Local institutional development for agriculture

An initial section distinguishes the various types of local support institutions - local administration, local governments, membership organizations, cooperatives, service organizations, and private business. After noting that the development of local institutions can be fostered by common interests among producers and between producers and higher-level institutions which do not exploit them, the authors devote individual chapters to reviewing the ways in which these general principles are affected concretely by differences in the commodity produced, in the conditions of production, and in the socioeconomic characteristics of producers. An overall conclusion is that agricultural development is best served when different types of organizations and institutions work together in concert. Annexes present capsule descriptions of the 15 experiences in Latin America, Africa, and Asia which the authors found most instructive either positively or negatively. A list of 141 references (1957-84) is provided.