GROUP 6 REPORTING

M6 POST TASK

Lesson 3: The Imperative Agricultural Progress and Rural Development

Trends in Agricultural Productivity
 Agriculture has always been viewed to serve a passive and supporting role in economic
growth. Its main objective is to supply the growing industrial economy, which is
considered to be the dynamic "leading sector" in any comprehensive plan of economic
growth, with an adequate supply of low-cost food and labor. Today, the majority of
development economists agree that the agricultural sector, in particular, and the farming
industry, in general, must play an important aspect in any overall strategy of economic
growth, especially for the low-income developing countries. 
 An agriculture- and employment-based strategy of economic development requires at a
minimum three basic complementary elements:
1. Accelerated output growth through technological, institutional and price incentive
changes designed to raise the productivity of small farmers:
- There are several ways in which technological, institutional, and price incentives
can be used to increase the productivity of small farmers.
- Through the adoption of new technologies, this can include the use of modern
farming tools and equipment, such as GPS-guided tractors, precision agriculture
sensors, and irrigation systems. These technologies can help small farmers to
increase their efficiency and productivity, and may be particularly beneficial for
those who operate on smaller plots of land. Institutional changes can also play a
role in increasing small farmers' productivity. This can include providing access to
credit and other financial resources, improving access to education and training
programs, and developing stronger supply chain linkages.

2. Rising domestic demand for agricultural output derived from an employment-oriented

urban development strategy:
- An employment-oriented urban development strategy that leads to rising
domestic demand for agricultural output can have a number of benefits for small
farmers.
- First, it can create new market opportunities for small farmers, as the increased
demand for agricultural products will create a need for more production. This can
help small farmers to increase their sales and revenue, and may even allow them
to expand their operations.
- Second, an employment-oriented urban development strategy that leads to rising
domestic demand for agricultural output can also help to stabilize prices for
agricultural products. When demand is strong, farmers are more likely to receive
good prices for their crops, which can help to improve their profitability and
sustainability.
- Finally, an employment-oriented urban development strategy that leads to rising
domestic demand for agricultural output can also help to support rural
communities. As small farmers benefit from increased sales and stability, they
are more likely to invest in their businesses and communities, which can help to
create a virtuous cycle of economic growth.

3. Diversified, non-agricultural, labor intensive rural development activities that directly

and indirectly support and are supported by the farming community
- There are several ways in which diversified, non-agricultural, labor-intensive rural
development activities can support and be supported by the farming community.
 - One way is through the creation of new employment opportunities for farmers
and other rural residents. For example, the development of small-scale
manufacturing or processing facilities in rural areas can provide jobs for farmers
and others who may not have access to employment in other sectors. These
activities can also provide additional income for farmers during periods when
they are not able to work on their farms, such as during the off-season or during
periods of inclement weather.
- Another way in which diversified, non-agricultural, labor-intensive rural
development activities can support the farming community is through the
provision of goods and services that are needed by farmers. For example, the
development of small-scale stores, repair shops, and other businesses in rural
areas can provide farmers with access to the tools, equipment, and other
resources that they need to operate their farms efficiently.
- Finally, diversified, non-agricultural, labor-intensive rural development activities
can also be supported by the farming community through the purchase of goods
and services from these businesses. This can help to create a virtuous cycle of
economic growth, as the success of these businesses helps to support the
farming community, which in turn helps to support the businesses.

Market Failures and the Need for Government Policy

 One of the main causes of the relatively poor performance of agriculture in low-income
countries has been the governments' neglect of this sector while setting development
priorities, a problem that the aforementioned efforts seek to address. This disregard for
agriculture and the ensuing bias in favor of investment in the urban industrial economy
can be historically linked to the postwar decades' mistaken emphasis on fast
industrialization through import substitution and exchange rate overvaluation.
 What should the government be doing if agricultural development is to be given more
attention? In fact, getting the role of government right is one of the most significant
issues facing agriculture in development. Reducing government involvement in
agriculture was a key goal of development organizations in the 1980s. Many of the early
interventions, like the government's mandate that farmers sell to government marketing
boards at a discount in an effort to maintain low urban food costs, actually caused more
harm than benefit. This is an extreme example. Although it is usually believed that
agriculture is a completely competitive industry, there are nevertheless market failures
and a need for government intervention.
 However, government also has a role in agriculture due to its need in reducing poverty—
and the fact that a sizable portion of the world's poor are still farmers. Farmers are
unable to take advantage of opportunities that may help them escape poverty because
of their own poverty. They can't receive credit since they have no collateral. Lacking
credit, they could be forced to keep their kids out of school so they can work, passing on
poverty to future generations. They might not be able to work well enough to afford
improved health and nutrition if they are ill or undernourished. They are unable to obtain
insurance due to a lack of knowledge and missed marketplaces. They are unable to take
what may seem like advantageous risks because they lack insurance for fear of going
without enough to eat. They cannot specialize without intermediaries (and without
specialization, middlemen lack incentives to enter).
 The proper role for government in agricultural development is to create an enabling
environment that supports the growth and success of the sector. This can involve a
variety of policy measures, including the following:
 1. Investment in infrastructure: Governments can invest in infrastructure such as
roads, irrigation systems, and storage facilities, which can help to improve the
efficiency and competitiveness of the agricultural sector.
2. Providing access to credit: Governments can help small farmers and
agribusinesses to access credit and other financial resources, which can be critical
for investing in new technologies and expanding operations.
3. Promoting research and development: Governments can support research and
development efforts aimed at improving crop yields and increasing the efficiency of
farming practices.
4. Providing extension services: Governments can provide extension services to
small farmers, which can help them to access information and training on best
practices and new technologies.
5. Regulating the sector: Governments can also play a role in regulating the sector,
for example by setting standards for food safety and environmental protection, or by
regulating monopolies and other firms with market power.

Lesson 4: Core Requirements of a Strategy of Agricultural and Rural Development

 It is essential to understand the primary causes of agricultural growth and the
fundamental conditions necessary for its realization since the progressive improvement
of rural levels of living standards is the main goal of agricultural and rural development in
developing countries.

Improving Small Scale Agriculture

 Small-scale agriculture is a form of farming that relies more on manual labor than
machines. To maintain soil production and prevent pests, small-scale farming
enterprises often employ more environmentally friendly techniques than traditional
industrial farming systems. They use techniques including mechanical cultivation,
polyculture, conservation tillage, mixed cropping, nutrient cycling, biological pest
management, and/or promoting biodiversity in addition to reducing the use of chemical
pesticides and fertilizers.
Technology and Innovations
 New agricultural technology and advances in farming techniques are prerequisites in the
majority of emerging nations for long-term increases in production and productivity.
Almost all of these possibilities have already been taken advantage of, and there is
limited room for additional substantial or sustainable growth.
 Farm yields can be increased by two significant technical innovations, although both
have unfavorable effects on agricultural growth. The first is the use of mechanical
agriculture as a substitute for manual labor. The volume of production per worker may
be dramatically increased by the introduction of labor-saving technology, particularly in
areas where land is intensively farmed and labor is in short supply.
 The second notable component, improvements in biology (hybrid seeds and
biotechnology), water management (irrigation), and chemistry (fertilizer, herbicides,
insecticides, etc.) are not without their own issues. They are land-augmenting, which
means that by increasing yields per hectare, they raise the quality of existing land.  
Major scientific innovations in modern agriculture include hybrid seeds, improved
irrigation and crop rotation methods, increased use of fertilizers, pesticides, and
herbicides, and new discoveries in veterinary and animal nutrition.
 These methods can theoretically be used equally successfully on both large and small
farms since they are frequently technologically scale-neutral. They don't always require
sophisticated machinery or significant capital investments. They consequently offer
 immense promise for increasing agricultural output in underdeveloped countries and
have been quite successful in doing so, notably in Asia. They are primarily well adapted
for tropical and sub-tropical environments.
 Scale-neutral: unaffected by size; applied to technological progress that can lead to the
achievement of higher output levels irrespective of the size(scale) of a firm or farm.
Institutional and Pricing Policies: Providing the Necessary Economic Incentives
 Although the wheat, corn, and rice varieties from the green revolution are scale-neutral,
along with the required irrigation and chemicals, and thus offer the possibility of
continued small-farm progress, the social structures and governmental economic
policies that go along with their introduction into the rural economy are frequently not
scale-neutral. On the other hand, they frequently just serve the interests and demands of
the affluent landowners. One effect of the green revolution could be (as in some regions
of South Asia and Mexico) the further impoverishment of many peasants because the
new hybrid seeds require access to complementary inputs like irrigation, fertilizer,
insecticides, credit, and agricultural extension services.
 Green revolution: The introduction of new, high-yielding varieties into emerging nations
led to a significant rise in the production of food grains, particularly wheat and rice.
 The price of agricultural commodities, particularly food grains and other staples
produced for local markets, is a crucial area of many past and some current failures in
government policy. Many governments in emerging countries kept farm prices low in an
effort to supply affordable food for the urban modern sector while pursuing fast industrial
and urban growth. Prices were paid to farmers that were either below internal or globally
competitive prices.
 Therefore, many development economists conclude that governments must continue to
advance efforts to provide incentives for small and medium-size farmers by enacting
pricing policies that accurately reflect internal market conditions if they are to promote
further increases in agricultural production that have a greater impact on poverty
reduction through green revolution technologies.

Conditions for Rural Development

There are three conclusions regarding the prerequisites for the implementation of a people-
oriented agricultural and rural development plan:
Land Reform
Conclusion 1: Farm structures and land tenure patterns must be adapted to the dual objectives of
increasing food production and promoting a wider distribution of the benefits of agrarian progress,
allowing further progress against poverty
 Land reform is frequently suggested as an essential prerequisite for agricultural growth
in many developing nations for these humanistic reasons, as well as for increased
agricultural output, the simultaneous accomplishment of more efficiency and more
equity.
 Typically, land reform comprises a redistribution of ownership or usage rights away from
large landowners and toward farmers with tiny or no landholdings. It can take on a
variety of shapes, including the transfer of land from big estates to small farms or rural
cooperatives, the transfer of ownership to tenants who are already farming the land, or
the appropriation of large estates for new settlement.
 Land reform: the deliberate alteration of the ownership or tenure of agricultural land, the
cultivation practices used, or the relationship between agriculture and the rest of the
economy. Such reforms may be announced by a government, by interested parties, or
by revolution.
  The foundation for increased output levels and greater standards of life for rural
peasants will be set if land reform plans can be passed and successfully executed by the
government. Because governments caved to political pressure from influential
landowner organizations and failed to execute the promised reforms, numerous attempts
at land reform have sadly failed. However, even a program for equitable land reform
cannot ensure that agricultural and rural development would be effective. This brings us
to our second conclusion.
Supportive Policies
Conclusion 2: The full benefits of small-scale agricultural development cannot be realized unless
government support systems are created that provide the necessary incentives, economic opportunities,
and access to needed credit and inputs to enable small cultivators to expand their output and raise their
productivity.
 Despite the fact that land reform is important in many regions of Asia and Latin America,
it is likely to be inefficient and even counterproductive without corresponding changes in
the rural establishments that control production (such as banks, moneylenders, seed
and fertilizer distributors), in the supporting public assistance services (such as technical
and educational extension services, public credit agencies, storage and marketing
facilities, rural transport and feeder roads), and in the rural infrastructure (ensuring
market-value prices for farmers).
 This extensive network of external services and support, along with appropriate
governmental pricing policies related to both farm inputs and outputs, is a necessary
requirement for prolonged agricultural advancement even in areas where land reform is
less necessary but productivity and incomes are low (as in parts of Africa and Southeast
Asia).
Integrated Development Objectives
Conclusion 3: Rural development, though dependent primarily on small-farmer agricultural progress,
implies much more. It encompasses (a) efforts to raise both farm and nonfarm rural real incomes through
job creation, rural industrialization, and other nonfarm opportunities and the increased provision of
education, health and nutrition, housing, and a variety of related social and welfare services; (b) a
decreasing inequality in the distribution of rural incomes and a lessening of urban-rural imbalances in
incomes and economic opportunities; (c) successful attention to the need for environmental sustainability
—limiting the extension of farmland into remaining forests and other fragile areas, promoting
conservation, and preventing the harmful misuse of agrochemicals and other inputs; and (d) the capacity
of the rural sector to sustain and accelerate the pace of these improvements over time.
 The accomplishment of these four goals is essential to a country's development since
more than half of the world's population still lives in rural regions. Developing countries
will have made a significant progress toward understanding the true meaning of
development by reestablishing a healthy balance between urban and rural economic
opportunities and by establishing the prerequisites for mass popular involvement in
national development efforts and rewards.

Post task
1. What is meant by the concept of land reform?
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAWzbWm7RPI
 Land reform refers to the process of changing the way land is owned, used, and
managed in a society. It often involves the distribution of land to landless people, the
creation of new land ownership laws and policies, and the protection of land rights for
marginalized groups. The goals of land reform vary depending on the specific context,
but they can include increasing agricultural productivity, reducing poverty, promoting
 social justice, and preserving natural resources. Land reform can be a controversial and
complex issue, as it often involves the transfer of land from one group to another, and
can raise issues of compensation, property rights, and economic efficiency.

2. Explain the reasons why land reform implementation was not successful in the
Philippines.
 There are several reasons why land reform has not been fully successful in the
Philippines. One reason is that the process has been slow and often hindered by
political and economic interests. Land reform efforts have been met with
resistance from landowners and other powerful groups, who have opposed the
redistribution of land and have sought to protect their own interests. Another
reason for the lack of success is that land reform programs have not always been
well-implemented, with many facing delays, corruption, and inadequate funding.
In addition, some land reform policies have not been well-targeted, and have not
effectively reached the intended beneficiaries. Finally, there have been problems
with the sustainability of land reform initiatives, as many beneficiaries have been
unable to maintain their land or make it productive due to a lack of support,
training, and access to credit and other resources. As a result, many land
reforms projects have not achieved their intended goals, and have not effectively
improved the lives of the poor and marginalized groups they were intended to
benefit.

3. Is land reform enough to improve the standard of living of farmers in the Philippines?
Why or why not? Give some examples of supportive policy measures that might
accompany land reform.
 Land reform alone may not be enough to significantly improve the standard of
living of farmers in the Philippines. While land reform can help to address issues
of landlessness and inequality, it is often necessary to implement additional
policy measures to support the development of the agricultural sector and to
address the broader economic and social challenges faced by farmers.
 Some examples of policy measures that might accompany land reform include:
1. Investment in infrastructure: Improving roads, irrigation systems, and other
infrastructure can help to increase the efficiency and productivity of farming
operations.
2. Access to credit: Providing farmers with access to credit can help them to
invest in their operations and expand their production.
3. Training and technical assistance: Providing farmers with training and
technical assistance can help them to improve their skills and adopt new
technologies, which can increase their productivity and profitability.
4. Market access: Providing farmers with access to markets can help them to
sell their products and earn a fair price for their labor.
5. Social protection programs: Implementing social protection programs, such as
cash transfer programs and social insurance, can help to protect farmers from
shocks and reduce poverty and inequality.
 Overall, it is important to adopt a comprehensive and coordinated approach that
addresses the various economic, social, and political challenges faced by
farmers in the Philippines, in order to achieve sustainable and equitable
development in the agricultural sector.
REF:
 http://www.pohl-consulting.com/services/agriculture_rural_development/
 studocu.com/ph/document/polytechnic-university-of-the-philippines/bachelor-of-
science-in-accountancy/agricultural-lecture-notes-all-pages/13412266
 https://www.appropedia.org/Small_scale_agriculture
 https://www.britannica.com/topic/land-reform
 https://www.fao.org/3/y5026e/y5026e0d.htm
 https://www.fao.org/3/j0415t/j0415t08.htm