This report reviews economic concepts of innovation, research and development (R&D), productivity and competitiveness, and their linkages in agriculture.

This report reviews economic concepts of innovation, research and development (R&D), productivity and competitiveness, and their linkages in agriculture.

Markets that function well within a stable regulatory and policy environment are key to improving the productivity and sustainability of the food and agriculture sector. This report contains the main findings and policy lessons gained from a series of wide-ranging country reviews on how government policies can improve sectoral productivity and sustainability through their impact on innovation, structural change, natural resource use, and climate change. Improving the policy environment would require rolling back those policies that distort markets the most and retain farmers in uncompetitive and low-income activities, harm the environment, stifle innovation, slow structural and generational change, and weaken resilience.

The Canadian food and agriculture sector is for the most part competitive and export-oriented: although challenges and opportunities vary significantly between regions, primary agriculture benefits from an abundance of natural resources and faces limited environmental constraints.

This annual report monitors and evaluates agricultural policies in 54 countries, including the 38 OECD countries, the five non‐OECD EU Member States, and 11 emerging economies. It finds that despite some modest declines in recent years, support to agriculture has remained close to recent historical highs. While changes in support have been limited, agricultural policies have been both reactive and proactive, boosting the sector’s capacity to respond to current challenges while aiming to ensure that food systems are fit for purpose as future conditions evolve. This year’s report focuses on policies fostering sustainable productivity growth in agriculture. Governments are applying a large variety of approaches to improve productivity while preserving natural resources and reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. The report notes, however, that clearly defined targets related to sustainable productivity growth and measurable indicators of progress are important to ensure that policies achieve their stated objectives. The report also notes that making more effective use of producer support to promote innovation and environmental sustainability on the farm, and refocusing overall support towards targeted R&D, can better leverage public spending to deliver public goods and sustainable productivity growth. In line with the 2022 OECD Agriculture Ministerial Declaration, the report identifies a seven-point policy agenda for making agriculture more sustainable, productive and resilient, and for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of agricultural support and markets.

This report provides world market trends for biofuels, cereals, oilseeds, sugar, meats, fish and dairy products over the 2012-2021 period and contains an evaluation of recent developments, key issues and uncertainties in those commodity markets.

Africa requires a new agricultural transformation that is appropriate for Africa, that recognizes the continent's diverse environments and climates, and that takes into account its histories and cultures while benefiting rural smallholder farmers and their families. In this boldly optimistic book, Sir Gordon Conway, Ousmane Badiane, and Katrin Glatzel describe the key challenges faced by Africa's smallholder farmers and present the concepts and practices of Sustainable Intensification (SI) as opportunities to sustainably transform Africa's agriculture sector and the livelihoods of millions of smallholders. The way forward, they write, will be an agriculture sector deeply rooted within SI: producing more with less, using fertilizers and pesticides more prudently, adapting to climate change, improving natural capital, adopting new technologies, and building resilience at every stage of the agriculture value chain. Food for All in Africa envisions a virtuous circle generated through agricultural development rooted in SI that results in greater yields, healthier diets, improved livelihoods for farmers, and sustainable economic opportunities for the rural poor that in turn generate further investment. It describes the benefits of digital technologies for farmers and the challenges of transforming African agricultural policies and creating effective and inspiring leadership. Food for All in Africa demonstrates why we should take on the challenge and provides ideas and methods through which it can be met.

This volume explores the economies of countries in Asia, as well as the former Soviet socialist bloc countries of Central Asia and the Balkans. It analyses the region from the perspective of globalization and regional economic integration, economic growth and sustainable development, international trade and finance, money market and banking systems, labor market and external migration, energy and agricultural sectors. This book will appeal to anyone who is interested in economies of this region, their transition process towards a market economy regime, and their integration in the global world, including academicians from any field of social sciences, as well as decision makers, politicians, businessmen and journalists.

Agricultural Policies: Monitoring and Evaluation 2012 - OECD Countries provides estimations of agricultural support for OECD countries including Chile, Estonia, Israel and Slovenia.