First Published in 2011. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This book explores the place of poor people within a rich variety of value chains, focusing upon lagging, rural regions in Africa and Asia, and how they can 'upgrade' within such chains. Upgrading is a key concept for value chain analysis and refers to the acquisition of technological capabilities and market linkages that enable firms to improve their competitiveness and move into higher-value activities. The authors examine a range of evidence to assess whether the 'bottom billion' people, living mainly in the rural areas of low-income countries, can improve their position through productive strategies and, if so, how? They propose an innovative conceptual framework of value chain upgrading for some of the most marginal producers in the poorest local economies. They demonstrate how interventions can improve poverty and the environment for poor people supplying a wide range of services and agricultural and food products to local, regional and global markets. This analysis is based on empirical research conducted in Senegal, Mali, Tanzania, India, Nepal, Philippines and Vietnam. The main focus is on poverty, environment and gender outcomes of upgrading interventions, and represents one of the key challenges of contemporary development economics.

All men and women are subject to risk: illness, accident, death. Some shocks affect their ability to feed and support themselves properly, either temporarily: unemployment, crop failure, and loss of property; or permanently: disability, and skill obsolescence.This report summarises what is known and also what is not known about the sources of risk faced by the rural poor and their coping strategies. It examines the impact of risk and risk-coping strategies on development and the way in which governments and international organisations can assist in dealing with risk and overcoming poverty.

This book provides fresh insight into rural poverty in Latin America. It draws on six case studies of recent rural household surveys - for Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Paraguay, and Peru - and several thematic studies examining land, labour, rural financial markets, the environments, and disadvantaged groups. Recognizing the heterogeneity within the rural economy, the studies characterize three important groups - small farmers, landless farm workers, and rural non-farm workers - and provide quantitative and qualitative analyses of the determinants of household income.

Reviews causes of poverty in rural areas and presents a policy framework for reducing rural poverty, including through land reform, public works programs, access to credit, physical and social infrastructure, subsidies, and transfer of technology. Identifies key elements for drafting a policy to reduce rural poverty.

With the use of wide-ranging case studies the author clearly illustrates the impact of schemes intended to re-allocate land in developing countries. Concluding that land reform can play a major part in stimulating rural economies this book explores the extent to which such policies can successfully reduce poverty and increase agricultural growth.