Document: Assessing the Applicability of Private Sector Development Instruments in Agricultural Economic Development

The starting point of this paper is the observation that private sector development (PSD) and agricultural economic development (AED) have historically been two distinct approaches in development cooperation. Both looked at ways to promote productive development in developing countries. But they were based on different disciplines, they were founded on different concepts, they applied different instruments and tools, and they involved separate communities of practice. The current effort to redefine intervention strategies in African countries under the header of sustainable economic development creates an opportunity to reflect on the two approaches. In this paper, the angle will be on contributions that PSD can make to AED.