Publication

This paper assesses whether pathways out of poverty are likely to be strongly connected to productivity increases in the rural economy and whether they are realized in farming, rural non-farm enterprises or via rural-urban migration. The authors suggest that the increased engagement of farmers in rural non-farm enterprises constitutes an important route out of rural poverty, but that most of the rural agricultural poor that exit poverty still do so while remaining rural and agricultural. Thus, changes in agricultural prices, wages and productivity still play a critical role in moving people out of poverty.