Uma Lele

Bio: Uma Lele is an academic researcher from World Bank. The author has contributed to research in topics: Agriculture & Food security. The author has an hindex of 20, co-authored 60 publications receiving 1709 citations. Previous affiliations of Uma Lele include International Monetary Fund & University of Florida.

The design of rural development : lessons from Africa

Abstract: The African Rural Development Study (ARDS) was conducted to investigate the reasons for the limited impact of past rural development programs on low-income populations in Africa and to generate a theoretical framework and operational guidelines for the design of future rural development programs. Specific topicsanalyzed include labor flow, migration, mechanization in smallholder agriculture, regional equity, livestock development, incentives, the role of women, and Africanization of management. Rural development programs must be viewed as part of a continiuous, dynamic process. Analysis revealed that the lack of long-term improvement of living standards among low-income subsistance farmers could be attributed to limited objectives; lack of knowledge about the impacts of policy on performance, the suitability of technological applications, and the effects of sociopolitical influence; and the scarcity of trained local manpower.A planned, sequential approach is recommended as the means of maximizing scarce resources and serving the greatest number of farmers in the lowest income sector of the agricultural economy. A glossary, project reviews, a bibliography, and maps and tables are provided.

Structural Adjustment, Agricultural Development, and the Poor: Lessons from the Malawian Experience

Abstract: This report examines the complex problems faced by an economically well managed but small, poor and landlocked country in trying to achieve equitable growth while coping with great external shocks. Malawi's problems of adjustment have been made difficult by dualism within dualism - a structure whereby the country's agriculture sector is sharply divided by legal restrictions into estates and smallholders, and smallholders are de facto divided on the basis of holding size into a small minority producing a marketable surplus and capable of taking risks and, a preponderant majority experiencing stagnation or near economic paralysis. The report also analyzes the effect on the smallholder sector of structural adjustment measures most immediately relevant to agricultural and rural development : producer pricing adjustments, fertilizer policies, grain marketing liberalization, and withdrawal of donor support from the National Rural Development Program. It then discusses policies addressing the country's dualism, licensing, pricing, land and taxation - which the government would need to adopt in support of equitable growth.

Market Integration: A Study of Sorghum Prices in Western India

Abstract: This article examines the popular view in underdeveloped countries that there exist large regional price differences that are caused by speculative elements in trade. The data bearing on the prices of sorghum in a number of primary and terminal markets in India suggest that these differences are not caused by the activities of the traders. The analysis emphasizes the high degree of interdependence between wholesale markets in the process of price formation. Regional price differences often result from differences in varieties of the grain traded. Prices for the same product may differ because of transport costs. Price discrepancies of the order larger than transport costs may result from such factors as transport bottlenecks and government control on the movement of goods.

Dynamics of Land-Use and Land-Cover Change in Tropical Regions

Abstract: We highlight the complexity of land-use/cover change and propose a framework for a more general understanding of the issue, with emphasis on tropical regions. The review summarizes recent estimates on changes in cropland, agricultural intensification, tropical deforestation, pasture expansion, and urbanization and identifies the still unmeasured land-cover changes. Climate-driven land-cover modifications interact with land-use changes. Land-use change is driven by synergetic factor combinations of resource scarcity leading to an increase in the pressure of production on resources, changing opportunities created by markets, outside policy intervention, loss of adaptive capacity, and changes in social organization and attitudes. The changes in ecosystem goods and services that result from land-use change feed back on the drivers of land-use change. A restricted set of dominant pathways of land-use change is identified. Land-use change can be understood using the concepts of complex adaptive systems and transitions. Integrated, place-based research on land-use/land-cover change requires a combination of the agent-based systems and narrative perspectives of understanding. We argue in this paper that a systematic analysis of local-scale land-use change studies, conducted over a range of timescales, helps to uncover general principles that provide an explanation and prediction of new land-use changes.

Soil Fertility Replenishment in Africa: An Investment in Natural Resource Capital

Abstract: Soil fertility depletion in smallholder farms is the fundamental biophysical root cause for declining per-capita food production in Africa, and soil fertility replenishment should be considered as an investment in natural resource capital. An average of 660 kg N ha-1, 75kg P ha-1, and 450 kg K ha-1 has been lost during the last 30 years from about 200 million ha of cultivated land in 37 African countries. The consequences are felt at the farm, watershed, national, and global levels. There is an exact congruence between the concepts of capital stocks and service flows in economics and that of nutrient pools and fluxes in soil science. Phosphorus-replenishment strategies are mainly fertilizerbased with biological supplementation, while N replenishment strategies are mainly biological with chemical supplementation. Africa has ample phosphate rock deposits that could be used directly or as superphosphates to reverse P depletion. Decomposing organic inputs produce organic acids that help solubilize phosphate rocks. Agroforestry trees and herbaceous leguminous green manures play a major role in N capture and internal cycling. Accompanying technologies, such as soil conservation are needed to make recapitalization operational. Policy improvements are needed to provide the appropriate fertilizers at a reasonable cost and at the right time; better infrastructure; access to micro credit; timely access to markets; adaptive research and extension education. Soil fertility replenishment was found to be profitable at the farm level in three contrasting case studies, but resource poor farmers lack the capital and access to credit to make the initial investment. The issue of who should pay for this recapitalization is based on the principle that those who benefit from a course of action should incur the costs of its implementation. Progress to date on soil fertility initiatives throughout Africa will be summarized.