Uncertainty and risk are characteristics inherent in agricultural activities, and one of the main sources of risk is weather. Because agriculture depends heavily on rainfall, it is sensitive to weather changes.

To be an effective poverty alleviation instrument, agricultural policies (including research, extension, and innovation) must be based on an evolutionary approach that emphasizes experimentation, learning, and active interactions among diverse par

Syposis of the full IA report.

"A “supermarket revolution” has been underway in developing countries since the early 1990s.

One of the common criticisms of poverty alleviation programs is that the high share of administrative (nontransfer) costs substantially reduces the programs’ impact on poverty. But very little empirical evidence exists on program costs.

PROGRESA is one of the Mexican government’s major programs aimed at developing the human capital of poor households. Its 1999 budget of about $777 million equaled 0.2 percent of Mexico’s gross domestic product (GDP).

This study documents how poor small-scale farmers in lowland tropical Mexico use improved maize germplasm and how this contributes to their well-being.

This paper synthesizes the results of five studies using household panel data from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Mali, Mexico and Russia, which examine the extent to which households are able through formal and/or informal arrangements to insure their con

This paper as exemplified by the Millennium Declaration of the United Nations, the reduction of poverty and hunger are now seen as central objectives of international development. Yet the modalities for attaining these goals are contested.

For many of the world’s poor, public safety-net programs are the only hope for a life free from chronic poverty and undernutrition. But the proper combination of incentives and support can be difficult to achieve.

For many of the world’s poor, public safety-net programs are the only hope for a life free from chronic poverty and undernutrition. But the proper combination of incentives and support can be difficult to achieve.

As the goals of international agricultural research move beyond increasing food production to the broader aims of reducing poverty, both agricultural research and studies of its impact become more complex.

This paper is concerned with the issue of the most cost-effective way of improving access to education for poor households in developing countries.

The authors use individual observations from a panel of families during the period of the peso crisis in Mexico to investigate whether and how labor market shocks, as proxied by changes in the gender- and age-specific unemployment rates in the met

Household food security is an important measure of well-being.

Cash transfer programs induce multiplier effects when recipients put the money they receive to work to generate additional income. The ultimate income effects are multiples of the amounts transferred.