84

The effect of growth in agricultural production on rural households' exit from poverty remains unclear. The hypothesis for such determinism is tested here using a panel of Indonesian agricultural households who were surveyed in 2001 and 2006. The analysis of their trajectories?namely status quo, exit from poverty, or falling into poverty?shows that agricultural growth is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition to exiting poverty. Yet agricultural growth offers some protection against impoverishment. Non-agricultural activities explain the different trajectories. This implies that rural poverty alleviation is not just a matter of agricultural productivity.