Patterns of market intervention in agrarian Africa

The article summarizes recent interpretations of government behaviour toward agriculture in Africa and assesses their credibility. With respect to the marketing of food crops, governments are seen as intervening on behalf of organized urban interests; for cash crops, they are viewed as manipulating prices in order to tax, both to collect public revenues and to redistribute purchasing power to consumers of imports. Such interpretations seek to account for the generally Draconian nature of agricultural prices.     

New agricultural technology and smallfarmers in Latin America

Biased income distribution in agriculture as a result of the green revolution towards better agricultural regions and larger farmers has been justified by declining prices for rice and wheat making consumers the main beneficiaries of this new technology. But, there are two arguments for focusing future agricultural technology towards small farmers and poorer resource regions. First, evidence suggests that there is little productivity or nutritional improvement from migration. Second, unless the supply of prime areas can be made more elastic, most of the small farmer food crops, even with new technology, will not be sufficiently profitable to displace the high value activities currently found in these areas in Latin America.     

What is this thing called organic? – How organic farming is codified in regulations

Organic farming is one of the fastest growing sectors of world agriculture. Although it represents only 1% of world agricultural area, organic is one of the most recognized food labels and most people in developed countries consume some amount of organic food today. There is a wide range of interpretations of what organic means by different actors in the sector. Here we examine eight different organic regulations from across the world to understand how they have codified the large diversity of ideas inherent in organic agriculture. Our analysis shows that organic practices and regulations do not differ substantially between countries – across the board organic regulations define organic mainly in terms of 'natural' vs. 'artificial' substances that are allowed (or not) as inputs. This interpretation of organic as “chemical-free” farming, largely void of broader environmental principles, does not fully incorporate the original ideas of organic theoreticians who conceived it as a holistic farming system aimed primarily at improving soil health, thereby leading to improved animal, human, and societal health. This narrow focus of organic regulations can be explained by the interest of organic consumers who predominantly buy organic because they believe it is healthier and more nutritious due to the absence of harmful substances. Organic regulations need to place more emphasis on environmental best practices in order to ensure that organic agriculture can contribute to sustainability objectives.     

Does food processing mitigate consumers’ concerns about crops grown with recycled water?

This paper presents results from a field experiment designed to evaluate whether food processing alleviates consumers’ concerns about crops grown with recycled water. Recycled water has emerged as a potentially safe and cost-effective way to replace or supplement traditional irrigation water. However, adoption of recycled water by U.S. agricultural producers has been modest, in part, because of concerns that consumers will be reluctant to accept their products. Our results suggest that simple processing of foods such as drying or liquefying can relieve some of consumers’ concerns about use of recycled irrigation water. While consumers of processed foods are indifferent between irrigation with recycled and conventional water, they are less willing to pay for fresh foods irrigated with recycled water relative to conventional water. We also found that consumers would experience a welfare gain from a labeling policy communicating the use of recycled irrigation water on both processed and fresh foods. Our analysis further reveals that informational nudges that provide consumers with messages about benefits, risks, and both the benefits and risks of using recycled water have no statistically significant effect on consumers’ willingness to pay for fresh and processed foods irrigated with recycled water relative to a no-information control group.     

Price and market policy for agriculture

The focus of this policy assessment is on the recent history of regulatory measures in market-oriented economies where the dominating triad of problems is stablisation, farm income support and market surplusses. Alternative forms of intervention are reviewed with respect to their impact on domestic supply and demand, international trade, farm income and labour, and finally how they cope with the process of change in agriculture. The author concludes that stabilisation policies in agriculture are not suitable for perishables where they can easily become a burden for consumers and governments alike.     

High rural population density Africa – What are the growth requirements and who participates?

A large and increasing proportion of agricultural growth in Africa must come from continuous gains in land productivity in areas of high population density and hence with already relatively high yields. What that requires is analogous to the green revolution in Asia. Several features differentiate the African situation. Those include greater diversity in cropping pattern including a historically larger and more widespread tropical commodity export sector. The physical infrastructure in rural Africa is far inferior to that of most Asian countries. While the greater diversity of agriculture calls for a larger and more diverse institutional structure the reality is that the research systems, the ancillary education systems to spread innovation and the rural financial systems are generally greatly inferior to those of Asia at the beginning of the green revolution. Ethiopia’s record of a steady six to seven percent growth for agriculture and nearly halving of rural poverty demonstrates that with the right policies and investments a very poor country starting with poor physical and institutional infrastructure can bring a major contribution from agriculture growth to increased GDP and reduced poverty. As in Asia, the bulk of accelerated agricultural growth will come from small commercial farmers. They have sufficient farm income to reach or exceed the poverty level. Those are farms with, depending on the country, as little as 0.75 hectares to a few tens of hectares of land. They comprise up to half the rural population and produce on the order of 70–80 percent of agricultural output. They are in general not poor. The poor have inadequate land to reach the poverty level, initially with much underemployment, and with substantial non-farm employment. The primary driver of poverty reduction is the small commercial farmer spending on the order of half of increased income on nontradable, employment intensive goods and services from the rural non-farm sector.     

Agriculture in a mature industrial society : The case of Britain

In a period of transition to post-industrialism the authors suggest that the conventional wisdom about agriculture is inadequate. They use Britain as a case study to discuss a rich nation dual economy and propose an alternative strategy for agriculture. This strategy would have four major objectives: greater first and second order self-sufficiency; a regional re-integration; the use of less energy and better husbandry in agriculture; and improved nutrition. In raising a number of far reaching questions in the article the authors hope to stimulate some broadly based discussion of agricultural change in the rich countries.     

Organising agriculture in the year 2000

How much of the world's potential food production is realised depends on how effectively agriculture is organised. The authors evaluate the effects of alternative agricultural systems on food production, consumption and trade growth rates in the food-deficit, developing countries. The effects of these alternative agricultural systems on production and trade in the rest of the world are also discussed. They conclude with a review of the specific characteristics of the alternative systems and examine the role each is likely to play in organising agriculture in the year 2000.     

Analysing agricultural policy reforms under transition in Bulgaria

The elaboration of an appropriate incentive system, including measures of agricultural price and trade policy has important consequences for Bulgarian agriculture. This paper offers a brief picture of the process of reform towards the establishment of a market economy in Bulgaria, as well as of the main developments in its agricultural sector. An analysis is then presented of the impact of alternative agricultural price and trade policy scenarios for the period up to 2002. The results show that the impact of price and trade policies is modest when compared to that of technological change and the increase in incomes. Adoption of the CAP will stimulate production, decrease demand and have strong adverse effects on consumers and taxpayers and wider negative effects on the competitiveness of the food industry. Thus the issue of extending financial support for structural policies rather than granting direct aid requires further investigation.     

生态农业建设中的农户行为探讨

建设生态农业是农业进一步发展的必然选择,其生产具有整体性、协调性以及可持续性等特征。农户是生态农业建设的微观主体,通过对其在生态农业建设中的行为分析得知,农户的经济收益决定着其采用何种农业生产行为,而且农户的行为是有限理性的。因此,要推进生态农业的建设,就需要通过培养生态农业意识,完善资金扶持机制,发展多功能型农业以及开发相应的科学技术等途径来实现。     

Economic environment and agricultural development: The importance of macroeconomic policy

This article explores the ways in which the macroeconomic balance of the economy, and related policies, impinge on agriculture in developing countries, and considers implications for the design of policies. It argues that the extent of macroeconomic balance, and the quality of the policies influencing that balance, to a large extent define the scope for effective agricultural policies. The avoidance of severe balance-of-payments deficits and rapid inflation are seen as a necessary condition for the promotion of agricultural growth. They also have an important influence on the nature and range of agricultural policy options available to governments.     

Branding and agricultural value chains in developing countries: Insights from Bihar (India)

Local brands are rapidly gaining agricultural market share in developing countries. However, it is not well understood how they reshape agricultural value chains. In a detailed case study of the value chain of makhana in Bihar, we see the fast emergence – a doubling over 5 years – of more expensive packed and branded products. The effect on consumers is ambiguous. While the emergence of brands leads to increasing differentiation in retail markets, the brands in these settings provide however mostly incomplete or misleading information for the consumer and quality contained in branded bags is often lower than for loose products. We further also find that there are little direct benefits to the farmers from the presence of these brands.     

Agriculture in the EEC taking stock

The focus of this assessment is the European Community's ‘Stocktaking of the Common Agricultural Policy’. While the CAP has attracted considerable scrutiny and controversy, the Stocktaking represents the most authoritative review of agricultural policy from within the EEC bureaucracy. The authors evaluate first the extent to which the Stocktaking's own analysis is a fair reflection of achievements under the objectives which the CAP has set for itself. Second, they ask whether the proposals for policy reform advocated in the Stocktaking are appropriate. They conclude that the Stocktaking's proposals — and their subsequent interpretation within the EEC — are not adequate to tackle the problems facing EEC agriculture.     

Is quality accreditation effective? Evidence from the childcare market

The ineffectiveness of a quality accreditation mechanism can be attributed to the inability of the accreditation status to provide consumers with information they do not already possess. I present a structural model of demand allowing consumers to infer quality from both accreditation status and firm reputation. I then estimate this model to assess the effectiveness and the impact of the national accreditation system for childcare centers on consumer welfare. My results suggest that disregarding the endogeneity of firms' accreditation choices significantly underestimates the effectiveness of the accreditation system. However, on average consumers do not gain much information beyond what they have inferred from a firm's reputation. The estimates of structural parameters are then used to quantify the value of this information to consumers.     

农业投入与农业增长的灰色关联分析

运用灰色系统理论建立关联分析模型,对中国1981年～2008年间农业增长及其影响因素：农作物播种面积、农业劳动力、政府财政支农、农业贷款、农机总动力以及化肥使用量等因素进行了定量分析,认为农业投资、农机总动力和化肥使用量是促进中国农业增长的关键性生产要素,并提出了加快我国农业机械化进程,加强政府财政支农投资力度等提高我国农业生产能力的政策建议。     

新疆兵团团场农业经营体制改革的探究

我国现阶段正处于由传统农业向现代农业转变的重要时期,而转变的首要条件是农业经营模式的变革,即分散的家庭经营的传统方式转变为注重效率的集约化、专业化、市场化与规模化的现代农业的经营方式。以团场企业承包制下的个体农户的经营模式难以适应现代兵团农业发展的需求,呈现的问题如下:团场农产品竞争力已适应不了国际市场所带来的冲击,阻碍了农业向规模化、商品化、专业化转化的进程,更加满足不了带领团场职工致富的需求。鉴于诸多的问题,兵团农业经营制度的改革已迫在眉睫。     

基于可视化技术的农产品防伪溯源监控系统设计

随着中国农产品物流规模不断壮大,农产品物流系统无法从源头保证产品采摘、包装、物流中的可信性。为了解决这个问题,提出一种现场作业可视化系统,即将可视化技术应用于农产品防伪溯源监控系统中,从而满足远程管理的需求。对相关可视化技术的一般方法进行了分析,选择COFDM作为主要解决方案。农产品防伪溯源监控系统有效克服了复杂环境下的各类干扰,将物流中的实时监控信息传送到中继通信和监控设备上,并依托公用通信网络或专用通信网络进一步实现广域范围内的实时高质量监控图像传输、存储和浏览。通过实时现场视频监控,消费者可以保证买到真实可信的高质量农产品;生产者可以提高农产品的生产、运输效率,还可以提升相应产品的信誉,促进高质量农产品的销售。     

Policy coherence and food security: The effects of OECD countries’ agricultural policies

There have been important changes to agricultural policies in many OECD countries over the past decade and the international spill-over effects of support and protection have diminished. Now would be a good time to eliminate remaining distortions and put in place more efficient alternatives, including social safety nets and tools to help farmers manage risk. This would lock in the benefits of reform and simultaneously address charges of policy incoherence. In the context of high food prices, new issues have emerged with potential implications for food security. They include export restrictions, the use of biofuel mandates, and the opportunities and threats presented by increased foreign investment in agriculture. On these issues, as well as in terms of conventional support mechanisms, policies in emerging economies (in particular the BRIICS) are increasingly important. A pro-active agenda for policy coherence would involve not just eliminating policies that distort trade, but also enacting positive measures to increase food availability, for example by raising agricultural productivity, using resources sustainably, and eliminating waste and over-consumption. Across countries, there are important gains to be realised from knowledge sharing, and from multilateral action to provide global public goods – not least smoother functioning of the multilateral trading system.     

农地流转中的非农化与非粮化风险及其规避

在加快农业经营体制转变的背景下,农地流转成为必然.但是,在当前农地流转中违背“三个不得”的现象时有发生,特别是农地流转中的非农化,以及虽然从事农业,但流转的土地却不是用来种粮的非粮化.农地流转中的非农化与非粮化,对我国的粮食安全构成潜在的风险.文章力图对农地流转中的非农化和非粮化及形成机理进行分析,并阐释其危害,进而从发展家庭农场、设置耕地保护金、加大对农业的扶持、提高粮食直补和设置永久性农田基本保护区等方面进行规避风险.     

北美农业一体化趋势及影响因素分析

自上世纪90年代以来,美国、加拿大和墨西哥的农业一体化趋势不断加强。北美三国的农业政策的一致性趋向日益加强．各种类型的农产品价格的趋同程度与产品的贸易自由化程度戍正相关。北美地区内部FDI的发展进一步说明北美农业一体化程度的不断增加。在此过程中,北美自由贸易协定（NAFTA）、乌拉圭农业协定（URAA）、宏观经济环境与国内政策的变革起了重要作用。