Areas of work
Articulating and analysing policy reform options
Based on partner governments’ priorities, commitments and demand, MAFAP supports decision makers in partner countries to articulate costs and benefits of alternative policy options to promote suitable reforms.
MAFAP carries out in-depth studies on selected policy issues in different areas of the food and agricultural sector, including trade and market policies, investment and competition policy, agriculture budget allocations, and regulatory frameworks. This evidence encourages policy dialogue and fosters policy changes at country level.
Policy dialogue and engagement
MAFAP is actively engaging with policy makers to ensure the analytical results and recommendations produced by the programme feed into national policy processes, as part of inclusive and transparent policy reform processes.
MAFAP partners with various advocacy organizations to actively engage the private sector, farmers, civil society, donors and other stakeholders in policy dialogue around key food and agricultural policy problems and solutions.
Agricultural public expenditure analysis
MAFAP measures the level and composition of public expenditures in support of food and agriculture. To do this, MAFAP builds capacity in countries to monitor and analyse public expenditures, especially their allocation to sub-sectors such as research, infrastructure, subsidies, and commodities.
This helps policy-makers assess the coherence between the level and composition of their public expenditures in food and agriculture, and country objectives such as crop diversification, enhanced support to agricultural research or improvement of marketing infrastructure.
Price incentives analysis
MAFAP measures how different policies and markets affect the prices farmers receive for their products and the prices consumers pay. It compares these prices with what they would be if current policies or constraints in access to markets did not exist. When there are significant differences between calculated and observed prices, for farmers or for consumers, MAFAP examines the causes of the disparity.
Based on a solid understanding of how prices are affected, MAFAP can help policymakers explore options for enhancing incentives aimed at supporting farmers, while keeping prices affordable for consumers.
Assessing policy coherence
MAFAP tracks public expenditure related to agriculture and measures the impact of policies on the prices of key agricultural commodities.
MAFAP provide policy makers with detailed assessments of (i) the impact of food and agricultural policies on producers; (ii) public expenditure to support food and agriculture; and (iii) whether these are consistent with other government policies and objectives.
Indeed, systematically comparing policy objectives, public expenditure and policy impact helps identify opportunities for making policies more coherent, and priorities for investment.
Comparing policy performance
MAFAP uses a consistent set of indicators that help understand how different policies work in various contexts and how they affect agricultural value chains dynamics and production incentives in different countries.
This allows for cross-country comparisons and learning from good practices and successful policies on a regional basis.