Employment for Food Security: Synthesis and Policy Conclusions

The foregoing chapters have focused on employment policies and programs and actions for their improved effectiveness in pursuing the goal of eradicating poverty. Chapter 1 highlighted a number of global trends that call for an increased focus on employment for poverty reduction in the 1990s and beyond. Prominent among these trends are the rapid growth of the labor force in low-income countries, the declining ratio of the cost of labor to capital, the growing need for infrastructure, and the increased dependency of the rural poor on labor, rather than subsistence farming (Box 12.1). They are to be considered in an employment-expanding growth strategy that is complemented by appropriate social security action for vulnerable groups (Radwan, Chapter 2). In this chapter the findings obtained from the study of employment policies and programs in various countries are synthesized (Box 12.2) and conclusions regarding the design of policy are drawn from them. References made here to other chapters of this volume are also meant to refer to