Rethinking agricultural input subsidy programmes in a changing world (Draft FAO Commodities and Trade Technical Paper)
Recent years have seen a resurgent interest in large scale input subsidies, and particularly fertilizer subsidies, in agricultural development and food security policies in Africa. [ more... ]

Value-adding standards in the North American food market. Trade opportunities in certified products for developing countries. FAO Commodities and Trade Technical Paper No. 11
This publication analyses the use of voluntary standards and certification schemes in the food markets of the United States and Canada. With its large population and its high individual purchasing power, North America provides considerable opportunities for exports of value added agricultural products. Consumers are increasingly attentive to the social, economic, and environmental aspects of food production as evidenced by the significant expansion of certified food sales in both natural food stores and mainstream supermarket chains. North America ranks just behind Europe, the world leading region in terms of certified food sales. [ more... ]

Rural household vulnerability and insurance against commodity risks: evidence from the United Republic of Tanzania by Alexander Sarris and Luc Christiaensen. Commodities and Trade Technical Paper No. 10.
This report assesses the nature and the extent of vulnerability among rural households in Tanzania, and the potential role for market based insurance schemes. [ more... ]

Agriculture and poverty in commodity dependent African countries: a rural household perspective from the United Republic of Tanzania by Alexander Sarris, Sara Savastano and Luc Christiaensen. Commodities and Trade Technical Paper No. 9.
This report explores how farm productivity affects poverty, and how various factor market constraints affect farm productivity. The empirical analysis draws on representative surveys of farm households in Kilimanjaro and Ruvuma, two cash crop growing regions in Tanzania. Poorer households were found not only to possess fewer assets, but also to be much less productive. Findings show that agricultural productivity directly affects household consumption and hence overall poverty and welfare. Stochastic production frontier analysis indicates that many farmers are farming well below best practice in the region. Holding inputs constant, they attain on average only 60 percent of the output obtained by their best counterparts. [ more... ]

The agricultural dimension of the ACP-EU Economic Partnership Agreements. Edited by Suffyan Koroma and J.R. Deep Ford. FAO Commodities and Trade Technical Paper No. 8.
The African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries are facing several major sets of closely interlinked forces that are likely to have significant impact on the development of their agriculture (including fisheries) sectors and their food security situation. [ more... ]

Small island developing states. Agricultural production and trade, preferences and policy. FAO Commodities and Trade Technical Paper No. 7.
This report is meant to contribute to the continuing debate related to small states and their agriculture sectors in the multilateral trade framework. It looks at the specific challenges faced by small states and the importance of non-reciprocal preferences. [ more... ]

Production and export of organic fruit and vegetables in Asia. Pascal Liu. FAO Commodities and Trade Technical Paper No. 6.
This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions that took place during the International Seminar on Producing and Exporting Organic Fruit and Vegetables in Asia that was held in Bangkok, Thailand, in November 2003. It describes the market situation and outlook for organic horticultural products, the opportunities offered by the main import markets (North America, the European Union and Japan) and their import requirements. [ more... ]

Voluntary standards and certification for environmentally and socially responsible agricultural production and trade. Pascal Liu, Mikkel Andersen, Catherine Pazderka. FAO Commodities and Trade Technical Paper No. 5.
This publication is a summary of the presentations and discussions that took place during the meeting on "Voluntary standards and certification for environmentally and socially responsible agricultural production and trade" organized by FAO in April 2004. It presents the situation of the main import markets for certified products and the evolution of demand. Case studies aimed at comparing sustainable farming methods with conventional methods are presented. [ more... ]

The Market for Non Traditional Agricultural Exports. David Hallam, Gill Lavers, Pascal Liu, Paul Pilkauskas, George Rapsomanikis, Julie Claro. FAO Commodities and Trade Technical Paper No. 3.
The last decade has witnessed a steady decline in the dollar values of many of the traditional agricultural export crops (TAEs) from developing countries and has highlighted the risks of depending upon a very narrow export base for foreign exchange earnings. Breaking the dependence upon the traditional primary commodities and diversifying into higher value or added value exports is not easy. [ more... ]

Environmental and Social Standards, Certification and Labelling for Cash Crops. Cora Dankers, Pascal Liu. FAO Commodities and Trade Technical Paper No. 2.
A variety of voluntary social and environmental standards and certification programmes in agriculture have appeared during the past twenty years. [ more... ]