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Abstract
The interrelationships between the development of the agricultural sector, the process
of structural transformation, and the overall growth of the economy have been debated
extensively in international literature. Economists generally disagree less about the need for
industrialization and the necessity, to accelerate structural change than about the strategy to
promote the transformation of the economy, and particularly the role of the agricultural
sector therein. The root of the controversy has been the nature of the growth-inducing
process of transformation, whereby an economy turns itself from a predominantly agricultural
and rural society into a largely industrial and urban society. The inevitable decline of
agriculture during economic growth has confronted economists for decades with the question
of its possible role in economic development. The purpose of this paper is to reassess the
role of agriculture in that process, both from a theoretical point of view and from past
experiences of developing countries. The treatment of the agricultural sector in development
economics is briefly reviewed. The role of agriculture in the process of structural
transformation and the conditions for its contribution to sustained economic growth are
discussed. This discussion will show that, whereas industrialization is the ultimate engine
of growth, sustained agricultural development remains a powerful strategy toward
industrialization. The interrelationships between foreign trade and agricultural development
are analyzed, indicating how both can contribute to industrialization and economic growth.
Finally, some of the priorities for sustained agricultural development are discussed.