Policies for Sustainable Development: The Commercialization of Smallholder Agriculture

Accordingly to the authors It is beyond the scope of this chapter to empirically explore the determinants of the commercialization of agriculture and its impact on poverty; so instead, they will present and discuss some empirical evidence on topics that remain hotly debated regarding commercialization and poverty. In Sect. 12.2, it is investigated how smallholder farmers in northern Vietnam have been affected by the recent food price volatility with respect to their income and consumption levels, while in Sect. 12.3 we quantify the level of market integration among those farm households belonging to the Karen ethnic group in northern Thailand, and assess the effects of market integration on gross farm output and net farm income levels. In Sect. 12.4, is showed that risk preferences and discount rates have had an impact upon household credit demand and credit access in northern Vietnam, then in Sect. 12.5 analyze poverty dynamics in the same area between 2007 and 2010, and assess the targeting performance of the poverty reduction and social assistance policies introduced. Section 12.6 concludes with policy implications and recommendations