Multidimensional Evolution of Rural Development Policy in the People’s Republic of China

This report provides an overview of the evolution and profile of rural areas in the People’s Republic of China, in comparison with the trends in benchmark countries.

Telling the Stories of Asset Accumulation

This chapter sums up the lessons from the book as a whole. We argue that a common, but not universal trend is that rural assets have increased. Because these assets are not recorded in poverty-line data this wealth is not easily visible, directly, in some poverty statistics. However we also insist that this does not mean that rural Tanzanian families are ‘really’ wealthy even though they look poor. Rather assets capture one facet of the experience of poverty and prosperity. Nonetheless the prevalence and frequency of asset change surprised us. It is notable that asset accumulation appears to have been driven by agricultural activities, although the timing and nature of these changes has varied in each case. We consider the implications of these findings for rural development policy and development data and the implications of our methods for long term research projects.

Does Human Capital Play an Important Role in Farm Size Growth? The Case of Slovenia

The paper investigates the drivers of farm size and farm size growth in Slovenia during the period 2007-2017 using a farm-level Farm Accountancy Data Network dataset within a quantile regression framework. Farm size growth is measured by growth in utilized agricultural area per farm. The findings suggest that growth in farm land size is driven by initial farm land size and policy subsidy support. Contrary to expectations, human capital does not play an important role in either farm land size or farm land size growth according to quantile regressions. These findings from inter-quantile comparative analysis are important for farm-related structural and rural development policy.

Collaboration through EIP-AGRI Operational Groups and their role as innovation intermediaries´

In the context of EU rural development policy, one of the proposed actions is the formation of Operational Groups (OGs). These OGs are part of the framework of the European Innovation Partnership on Agricul-tural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI). The objective of this policy is to promote sustainable and applicable solutions to agricultural problems. OGs can be thought of as innovation intermediaries. Their functions have been addressed in the literature on agricultural innovation systems. To advance the research in this area, the objective of this study is to identify the innovation intermediary functions of Spanish OGs by drawing upon the opinions of their members. An online survey was conducted to collect data from members of Spanish EIP-AGRI OGs. The questionnaire asked members about the characteris-tics and functions of their OGs. More specifically, it also collected evaluations of the performance of OGs in certain innovation activities. The results of an exploratory factor analysis reveal that Spanish OGs perform three main functions: innovation process management, demand articulation, and institutional support and innovation brokering.

Are small farms more performant than larger ones in developing countries?

Meta-regressions of around 1000 cases published over the period 1997–2018 suggest that the direction of the relationship between land area and agricultural performance strongly depends on the performance indicator selected. Net value and efficiency indicators show that larger farms tend to be more performant than smallholders, while the simpler but ubiquitous gross output indicators support an inverse relationship (IR). In addition, this study also indicates a decreasing record of IR in the literature over time, regardless of the indicator used. This may be partially explained by improvements in assessment techniques but, more importantly, by agricultural structural changes. Our results invite reconsidering IR as a central assumption when formulating agricultural support in rural development policy.