Michael Lipton – författare

Land reforms are laws that are intended, and likely, to cut poverty by raising the poor’s share of land rights. That raises questions about property rights as old as moral philosophy, and issues of efficiency and fairness that dominate policy from Bolivia to Nepal. Classic reforms directly transfer land from rich to poor. However, much else has been marketed as land reform: the restriction of tenancy, but also its de-restriction; collectivisation, but also de-collectivisation; land consolidation, but also land division.

In 1955-2000, genuine land reform affected over a billion people, and almost as many hectares. Is land reform still alive, for example in Bolivia, South Africa and Nepal? Or is it dead and, if so, is this because it has succeeded, or because it has failed? There has been massive research on land reform and this book builds on some surprising findings.

This book will be of great interest to students, researchers and consultants working on agriculture, farm organisation, rural development and poverty reduction, with special emphasis on developing countries.

Land reforms are laws that are intended, and likely, to cut poverty by raising the poor’s share of land rights. That raises questions about property rights as old as moral philosophy, and issues of efficiency and fairness that dominate policy from Bolivia to Nepal. Classic reforms directly transfer land from rich to poor. However, much else has been marketed as land reform: the restriction of tenancy, but also its de-restriction; collectivisation, but also de-collectivisation; land consolidation, but also land division.

In 1955-2000, genuine land reform affected over a billion people, and almost as many hectares. Is land reform still alive, for example in Bolivia, South Africa and Nepal? Or is it dead and, if so, is this because it has succeeded, or because it has failed? There has been massive research on land reform and this book builds on some surprising findings.

This book will be of great interest to students, researchers and consultants working on agriculture, farm organisation, rural development and poverty reduction, with special emphasis on developing countries.

Much about India''s economy and aid flows has changed in the last two decades. India''s growth rate has quickened since economic liberalisation, the poverty head count has fallen and the volume and composition of its aid have changed as new issues of climate change and the environment have emerged..Yet Does Aid Work in India?, first published in 1990, remains of great interest as a study of aid effectiveness in India''s pre-liberalisation era. It identifies those sectors where aid-funded interventions succeeded, and where they failed. It explains how India avoided problems of aid dependence, and managed the political tensions that are associated with aid policy dialogue. More generally, it contains a useful commentary on and criticism of donors'' aid evaluation procedures at that time and it highlights donor efforts in the difficult area of institution building. Despite the passage of time, many of the insights from India''s earlier experience remain highly relevant to key issues of development assistance today.

Much about India''s economy and aid flows has changed in the last two decades. India''s growth rate has quickened since economic liberalisation, the poverty head count has fallen and the volume and composition of its aid have changed as new issues of climate change and the environment have emerged..Yet Does Aid Work in India?, first published in 1990, remains of great interest as a study of aid effectiveness in India''s pre-liberalisation era. It identifies those sectors where aid-funded interventions succeeded, and where they failed. It explains how India avoided problems of aid dependence, and managed the political tensions that are associated with aid policy dialogue. More generally, it contains a useful commentary on and criticism of donors'' aid evaluation procedures at that time and it highlights donor efforts in the difficult area of institution building. Despite the passage of time, many of the insights from India''s earlier experience remain highly relevant to key issues of development assistance today.

First published in 1989, this book deals with the impact of cereal production upon the Third World, specifically ‘Modern Varieties’ (MVs). Using evidence from plant breeding, economics and nutrition science, the authors seek to pinpoint what has been achieved, what has gone wrong and what needs to be done in future.

Although the technical innovations of MVs mean more employment, cheaper food and less risk for small farmers, the reduction in crop diversity increases the risk of danger from pests and though MVs enlarge cereal stocks, many are too poor to afford them.

The book concludes that technical breakthroughs alone won’t solve deep-rooted social problems and that only new policies and research priorities will increase the choices, assets and power of the rural poor.