This policy guide is designed to show agricultural and other interested policymakers how their policies and programmes can benefit chronically poor people, help poor people move out of poverty and prevent the impoverishment of others. It makes a new case for a shift in the mainstream agricultural paradigm towards a focus on asset accumulation and protection in the context of sustainable agriculture, as well as an emphasis on farm workers as a major constituency for agricultural agencies. It also suggests a more rapid transition to incorporating sustainable agriculture and indigenous technologies into the agricultural mainstream in a pro-poor systems innovation approach. It supports other work in highlighting infrastructure and pro-poor market arrangements, non-farm economic growth and local institutional development to enable agriculture to have a greater impact on poverty reduction.

Authors: Amanda Lenhardt, Amita Shah, Andrew Shepherd, Bara Gueye, Lucy Scott and Miranda Morgan

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