Wide-scale privatization has taken place in Africa, Latin America, Asia, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Revised to reflect new directions in development thought and policy, this text examines what has been learned about agricultural and rural economic development since the 1950s. With 24 of the book's 35 chapters new to this edition, the text takes into account recent developments in international agriculture, especially as these affected the role of the state, institutions and markets in development. The authors address three basic questions about agricultural development in low and middle income countries: What are the strategic roles of agriculture in national development strategies; How can the agrarian transformation be accelerated and how can rural economic development be promoted to generate jobs and reduce poverty in rural areas? Other topics include market failures, food insecurity, rural poverty, environmental degradation, income and asset inequality, fiscally sustainable organizations, the changing roles of the public and private sector in research, input delivery systems, marketing and low rates of agricultural growth in much of sub-Saharan Africa.