Agricultural Policy Design and Implementation

Evaluation of the relevance of border protection for agriculture in Switzerland

“…But price support is a second-best instrument for addressing problems associated with the market failures that arise when social and private preferences diverge. Because border protection stimulates domestic production, it can increase the production of negative externalities, such as those outlined in Box 4.2, while there is no certainty that the desired amounts of any positive environmental externalities will be reached (van Tongeren, 2008). This is because support provided through border protection is not targeted to the aspects of agricultural production that determine environmental outcomes, or to environmentally sensitive areas (for example, hillsides or riverine areas).…”

“…Livestock production systems can have negative effects on animal welfare, which creates a negative externality for (some) consumers and for society as a whole. As a general principle, problems of animal welfare are addressed through measures that are directed at the production methods that cause the problem, such as regulations to impose minimum standards or incentives to implement animal-friendly production systems (OECD, 2001;van Tongeren, 2008). This is the case in Switzerland, where societal concern for animal welfare is addressed through stringent mandatory requirements, and a system of direct payments for production systems to compensate for the higher costs of meeting more stringent voluntary standards.…”

“…For example, the Flåm tourist train in Norway was a collaboration between a group of farmers, a private railroad company, a local government organisation and a landscape management firm over the period 2000-02. Under this initiative, farmers were compensated for providing a positive externality to the users of the Flåm Railwayby letting goats graze near the railway track, the travellers could enjoy an even more magnificent view of the landscape through the windows of the coaches while the train slowly made its way up the mountains (van Tongeren, 2008).…”

Trends and evaluation of agricultural policy in India

“…Assessments of state-specific agricultural issues and policies emphasise the importance for agricultural development of improvements in irrigation, electricity supply (including solar), roads, rice varieties, crop and livestock diversification, drought proofing, marketing and procurement, land leasing, and downstream cold storage and food processing facilities (Verma et al, 2017;Hoda et al, 2017a;Hoda et al, 2017b;. The priority put on any single one of these subjects depends on the decision of the state government.…”

Strategies for Addressing Smallholder Agriculture and Facilitating Structural Transformation

“…Most of the programmes directed to smallholders fall into the PSE categories of input use subsidies These subsidies in the short-run tend to increase output and can generate surpluses that can allow market participation. But it is known that, even when they try to address market imperfections, this type of support tends to crowd out private markets and distort markets and in the long-run turns out to be highly costly (OECD, 2005b;Van Tongeren, F. 2008;OECD, 2012a;OECD, 2013a). These subsidies also reduce farm-level incentive for productivity growth, which contradicts longer-term policy objectives.…”