versión en español

On 16 October, world food day, the Bank will release its World Development Report (WDR) on ‘agriculture for development’. While a draft has undergone two civil society consultations, the prospective message and details of the final report remain vague. A recent e-consultation concluded that it neglects crucial issues of food security, capabilities of Southern agriculture ministries and private sectors, and particularly the social and environmental repercussions of the report’s heavy promotion of industrialising agriculture. With other key Bank agriculture-related reports to be released soon after the WDR, media responses promise to be substantial; whether positive remains to be seen.