Towards sustainable soy : an assessment of opportunities and risks for soybean production based on a case study Brazil

This study investigates opportunities for and implications of expanding soybean production in developing countries. Increasing soybean production is expected to take place mainly in Latin America. However the international community is increasingly concerned about managing the natural resources in this region. Within the Round Table of Responsible Soy (RTRS) an international dialogue has started to secure that current soybean production and its future expansion is carried out within a sustainable framework. Within the context of this RTRS the study evaluates the compliance of current soybean production in Latin American countries to the sustainability aspects based on the Brazilian case. The research shows that soybean cultivation is embedded in a complex land use system that hampers quick fixes to evolve towards more sustainable production, but also inherit interesting opportunities for the development of integrated soybased production system

East African governments' responses to high cereal prices

This study analyses the responses of governments in four East African countries (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia) with respect to price formation and price transmission in the cereal sector. All four countries were confronted with high cereal prices in 2008. Government policies applied largely pursued consumer price reduction, but such short-term price policies did not encourage farmers to respond with increasing production, the more so because farmers were facing very high fertiliser prices. The report concludes by discussing policy options to help improve market functioning which supports agricultural productivity growt

Tariff escalation and EU agricultural imports: An assessment of selected products

This study investigates whether tariff escalation does occur in the EU's agricultural imports for ten selected product groups, for which developing countries are the main source of imports in the Union. Key findings are that tariff escalation does occur, but not for all ten product categories selected for this study. Further, the empirical analysis shows no strong evidence of a unambiguous link between the level of tariffs and imports: high (or low) import tariffs do not correspond much with low (or high) imports. At the same time, data point at a positive impact of the EBA agreement on less developed countries' exports to the EU since tariffs have been eliminated in 2002. In dit onderzoek wordt nagegaan of er tariefescalatie plaatsvindt op het gebied van agrarische invoer in de EU voor tien geselecteerde productgroepen die grotendeels vanuit ontwikkelingslanden worden ingevoerd. De belangrijkste bevindingen zijn dat er wel tariefescalatie plaatsvindt, maar niet binnen alle productcategorieën die voor dit onderzoek zijn geselecteerd. Daarnaast kon aan de hand van de empirische analyse geen ondubbelzinnig verband worden vastgesteld tussen de hoogte van de tarieven en de invoerhoeveelheid: hoge (lage) invoertarieven gaan niet altijd samen met lage (hoge) invoerhoeveelheden.Tegelijkertijd blijkt uit gegevens dat de EBA-overeenkomst omtrent uitvoer vanuit minder ontwikkelde landen naar de EU een positieve invloed heeft gehad sinds de tarieven in 2002 zijn geëlimineerd

Globalisering Voedingsketens

Ook de Nederlandse voedings- en genotmiddelenindustrie (V&G) ontkomt niet aan globalisering. De afgelopen tien jaar heeft een aantal ontwikkelingen de tendens van voortgaande internationalisering van het bedrijfsleven bevorderd