Institutional Innovations and Markets Linkages for Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Development of Small Scale Farmers

Poverty alleviation and rural development can not be understood without understanding the agricultural institutions and markets on which many rural households depend. Virtually all households are, by preference, both producers and consumers, buyers and sellers; and many sell agricultural produce and buy their food at different times of the year. However, rural households, for one reason or another, are unable to interact with the institutions and markets and indeed, in many parts of the developing world rural poor often cannot improve their living standards since they face difficulties in accessing these institutions and markets. Countries like India, China and Thailand are no exception tojthis. Assisting rural poor people in improving their access to institutions and markets must be a critical element of any strategy to enable them to increase their incomes and improve their livelihoods on sustainable basis