Small fields, big money: Two successful programs in helping small farmers make the transition to high value-added crops

Abstract

This paper compares two successful programs (one in present-day Thailand and one in Taiwan during the 1960s) in which small rice farmers were helped to make the transition to growing high value-added horticultural crops during the off-season. The key to the success of both programs appears to have been the flexible and creative interplay between government and the private sector. Of special interest to the debate over the proper role of government in furthering development is Taiwan's Planned Production and Marketing System, where officials consulted with industry and set mandatory production quotas which were allocated to each township and cannery.