Working papers

Innovative agricultural finance and risk management: Strengthening food production and trade in the transition region

A working paper entitled "Innovative agricultural finance and risk management" has been published by FAO’s Investment Centre Division in collaboration with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The publication looks into the issue of risk management in agricultural finance in transition countries. These countries - like Kazakhstan, Ukraine...

Food security and the transition region

Population growth, accelerated urbanization and higher incomes are expected to lead to an increase in food demand by about 70 percent by 2050 – involving 1 billion extra tons of cereals and 200 million extra tons of meat. A FAO/EBRD report, presented at the occasion of EBRD's donor meeting on 29...

Commodity exchanges in Europe and Central Asia: A means for management of price risk

This study discusses commodity exchange in the European and Central Asian (ECA) region as a tool for risk management. There are well over two-hundred entities active in the region that call themselves “commodity exchange” (and many more registered commodity exchanges that are no longer active) but most exchanges would not...

National policies to support the modernization of farm machinery in CIS countries

This report was prepared under the FAO/World Bank Cooperative Programme in the context of the "Agricultural Mechanization: the Next Challenge for Agriculture in Low- and Middle-Income Countries" project. It examines the policies that currently support the improvement of farm mechanization, i.e. investments in farm machinery and equipment, in selected Commonwealth...

The use of warehouse receipt finance in agriculture in transition countries

This paper discusses the state of warehouse receipt finance in countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA), and possibilities for enhancing its use. It describes legal and regulatory issues that need to be resolved, and how the international community can help in the process.

Postharvest credit in the form of warehouse receipt finance...

International grain reserves and other instruments to address volatility in grain markets

In view of the controversies surrounding the topic of grain stocks and other instruments to reduce price volatility in food commodity markets, and at the request of the Organizing Committee of the World Grain Forum 2009, the three sponsoring committees, The World Bank (WB), the Food and Agriculture Organization of...