MOTIVATION
China and India have had incredible economic transformations in recent years, moving from two of the world’s poorest countries to burgeoning superpowers. Along with partners from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, IFPRI researchers compared the reform experiences of China and India in The Dragon and the Elephant: Agricultural and Rural Reforms in China and India. The book investigates what was behind this success, paying particular attention to agriculture and rural development, and whether it could be tailored to work in other developing nations.
OUTCOMES
The project culminated in major international conferences, with high-level participants, held in New Delhi and Beijing in 2003. Each generated insightful discussion and policy debate on rural and agricultural reforms in regions of India and China that still struggle with high chronic poverty, as well as in other developing countries. These forums helped develop a network of policy researchers, advisors, and decision makers in China and India who can continue to engage in a dialogue on these issues in the future.
