This book synthesizes over forty years of field research in agriculture in developing countries across Asia including China, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, The Philippines and Indonesia, as well as a chapter on high-tech urban farming in Singapore. It takes stock of agricultural development and transformation in the context of economic growth, offering a comprehensive review of development policies and major events at the country level. The policy-focused chapters feature case studies on vegetable, pepper, rubber, oil palm, and fish farming based on extensive field research. Central themes include the structural transformation of agriculture and rural areas, the implications of declining farm sizes, and the role of emerging technologies. The book also assesses growing global risks, in particular, those related to climate change, and concludes with an outlook on the future of rural Asia.
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This book will be valuable for students and researchers of agricultural development, climate change, food security and agricultural policies.
Hermann Waibel (Edited By) Professor of Development and Agricultural Economics (since 2001) and Director of the Institute of Economics in Horticulture (since 1998) Formerly Professor of Economics in Horticulture (1994 - 2001), Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Hannover, Germany; formerly Director of International Programs of the Leibniz University of Hannover and Chairman of the Senate Committee on International Relations of the Leibniz University of Hannover (2000 - 2003). Spend 10 years working in development assistance in Asia with GTZ and in development research and teaching with the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT); Since 2001 member of the Standing Panel on Impact Assessment of the CGIAR, worked extensively as consultant and reviewer for numerous organizations of development assistance, including The World Bank, The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),The Asian Development Bank, the European Union, GTZ, , the German Development Bank (KfW) and the CGIAR.
Sabine Liebenehm (Edited By) The overall objective of Sabine's research program is to improve our understanding of the economic decision-making among households living in rural and remote settings often exposed to an adverse environment with limited access to formal safety net mechanisms. Her focus is on two aspects that determine the risk management decision: (i) the impact of adverse risks, and (ii) the interaction with people's preferences and perceptions. To assess these research questions, she applies empirical microeconomic strategies, leveraging rich data sets obtained from household surveys, lab-in-the-field experiments, social network studies, and climate data observations. Geographically, She works primarily with rural agricultural households in Southeast Asia and West Africa, and more recently with remote First Nation communities in Northern Canada.
Ernah (Edited By) Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics at the Department of Agricultural Socio-Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Padjadjaran University, Indonesia, and Chairman of the Indonesian Agricultural Economics Association (PERHEPI) Bandung (2025-2028). She has been a member of the International Society for Southeast Asian Agricultural Sciences (ISSAAS) since 2023 and previously served as Manager of Research, Innovation, Community Service, and Cooperation at the Faculty of Agriculture, Padjadjaran University (2017-2021). Her areas of specialisation include agricultural economics, sustainable development, and bio resource economics. Her research focuses on developing inclusive and sustainable agricultural development models that integrate social, environmental, and economic aspects to improve smallholder farmers' welfare. Her studies explore interactions among traditional market actors in shifting food systems, the distributional impacts of environmental and climate policies on rural households, and the contribution of smallholder oil palm plantations to national SDGs targets. She promotes strategies for a resilient and socially just agricultural sector.
