This report is the culmination of a three-year research project that brought together forty members and partners of ILC to examine the characteristics, drivers and impacts and trends of rapidly increasing commercial pressures on land.The report strongly urges models of investment that do not involve large-scale land acquisitions, but rather work together with local land users, respecting their land rights and the ability of small-scale farmers themselves to play a key role in investing to meet the food and resource demands of the future.The conclusions of the report are based on case studie

A sample of 24 districts (1/3 of the Czech Republic) was used to evaluate the land market. Land prices depended on the area, culture and region of the plot. Sales of small plots (up to 1 ha) prevailed. These plots were usually purchased for non-agricultural use and their prices were many times higher than prices of large plots (above 5 ha) which are usually bought for agricultural purpose. Land market is not well developed, only 0.2-0.4% of the monitored area was sold each year. Compared with land prices in the west EU countries, land market prices in the Czech Republic are low.

Great share of rented land in total utilised area as well as a significant variability of land rent and market prices of land causes a need of research that would assess which factors influence the land rent as well as the price of land and how significant such factor are in each state. The average land rent is significantly lower in new EU member states than in the EU 15 members. There is a strong dependence of land rent on the intensity of production. Subsidies have moderate to medium influence.

This paper discusses potential solutions to the current impasse related to food security stocks, including a concrete proposal by the author on language to be included in the Agreement on Agriculture that may help comply with the mandate of the Bali Ministerial to find a solution in the next four years. The paper begins with an explanation of the background to the debate of the links between food security and WTO agricultural and trade negotiations and the interim solution (the peace clause) agreed upon at Bali.

The AgriTech Toolbox enables researchers and policymakers to examine how alternative agricultural practices and technologies can impact farm yields, food prices, natural resource use, hunger, malnutrition, land use and global trade in 2050, when climate change impacts may be severe. As a result, it can inform the right mix of policies and investments needed to tackle the challenges agriculture faces in the coming decades. The AgriTech toolbox models the impacts of 10 technologies on farm yields, food prices, natural resource use, hunger, malnutrition, land use and global trade.

Working paper

More than 300 million Africans, about 30 percent of the total population, live more than one day away from the nearest port. Even when ports lie within a few hundred miles, typically sparse road networks, poor maintenance, and limited transportation infrastructure translate into high access costs. The larger map illustrates cost-of-travel accessibility to 63 major African ports, based on port type, size, and capacity in terms of the estimated total number of hours, both off and on the road network, required to travel from any location in Africa to the nearest port.

Utilizing a spatial multi-market model for rice in Nigeria that explicitly takes into account the potential for smuggling, in this paper we analyze the welfare implications of alternative rice tariff rates given the government’s goals of spurring domestic production and reducing imports.

"Agricultural research has greatly increased the yields of important staple food crops, and for many people this has meant more food availability and trade opportunities. Yet many people in rural areas in developing countries still live in abject poverty. Therefore, policymakers, donors, and researchers are refocusing their priorities away from simply producing more food to making sure that agricultural research benefits the poor in particular. How can we ensure that new agricultural technologies are appropriate for the different groups of people who most need assistance?

"A key objective of China's reform program was to reduce distortions in the economic system and enhance growth. However, when implemented in incremental and partial ways, local governments or individuals have chance to capture rents inherent in the reform process. Young (2000) warned that the rent-seeking behavior might lead to increasing market fragmentation. Empirical studies have since shown that this did not happen in the product markets.

Book

Book chapter