Bhutan Policy Note : Harnessing Spatial Opportunities in Agriculture for Economic Transformation
Home to over 735,000 people, the Kingdom of Bhutan has achieved rapid economic growth and poverty reduction, despite the constraints of being a small, landlocked, and mountainous country. Its neighbors, China to the north and India to the south, ar...
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| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/568371553841727531/Bhutan-Policy-Note-Harnessing-Spatial-Opportunities-in-Agriculture-for-Economic-Transformation http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31530 |
| Summary: | Home to over 735,000 people, the Kingdom
of Bhutan has achieved rapid economic growth and poverty
reduction, despite the constraints of being a small,
landlocked, and mountainous country. Its neighbors, China to
the north and India to the south, are in contrast the two
most populous countries in the world. Bhutan’s land area is
only 1 percent of India’s and 0.5 percent of China’s. Even
surrounded by much larger economies, Bhutan has seen its
economy expand rapidly in recent years, largely through
hydropower exports to India and construction. The country
halved its poverty rate to 12 percent between 2007 and 2012,
and by 2017 it had achieved a further reduction, to 8.2
percent (NSB and World Bank 2017). National policy remains
centered on diversifying export-led growth beyond hydropower
exports to India and on making Bhutan’s economic growth more
inclusive of all citizens. The agriculture sector, one of
the five jewels in the Bhutanese economy, can play a key
role in sustaining growth, reducing poverty, creating jobs,
and expanding shared prosperity. Bhutan’s dense and
virtually untouched forests, abundant water resources, and
diversity of wild species are exceptional natural
endowments, and correspondingly, environmental conservation
is the cornerstone of Bhutan’s development approach (World
Bank 2014). This Policy Note reviews Bhutan’s recent
agricultural transformation from a spatial perspective and
suggests measures to make further progress. The discussion
focuses on crop-level drivers of productivity and spatial
patterns of agricultural production in relation to markets,
especially in relation to opportunities for expanding market
potential to support the national development goals of the
Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB). The government has set
targets in a number of policy areas where agriculture plays
a critical role. |
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