The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2022

28/06/2022

This edition of The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO) discusses how trade policies, based on both multilateral and regional approaches, can address today’s challenges for sustainable development. Trade policies in food and agriculture should aim to safeguard global food security, address the trade-offs between economic and environmental objectives, and strengthen the resilience of the global agrifood system to shocks, such as conflicts, pandemics and extreme weather.

In Brief to The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2022

28/06/2022

The In Brief version of the FAO flagship publication, The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2022, contains the key messages and main points from the publication and is aimed at the media, policy makers and a more general public.

The evolution of the global structure of food and agricultural trade: Evidence from network analysis

05/02/2023

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the Russian–Ukrainian conflict, which began in February 2022, have tested the resilience of the food and agricultural trade network at a global level. The global dimension of these crises meets a policy landscape in which multilateral trade negotiations have largely stalled and regional approaches to trade integration are proliferating rapidly.

The impact of changes in the fundamental drivers of trade – Productivity, trade costs, and trade policies

28/11/2022

Countries’ varying natural resource endowments are vital in explaining international trade. Traditional trade theory suggests that differences in technology and factor endowments lead countries to specialize and export certain goods or services in which they have a comparative advantage.

International food trade and natural resources

03/11/2022

The paper provides a review of the literature on the distribution of natural capital endowments across countries and its impact on determining trade flows. It illustrates the role trade plays in alleviating environmental pressures and the potential negative effects of trade on the environment. Finally, it discusses a range of relevant policy measures that can be adopted to reduce environmental spillovers

The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2020

31/10/2020

The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2020 (SOCO 2020) aims to discuss policies and mechanisms that promote sustainable outcomes – economic, social and environmental – in agricultural and food markets, both global and domestic. The analysis is organized along the trends and challenges that lie at the heart of global discussions on trade and development.

In Brief to The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2020

31/10/2020

The In Brief version of the FAO flagship publication, The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2020, contains the key messages and main points from the publication and is aimed at the media, policy makers and a more general public.

Assessing the impact of trade and other policies on global value chain (GVC) participation, positioning and vertical specialization in agriculture and food

09/10/2020

This technical paper includes: A literature review of the impact of trade policies and domestic support measures (for example, subsidies) on global value chain (GVC) participation including the effects of tariffs and non-tariff measures, Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) and Rules of Origin, as well as recent market developments and trade tensions on GVC linkages.

Innovative business models for small farmer inclusion

09/10/2020

Farmer participation in agricultural markets is of major importance for rural economic growth and poverty alleviation in developing countries. This paper discusses market failures and constraints in agriculture in low-income countries, focusing on how these failures and constraints affect small farmers, input sellers and output buyers.

Competition, market power, surplus creation and rent distribution in agri-food value chains

09/10/2020

This paper reviews competition issues in agro-food value chains, including forms of governance and organization, concentration and market power and private standards implications. The paper discusses different value chains in food and agriculture and analyses how services and technologies are embedded in the final value and assesses the share of the different value chain segments.