I.C. OF AGRICULTURAL, FOOD AND RURAL POLICY
Matteo Vittuari, University of Bologna
William H. Meyers, University of Missouri
Thomas G. Johnson, University of Missouri
AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD POLICY
6 ECTS – 30 hours
The course will review the political landscape of food and farming development in developed and developing countries. Policy initiatives by national governments often operates in coordination or conflict with private companies and corporations, international organizations, NGOs.
At the end of the course students will be able to:
-identify the different stakeholders operating the food and farming sectors;
-understand and evaluate objectives, tools and strategies that characterize an agricultural policy;
-identify public policies that address food waste prevention and reduction in developing and developed countries;
-to outline sustainable food and farming policy options, the implications of these policies for institutions, and their potential impacts on the food system;
-to share insight on the policy development process, and on the implementation and evaluation of sustainable food and farming policies.
outline
Setting the context (4 hours)
Agricultural, food and rural economics: basic elements. The role of governments in food and agriculture; Governments, versus corporations, versus non-governmental organizations; Policy objectives: from addressing market failures to food security to rent seeking; Agriculture and natural resources; Sustainability and circular economy.
The politics of farm subsidies (2 hours)
Why do farm subsidies persist?How agricultural subsidies changed over the years?Who is helped by farm subsidies, and who is hurt?
EU farm and food policies: a brief history (2 hours)
The evolution of the Common Agricultural Policy; Current EU farm commodity programs: policies and implications.
Agribusiness, food companies, and supermarkets (2 hours)
Do agribusiness companies control seed supplies, and farmers? Do food companies control food policy? The raise of supermarkets.
The food we eat (2 hours)
Fast food: fast food taxation and regulations in US and EU. Organic, local, and slow food: consumer preferences, business decisions and government policies.Agriculture, food and nutrition.
Trade policies (8 hours)
Measures for protection and trade distortions; Analysing markets: what to look for; Importer and exporter policies: basic analytical tools; WTO: Uruguay round, boxes of support, Doha and other trade negotiations.
US farm and food policies: a brief history (2 hours)
The evolution of the Farm Bill; Current US farm commodity programs: policies and implications.
Food security, nutrition and food waste (6 hours)
Food security: definitions, the 2008 World Food Crisis, international responses to hunger; Food and nutrition programmes; Food waste: definition and quantification, Economic, technical, social and institutional drivers of food waste, economic behaviour of businesses and consumers with respect to food waste, innovation addressing food loss and waste reduction, policy interventions addressing food loss and waste reduction.
Emerging food and agricultural policies (2 hours)
How to feed the world in 2050?