Those who study global poverty and ways to reduce it face a perennial set of questions: Do advances in knowledge, research, and technology make a real difference in the lives of poor people? What effect does research have on the poor?

Genetically modified (GM) food crops have inspired increasing controversy over the past decade. By the mid-1990s they were widely grown in the U.S., Canada, and Argentina, but precautionary regulations continue to limit their use elsewhere.

Kenya is an exciting case for those who suspect that agriculture has powerful linkages with the rest of the economy. Over the period 1965-87 Kenya's agricultural production consistently surpassed the average for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Economic development and structural transformation are dynamic processes in which sectoral interactions are numerous and multidirectional.

The Kenyan government has actively encouraged cultivation of cash crops as part of its past and present development policies.

In 1984, at the request of the Government of Kenya, IFPRI initiated a study to evaluate the income and nutritional effects of a shift from maize to sugarcane production.