Mahbub ul Haq

Development Centre's 2002 Report on Agriculture and Rural Development underlines the imperative of focusing on a human-centred agricultural development in South Asia, as agriculture is the backbone of South Asia's economy and source of livelihood of two-thirds of South Asia's population. Despite South Asia's stunning performance in agriculture during the Green Revolution, the region still hosts some half-a-billion poor people of the world. The Report argues that South Asia's strategy of economic growth needs to be reoriented in order to address the needs and concerns of the majority of its people. This is a unique perspective as most analysts tend to be concerned with the growth of per capita output without analysing its source and distribution. This Report looks at the broader policy implications of this lack of link between government policies and peoples lives. The wealth of data collected for the Report on South Asia's agriculture will be valuable for policymakers and academic researchers.