Cassava is one of the world’s most important food crops. Throughout the tropics, its roots and leaves provide essential calories – and income. Some 600 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin American depend on cassava – also known as yuca and manioc – for their survival. A number of IFAD-supported projects in Western and Central Africa have helped farmers improve yields. However, simply boosting production can lead to a glut of cassava on the market. This can depress prices and discour more...

'Most of the world's poorest people depend on farming for their livelihood. Earnings from farming in low-income countries are depressed partly due to a pro-urban bias in own-country policies, and partly because richer countries (including some developing countries) favor their farmers with import barriers and subsidies. Both sets of policies reduce national and global economic growth and add to inequality and poverty in developing countries. Acknowledgement of that since the 1980s has given rise more...

'The lack of access to credit is a severe constraint for many farmers. Warehouse receipts are an important and effective tool for creating liquidity and easing access to credit. Such schemes also offer additional benefits such as smoothing the supply and prices in the market, improving grower incomes, and reducing food losses. The paper describes the steps of interaction involved in a warehouse receipt system, sets out the essential questions to be asked regarding the critical conditions for its more...

'This Sanitary and Phytosanitaty (SPS) action plan has its origin in the preparation of a policy note by the World Bank to assist the Government of Moldova in improving the functioning of agricultural markets. The key messages of this action plan have been highlighted in the policy note, but the scope and complexity of the SPS issues as well as their critical importance to the competitiveness of Moldova's agro-food sector warranted more systematic study and strategic planning. Hence this action more...

'Notwithstanding the tariffication component of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture, import tariffs on farm products continue to provide an incomplete indication of the extent to which agricultural producer and consumer incentives are distorted in national markets. Especially in developing countries, non-agricultural policies indirectly impact agricultural and food markets. Empirical analysis aimed at monitoring distortions to agricultural incentives thus need to examine both agricultural more...

'World market prices for grains and oilseeds have risen dramatically over the last 24 months. Despite a recent drop, wheat prices are still about twice what they were two years ago. Given the underlying causes, this situation is likely to persist for the medium term (International Food Policy Research Institute-IFPRI and World Bank projections use a time horizon until 2015). Rising food prices are causing significant hardship worldwide and threatening to cast large numbers of people into poverty more...

'The current global food price crisis has deep historical roots in the distortions of the world trading system. Trade policy options to deal with the crisis involve correcting these historical distortions. They include removing export controls on agricultural products, eliminating restrictions on humanitarian food aid, reducing excessive stocks of food grains, reversing biofuel subsidies and protection to inefficient producers, lowering customs duties on agricultural products, facilitating agric more...

'The current spike in global food prices has deep roots in decades of trade distorting policies that have encouraged inefficient agricultural production in rich countries and discouraged efficient production in developing countries. High-income countries have historically protected their domestic producers and subsidized inefficient production most recently biofuels and dumped surpluses onto global markets. In turn, developing countries have often used trade and other domestic policies to simult more...

'The recent sharp increase in food prices should have benefited millions of poor people who make their living from agriculture. However, decades of misguided policies by developing country governments on agriculture, trade, and domestic markets - often promoted by international financial institutions and supported by donor countries - have prevented poor farmers and rural workers from reaping the benefits of higher commodity prices. As a result, the crisis is hurting poor producers and consumers more...

'Policy makers in India recognize the importance o f well-functioning markets to agricultural growth, food security, and broad-based rural development. Markets facilitate the commercialization and diversification of farming, and they are essential for efficiently bringing food and agricultural products to domestic and international consumers. Well functioning domestic markets can reduce the cost of food and assure stability of supply, which as the recent global food crisis has highlighted, are k more...