World Food Policy WFP Volume 4, No. 2, Spring 2018 | Page 47

Facilitating Inclusive Rural Transformation in the Asian Developing Countries
5. the countries that have gone through 4. Drivers of inclusive
one of significant ST and RT have rural transformation
reduced rural poverty moderately
(Cambodia, Indonesia and Laos)
T, RT and their inclusiveness are
except for India in the case of A and
affected by many factors. While ST
Bangladesh in the case of B.
is interlinked with RT, it is driven
mainly by macro economic and struc-
Based on the results presented in
tural change policies as well as social
Table 2 and Figure 5, we further divide
and political dynamics in each country.
these nine countries into the following
Examining drivers and their effects on
three categories:
ST is beyond the scope of this study. In
Category I: fast in ST, RT and rural pov- this section, we mainly use China and
erty reduction countries (e.g., Vietnam (Category 1), India and the
China and Vietnam). This cate- Philippines (Category III) as examples
gory is a classic but much more to discuss the drivers of inclusive RT.
rapid ST and RT than the “clas- Institutional innovation: Land reform
sic” transformation experienced and inclusive rural transformation.
by OECD countries in the 20 th Getting land institutions right is fun-
century. Successful RT in these damental for inclusive rural develop-
countries facilitates ST and vice ment. The poorest in rural areas tend to
versa as RT and ST are strongly be landless farmers in Asia, indicating
linked and interacted together. a link between access to land resources
They also together significantly and poverty alleviation.
reduce rural poverty.
In the past 60 years, China has
Category II: fast (or slow) in one implemented three major rounds of
of ST and RT countries (e.g., land reform. After the establishment
Cambodia, Indonesia and Laos) of the People’s Republic of China, the
and moderate poverty reduction. country started its total land reform
One of slow ST and RT results initiative in the 1950s, which took land
in the moderate poverty reduc- away from landowning classes and re-
tion in Cambodia, Indonesia and distributed it to all farmers. Although
unpopular (for good reasons), the re-
Laos.
distribution increased agricultural
Category III: moderate to slow in ST production, created social equity and
and RT also moderate to slow reduced rural poverty. Unfortunately,
poverty reduction countries (e.g., the movement of collectivization after
Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and the late 1950s resulted in nearly two
the Philippines). Slow to mod- decades of stagnation in agricultural
erate in ST and RT contribute to production and farmers’ income, which
slow to moderate rural poverty illustrates the importance of land insti-
reduction in these countries.
tution from the opposite side.
S
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