Suchergebnisse

The agricultural and food sector is an ideal case for investigating the political economy of public policies. Many of the policy developments in this sector since the 1950s have been sudden and transformational, while others have been gradual but persistent. This article reviews and synthesizes the literature on trends and fuctuations in market distortions and the political-economy explanations that have been advanced. Based on a rich global data set covering a half-century of evidence on commodities, countries, and policy instruments, we identify hypotheses that have been explored in the literature on the extent of market distortions and the conditions under which reform may be feasible.

Die seit einiger Zeit einsetzenden Preissteigerungen für Getreide, Milch und Milcherzeugnisse verunsichern die Verbraucher, waren Nahrungsmittelpreise doch über Jahrzehnte stabil. Welche Entwicklungen haben zu den Preisanhebungen geführt? Für Stefan Tangermann, OECD, sind die Märkte für Agrarprodukte und damit auch diejenigen für Lebensmittel in der EU "in ein neues Zeitalter eingetreten". Die Agrarpolitik sei reformiert worden, und damit seien die Agrarpreise in der EU zurückgegangen. Gleichzeitig seien die Weltmarktpreise für Agrarprodukte deutlich angestiegen. Beide Preisbewegungen hätten sich jetzt getroffen, und zum ersten Mal führten die Entwicklungen an den weltweiten Agrarmärkten auch in der EU zu Preisbewegungen. Auch Ursula Heinen, Bundesministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz, weist darauf hin, dass die Funktion des Preises als Indikator für Knappheit auf den Agrarmärkten wieder stärker zum Tragen kommt und Produktionsentscheidungen in der Landwirtschaft vom Marktpreis und nicht von staatlich festgelegten Stützpreisen bestimmt werden. In der Gesellschaft sei ein Umdenken notwendig: "Wer Gutes erwartet - und die hier produzierten Lebensmittel erfüllen diese Erwartungen - muss auch bereit sein, hierfür einen angemessenen Preis zu zahlen." Christian Thorun, Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband, schätzt die Erhöhung der Lebensmittelpreise "von der Tendenz her berechtigt, in der Höhe nicht immer nachvollziehbar" ein. Bernhard Brümmer, Universität Göttingen, weist darauf hin, dass zwar die Entwicklung, die insbesondere seit dem zweiten Quartal dieses Jahres zu beobachten sei, zu mehr als einer Verdopplung der (nominalen) Preise seit 2005 geführt habe. Es sei aber auch klar, dass damit bei weitem noch nicht die Preisspitzen beispielsweise der siebziger Jahre erreicht worden seien. Es handele sich bei den heute geltenden Preisen keineswegs um historische Höchststände.

Der Preisauftrieb auf den internationalen Märkten für Getreide, Milch und Milcherzeugnisse hat bei Landwirten eine Aufbruchstimmung aufkommen lassen, bei Verbrauchern und bei den Unternehmen der betroffenen Wirtschaftszweige aber Verunsicherung bewirkt. Unsicherheit besteht vor allem in der Einschätzung, ob es sich gegenwärtig um eine eher zufällige und vorübergehende Konstellation auf den Märkten handelt, oder ob eine Wende auf den Weltagrarmärkte eingetreten ist. Der Beitrag zeigt die verschiedenen Wirkungszusammenhänge auf, die die bisherige Markt- und Preisentwicklung bestimmt haben und die zukünftige Entwicklung beeinflussen.

In the past two years in Romania, it was recorded one of the sharpest decreases in the amount of cow's milk collected by processing units and at the same time a sharp decline in the price of milk, compared with the average price in the European Union. The obvious conclusion is that milk production in Romania is facing serious problems. This indicates that the milk processing industry and Romanian farmers were not prepared to face the barrier removal of milk quotas. Cattle breeders organizations indicates that many livestock farms in the country are in danger to close due to bad relationship of farmers with processors and repeated delays in paying subsidies from the state. These organizations also argued that the domestic market is flooded with milk imported by the processors, milk that is cheaper because the subsidies granted in countries of origin are higher and received on time. In this context, this study makes an analysis of the current situation of the sector growth of dairy cattle starting from its structure, milk supply (livestock, domestic production, costs of production, import) demand, price capitalization, and finally, based on the analyzed elements, resulting in a series of proposals and recommendations.

The Agricultural Cooperative is an autonomous association of natural and / or legal persons, as the case may be, a private legal person established on the basis of the expressed consent of the parties in order to promote the interests of cooperative members in accordance with the principles of cooperation. In the course of the paper we will present the laws of agricultural co-operation, professional associations and the role of cooperatives in the development of agriculture. Also, the types and forms of agricultural cooperation in the European Union will be presented. To create agricultural producers in associative forms new opportunities for economic development are opened by attracting regional, zonal or local advantages and using collective power in order to increase the prosperity of members, their families and the communities they are part of. The cooperative can carry out several types of activities that have various benefits for members and help them achieve these goals.

This paper evaluates the correlations between European cereal prices in up to 87 markets of 24 Member States. History and geography play a role: The highest correlations are observed between closely located internal markets of the "old" Union; prices are more correlated along transport routes, in particular rivers. We observe that 10 years after the Accession (8 in the case of Rumania and Bulgaria) we do not have a complete integration between the "old" and the "new" Member States. We advance several possible explanations: Weaker producers' organisations, lack of storage facilities, less efficient transport facilities.

In der Diskussion über die Fortführung der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik nach 2014 spielen die entkoppelten Direktzahlungen eine dominierende Rolle. Während sich die Debatte innerhalb der EU vor allem um die langfristige Begründung solcher Direktzahlungen dreht, steht aus Sicht der internationalen Handelspartner stärker die Frage im Vordergrund, inwieweit von den formal entkoppelten Zahlungen nicht doch Produktions- und damit Handelswirkungen ausgehen. Vor diesem Hintergrund werden in der vorliegenden Studie zunächst die theoretischen Wirkungen, die von formal entkoppelten Direktzahlungen auf die Erzeugung von Agrargütern ausgehen können, erörtert. Anschließend wird mit Hilfe einer empirischen Analyse der Handelsströme bei ausgewählten Agrarprodukten im Export nach Westafrika untersucht, ob sich aus der Entwicklung der Ausfuhren im Zeitablauf Wirkungen auf die Produktion in den Destinationsländern ableiten lassen. Insgesamt wird deutlich, dass die Einfuhren Westafrikas nicht länger allein von der Agrarexportpolitik der EU abhängen; mit zunehmender Integration in den internationalen Agrarhandel sind lokale Märkte weiter stark beeinflusst, ohne dass dies eindeutig der EU-Handelspolitik anzulasten wäre. Die insgesamt eher skeptische Bewertung des Instruments der Direktzahlungen rührt daher weniger aus ihrer Handelswirkung, sondern stärker aus ihrer mangelnden Zielgenauigkeit für die vorgegebenen Ziele der Einkommens- und der Umweltpolitik her.

In general, the competitiveness of an individual enterprise is a matter of its ability to maintain or increase its market share over the longer term. Expressed in different terms, competitiveness is an enterprise's capacity to remain profitable under given market conditions. The same holds true for agriculture. The factors governing the survival of an agricultural enterprise are not only the supply of fixed inputs, the productivity of the inputs applied and the input prices, but also government subsidies and taxes. The prime decisive factor, however, is the demand for the agro-food products. Apart from the manner and extent of market regulation, a major determinant whether a farm can hold its own in the face of foreign competition on foreign and domestic markets is the exchange rate which, in turn, is governed by a series of non-agricultural factors. Compared to the European Union, agricultural production in the CEFTA countries features low average costs and low output prices. This has not been achieved by virtue of high standards of technology or management, but is attributable to exchange rates. With exchange rates working in their favour, agricultural enterprises in the CEFTA countries have been able to live with a relatively low level of subsidies. Discussions on competitiveness thus tend to focus on cost-related competitiveness. Where the CEFTA countries are concerned, this concentration on costs is particularly marked. However, this might well be a lopsided approach. The decisive issue is market power competitiveness in markets. In economic terms, the first half of the 1990s was the most difficult phase for the CEFTA countries. Yet even in more recent years they have not been immune to setbacks as evidenced primarily by Romania. Measured in terms of real GDP growth, the economies of Poland and Hungary experienced a pronounced upswing. Economic growth in Slovenia was somewhat slower, yet constant and very balanced. With the government taking steps to set the country's economy on a firmer footing, Slovakia had to accept a slowdown in growth. Over the past few months, however, all CEFTA countries have registered an improvement in their economies. The boom in Western Europe has spread to the CEFTA countries, most of whose economic structures have improved to such an extent that the openings they offer can also be used to good effect. There are several reasons for the financial difficulties that farmers are yet facing. Over the past ten years, domestic and foreign markets, or shares therein, have been lost; furthermore, agricultural subsidies have been slashed, particularly in the early years of transformation, and given the dramatic rise in input prices, cost pressures have increased, outstripping the rise in output prices. In some CEFTA countries, farms are deeply in debt. In Slovakia and the Czech Republic numerous enterprises have accumulated claims outstanding and thus find themselves unable to service their own debts in an orderly manner. At present, competitiveness in CEFTA agriculture is low. Most enterprises have not been modernized and the whole sector is fraught with structural shortcomings. In addition, for the farmers in the EU-15 and thus the farmers in Austria as well, applying the CAP regulations from the very first day of EU membership will reduce the threat of ruinous competition from the new member countries in the years to come.

To eradicate poverty, pro-market policies were implemented in Uganda. This article reveals that the policies did not improve the welfare of peasants. Instead, the peasants were made to depend on the market as a result of the harsh environment created that compelled them to increasingly abandon self-provisioning farming. Consequently, the people are increasingly faced with food shortages and the number of children dying of malnutrition is on the rise while land seizures are taking place. JEL Classification: Q02, Q11, Q15

Aggregate export supply function for US corn and bilateral import functions for US corn by Mexico, Japan, China, South Korea, and the EU are estimated using ARDL estimation techniques. The findings of the study show that export price, technology, and lagged exports impact positively on US corn exports, while real effective exchange rates and ethanol production negatively impact US corn export. In addition, the current import price had a negative effect on Mexico, China, and the EU demand for US corn. However, for Japan and South Korea, it is the previous price that negatively affects corn import. More so, livestock production, NAFTA and WTO involvement positively affected corn import by all importing countries. Also, the Chinese population positively impacted corn import from the US. GDP in Mexico, Japan, South Korea, and the EU had a positive effect on corn imports, while China's GDP impacted negatively on corn imports. More so, the US has a more price elastic supply of corn. Mexico, Japan, South Korea, and the EU have price inelastic demand for US corn, while China has price elastic demand suggesting China is very price sensitive. The results of this study have important implications for global corn trade and the US economy. The results suggest that increases in livestock production in all importing countries could lead to a significant increase in demand for U.S. corn. Also, policies that enhance NAFTA and WTO could lead to a dramatic increase in demand for U.S. corn.

This study analyzes factors affecting rice production and consumption in Indonesia from 1990-2014, the data source is from Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS). The method used is model of multiple linear regression equation with ordinary least square estimator (OLS). Our findings indicate that rice production can be affected by human capital, labor, wages, wetland, urban population, and rice prices; on the other side, technology has no effect on rice production. Other findings on the rice consumption model were influenced by human capital, per capita income, population, and consumption the previous year, and meanwhile, rice prices has no effect to rice consumption in Indonesia. It's an important note for the government in making the right program policies such as the development of better irrigation systems, empowering the farmers by providing regular training, subsidizing material inputs to farmers, expanding farmland for farmers. Meanwhile, the government needs to create policy such as food diversification, price stabilization security, the increase of rice stock, and other agricultural policies.

Between March 2017 and April 2017, ICEADR Institute conducted a survey among the Romanian fruit producers, in order to identify the problems they face and to highlight their opinions. The survey's results were used to find solutions for an efficient exploitation of fruits' production. Quantitative research was used as the main method for picking information while the research technique consisted on the structural research (survey). Most farmers are not implied in associative forms and they are not interested in joining one in the nearest future. Small exploitations register small productions which do not permit them to sign selling contracts and consequently their incomings are around 4500 RON each year. Also, the Authorities' implication in supporting small and medium producers is very low. Awareness of the advantages of association / cooperation by facilitating access to private and public resources, promoting practices and technologies that ensure environmental protection, assurance of consultancy, defense of members' interests in their relations with government bodies and state administration, promotion of products on national and international market , ensuring equal rights for all members, improving the information and supply system, developing agro-food markets, correlating the level of production and product quality in line with market requirements, capitalizing on larger quantities of products, reducing tax evasion is the solution to solving problems Romanian grain farmers.