Agrarian crises, institutional innovation and gender with Bina Agarwal

Описание: The Global Development Institute and the Post Crash Economics Society is pleased to host Prof Bina Agarwal part of the GDI Lecture Series, talking about: Agrarian crisis and institutional innovation: Can group farming provide an answer?

In efforts by developing countries to address agrarian distress arising from persisting rural poverty, unviable land holdings, and climate change, little attention has been paid to the institutional transformation of agriculture. The debate on farm types has focused mainly on small family farms vs. large commercial farms. Here experiments in two Indian states—Kerala and Telangana—stand out for their innovative institutional form, namely group farming by women (involving pooling land, labour and capital and cultivating jointly). Can this provide an alternative model?

Based on her primary surveys, Prof. Bina Agarwal provides some answers, comparing the economic outcomes of group and individual family farms, as well as outlining the impact on social and political empowerment.