Colin is a Reader in Development Policy, rural development and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa.
He has a particular interest in the application of new institutional economics to questions of market coordination, development of rural financial markets, the organisation and performance of cotton systems, and technology adoption.
Research interests
Involvement in the Future Agricultures Consortium, which aims to encourage debate and policy dialogue on the future of agriculture in Africa. The particular focus of work by CeDEP staff is social protection and agricultural growth (Andrew Dorward) and policy processes (Colin Poulton) working principally in Malawi and Kenya respectively.
CeDEP staff members involved: Andrew Dorward and Colin Poulton
The Millennium Development Goals: A Cross-sectoral Analysis and Principles for Goal Setting Post-2015. Under the leadership of the London International Development Centre (LIDC), An interdisciplinary and intersectoral team from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), the Institute of Education (IoE) and SOAS has been commissioned by Lancet (the world’s leading general medical journal) to produce a paper setting out lessons learned from the MDGs and ways forward, ahead of world leaders gathering to discuss these challenges at a summit at the United Nations in New York from 20-22 September.
CeDEP staff members involved: Andrew Dorward and Colin Poulton
A nine-country comparative study of African cotton industries, organised by the World Bank.
The Millennium Development Goals: a cross-sectoral analysis and principles for goal setting after 2015
Waage, Jeff, Banerji, R., Campbell, O., Chirwa, Ephraim, Collender, G., Dieltiens, V., Dorward, Andrew, Godfrey-Faussett, P., Hanvoravongchai, P., Kingdon, G., Little, A., Mills, A., Mulholland, K., Mwinga, A., North, A., Patcharanarumol, W., Poulton, Colin, Tangcharoensathien, V. and Unterhalter, Elaine, 2010, The Lancet Commission (376), 9745, pp 991-1023
Competition and Coordination in Liberalized African Cotton Market Systems
Poulton, Colin, Gibbon, P., Hanyani-Mlambo, B., Kydd, Jonathan, Maro, W., Larsen, M. N., Osorio, A., Tschirley, D. and Zulu, B., 2005, World Development (32), 3, pp 519-536
Providing marketing information to smallholders in Zimbabwe: what can the state usefully do?
Poulton, Colin, Mukwereza, L., Chaonwa, W., Loader, R., Mariga, K., Masanganise, P., Sanyatwe, D. and Piesse, Jenifer, 2000, Agrekon : Agricultural Economics Research, Policy and Practice in Southern Africa (39), 4, pp 718-729
Institutional Economics Perspectives on African Agricultural Development
Kirsten, Johann, (eds.), Dorward, Andrew, (eds.), Poulton, Colin, (eds.) and Vink, Nick, (eds.) (2009). Washington D. C.: International Food Policy Research Institute.
Institutions and the Agricultural Development Challenge in Africa
Dorward, Andrew, Kirsten, Johann, Omamo, S. W., Poulton, Colin and Vink, Nick (2009). In: Kirsten, Johann, (eds.), Dorward, Andrew, (eds.), Poulton, Colin, (eds.) and Vink, Nick, (eds.), Institutional Economics Perspectives on African Agricultural Development. Washington D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute
The Many Paths of Cotton Sector Reform in East and Southern Africa: Lessons from a Decade of Experience
Tschirley, D., Poulton, Colin and Boughton, Duncan (2008). In: Moseley, W.G., (eds.) and Gray, Leslie, (eds.), Hanging by a Thread: Cotton, Globalization and Poverty in Africa. Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute / Ohio University Press, pp 123-158
Price intervention in Sub-Saharan African agriculture: can an institutionalist view alter our conception of the costs and benefits?
Dorward, Andrew, Kydd, Jonathan and Poulton, Colin (2007). In: Koning, N., (eds.) and Pinstrup-Andersen, P., (eds.), Agricultural trade liberalization and the least developed countries. Dortrecht, Netherlands: Springer
Institutional Dimensions of Trade Liberalisation and Poverty
Kydd, Jonathan, Dorward, Andrew and Poulton, Colin (2003). In: Brooks, Jonathan, (ed.), Agricultural Trade and Poverty: Making Policy Analysis Count. Paris: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
New institutional economics, agricultural parastatals and marketing policy
Kydd, Jonathan, Dorward, Andrew and Poulton, Colin (2002). In: Livingstone, Ian, (eds.) and Belshaw, D., (eds.), Renewing development in Sub-Saharan Africa: policy, performance, and prospects. London: Routledge, pp 166-175
Coulter, J. and Poulton, Colin (2001). In: Akiyama, T., (eds.), Baffes, J., (eds.), Larson, Donald, (eds.) and Varangis, P., (eds.), Commodity Market Reforms: Lessons of Two Decades. Washington D. C.: World Bank
New Institutional Economics: Insights on Innovation Dissemination and UptakE
Dorward, Andrew, Kydd, Jonathan, Morrison, Jamie, Poulton, Colin and Smith, Laurence (2000). In: Hainsworth, S.D., (eds.) and Eden-Green, S.J., (eds.), Sustaining change: proceedings of a workshop on the factors affecting uptake and adoption of Department for International Development (DFID) Crop Protection Programme (CPP) research outputs ; 21-23 June 2000, Imperial College at Wye, Kent, UK. Chatham Maritime, Kent, UK: Natural Resources International Limited, pp 97-103
Conclusions: New Institutional Economics, Policy Debates and the research Agenda
Kydd, Jonathan, Dorward, Andrew and Poulton, Colin (1998). In: Dorward, Andrew, (eds.), Kydd, Jonathan, (eds.) and Poulton, Colin, (eds.), Smallholder cash crop production under market liberalisation: a new institutional economics perspective. Wallingford: CABI
The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP): Political Incentives, Value Added and Ways Forward
Poulton, Colin, Berhanu, Kassahun, Chinsinga, Blessings, Cooksey, Brian, Golooba-Mutebi, Frederick and Loada, Augustin (2014). Sussex: (Future Agricultures Working Paper 077)
The Future of Small Farms for Poverty Reduction and Growth
Hazell, Peter, Poulton, Colin, Wiggins, Steve and Dorward, Andrew (2007). Washington, D.C.: (International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 2020 Discussion Paper, no. 42)
Reaching the poor: a call to action Investment in smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa
Peacock, C., Jowett, A., Dorward, Andrew, Poulton, Colin and Urey, Ian (2004). London: (FARM-Africa; Harvest Help; Centre for Development and Poverty Reduction, Imperial College)
Getting Agriculture Moving: role of the state in increasing staple food crop productivity with special reference to coordination, input subsidies, credit and price stablisation
Poulton, Colin and Dorward, Andrew(2008). In: AGRA Policy Workshop, June :Nairobi, Kenya
Conceptualising Coordination for Market Development
Poulton, Colin and Dorward, Andrew(2005). In: Development Studies Association annual conference “Connecting People and Places: Challenges and Opportunities for Development", 7-9th September 2005 :Milton Keynes
Disaggregated Impacts of Agricultural Policy Reform on Poor Rural Households: Linking Household, Rural Economy and Economy-wide Analysis
Dorward, Andrew, Poulton, Colin, Morrison, Jamie and Tchale, Hardwick(2004). In: OECD Global Forum on Agriculture: Designing and Implementing Prop-Poor Agricultural Policies
Disaggregated Impacts of Agricultural Policy Reform on Rural Households in Malawi
Dorward, Andrew, Morrison, Jamie, Poulton, Colin and Tchale, Hardwick(2003). In: First Meeting of the OECD Global Forum on Agriculture: Designing and Implementing Pro-Poor Agricultural Policies, 10-11 December :Paris
Rural and Farmer Finance: An International Perspective (with particular reference to Sub Saharan Africa)
Dorward, Andrew, Poulton, Colin and Kydd, Jonathan(2001). In: Workshop on Rural Finance, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa Conference, 19th September
