World food and agricultural production will have to increase substantially if the demand created by the combination of growing populations and rising incomes is to be met. Large-scale improvements in technology are needed if production targets are to be reached. But now that energy is so expensive, the new agricultural techniques and technologies must be as energy-efficient as possible. Researc...

This paper is divided into three parts. The first summarizes the main conclusions of Sumner and Hallstrom's paper "Commodity Policy Compatibility with Free Trade Agreement" and makes some suggestions for further research. The second part presents some thoughts concerning Mexico's domestic agricultural policies in relation to the authors' analysis on the theme of the Workshop. The discussion fin...

The document contains ongoing work on an OECD project that examines the role of agricultural policies in raising incomes and reducing poverty in developing countries. A key focus is on ways in which the policy recommendations that the OECD has developed for its member countries might need to be qualified in the case of lower income developing countries. The paper is divided into two parts: Part...

This article examines the structure and health implications of two industries, chicken and tomatoes, that play prominent roles in US food and agricultural competitiveness. Both industries have become more concentrated over time, with powerful "lead firms" driving geographical, technological, and marketing changes. Overall, a processed food revolution has taken place in agricultural products tha...

Since independence, landholdings in Southern Africa have remained highly skewed between the rich and poor reflecting the land and agricultural policies adopted in colonial times and after independence. More recently agricultural policies have been prescribed by the World Bank as conditionalities of multilateral loans which have both facilitated and also driven the growing integration of such co...

This part of the book focuses on economic growth, in particular on policies that create an environment that enables income growth for the poorest— that is, “growth+.” The ultra poor face new challenges—including economic recession and volatility—that affect strategies to enhance their assets and income. Global macroeconomic trends affect poor countries’ ability to facilitate pro-poor growth and...

Regimes of protection for biodiversity throughout the agricultural landscape are needed to support the agriculture sector in general and farmers in particular. There are many opportunities to establish protective regimes that will contribute to the agriculture sector through “protect-and-connect” policies and practices. These can also contribute to the biodiversity value of natural protected ar...

The paper proceeds from the widely held assessment that Myanmar’s economy is handicapped by structural imbalance, instability, inefficient and imperfect markets, and distorted prices. The paper delineates how this general state of affairs is clearly evident in the agricultural sector. It then identifies the constraints retarding the development of agricultural growth. Among the factors blamed f...

Along with greatly shaking up the confidence in producers and distributors, the problems, such as BSE and avian influenza, which are threatening the safety of agricultural products occurring one after another, have suddenly increased our the awareness of “food safety” as consumers. On the other hand, even though Japanese agriculture is facing internal and external problems such as the depressio...