Global public goods for poor farmers: myth or reality?

At the start of a new century, the international agricultural research and development community is undergoing a transformation. Powerful forces are acting to expand research opportunities as never before, but at the same time they seem to have raised barriers to research that are greater than any that have been seen in the past. For many years, international agricultural research organizations have worked very effectively to improve the lives of poor people in developing countries. As research funding diminishes, and as quiet scientific controversies become incendiary public debates over patenting life forms and rights to genetic resources, many are questioning how much longer international agricultural research can continue to help poor people. International agricultural research has provided improved seed, better agricultural practices, and information that have helped poor people immeasurably, but the rules of research are changing. Will the new rules transform these so-called "global public goods" into vanishing commodities, or into commodities that poor people cannot hope to access? That is the central question explored in this paper. The vast majority of the world's poorest farmers still produce crops using farm-saved seed and traditional crop management practices that have been passed down from generation to generation. These can be regarded as a form of "global public goods." Before we discuss why global public goods are important for the world's poor people, and whether developing countries will have access to them ten or twenty years from now, it is useful to explain what we mean by "public goods" and describe some of the problems associated with providing them.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Reeves, T.G., Cassaday, K.A.
Format:	Book biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	CIMMYT 2001
Subjects:	AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, POVERTY, PRIVATE SECTOR, RESEARCH PROJECTS, SMALL FARMS,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10883/3554
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