Agriculture and Development : The Case for Policy Coherence

With a view to helping policy analysts and decision makers focus on the development impacts of their policies, this report discusses the extent to which OECD country agricultural and agricultural trade policies are coherent with, and supportive of, the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the elimination of extreme poverty and hunger. Agriculture and Development: The Case for Policy Coherence defines the ‘where’ (country impact), ‘how’ (most damaging forms of support), ‘which’ (commodity aspects) and ‘who’ (household effects) of agricultural policy reform. It treats the effects of four main categories of OECD country agricultural policies: domestic, trade, regulatory, and development co-operation policies. In each case it identifies the implications from the perspective of making agriculture and development policies more coherent. By providing a survey of the policy coherence dimension in OECD country agricultural policy-making, this report provides the analytical framework that policy makers need to help them weigh their decisions in the light of their countries’ internationally agreed development commitments.