanda, one of the most densely populated areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. This study represents part of IFPRI's continuing research on ensuring food security and alleviating poverty through agricultural commercialization. The present study assesses the interaction of increased commercialization with population growth and the results for production, household real income, family food consumption, expenditures for nonfood goods and services, and the nutritional status of the sample population. It also develops a long-term perspective for agricultural, employment, and nutrition policies.

The authors show that the allocation of women's time, as affected by deforestation, has far-reaching effects on farm output, income and nutrition

Review of welfare economics; Externalities and public goods; Endogenous fertility and potential market failure: false issues; Endogenous fertility and potential market failure: real issues; Children as a capital good; Socially optimal population size: beyond the pareto principle; Directions for further research.

Study based on a household survey conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) between September 1986 and May 1987 in three villages in the Minya governate.

The noted economist Yair Mundlak presents here a theory of the growth of the agricultural sector within the context of a growing economy. He explores the various aspects of the dynamics of agriculture and their relationship to the dynamics of the economy at large, offering a unique blend of theory, methodology, and empirical analysis. The rate of agricultural growth has varied across countries and over time, even though the main innovations in agricultural technology have been made available to all countries. Consequently, the difference in performance is due to the use made of the available technology. Mundlak treats the implementation of technology as an economic decision similar to decisions about resource supply and allocation. The development of agriculture, like that of other sectors, is determined to a large degree by the economic environment, especially public policies. This framework permits the author to evaluate the effects of policies on growth by examining their effects on sectoral incentives. Mundlak shows that neutral macroeconomic policies may have a stronger effect on sectoral growth than sector-specific policies. The book contains problem sets, and will be a reference and text for graduate-level courses.