Reforming agricultural support is increasingly considered a viable means to enhance agriculture’s contribution to climate change mitigation, while fulfilling broader food systems policy objectives related to food security and livelihoods. This study...

This paper explores food supply chain resilience and its connection to resilience of food systems more broadly. In terms of availability and affordability, food supply chains have been resilient to a wide range of shocks. Trade plays an important...

Increasing agricultural productivity growth sustainably can help to address the triple challenge of providing sufficient affordable and nutritious food for a growing global population, while supporting sector livelihoods and improving environmental...

Simplified nutrition labelling policies provide supplementary nutritional information in an easy-to-understand label displayed on food products at the front-of-pack. Forty-four countries have introduced these types of labelling schemes with a view to...

National climate change adaptation programmes can strengthen agriculture’s resilience to adverse climatic events by investing in absorptive capacity to mitigate the impact of a shock in the short run, adaptive capacity to effect incremental changes...

With half of the world’s habitable land being used for agriculture, monitoring the biodiversity on agricultural land is essential for meeting the objectives of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This paper seeks to advance...

Assurance schemes (certifications and labels) are widespread in the agri-food sector. This paper reviews the landscape of existing schemes, and the evidence on whether labels change consumer behaviour, and whether assurance schemes achieve positive...

There is a growing awareness of the need to transform food systems. Yet successful actions require sound evidence: on the extent, characteristics, and drivers of issues; on the effectiveness of different policy instruments, and their synergies and...

Extreme weather events can disrupt agricultural markets, but agricultural trade can help address subsequent food security concerns. Using the Aglink-Cosimo model, this stochastic scenario analysis sheds light on the complex relationships between...

Agricultural and rural policies can benefit from potential synergies when designed correctly. Broadly speaking, agricultural policies target farms and food production, while rural policies focus on ensuring the development of a territory and the...

Remote audits enabled international food trade to continue despite the severe COVID-19 pandemic disruptions, but what is their role in the future? Based on case studies and an OECD survey, this report examines the cost, benefits and effectiveness of...

Improving the resilience of farmers against external shocks is a priority for policy makers. This paper measures the resilience of a sample of farmers in the United Kingdom to assess the impact of the 2011-12 drought on their productivity and income....

Regulations are an important part of the policy toolkit governments can use to address climate and environmental objectives in agriculture. This report reviews existing literature on the characteristics and assessment of environmental regulations in...

Governments in many countries are pursuing higher environmental goals for agriculture. However, in an interconnected world, the unilateral adoption of environmental policies for agriculture can reduce the producers’ competitiveness and induce...

Approval procedures are critical to sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) systems as they uphold countries’ commitments to facilitate safe trade. However, they can create significant costs and act as non-tariff barriers if not properly administered.

Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) have become the major route for countries to reduce trade barriers and open new markets. To fully assess the current state of market opening for agricultural products and examine the potential impacts of RTAs, access...

Electronic exchange of sanitary and phytosanitary certificates can facilitate trade in animal and plant products. The electronic exchange of certificates can benefit both exporting and importing countries through enhanced efficiency gains, improved...

Labour and skills shortages are a major concern in the agro-food sector across OECD countries. This challenge is compounded by the relatively small, and declining, contribution of agriculture to GDP, and the negative public perception of the sector...

This paper examines how fisheries policies affect domestic versus foreign fishing efforts. In line with previous work, the paper finds that policies directly affecting fishing costs (e.g. fuel or input subsidies) are more likely to lead to...

The economic importance and level of employment in agriculture are declining in many rural regions. There are many reasons for this, including demographic changes, deeper urban-rural linkages, technological advances, growing urbanisation, and land...