The political economy of reforming agricultural support policies
Agricultural support policies cost more than US$800 billion per year in transfers to the farm sector worldwide. Support policies based on subsidies and trade barriers are highly distortive to markets and are also regressive as most support is provided to larger farmers. On balance, the incentives th...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Artículo preliminar |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
International Food Policy Research Institute
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/127455 |
| _version_ | 1855523274663919616 |
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| author | Vos, Rob Martin, Will Resnick, Danielle |
| author_browse | Martin, Will Resnick, Danielle Vos, Rob |
| author_facet | Vos, Rob Martin, Will Resnick, Danielle |
| author_sort | Vos, Rob |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Agricultural support policies cost more than US$800 billion per year in transfers to the farm sector worldwide. Support policies based on subsidies and trade barriers are highly distortive to markets and are also regressive as most support is provided to larger farmers. On balance, the incentives this support creates appear to increase greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. In addition, some subsidies undermine the production of more nutrient-dense commodities that are otherwise critical for the improvement of dietary outcomes. This paper first highlights that better outcomes could be achieved if even a small portion of agricultural subsidies were repurposed into investments in research and development (R&D) dedicated to productivity-enhancing and emission-reducing technologies. This would create multiple wins — mitigating global climate change, reducing poverty, increasing food security, and improving nutrition. Nonetheless, the political economy challenges to doing so are sizeable. Because current support policies are often politically popular and serve well-organized interests, reform is difficult without committed political leadership and multilateral collaboration. Using several case studies of both successful and failed changes of agricultural support policies in China, India, and the EU and the United States, we highlight lessons learned about the political economy constraints on and possibilities for reform. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace127455 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateRange | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1274552025-12-02T21:02:52Z The political economy of reforming agricultural support policies Vos, Rob Martin, Will Resnick, Danielle agriculture agricultural policies climate change commodities farmers food security greenhouse gas emissions markets market disruptions nutrition political systems subsidies trade barriers technology economic policies emission reduction Agricultural support policies cost more than US$800 billion per year in transfers to the farm sector worldwide. Support policies based on subsidies and trade barriers are highly distortive to markets and are also regressive as most support is provided to larger farmers. On balance, the incentives this support creates appear to increase greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. In addition, some subsidies undermine the production of more nutrient-dense commodities that are otherwise critical for the improvement of dietary outcomes. This paper first highlights that better outcomes could be achieved if even a small portion of agricultural subsidies were repurposed into investments in research and development (R&D) dedicated to productivity-enhancing and emission-reducing technologies. This would create multiple wins — mitigating global climate change, reducing poverty, increasing food security, and improving nutrition. Nonetheless, the political economy challenges to doing so are sizeable. Because current support policies are often politically popular and serve well-organized interests, reform is difficult without committed political leadership and multilateral collaboration. Using several case studies of both successful and failed changes of agricultural support policies in China, India, and the EU and the United States, we highlight lessons learned about the political economy constraints on and possibilities for reform. 2022-12-31 2023-01-18T20:06:45Z 2023-01-18T20:06:45Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/127455 en http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36875 https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134440 https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134701 https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896292147_ch6 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Vos, Rob; Martin, Will; and Resnick, Danielle. 2022. The political economy of reforming agricultural support policies. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2163. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136545. |
| spellingShingle | agriculture agricultural policies climate change commodities farmers food security greenhouse gas emissions markets market disruptions nutrition political systems subsidies trade barriers technology economic policies emission reduction Vos, Rob Martin, Will Resnick, Danielle The political economy of reforming agricultural support policies |
| title | The political economy of reforming agricultural support policies |
| title_full | The political economy of reforming agricultural support policies |
| title_fullStr | The political economy of reforming agricultural support policies |
| title_full_unstemmed | The political economy of reforming agricultural support policies |
| title_short | The political economy of reforming agricultural support policies |
| title_sort | political economy of reforming agricultural support policies |
| topic | agriculture agricultural policies climate change commodities farmers food security greenhouse gas emissions markets market disruptions nutrition political systems subsidies trade barriers technology economic policies emission reduction |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/127455 |
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