Agriculture and small towns in Africa

Africa is urbanizing rapidly. Yet most dual economy models focus on the sectoral rather than spatial dimensions of development. This article adopts a “dual–dual” approach to measuring rural/urban and farm/nonfarm linkages. We develop an economy‐wide model of Ethiopia that distinguishes between citie...

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Main Authors: Dorosh, Paul A., Thurlow, James
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Wiley 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/152979
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author Dorosh, Paul A.
Thurlow, James
author_browse Dorosh, Paul A.
Thurlow, James
author_facet Dorosh, Paul A.
Thurlow, James
author_sort Dorosh, Paul A.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Africa is urbanizing rapidly. Yet most dual economy models focus on the sectoral rather than spatial dimensions of development. This article adopts a “dual–dual” approach to measuring rural/urban and farm/nonfarm linkages. We develop an economy‐wide model of Ethiopia that distinguishes between cities, towns, and rural areas. The model captures detailed sectoral and regional linkages, internal migration flows, and externalities from urban agglomeration. We find larger linkages between agricultural production and small towns and show that redirecting urban growth toward towns rather than cities leads to broader‐based economic growth and poverty reduction. In contrast, industry and services, particularly within cities, are far less effective in reaching rural areas and the poor. Africa's current urbanization pattern—toward major cities rather than towns—will weaken national growth–poverty linkages. Urbanization that takes advantage of the synergistic relationship between agriculture and small towns has the potential to result in a more inclusive growth trajectory.
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spelling CGSpace1529792024-11-15T08:52:28Z Agriculture and small towns in Africa Dorosh, Paul A. Thurlow, James agriculture towns urbanization poverty computable general equilibrium models Africa is urbanizing rapidly. Yet most dual economy models focus on the sectoral rather than spatial dimensions of development. This article adopts a “dual–dual” approach to measuring rural/urban and farm/nonfarm linkages. We develop an economy‐wide model of Ethiopia that distinguishes between cities, towns, and rural areas. The model captures detailed sectoral and regional linkages, internal migration flows, and externalities from urban agglomeration. We find larger linkages between agricultural production and small towns and show that redirecting urban growth toward towns rather than cities leads to broader‐based economic growth and poverty reduction. In contrast, industry and services, particularly within cities, are far less effective in reaching rural areas and the poor. Africa's current urbanization pattern—toward major cities rather than towns—will weaken national growth–poverty linkages. Urbanization that takes advantage of the synergistic relationship between agriculture and small towns has the potential to result in a more inclusive growth trajectory. 2013-07 2024-10-01T13:55:25Z 2024-10-01T13:55:25Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/152979 en Limited Access Wiley Dorosh, Paul A.; and Thurlow, James. 2013. Agriculture and small towns in Africa. Agricultural Economics 44(4-5): 449-459. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12027
spellingShingle agriculture
towns
urbanization
poverty
computable general equilibrium models
Dorosh, Paul A.
Thurlow, James
Agriculture and small towns in Africa
title Agriculture and small towns in Africa
title_full Agriculture and small towns in Africa
title_fullStr Agriculture and small towns in Africa
title_full_unstemmed Agriculture and small towns in Africa
title_short Agriculture and small towns in Africa
title_sort agriculture and small towns in africa
topic agriculture
towns
urbanization
poverty
computable general equilibrium models
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/152979
work_keys_str_mv AT doroshpaula agricultureandsmalltownsinafrica
AT thurlowjames agricultureandsmalltownsinafrica