Agricultural Policies
AGRICULTURE
“When a policy has succeeded, it is because it has changed the world, and since the world has changed, it is necessary to change the policy” (Edgar PISANI – French Minister of Agriculture 1961-1966)… In a troubled world, this quote is more relevant than ever. We support the evaluation and development of agricultural policies.
The issues
When we talk about agriculture, in the broadest sense of the word, we are talking about food and cash crops, livestock, forestry, fishing and, more generally, land use, jobs and income. Although the number of farmers is constantly decreasing in developed countries, they make up the bulk of the working population in the South and their activity often constitutes one of the country’s primary sources of wealth. Confronted with economic deregulation and trade globalisation, climate change, unprecedented demographic growth, and various structural constraints (little access to inputs and formal credit, land insecurity, marginal mechanisation and motorisation, limited agronomic research and agricultural extension, etc.), agriculture in the South is suffering. The proliferation of international decisions on the subject (Maputo Declaration, New Partnership for Africa’s Development, G8 Agricultural Conclusions, etc.) bears witness to this. Sound, ambitious agricultural policies adapted to the new challenges of our time are more necessary than ever.
Our services
Developing an agricultural policy requires an understanding of the functioning, strengths and weaknesses of the sectors of interest at the scale under consideration, in particular by analysing the logic of the actors who make them up. It also requires an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of all the support functions for agricultural activity: agronomic and zootechnical research, agricultural education, extension, farm advisory services, rural finance, land tenure, input markets (fertilisers, seeds, tools, veterinary products, etc.), domestic and international markets for agricultural products, etc. Finally, in an open international economy, this implies being able to link these local analyses to global analyses: commodity prices, Economic Partnership Agreements, sub-regional policies such as NEPAD or PRIASAN, World Trade Organisation rules, fair trade norms/standards, organic farming, etc. We offer analyses at these three levels (commodity chains, support functions, strategies and international agreements on agriculture) in order to support governments, deconcentrated communities or decentralised communities in the revision or implementation of their agricultural policies.
