The Heller School For Social Policy And Management

The Heller School for Social Policy and Management Brandeis University

HS211f Agriculture and Rural Development

Spring Term 2014 (Module 1) Location: G2

Instructor: Professor Joseph Assan, PhD Email: (joeassan@brandeis.edu)

Lecture days and Times: Mondays at 2:00pm - 4.50pm Location: Lecture Room G1 Faculty Office Hours: Mondays from 5pm – 6.30pm at Prof J. Assan’s office (Room 154, Heller, School). Meetings are strictly by appointment only.

University notices: 1. If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately. 2. You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. The University policy on academic honesty is distributed annually as section 5 of the Rights and Responsibilities handbook. Instances of alleged dishonesty are subject to possible judicial action. Potential sanctions include failure in the course and suspension from the University. If you have any questions about our expectations, please ask. Academic integrity is central to the mission of educational excellence at Brandeis University. Each student is expected to turn in work completed independently, except when assignments specifically authorize collaborative effort. It is not acceptable to use the words or ideas of another person – be it a world-class philosopher or your roommate – without proper acknowledgement of that source. This means that you must use footnotes and quotation marks to indicate the source of any phrases, sentences, paragraphs or ideas found in published volumes, on the internet, or created by another student. If you are in doubt about the instructions for any assignment in this course, you must ask for clarification.

Course information This course is open to all Heller students and fulfills the elective SID requirement. The course will be taught over seven weeks during the spring semester on Monday afternoon from 2:00 to 4:50pm. Attendance is mandatory. Special complementary events like workshops, seminars, and expert-led conversations may also be offered. The syllabus is subject to change. Changes will be posted on the course website (Latte). When in doubt, please ask Professor Assan.

1 Course Purpose Agriculture and Rural Development provides an introductory overview of impact of development policy of the agriculture and rural sectors, consequences of neglecting these sectors and policy responses to the challenges within the agriculture and rural sectors in most developing countries. The course will examine how the development in the agricultural and rural sectors in developing countries could serve as the engine for socio-economic advancement and facilitate poverty reduction and equity in the context of sustainable development.

Topics include household economics and rural production systems, land tenure systems, rural markets and institutions, rural poverty and inequality, the environment, and the role of institutions. Students will examine what is known about the drivers of rural under development as well as the links among global and national policies, and actions for sustainable rural development. The course takes a multi-disciplinary approach in ascertaining whether agriculture could fuel improvement of development indicators in rural communities. The course will focus on economic, sociological, cultural, and geographic perspectives on what development is and what these different perspectives suggest for poverty reduction.

By the end of the course students should be able to think through and continually review policy and practice within these sectors and how these could be transformed to make practical impact on households and communities. We encourage each student to come to her/his own analysis of the rural and agricultural sectors within the general framework that sustainable development links environmental, economic, and social priorities; intergenerational equity, and global justice. We will examine theories of development against the evidence of their ability to produce development that reduces poverty and inequality within the agricultural and rural sectors. This course makes the interconnection among the concepts of agricultural development and rural poverty. It also establishes the links between fairness, access and well-being.

This course should advance each student’s understanding of policy, equity, justice, ethics, gender, social inclusion, environment and sustainability through readings, discussions, and assignments.

This course has three broad and interconnected goals:

(1) Introduce students to the inter-disciplinary field of agriculture and rural development policy formulation and application, including evolving development perspectives (economic, political, social, and environmental) and concepts of sustainable development,

2 (2) Offer students the tools to engineer rural poverty reduction strategies with a refined understanding of the agricultural sector within the rural economy and consider how development policy could help reduce the current marginalization and underdevelopment of the two sectors

(3) Empower students to make their own hypothetical policies based on values and framework for change and rural development.

Learning Outcomes By the end of the course, students would have gained:

 deeper understanding of the challenges faced by tropical agriculture and rural production systems  critical reflection skills in the contest of agriculture production and agro-economies in the context of rural development planning

Course Structure The course is structure in two parts. The first part provides an introductory overview of context, definitions and dynamics the agricultural of the rural economy and the pervasive poverty and inequality that prevails in the sectors. The second part will discuss different policy options that could be applied in the sector and complex implication and limitations of policy application in these sectors. Along with the final assignment, this course gives students an opportunity to articulate their own framework for agriculture and rural development.

Course Values The content of this course reflects a pro-poor, pro-environment, and problem-solving perspective. Values in development policies and programs are not always explicit. We strive to train our students to be clear and unapologetic about the values that underpin their professional work.

Gender Statement

This course will highlight the diverse gender roles within Agriculture and Rural Development. Women’s leadership and active participation in rural development are crucial to achieve success. Men and women often have different relationships in the agricultural sector of the rural economy and may apply resources differently. Power relations, control, access to, and benefit from natural resources are often inequitable, affecting the outcome of agriculture and rural development programs and projects. The course will examine some case studies in this context across the different sessions.

Race and Ethnicity Statement

3 An integrated multi-sector and community based approach to sustainable development could be employed as a powerful weapon in the fight against inequity, oppression, poverty, and injustice. Agriculture and rural development policies, programs, and projects can be developed in ways that help alleviate ethnic discrimination or in ways that permit or even promote injustice, inequity, disparity, marginalization, and oppression of indigenous, ethnic, and racial minorities. This course focuses on how to incorporate community ownership, tenure, culture, and environmental justice into natural resource management and on empowering and building the capacity of local stakeholders.

Core Competency Statement This course will help develop the following core competencies that are rooted in the values of sustainable development and the social justice mission of Brandeis University and the Heller School.

1. Develop basic literacy in the historical and current debates on the meaning and goals of sustainable agriculture and rural development and on the underlying policies and theoretical concepts from a political economy perspective 2. Understand the interdependence of ecological, social, political, and economic systems; and the integrated context (political, institutional, legal, socio-cultural, economic, and environmental) in which sustainable agricultural development takes place 3. Analyze socio-economic, political, institutional, cultural, and environmental contexts at the global and local levels; to examine situations from the perspectives of human rights, gender, and marginalization; and to apply the analysis to the design and implementation of policies and interventions rooted in reality in order to create change. 4. Approach rural development as a problem-solving process. Problem-solving approaches imply the ability to consider innovative approaches and to question whether conventional wisdom and existing systems, structures, and models are working. 5. Articulate a working definition of rural development to guide personal professional practice. 6. Build skills in professional communication, oral and written in agriculture and rural development.

Assessments and (Course Requirements) To complete this course successfully you must attend class lecture and discussion sections. Active and responsible participation during in-class sessions and course related activities is mandatory. You are also responsible for the following assignments: ● Participation: Students will be required to attend ALL lectures. The professor will monitor and record class attendance and participation in class discussions. Also, we will have a class discussion Forum Page on LATTE for virtual discussions. The Class Forum will consist of a weekly ungraded Forum Page on LATTE. Students will post and share ideas/views and suggestions on issues raised in the readings and or in class during the week. Each student will be required to post a 100-200 words reflection/contribution 4 each week (Sunday by 6pm). This will count towards class participation. Class participation will form 10% of the overall course mark. Students will however have a 2% penalty deduction for each recorded absence in class. Please note that this is not meant to be a reaction or criticism of a colleague’s contribution. It should your reflection or view point on the topic.

● Policy Response Papers: Students will produce THREE PAGE response paper which will serve as the mid-term paper for this course. Guidelines for the development of the Policy Response Paper and submission procedures will be posted on LATTE separately.1 The purpose of this exercises goes beyond a comprehension exercise to also teaching an essential skill useful for development workers along with the critical thinking, reading, and writing inherent in a Response Paper. This will form 30% of the overall assessment of the module mark.

● Case Studies and Oral Presentation: students will be assigned group case study projects on various agriculture and rural development challenges currently being experienced in different developing countries and asked to develop strategic policy plans which will be presented in an oral presentation conference. Students will work in groups (3 or 4 students per group) and produce oral (power point) presentations. The detailed cases and questions for this task will be posted on LATTE. The oral presentation session will take place during the first half of lecture 7. The oral presentations will form 10% of total mark.

● Policy Strategy Paper. Students will develop individual policy strategy papers which will require them to use some of the tools introduced by the course. The page limit for the individual policy strategy paper is 7 pages (excluding references). The policy strategy paper will constitute 50% of total mark.

SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR EACH ASSIGNMENT WILL BE ISSUED SEPARATELY AND POSTED ON LATTE.

Grading The course assignments will be graded as follows:

(A+) = 97 ‐100

1 Details of response questions and due dates will be uploaded separately on LATTE. All response papers are due on the dates assigned at 11.55pm. 5 (A) = 94 ‐ 96

(A‐) = 90 ‐ 93

(B+) = 87 ‐ 89

(B) = 84 ‐ 86

(B‐) = 80 ‐ 83

(C+) = 77 ‐ 79

(C) = 74 ‐ 76

(C‐) = 70 ‐ 73

(D+) = 67 ‐ 69

(D) = < 66 None submission = 0

6 Use of Web Sources There is a wealth of good material on the web, but there is also information which can be inaccurate or misleading. Always use web resources critically. Know what the source is, and whether and how you can evaluate its reliability. In particular, the FAO, IFAD, UNDP and World Bank websites give you access to reports and statistics.

General background readings Prowse, M. and Chimhowu, A. (2007) Making Agriculture Work for the Poor, Overseas Development Institute, Natural Resource Perspectives 111.

Rigg, J. (2006) Land, Farming, Livelihoods, and Poverty: Rethinking the Links in the Rural South, World Development, 34 (1): pp. 180-202.

DFID (2004) Agriculture, Growth and Poverty Reduction, Working Paper. Available from: http://dfid-agriculture-consultation.nri.org/summaries/wp1.pdf

IFAD (2001) Rural Poverty Report, Oxford: Oxford University Press, Accessed via: http://www.ifad.org/poverty/index.htm

Ashley, C. and Maxwell, S. (2001) ‘Rethinking Rural Development’, Development Policy Review, 19(4):395-425.

Each lecture will also have a set of readings. As you read, ask what each reading is saying about the goals of agriculture and rural development and the means to achieve them. What values are implicit in each reading? Do you agree or disagree?

COURSE STRUCTURE

Lecture 1: Part 1: Course Introduction

Part 2: Food Security and Post-Harvest Loss Management Date: 20th Jan

7 Focus:

 present an overview on major post-harvest issues in various countries, examine debates around grain or paddy marketing boards,

 discuss who stores durable grains, who benefits and examine risks of on-farm storage vs village grain banks or central storage, traditional storage methods,

 discuss public health risks of indiscriminate use of pesticides in storage, and case studies on hermetic storage

Required Readings: Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) (2013) Post-harvest Losses in Latin America and the Caribbean: Challenges and Opportunities for Collaboration. Prepared for the US Department of State (September 2013).

Lecture 2: Agricultural Land, Sustainable Forest Management and Extension Service Date: 25th Jan

Focus:

 How do land tenure systems influence production assets?

 Who are the winners and losers?

 What can be put in place of current land tenure regimes?

 How are forest lands management sustainably to support agriculture production

Required Readings: Please read any ONE of these articles Berge, E., Khaila, S., Kishindo, P., Peters, P. and Wiig, H. (2006) Land reform, trust, and customary land rights in the socioeconomic transformation of Malawi - An interdisciplinary qualitative-quantitative approach. Daley, E. and Mi-young Park, C. (2011) The Gender and Equity Implications of Land-Related Investments on Land Access, Labour and Income-Generating Opportunities: A Case Study of Selected Agricultural Investments in Northern Tanzania, Rome, FAO. http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/ap432e/ap432e.pdf

Dede-Esi and Amanor-Wilks (2010) Land, Labour and Gendered Livelihoods in a “Peasant” and a “Settler” Economy.

Peters, P., E. (2007) Challenges in Land Tenure and Land Reform in Africa: An Anthropological Perspective CID Working Paper No. 141.

8 Lorenzo Cotula (2007) Changes in Customary Land Tenure Systems in Africa. Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO).

Peters, P., 2004, ‘Inequality and social conflict over land’, Journal of Agrarian Change, Vol 4 No 3: 269–314.

Lecture 3: Climate Change Resilient Agriculture and Small Holder Production Systems Date: 31st Jan

Focus:

 What are the challenges associated with rural production systems?

 How do these foster poverty patterns and underdevelopment in the rural economy?

 How do we address the challenges associated with current production systems?

Required Readings: Please read any two of these articles

JAMA, B. and PIZARRO, G. (2008) Agriculture in Africa: Strategies to Improve and Sustain Smallholder Production Systems, Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1136: 218–232. doi:10.1196/annals.1425.034.

Watts, D.C.H., Libery, B. and D. Maye, (2005) Making reconnections in agro-food Geography: alternative systems of food provision, Progress in Human Geography 29, 1 pp. 22-40.

Batterbury, S. (2007) Comments on P-D-E, livelihoods, and agrarian change in the Sahel. Panel contribution to the Population-Environment Research Network Cyber seminar on Population-Development-Environment Linkages in the Sudano-Sahelian Zone of West Africa (September 2007)

Bryceson, D. (2000) Rural Livelihoods at the Crossed Roads: Livelihood Practices and Policies, Natural Resource Perspectives Number 52, April 2000.

Devendra, C. (2001) Small Holder Diary Production Systems: Potential and Opportunities for Improvement. www.ajas.info/Editor/manuscript/upload/14-19.pdf

International Food Policy Research Institute (ND) Smallholder Agriculture in Ghana, www.ifpri.org.

9 Lecture 4: Employment, Unemployment and Out-migration within the Rural Economy 7th Feb

Focus:

 What factors perpetuate out-migration from the rural sector?

 How can migration be addressed

 How can rural unemployment be addressed given the general lack of interest in agriculture by rural youths.

Required Readings: Please read any two of these articles HASHIM I. M. (2005) Research Report on Children's Independent Migration from Northeastern to Central Ghana, Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation & Poverty, University of Sussex.

WHITEHEAD, A., HASHIM, I. M. AND IVERSEN, V. ((2007) Child Migration, Child Agency and Inter-generational Relations in Africa and South Asia, Working Paper T24, December 2007.

Lecture 5: Child Labour and Labour Exploitation within the Agriculture and Rural Sectors 14th Feb

 How are children employed in agriculture

 How can child exploitation in plantation agriculture be addressed?

 How do we develop leadership in the rural sector to address this concern?

Required Readings: Please read any two of these articles Basu, K. (1999), “Child Labour: Cause, Consequence and Cure, with Remarks on International Labour Standards”, Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 37, No. 3, September.

Bhalotra, S. (2004) Child Labour in Africa, OECD SOCIAL, EMPLOYMENT AND MIGRATION WORKING PAPER 4, OECD, Paris.

10 Edmonds, E. V. (2005) Child Labour in South Asia, OECD SOCIAL, EMPLOYMENT AND MIGRATION WORKING PAPERS.

PILON, M. (2003) FOSTER CARE AND SCHOOLING IN WEST AFRICA: THE STATE OF KNOWLEDGE, PREPARATION OF THE UNESCO 2003 EFA MONITORING REPORT. (IRD – UERD).

Kabeer, N. (no date), Past, present and future: child labour and the intergenerational transmission of poverty, Institute of Development Studies, Sussex.

Lecture 6: Rethinking Policy Frameworks for the Rural Economy 28th Feb

Focus:

 How do we conceptualise policy frameworks for the rural sector?

 How can policy implementation be improved to enhance development?

 Is rural development a possibility in the developing world?

Required Readings: Please read any two of these articles Dorward, A. Shenggen Fan, Jonathan Kydd, Hans Lofgren, Jamie Morrison, Colin Poulton, Neetha Rao, Laurence Smith, Hardwick Tchale, Sukhadeo Thorat, Ian Urey, and Peter Wobst (2004) RETHINKING AGRICULTURAL POLICIES FOR PRO-POOR GROWTH, Natural Resource Perspectives, Number 94, September.

Scoones, I. Devereux, S. and Haddad, L. (2005) New Directions for African Agriculture, IDS Bulletin Vol 36, No. 2.

FAO (2011) Women in Agriculture: Closing the Gender Gap for Development, http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/i2050e/i2050e00.htm

Rajeswari, S. R. and Mandal, K. (2012) Rural India Left Out of S & T System, Available at: http://www.scidev.net/en/south-asia/opinions/rural-india-left-out-of-s-t-system.html

Lecture 7: Workshop on Rural Institutions: Challenges, Opportunities and Interventions Date:

11 Focus:

 How do we increase agricultural incomes?  How can famers increase the use of mechanization towards increasing farm output?  What are some of the opportunities and challenges towards the realization of this process?  What are some of the institutional challenges that are encountered by the rural economy?

Required Readings: Posted on LATTE.