Shared Harvests Agriculture, Trade and Employment

Agriculture employs more than a billion people in developing countries, representing 48 percent of the labor force. Since many agricultural workers are members of poor households, the relationship between trade and jobs in the sector is highly relevant for poverty reduction and broader development strategies. Shared Harvests analyzes agricultural trade and labor markets in developing countries, particularly the creation and destruction of jobs in the agricultural sector. This volume assesses the employment impacts of agricultural trade at the country, regional, national, and global level and discusses national trade policies and regional and multilateral trade agreements. It examines how changes in productivity, food security, ruralurban migration, skills, and domestic regulation affect the relationship between trade and employment in the agricultural sector. The analysis highlights the importance of gradual trade liberalization with social protection and targeted promotion of agricultural productivity to enhance global competitiveness. Contributors include Ir Faridath Aboudou (Laboratoire d'Analyse Régionale et d'Expertise Sociale [LARES] Benin), Epiphane Adjovi (Conception et Analyse des Politiques de Développement [CAPOD], Benin), Taisuke Ito (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development [UNCTAD]), Stephen Karingi (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa [UNECA]), Ethiopia), Luis Linares (Asociación de Investigación y Estudios Sociales [ASIES], Guatemala), Mina Mashayekhi (UNCTAD), Simon Mevel (UNECA), Aleksandra Nikolić (University of Sarajevo), Pedro Prado (ASIES), Selim Raihan (University of Dhaka and South Asian Network on Economic Modeling, Bangladesh), Bio Goura Soulé (LARES), David Vanzetti (National University, Australia), and Raquel Zelaya (ASIES). Copublished with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development