Handbook of International Food and Agricultural Policies (in 3 Volumes)

1210 Pages·2011·15.079 MB·English

by  Josling, Timothy

HANDBOOK OF
INTERNATIONAL FOOD AND
AGRICULTURAL POLICIES
I Policies for Agricultural Markets
and Rural Economic Activity
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HANDBOOK OF
INTERNATIONAL FOOD AND
AGRICULTURAL POLICIES
Editor-in-Chief
Tim Josling
Stanford University
I Policies for Agricultural Markets
and Rural Economic Activity
Editors
William H. Meyers and Thomas Johnson
University of Missouri, USA
World Scientific
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Josling, Tim, 1940– editor.
Title: Handbook of international food and agricultural policies / by editor:
Timothy Josling, (Stanford University), USA, [and four others].
Other titles: Policies for agricultural markets and rural economic activity. | Policies for food safety and quality,
improved nutrition, and food security. | International trade rules for food and agricultural products.
Description: New Jersey : World Scientific, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references.
Contents: Volume I. Policies for agricultural markets and rural economic activity --
Volume II. Policies for food safety and quality, improved nutrition, and food security --
Volume III. International trade rules for food and agricultural products.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017024334| ISBN 9789813226289 (hc set : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9789813226319 (hc: v.i : alk. paper) | ISBN 9789813226326 (hc: v.ii : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9789813226333 (hc: v.iii : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Food industry and trade. | Nutrition policy. | Agriculture and state.
Classification: LCC HD9000.6 .H345 2017 | DDC 338/.1/8--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017024334
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copyright © 2018 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to
be invented, without written permission from the publisher.
For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center,
Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from
the publisher.
Desk Editors: Kalpana Bharanikumar/Jiang Yulin
Typeset by Stallion Press
Email: [email protected]
Printed in Singapore
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Preface
There are few more sensitive areas of public policy than the support and regulation
of a nation’s farm and food sectors. The agricultural sector plays an important role
in the national economy in many countries, and even when overshadowed by other
sectors farming is commonly the mainstay of the rural economy. The sector pro-
vides food for consumers, a livelihood for farm families, a main source of employ-
ment of labor in rural areas and the de facto management of the countryside. Thus,
the public support for the sector has many facets: agricultural policies have
focused on the management of the markets for farm produce as well as the provi-
sion of public goods in rural areas, and the regulation of the food sector has com-
monly focused on promoting food safety and ensuring adequate information for
consumers to make their decisions. In nations where poverty restricts access to
food supplies, food policy takes on an additional role as a vital element of social
and health policy. Moreover, most countries engage in international trade in farm
and food products as exporters or importers (and commonly as both.) For export-
ing countries sales of food products and raw materials can often be a major source
of foreign exchange. Importers rely on production in other countries to comple-
ment their own agricultural capacity. For many low-income countries trade is an
essential aspect of food security. Thus, trade concerns play a major role in shaping
the international face of domestic farm and food policy.
It would be possible to treat these farm and food policies as individual, idio-
syncratic and eclectic entities driven solely by domestic social, political and eco-
nomic concerns. But this would miss an important and absorbing aspect of this
policy space. Countries both rich and poor, for instance, face essentially the same
set of problems when confronted with the challenges of fluctuations in weather
and erratic world market conditions. How they react to these challenges is
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vi Preface
instructive. Fundamental structural changes relating to agriculture as economies
develop is a further common feature. And the adoption of new technology poses
additional challenges of adjustment for the farm sector in all countries. Farming
sheds labor as productivity increases and the availability of off-farm jobs often
determines the pace of this adjustment. Rural development policy in most cases
aims to smooth the transition from a rural economy dominated by small farms and
weak infrastructure to a competitive economic sector, complete with jobs, roads
and markets to complement the expanding urban areas. Food policies also address
similar problems in different countries, whether the task is to protect the food sup-
ply from contamination and arrest the spread of food-borne disease or to provide
consumers with information on diets and prevent misleading claims by food firms.
Also, the external implications of such national policies have provided a stimulus
to the development of trade rules for farm and food products and a legal system to
reduce the tensions that surface when such rules are stretched to their limits.
The structure of the Handbook reflects this commonality among countries and
the linkages among policy fields. Volume I deals with the variety of ways that
countries have addressed the problems of support for agricultural markets and the
promotion of rural economic activity. The volume contains an introduction, nine-
teen chapters spanning different developed and developing countries, and a com-
prehensive synthesis of lessons to be drawn from the experiences of the individual
countries. The range of policy options may be relatively narrow when it comes to
regulating domestic markets but the method chosen has direct impacts on food
prices and affordability. Considerably more variety exists in rural development
policy, tied as it is to particular demographic and social conditions, but lessons can
still be learned from the experience of other countries.
Policies that relate directly to the food sector are addressed in Volume II which
examines the experience of countries with food policies, including those dealing
with food safety and quality and the responsibility for food security in developing
countries. The chapters address issues such as obesity, nutritional supplements,
organic foods, food assistance programs, biotech food acceptance, and the place
of private standards. Though significant differences exist among countries in the
problems faced, the methods used by authorities to regulate foods are broadly
similar. Even food assistance programs employ a similar range of modalities, and
though considered a mark of rich countries they have been adopted by many coun-
tries once thought too poor to afford such policies. Food policies that are aimed at
preventing the importation of unwanted pathogens and impure foods have a direct
impact on other countries involved in trade. In addition, the control of animal and
plant diseases requires widespread cooperation. Human health issues related to
food also have an international dimension that demands coordination. Also, with
the global spread of supermarkets and the concentration of the market for
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Preface vii
processed foods, private labels and the associated brand identities have become
universal.
The ways in which domestic agricultural and food markets are supported
influences other countries through trade impacts, and therefore are of interest to
trading partners. Conversely the rules negotiated in bilateral, regional and multi-
lateral agreements impact the range of domestic policies that are available.
Volume III describes and explains the international trade dimension of farm
and food policies. The negotiation of multilateral rules for farm and food policies
in the Uruguay Round some 20 years ago was intended to prevent conflicts and
reduce transaction costs for traders while allowing consumers wider choices of
food and guiding producers to become more competitive. The establishment of
agreed rules for technical regulations in the area of food safety has contributed to
the expansion of trade in foods. These rules influence and constrain individual
governments in their choice of domestic policies as well as in trade policy. The
volume also looks at the steps that countries are together taking to meet the needs
of developing and low-income countries.
A companion volume looking at the future resource scarcity and climate
change challenges for global agriculture will be published in the future. The
capacity to feed a growing global population depends on the sustainable use of
available resources. But the related questions of water availability and the need for
continued increase in yields poses several challenges for the future. Climate
change may be the most critical issue but the way in which countries can facilitate
adaptation will in the end determine the impact of rainfall and temperature varia-
tions on the regional and global food supply.
This Handbook is intended to provide an accessible reference volume for
those interested in the aims and implementation of food and farm policies through-
out the world. The treatment is authoritative, comprehensive and forward looking.
The volumes combine scholarship and pragmatism, relating academic writing to
real-world issues faced by policy-makers. As such it will be of particular use to
students interested in economic development, agricultural markets and food sys-
tems; professionals involved in observing and regulating agricultural and food
markets; private sector researchers and executives in the food industry and related
areas; and the general public looking to see how their food system is influenced
by government policies.
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About the Authors
Ramatu M. Al-Hassan is Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural
Economics & Agribusiness, University of Ghana, Legon.
Bill Ashton is the Director of the Rural Development Institute, Brandon University.
Ray D. Bollman is a Research Affiliate of the Rural Development Institute,
Brandon University.
Linda Courtenay Botterill is Professor in Australian Politics and Head of the
School of Government & Policy in the Faculty of Business, Government & Law
at the University of Canberra.
Karen Brooks is Director, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions,
and Markets led by The International Food Policy Research Institute.
John Bryden is a Political Economist and a Research Professor at the Norwegian
Institute for Bioeconomy Research and Emeritus Professor, University of
Aberdeen, Scotland.
Kevin Chen is Senior Research Fellow and China Program Leader, International
Food Policy Research Institute.
Geoff Cockfield is Professor in the School of Commerce and Institute of
Agriculture and Environment, University of Southern Queensland.
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