Agricultural Policies in Emerging Economies 2009 Monitoring and Evaluation

This report analyses policy developments during 2006-08 in seven economies: Brazil, Chile, China, India, Russia, South Africa and Ukraine. This period was marked by a significant increase in world prices for most, but not all, agricultural commodities. Policy responses to rising food prices included tariff reductions, export restrictions, increased minimum prices and price controls, input subsidies, sales of stocks and direct transfers to the most disadvantaged. Other major common policy developments included: expanded government-supported credit facilities and/or debt rescheduling, endeavours to improve the delivery and performance of agricultural policies, extended coverage of insurance programmes and further efforts in land reform. A comprehensive statistical annex containing a wide range of contextual information for these economies is also included in this report. Estimates of support to agriculture in six economies (India is not yet covered) from 1995 to 2007 are provided, in conformance with recent changes to the OECD measurement methodology. This allows a consistent comparison across emerging economies and with OECD countries in terms of changes in the level and composition of support to producers and the sector as a whole. Findings show that the level of producer support during 2006-08 was lower than the OECD average in all six economies, with significant differences between them. Nevertheless, the level of producer support has shown a general increase over time and is typically provided in ways that distort production and trade. The database of indicators for the six economies is available on line: www.oecd.org/tad/support/psecse. FURTHER READING: OECD Rural Policy Reviews: China (2009); OECD Review of Agricultural Policies: Chile (2008); Agricultural Policies in OECD Countries: At a Glance (2008); OECD's Producer Support Estimate and Related Indicators of Agricultural Support: Concepts, Calculations, Interpretation and Use (The PSE Manual) (2008), available at www.oecd.org/tad/support/psecsev