American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The smallholder paradigm for economic growth underlies the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) agricultural assistance, but it is flawed as an engine of growth.
Smallholder farmers lack scale and are reluctant entrepreneurs. Midsize farms are emerging as the effective engine of commercial agricultural growth and rural transformation.
Rural education policies are needed to ensure a successful economic transition out of agriculture and into other industries and occupations requiring more human capital and skills.
The delivery of USAID programs exhibits massive leakage. US for-profit development firms, US universities, and urban interests in recipient countries mostly capture the resources.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, International Development, and USAID