CODEN: AMDND7
ISSN: 2990-9309 (Online)
Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 4.0

This is an open access journal distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Agriculture is critical to developing countries, both economically and in its potential to improve people’s lives. Healthy, sustainable and inclusive food systems are critical to achieve the world’s development goals. Agricultural development is one of the most powerful tools to end extreme poverty, boost shared prosperity, and feed a projected 9.7 billion people by 2050. Growth in the agriculture sector is two to four times more effective in raising incomes among the poorest compared to other sectors. In some of these countries, agribusiness is one of the most dynamic economic sectors leading to debates on whether its expansion offers opportunities for local development, while overcoming the current simplified strategy of expansion into new agricultural frontiers with high social and environmental costs.

With increasing efforts to promote free markets, one must ask whether the impact on some agricultural producers may be less than desirable. Small producers with limited access to capital, technical assistance, and competitive buyers may be unable to participate in new marketing opportunities. Without recommending a return to heavy government, this article suggests development policy be enlarged to encompass agribusiness enterprises. Localized agribusiness can help rural populations capture value added that is otherwise lost to external agents. This may require, however, a different governmental role, primarily in the provision of basic infrastructure, transparent policies, and the continued emphasis on availability of capital and technology.