Innovation spaces are often dominated by linear, top-down approaches, with the transfer of technology being seen as the solution to many problems rather than trying to understand which innovation processes people are engaging with themselves.

Agri-food systems transformation requires accelerated innovations to address multiple economic, environmental and health objectives. No innovation serves everyone’s interests. Political opposition to innovations is therefore inevitable.

Recent global crises have led to diverse impacts across the world’s low- and middle-income regions, reflecting local conditions and differing policy responses.

Agricultural support policies cost more than US$800 billion per year in transfers to the farm sector worldwide.

2020 was marked by a global recession. Most Asian economies witnessed a major economic downturn or, at the minimum, major decelerations in economic growth of magnitudes not seen since the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.

Climate change is a truly global threat, but its impacts differ around the world. Regions and countries urgently need to identify and implement policy responses that reflect local needs and opportunities.

Following the initial COVID-19 outbreak in Hubei Province in late 2019, starting in late January 2020 the Chinese government imposed draconian lockdown measures across the country to control the spread of the disease (Fang, Wang, and Yang 2020).

China’s rapid rise as a leading global exporter of manufacturing goods since its accession to the WTO in 2001 has been the focus of both admiration and, increasingly, concern, but China is also a large importer of goods, particularly agricultural

Reducing urban-rural gaps in child health and nutrition is one of the most difficult challenges faced by many countries.

Explores key emerging issues facing developing-country agriculture today, from rapid urbanization to rural transformation to climate change

Agricultural Development: New Perspectives in a Changing World is the first comprehensive exploration of key emerging issues facing developing-country agriculture today, from rapid urbanization to rural transformation to climate change.

The world has been changing rapidly, and major issues surrounding agriculture have evolved as well. In fact, over the last several decades major shifts have occurred in the thinking on and practice of agricultural development.

In this section, we follow Chapter 5 of Hayami and Ruttan (1985) to overview long-term changes experienced by East Asian countries.

This note provides an overview of investment trends in global agricultural research to the year 2016, which revises ASTI’s prior global update (Beintema et al. 2012).

Analyzing the experiences of eight Asian and five African countries, the authors explore crucial government roles in boosting and supporting mechanization, from import policies to promotion policies to public good policies.

Agricultural mechanization in Africa south of the Sahara — especially for small farms and businesses — requires a new paradigm to meet the needs of the continent’s evolving farming systems.

Despite small landholdings, a high degree of land fragmentation, and rising labor costs, agricultural production in China has steadily increased. If one treats the farm household as the unit of analysis, it is difficult to explain the conundrum.

Africa has experienced a paradigm shift in mechanization in the past three decades. The “new paradigm” has also given rise to new challenges and policy issues.

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak in December 2019, China implemented a nationwide travel blockade and quarantine policy that required all public spaces, businesses, and schools to shut their doors until further notice and placed restrictions o

After the COVID-19 outbreak began in December in Hubei Province, many Chinese villages were locked down to control the spread of the disease. As the epidemic has eased, China has only begun to lift some restrictions.