Making Agriculture Work for the Poor in Timor-Leste

World Bank

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY;    SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES;    POVERTY ALLEVIATION;    AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION;   

RP-ID  :  AUS0000755

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

About 80 percent of the poor householdsin Timor-Leste live in rural areas and are dependent onagriculture for their livelihood. It is therefore widelyacknowledged that growth in the agriculture sector is animportant channel through which poverty can be reduced inthe country. That notwithstanding, the country’sagricultural production system is one of the least developedin the world and all subsectors are dominated by subsistencesystems and by farmers who are very risk averse.Agricultural productivity in the country is also well belowthat of other small island developing states and has fallenbelow the average for other low-income, food-deficitcountries in recent years making the sector underperform interms of its contribution to food security, sufficientlivelihood, and overall economic growth. Using data from the2007 and 2014 of the Timor-Leste Survey of Living Standards,the note provides insight into the extent to which increasesin agricultural productivity can contribute to povertyreduction, including assessing the drivers of, andidentifying the constraints to, increasing agriculturalproductivity in the country. The note finds thatimprovements in agricultural productivity reduce theprobability of being poor among agricultural households.Yet, improving productivity goes beyond the confines ofraising yield or decreasing cost to include enhancing foodquality and promoting higher value products. To do so, thefollowing factors ought to be considered: facilitation ofmechanization, improvement in the use of chemical(fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides) inputs, enhancementin access to credit and extension, encouragement to farmersto join farmer groups, expansion of the commercialization offarm produce, and reduction in the gender gap inagricultural productivity. Investment in the sector can beimproved by allocating the limited public funds morestrategically and better correspond with local poverty. Thefindings from this study contribute to existing evidencepertinent to guide how agricultural policy can effectivelyhelp reducing poverty in the country.