'We review the literature on the relationship between agricultural trade policy reform and poverty, and the results of recent detailed simulation studies applied to economies in the ESCAP region. We then use the GTAP model to evaluate the possible impacts of the most recently proposed modality for agricultural trade reform under Doha on the economies of the ESCAP region. We compare the results to a benchmark of comprehensive agricultural trade reform. We find that the current proposal does not r more...

'A new WTO study, which is based on two expert reports commissioned by the WTO Secretariat, aims to clarify the interface between trade, global income disparity, and poverty. Professor Dan Ben-David of Tel Aviv University, takes an in-deph look at the linkages between trade, economic growth, and income disparity among nations. Professor L. Alan Winters of University of Sussex, discusses the various channels by which trade may affect the income opportunities of poor people.'

This Opinion from The Overseas Development Institute's Enrique Mendizabal and Guy Edwards argues that Latin American trade ofers not only a favourable climate for European investment, but also a timely political opportunity for the European Union.

'The rise of Neoliberalism in the 1980s dramatically transformed
the industrial practices of many developing countries, signalling the
shift towards export-oriented industrialisation. Since then, the spread
of globalised production has gone hand-in-hand with intensified
exploitation of a decentralized, flexible and cheap labour force
(Mezzadri 2008)'. Author(s): Mezzadri, A (2008) Centre for Development Policy and Research (SOAS): London, Development ViewPoint N.12, August 2008.

'New poverty estimates published by the World Bank reveal that 1.4 billion people in the developing world (one in four) were living on less than US$1.25 a day in 2005, down from 1.9 billion (one in two) in 1981. The new numbers show that poverty has been more widespread across the developing world over the past 25 years than previously estimated, but also that there has been strong—if regionally uneven—progress toward reducing overall poverty.' by Ravallion and Chen, The World Bank, 2008.

'The current issue of Development Outreach magazine showcases how forward-looking companies are reaching out to the four billion or so people who make do with incomes of less than $5 a day.

The magazine captures the experiences of companies engaging with the poor, presenting a dozen case studies, including Unilever's Project Shakti network of women entrepreneurs, CEMEX's Patrimonio Hoy initiative, which provides housing to low-income communities in Mexico, and Nestlé’s Milk District model. more...

There is a widespread, but hard to quantify, view in Latin America that the poor are over-represented among the losers of liberalised trade. This opinion by Alina Rocha Menocal of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) responds to the pressing question: how can interested stakeholders influence trade policy-making to make trade work better for the poor?

The World Bank Institute’s Executive Development Program on “Inclusive and Sustainable Business: Creating Markets with the Poor” is designed to help company managers, working in emerging markets, and public sector leaders develop and implement sustainable corporate strategies that also provide opportunities for the world’s four billion poor people to raise themselves out of poverty. Through a unique combination of the global development agenda, cutting edge knowledge, World Bank Group ex more...

While acknowledging the strategic importance of industrial competitiveness in the national vision of development and poverty reduction, Governments of developing countries often do not have at their disposal an adequate framework of analysis – unavailable information, lack of detailed knowledge and analytical tools, etc. – to gain maximum advantage for decision-making purposes. This report attempts to fill those gaps.

Contract farming is a means to assist small growers in gaining market access and reducing price risk, and as such it has attracted attention from development agencies and governments in developing countries. This Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) paper reviews literature related to contract farming in Thailand and adds updated information based on field visits in 2007. Special attention is given to roles played by government in the initial stage of contract farming development. Conclusivel more...