John Williams Mellor

Research focuses on the factors reducing poverty in growing low income countries. Particular emphasis is giving to the role of agriculture in the processes of poverty reduction and the role of the rural sector more generally. This work grows out of several decades of work on the factors causing accelerated growth of the agricultural sector and the contributions of the agricultural sector to overall growth. Development is seen as a process of changing economy from one dominated by agriculture to one dominated by industry and services from an economy producing largely non-tradable goods to one predominantly producing tradable goods and the role of agriculture in those transformations. Work now emphasizes why these processes have do far worked so badly in Africa. From this work extensive consulting is done for developing countries and foreign aid organizations on the means of reducing poverty in the process of growth.