As part of its climate change policy the Australian government has introduced aMandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) scheme and is also attempting to introduce a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS). Using as a case study a main agricultural region of Australia, this paper examines how farming systems in this region may be affected by the medium term policy settings of these two schemes. A bio-economic model of the region’s farming systems is developed and used to assess the schemes’ impacts on the nature and profitability of the farming systems.

This social assessment (SA) was conducted under the Fergana Valley Water Resources Management Project (FVWRMP), which is providing assistance to the Government of Tajikistan to address irrigation and drainage deficiencies in Eastern Sughd. The main SA objectives were to understand how prevailing structures of water provision, land reforms, and gender relations impact rural livelihoods; to analyze experiences in establishing inclusive Water Users Associations (WUAs); and to provide recommendations to FVWRMP with the aim of enhancing its programs.

Climate change presents a profound challenge to food security and development. Negative impacts from climate change are likely to be greatest in regions that are currently food insecure and may even be significant in those regions that have made large gains in reducing food insecurity over the past half-century. Adaptation in the agricultural sector is being given a high priority within this effort because of the inherent sensitivity of food production to climate and the strong inter-linkages that exist between climate, agriculture, and economic growth and development.

Reforms in recent decades have sharply reduced the distortions affecting agriculture in developing countries, particularly by cuts to agricultural export taxes and by some reductions in government assistance to agriculture in high-income countries, but international trade in farm products continues to be far more distorted than trade in nonfarm goods. This paper summarizes a series of empirical studies that focus on the effects of the remaining distortions to world merchandise trade for poverty and inequality, especially in developing countries.

Après avoir été largement négligée pendant plus de deux décennies, l’agriculture figure désormais au premier rang des priorités de développement en Afrique. Étant donné l’importance cruciale de ce secteur dans la plupart des pays du continent, les chefs d’État et de gouvernement de l’Union africaine ont choisi, en juillet 2001, de l’incorporer en tant que seul productif parmi les cinq priorités sectorielles du Nouveau Partenariat pour le développement de l’Afrique. Ce choix a été plus tard renforcé par l’initiative du Secrétaire général de l’ONU en faveur de la révolution verte africaine.

Consejo (de ministros) Agropecuario del Sur, vigencia y utilidad
Alcira Córdova Avilés*

Contains mix-and-match ministries, separating Land Reform from Agriculture, dualism and the ‘missing middle’, rethinking rural development, what are the policy alternatives?

En términos de cifras sociales y económicas el país ha experimentado cambios notables: junto a un crecimiento económico sostenido, que se ha traducido en un aumento significativo del ingreso per cápita, ha existido un conjunto de políticas sociales que ha permitido reducir la pobreza y mejorar la infraestructura y servicios públicos y su cobertura. Pero la otra cara de lo anterior muestra un escenario muy poco alentador: déficit social.

Comparative analysis of U.S. and EU policies on the conservation of wildlife biodiversity.
Presented to USDA Economists Group, Washington, DC

Many adaptation measures urgently needed in agriculture today as a consequence of climate change concern water in agriculture and were already devised and implemented in the 1980s as a part of rural development activities. However, most of the experience and knowledge have sunk without trace. Systematic knowledge management at that time would have made it possible to benefit from this experience today in the planning and implementation of water-related adaptation measures, providing effective support for these measures and hastening their implementation.

The world food crisis has spurred foreign direct investments (FDI) into arable land in developing countries. While significant financial inflows into agricultural sectors could be beneficial on a global scale, it could negatively affect local livelihoods. This article provides an overview of the different types of FDI in land. In addition, examples of investment flows are illustrated in an overview and a sustainable impact matrix outlines the occurring effects. Finally, requirements of avoiding negative effects are presented, to achieve a Pareto-efficient win-win situation.