Implications for institutions

One of the main constraints to pro-poor growth through agriculture has been the weak
link between poor rural households and public and private institutions for research,
extension, marketing and finance. The most effective roles for government and the private
sector are not well understood. The private sector has been slow to fill the gaps left behind
when public sector support was withdrawn. In many cases, institutional arrangements
limit the extent to which poor people can be engaged. Inappropriate service locations and
staff capabilities, coupled with the low education levels and meagre assets of producers
and landless labourers, continue to result in widespread and deeply embedded failures to
address the problems of poorer households.
Overcoming these constraints requires a fundamental realignment of the institutions
that provide agriculture-related services to poor rural households. It requires innovative
institutional arrangements, including partnerships among public, private and civil society
organisations. It requires appropriate services for poorer men and women and for more
market-oriented producers. These new arrangements must be matched with processes
that encourage staff within those organisations to work with poor households and to build
their capacities to do this work. The capacities of agricultural producers, both individual
and collective, must also be built through educational and social processes that can enable
them to shape the nature and quality of services they receive. Meeting this challenge of
institutional reform will require substantial commitments and resources from the public
sector.