New Book Highlights Impact of Public Spending on Rural Development

The Minister of Finance of an African country needs to reallocate the country’s public investment to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of halving the proportion of the poor and hungry by 2015: Should the minister increase investment in health and education, with the view that a future productive labor force can lift itself out of poverty? Or shift a greater share of the public budget to support agricultural productivity directly, as the vast majority of the poor relies on agriculture as their main livelihood? Or should the minister focus more on building roads in rural areas where most of the poor live, in order to enable both people and goods to move more cheaply and thus boost the functioning of markets?

These questions highlight some of the challenges that many African countries (and in fact much of the developing world) face in supporting agricultural and rural growth and reducing poverty. A new book, “Public Expenditures for Agricultural and Rural Development in Africa” , written by Samuel Benin, ReSAKSS-Africawide Program Leader at IFPRI, and IFPRI colleague Tewodaj Mogues, brings together empirical evidence across Africa on what types of public investments have the greatest ‘bang for the buck’, in terms of supporting agricultural productivity, rural incomes, and poverty reduction. Through continent-wide analysis as well as in-depth country case studies, this volume presents findings on the returns to different types of public expenditures, such as investments in agriculture, health, education, and infrastructure.

Being unique in assembling findings on this topic based on rigorously conducted quantitative research, this volume provides useful information and insights on the impact that public investments have for agricultural and rural development and welfare improvements of the poor in Africa. It can thus be of great interest to analysts, researchers, and students interested in agricultural and rural development and poverty in Africa and other developing regions, as well as to African policymakers, donor agencies, and civil society organizations concerned with these issues.