Role of Agriculture in Ecuador's Economic Development: An Assessment of Ecuador's Agricultural Sector

摘要

Ecuador's macroeconomic policies have largely discriminated against the agricultural sector, favoring instead import substitution industrialization. Agriculture in Ecuador identifies the sector's major constraints and recommends future steps for improved growth and development. The analysis is based on three fundamental concepts--the induced innovation model of agricultural development, the pervasive effect of macroeconomic policies on agricultural growth, and the emergence of a new global economic order. The study concludes that the principal challenge facing Ecuador's economy is transforming an agricultural sector which is low in productivity and dependent on natural resources into a highly productive, scientific-based sector. Two key recommendations are provided: Alter the inward orientation of the macroeconomic policy, and strengthen the scientific base for agriculture by making research autonomous.