World Food Policy WFP Volume 4, No. 2, Spring 2018 | Page 49

Facilitating Inclusive Rural Transformation in the Asian Developing Countries
Kompas et al., 2012). On the other
hand, in the countries that have expe-
rienced both slow rural transformation
and slow rural poverty reduction under
Categories III of rural transformation,
land reform has been slow or moderat-
ed. For example, despite of the substan-
tial efforts taken by India governments
to address the land distribution issues
and the evidence of positive impacts
of land reform on agricultural growth
and poverty reduction in the reformed
regions (Mearns, 1999; Deininger et
al., 2009; Banerjee and Iyer, 2005), the
implementation has been slow and
faced challenges due to social stratifi-
cation and political will (Rawal, 2008).
The land reform in the Philippines has
been implemented since its national in-
dependence in 1946. However, lack of
political commitment, the reform has
been slow (Sawchenko, 2000; Elvinia,
2011). Slow and long period of land
reform has prevented landless farmers
benefit more from agricultural tech-
nology change and has also created
significant uncertainties and insecure
in land property rights that have un-
dermined private investment incentives
and slowed agricultural productivity
growth (World Bank, 2013).
Fuglie, 2010; Fan et. al., 2004 and 2008).
It is well recognized that agri-
cultural research and extension play
central roles in increasing agricultural
productivity in developing countries.
A recent study shows that, on average,
more than three-quarters of the total
growth in agricultural output in the first
decade of the 21 st century was attribut-
ed to the improvements in TFP across
countries (Fuglie and Rada, 2014).
Among sources of productivity growth,
the empirical literature has showed that
technological change is the main engine
in Asia (OECD, 2013; Fan and Pardey,
1997). Agricultural research and the
dissemination of up-to-date informa-
tion through extension have enabled
many Asian countries to increase rural
household incomes and transform the
agricultural sector.
All countries in Asia have ben-
efited from agricultural technology
change, but the extent of this benefit
differs among them. The Green Rev-
olution of the 1970s and 1980s facili-
tated the application of high-yielding
varieties of major cereals and modern
inputs such as chemical fertilizers (Pin-
gali and Heisey, 1999). The productivity
increase resulting from the Green Rev-
olution contributed to poverty reduc-
tion in both rural and urban areas in
Asia (as the food prices fell with gains
in agricultural productivity) (Estudillo
et al. 2006). Even after the green revo-
lution, annual growth of agricultural
TFP remained high, averaged about 2%
in these countries. 7 But the inter-coun-
try comparison suggests that the gains
Technology change: Investing in ag-
ricultural technology and inclusive
rural transformation. Technology is a
major driver of agricultural productiv-
ity growth; it facilitates inclusive rural
transformation. High returns to invest-
ments in agricultural R&D and pover-
ty reduction have been documented in
Asia (Alston et. al., 2000; Evenson and
7
Of course, agricultural TFP may come from several sources, but technological change is one of the
primary drivers of growth in the region (OECD, 2013; Fan and Pardey, 1997; Jin et al., 2002)
45