Framework Of Agricultural Policy Research Articles

Self-Sufficiency versus Security: How Trade Protectionism Challenges the Sustainability of the Food Supply in Russia

Food security is increasingly influenced by multilateral trade systems and foreign trade policies implemented by national governments. Many of them are now concerned about the sustainability of food supply and the vulnerability of domestic food markets to price volatility, and seek to support domestic producers and protect themselves from increasing food imports. Such restrictions improve food self-sufficiency, but decrease food security. It is important to understand any changes that may have occurred in the food consumption pattern due to trade protectionism and to observe any nutritional implications of these changes. This paper employs the rational food security (RFS) assessment approach, which differentiates sources of food supply on the domestic market, assesses the influence of agricultural and trade frameworks on food consumption patterns, and complies consumption with the appropriate food intake threshold. In the case of Russia, the study demonstrates that the conventional consumption approach to self-sufficiency (FSCA) underestimates the food insecurity level by not accounting for nutrition factors. In addition, the gap between the FSCA and the RFS increases in times of protectionist trade policy and decreases when the agricultural and trade policy framework turns to liberalization. The paper concludes that trade protectionism challenges the sustainability of food supply by decreasing food availability and quality of food products, causes dietary changes, and threatens the food security of the country.

Agricultural and Food Policy Framework in Bangladesh: An Assessment

Since the liberation of Bangladesh, the government of Bangladesh introduced a series of policy measures in agriculture and food sectors to encourage pro-market distribution of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and diesel fuel for irrigation. The dominant feature of the policy reform had been the government’s liberalisation of the fertilizer and irrigation equipment markets. These reforms can be reasonably credited with the success in rice production during the 1984-1992 period. Reforms in the foodgrains market in the 1990s reduced the public sector involvement in these markets. Public procurement to stabilise prices and provide production incentives to farmers suffered from certain inefficiencies, although the overall impact of public procurement and price support programmes could be considered positive. The policy reforms were surprisingly smooth partly reflecting the absence of organised lobby by peasants and partly the fact that the policy reforms have benefitted, by and large, all groups of farmers.

Predicting grower choices in a regulated environment

The analysis of farmers’ decision making process in the framework of agricultural policy is particularly complex as they take action within a structure of interacting opportunities, preferences, benefits and social factors which ultimately account for their behavior. This paper will study viticulturists’ behaviour vis-à-vis this scenario. Their decisions in the face of different possible alternatives are analysed using a multinomial logit model and a sample of 74,502 plots in Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). The conclusion is that viticulturists from this region are more prone to maintaining the status quo in their plots due to the current public support security issues, uncertain scenarios and their natural risk aversion.

Environmental and economic assessment of biomass sourcing from extensively cultivated buffer strips along water bodies

Buffer strips represent oblong land elements along water bodies playing an important role for the water quality management of the surface water. In the policy context buffer strips are referred to as land with defined farming restrictions aiming at protecting the water course. In the current EU agricultural policy framework the majority of the decisions regarding subsidy schemes for buffer strips is taken on the member country level, which results in great differences between the EU members with regard to this water protection measure. If incentives for farmers for establishing and maintaining buffer strips are in place, they are usually linked to the harvest ban on the buffer strip. Such protection model can be endangered by volatile and rising prices for agricultural products. However, buffer strip can represent a valuable source of different ecosystem services, including biomass provision. If harvesting under certain restrictions would be allowed, the biomass could generate additional revenue that might contribute to securing buffer strips existence and consequently maintaining their protection function.This study aimed at assessing the costs and environmental consequences of biomass mobilizing from buffer strips. It dealt with different scenarios of biomass sourcing from extensively cultivated buffer strips in the Netherlands. In 12 scenarios, the cultivation of grass or cereal mixes (including multiple harvesting or perennial cultivation) for different valorisation chains (ensiling or fodder & bedding) was assessed. Both total net cultivation costs as well as the hectare based environmental performance (using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology) were evaluated. Additionally, the environmental impact of electricity production through anaerobic digestion of biomass from buffer strips was compared with the impact from digestion of classic grass silage and the impact profile of Dutch electricity mix.The results indicate ensiling as the scenario generating more net costs and higher environmental impacts as compared to fodder & bedding. In the latter, the cereal cultivation represents a better solution from economic perspective, while grass shows lower environmental impacts. Moreover, optimizing grass cultivation through switching to perennial mode contributes to strong improvements of the economic performance and contributes to additional reduction of environmental impacts, and consequently delivers the best environmental and economic solution. Moreover, the comparison with the Dutch electricity mix shows that biomass from buffer strips, if used in anaerobic digestion, can, in terms of environmental performance, compete with classic silages and contribute to reduced environmental damage.

Contracts in the agri-food supply chain within the framework of the new Common Agricultural Policy

The paper is focused on the measures provided for under new EU regulations in an attempt to address the problems arising for the agricultural producers by the CAP reforms of 2003 and 2013; with these reforms the Community radically modified the framework of its agricultural policy, substantially eliminating the (already reduced) forms of market management and making further substantial cuts in the amount of coupled support in favour of an almost sudden (and improvised) switch to a system of direct payments to farmers, largely decoupled from production, as a means of supporting the income of agricultural producers. As a result, the latter suddenly found themselves exposed and forced to operate not on a European scale but rather in a global market, and what is more without any forms of protection.

A competitividade do regadio de Alqueva em Portugal: o caso do bloco de rega do Monte Novo

O objectivo deste estudo é avaliar a competitividade do regadio de Alqueva no Sul de Portugal na região Alentejo. O estudo foi realizado com base em três grupos de explorações agrícolas representativas seleccionadas de uma amostra de explorações agrícolas do bloco de rega do Monte Novo. Para cada uma delas, foi desenvolvido um modelo de programação matemática multi-período adaptado às suas características específicas. Os principais resultados permitem concluir que a Política Agrícola Comum e a Directiva Quadro da Água condicionam a competitividade do regadio nesta região. No entanto, a adopção de novas tecnologias de produção permitirá contrariar esses efeitos negativos e assegurar a competitividade futura do regadio.

Trends in Agriculturally-Relevant Rainfall Characteristics for Small-scale Agriculture in Northern Ghana

This study set out to investigate the trends of agriculturally-relevant rainfall characteristics among small-scale farmers in the rainfall-sensitive dry savanna agro ecological zone of northern Ghana. Interviews are used to identify characteristics of rainfall which are deemed by the farmers as important in their food production. Time series daily rainfall data from 1960-2007 is then used to identify trends in these variables which include the amount and temporal distribution of rainfall, occurrence of extreme daily rainfall events, the onset of rains, risk of dry spells and coefficient of variability of rains. The risk of dry spells for varying number of days following the planting period is computed using first-order Markov chain modeling. We find that there is a significant increase in mean rainfall per rain day and the coefficient of variation or summer rainfall amounts. No significant change in the onset of rains, the annual rainfall amount and maximum rainfall days are established. However, a significant decrease in the number of rain days and the probability of dry spells of up to seven and eleven days in the first four weeks of the planting season is revealed. There is need for development of an agricultural policy framework designed to understand the growing risks associated with agricultural production among small-scale farmers, and to improve management practices to accommodate and adapt to the new challenges of varying rainfall.

An impact of direct payments on production decisions in agriculture

The paper deals with the employment of decoupled direct payments as the model of targeted lump-sum financial transfers to the farmers. It considers whether decoupled payments may alter producers’ resource allocation over time and lead to effects on production. Decisive topics of influence through which decoupled payments as an instrument of income redistribution could affect production through recipient’ decisions in both short and long time horizons are bringing to the attention as follows: wealth and investment effects, sector consolidation and payment basis effects in the framework of agricultural policy.

The Distribution of Direct Payments of CAP to producers amongst EU Member States

The paper attempts to contribute to the discussion of the agricultural support distribution in the framework of Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union. Author used European Commission statistics of direct payments to explore the distribution patterns across farm holdings in EU Member States. The results show that distribution of direct payments is skewed towards a small number of very large holdings in a few Member States. Across the whole EU, 85% of direct payments funded from common budget went to the largest 19% of their recipients in 2005. In Poland, income from direct payments was also unfairly distributed.

Agricultural research policy framework for improved livelihoods security in crop-livestock production systems

Concerns for sustainable development and poverty alleviation are forcing public agricultural research systems to focus on improving livelihoods security. Crop-livestock production systems are central to the livelihood security of the rural poor in India and some other countries of the tropics. With increasing population, urbanisation and incomes, massive increases are foreseen in demands for livestock products, leading to a livestock revolution. This will present associated challenges and opportunities to the research and policy systems like those that followed the green revolution in crops. The challenges would be different as the importance of livestock for livelihoods security is more in marginal rainfed and arid ecosystems. This paper develops a research policy framework for planning for a livestock revolution and discusses the implications for research and institutional reform.

Co-effects of climate policy and agricultural policy on regional agricultural viability in Finland

The agricultural sector has potentially a significant role in reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs). Besides providing public goods, GHG reduction offers farmers new alternatives for income generation. This is especially interesting in marginal agricultural areas, e.g., in less-favoured areas (LFA) of the European Union (EU), where significant GHG reduction potential coincides with low productivity in the production of agricultural commodities. In this study, the effects of peatland cultivation restrictions were evaluated, where the objective was to decrease GHG fluxes deriving from agricultural production. The regional role of peatlands in GHG reduction and agricultural production is also evaluated. Ceasing the agricultural use of peatlands altogether could decrease Finnish agricultural sector carbon effluents by up to 10% according to a dynamic regional sector model of the Finnish agriculture (DREMFIA). Accompanying decreases in national and even in regional agricultural incomes do not appear drastic, but locally, in some municipalities and on individual farms they may be devastating. In an alternative scenario, where perennial grass production is allowed to continue and only cultivation of annual crops is forbidden, the (negative) income effects are very low. The most notable result is that significant GHG reductions can be reached with little decrease in national agricultural incomes. The two forms of restrictions were tested in two alternative agricultural policy settings: Agenda 2000 and the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform agreed in Luxembourg on 26th June 2003. These two agricultural policy alternatives are connected with both of the aforementioned climate policy alternatives and resulting scenarios are evaluated in the simulation. The simulation provides the second main result, which says that it is not so much the climate policy which determines aggregate agricultural production and income, but rather it is the general agricultural policy framework setting the stage.

Traceability in the Canadian Red Meat Sector: Do Consumers Care?

Increased traceability of food and food ingredients through the agri‐food chain has featured in recent industry initiatives in the Canadian livestock sector and is an important facet of the new Canadian Agricultural Policy Framework (APF). While traceability is usually implicitly associated with ensuring food safety and delivering quality assurances, there has been very little economic analysis of the functions of traceability systems and the value that consumers place on traceability assurances. This paper examines the economic incentives for implementing traceability systems in the meat and livestock sector. Experimental auctions are used to assess the willingness to pay of Canadian consumers for a traceability assurance, a food safety assurance, and an on‐farm production method assurance for beef and pork products. Results from these laboratory market experiments provide insights into the relative value for Canadian consumers of traceability and quality assurances. Traceability, in the absence of quality verification, is of limited value to individual consumers. Bundling traceability with quality assurances has the potential to deliver more value.

COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE OF ORGANIC WHEAT PRODUCTION IN THE WESTERN CAPE

In a context in which the framework of agricultural policy and business is changing radically the objective of the government and farmers should be to support the development of systems that look likely to be winners in the future. As a result this paper uses a Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) to determine whether wheat production would have a comparative advantage if produced under organic practices. The paper starts by analysing the comparative advantage of wheat under conventional4 practices, and later contrasts conventional with organic practices. The results of the analyses mainly indicate a comparative advantage for wheat grown under organic practices especially when the social cost benefit ratio (SCB) is incorporated into the analyses. This is because the domestic resource cost (DRC) criterion that is used by the PAM is confirmed to understate the social profitability of systems that use domestic factors intensively like organic wheat systems and favours systems that use less of these factors like conventional systems. The results also show the existence of distortions in the market even if wheat were to be produced under organic practises, although these are shown to be less than for wheat produced under conventional practices.

A political economy perspective on the expansion of New Zealand livestock farming, 1960–1984 — Part I. Agricultural policy

This paper forms the first of two papers examining the state-led expansion of New Zealand's livestock industries between 1960 and 1984 from a political economy perspective. The paper identifies the mixture of economic, ideological and political-administrative features that distinguished New Zealand society at the time and sketches the evolution of the agricultural policy framework under the structural conditions. Specifically, the paper establishes the form of New Zealand capitalism, emphasising the broad regulatory order and the place of agriculture in the New Zealand economy, it outlines the nature of New Zealand pastoralism and analyses the evolution of state policy relating to the livestock industries. The analysis shows three clear phases to policy: input assistance to start off a fresh round of investment in livestock production in the 1960s; output and input assistance to revitalise the sector in the early 1970s after a period of zero growth; and price support to curtail wholesale contraction of national farm output in the face of price falls in the early 1980s. A case is made that the policy matrix outlined formed the main context in which farmers made investment decisions.

Conservation designation in the somerset levels: A study of local attitudes

The wildlife and landscape of the Somerset Levels (an internationally important wetland site in south west Britain) depend on traditional farming methods, but these are being replaced by more efficient and economic practices that threaten to destroy conservation interests. To protect the wildlife, the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) has scheduled 6800 ha (10% of the area) as 10 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). These designations were initially opposed by the farming community, but are now generally accepted. However, the SSSI system, based on selecting sites for their wildlife interests alone, is inadequate for the Levels, where a more integrated approach encompassing other land uses is needed. The area has just been designated an Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) — an opportunity to develop such a stategy. Within ESAs low-intensity farming methods will be supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) so that they are economically viable. This should ensure that traditional practices are continued in areas whose wildlife and landscape are nationally important. This proposal is a significant change within the European framework for agricultural policy, allowing greater flexibility at a national level.

A Framework for Food and Agricultural Policy for the 1980s

American Journal of Agricultural EconomicsVolume 63, Issue 2 p. 324-327 Proceeding A Framework for Food and Agricultural Policy for the 1980s John A. Schnittker, John A. Schnittker President Schnittker Associates, Washington, D.C.Search for more papers by this author John A. Schnittker, John A. Schnittker President Schnittker Associates, Washington, D.C.Search for more papers by this author First published: 01 May 1981 https://doi.org/10.2307/1239577AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume63, Issue2May 1981Pages 324-327 RelatedInformation

A Framework for Food and Agricultural Policy in the 1980s

The thesis of this article is that food and agricultural policy in the 1980s will be shaped by emerging economic, social, and political realities that are different from the realities which gave rise to policies and programs of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s and which, modified, continued through the 1970s. The characteristics of this new policy environment include: –A changed economic structure and character of United States agriculture, and thus a changed constituency with changed policy needs.–The internationalization of U.S. agriculture with its favorable and unfavorable implications, but which imposes certain constraints and disciplines on domestic agricultural and food policy.–The prospect of a new supply and demand “equilibrium” and the end of 60 years of adjustment to supply growing faster than demand.–The new, broadened context within which agricultural policies and programs must be considered.

A Study of German Farm Labor - Frieda Wunderlich: Farm Labor in Germany 1810-1945: Its Historical Development Within the Framework of Agricultural and Social Policy. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961. Pp. xv, 390. $8.50.)

A Study of German Farm Labor - Frieda Wunderlich: Farm Labor in Germany 1810-1945: Its Historical Development Within the Framework of Agricultural and Social Policy. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961. Pp. xv, 390. $8.50.) - Volume 23 Issue 4

Book Review: Labor Conditions and Problems: Farm Labor in Germany, 1810–1945: Its Historical Development within the Framework of Agricultural and Social Policy

Book Review: Labor Conditions and Problems: Farm Labor in Germany, 1810–1945: Its Historical Development within the Framework of Agricultural and Social Policy

Farm Labor in Germany, 1810-1945: Its Historical Development within the Framework of Agricultural and Social Policy.

Farm Labor in Germany, 1810-1945: Its Historical Development within the Framework of Agricultural and Social Policy.