This booklet synthesizes findings from analysis of agricultural policy and performance in three African countries: Cameroon, Ghana and Mali. Case studies of each of these countries were undertaken as part of the Support for African Agriculture Project (SAAP), a project largely financed by the...

This paper discusses a number of issues arising from the contiguous development of public and private quality standards, predominately in developed countries. The paper is an exploratory examination of the ways in which public and private food quality standards interact with each other in modern...

The main findings of the paper are based on the OECD survey of policy initiatives in diet, health and nutrition and a review of the relevant literature. Overall survey responses indicate that most efforts focus on two main types of activities: first, increasing information on diet and health to...

Societal concerns as they pertain to farming activities play an important role today in the development of national policies. How such concerns are perceived varies from one society to another as do the policy responses (economic instruments and regulations) that governments put in place. These...

Measures were taken by many developing country governments to mitigate consequences of high international agricultural commodity prices from mid 2006 until mid 2008, and to block their transmission to domestic markets, with varying degrees of success and cost. A significant international...

This paper examines whether the growth in agricultural trade of 69 countries between 1996 and 2006 has taken place at the intensive or the extensive margin. The paper addresses the questions: have agricultural exports during this period expanded more through the intensive margin (more exports of...

Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is one of the most contagious animal diseases. Because of the easy transfer between animals, FMD is of importance to the domestic market, but also to international agricultural trade. Infected countries are often confronted with rigorous measures implemented by their...

This paper suggests some avenues to explore as new sources of value creation and capture in the agro-food sector. The range of opportunities for value creation is vast, and this paper does not pretend to be exhaustive. New strategies are being prepared by different stakeholders in the sector, in...

Agri-food sectors have been going through a remarkable transformation worldwide. This process has been accompanied by an increasing use of contracts, which raises concerns about market transparency, possible consequences for actors of the food supply chains and the role a government in this...

This report proposes a methodology to express OECD indicators of support in real terms and establishes specific purchasing power parities for a broad range of commodities so as to compare developments in output volume and prices at an aggregate level. It analyses the evolution of prices, farm...