"An agricultural subsidy (also called an agricultural incentive) is a government incentive paid to agribusinesses, agricultural organizations and farms to supplement their income, manage the supply of agricultural commodities, and influence the cost and supply of such commodities."
Financial assistance, such as grants or tax breaks, given by governments to farmers and agribusinesses to help support their operations or promote certain crops or practices.
Historical Overview of Agricultural Policy: A review of the history of agricultural policy and how it has evolved over time.
Types of Agricultural Subsidies: The different types of agricultural subsidies, such as price support, direct payments, crop insurance, and conservation programs.
Impact of Agricultural Subsidies: The impact of agricultural subsidies on specific farming sectors including production, trade, and the environment.
World Trade Organization: History and role of World Trade Organization in the global agricultural policy and its impact on agricultural subsidies.
Government Regulation and Intervention: A comprehensive understanding of regulations set by governments to regulate policies regarding subsidies, agricultural trade, and market interventions.
Subsidy Reform: A study of policy schemes, frameworks, and strategies that can be used to reform subsidy systems, including community-supported agriculture or payment-per-unit-of-output systems.
Environmental Consequences: Environmental benefits and consequences linked to agricultural subsidies, including conservation policies, climate mitigation, and carbon footprints associated with agriculture.
International Policy: Comparison of agricultural policies across various countries across the world.
Economic Impacts: Assessment of the economic impacts of agricultural subsidies, including farm profitability, rural development, and economic sustainability.
Sustainability: An overview of the concepts of sustainable agriculture in agricultural policy, including principles of ecological stability, social equity, and economic viability.
Crop Insurance: Characteristics of crop insurance and its role in risk mitigation.
Effects of Subsidies on Trade Policies: Effects of subsidies on world trade policies and their implementation.
Political Influences on Agricultural Policy: A comprehensive overview of the role of the political system, interest groups, and stakeholders in shaping agricultural policies.
Consumer Impacts: The impacts of agricultural subsidies on consumers, including price fluctuation and availability of agricultural products.
Food Security: The relationship between agricultural subsidies and food security, including the need for increased food production and national food reserves.
Multilateral, Regional and Bilateral Agreements: An understanding of relevant international agreements that influence agricultural subsidies, including ASEAN, African Union, and bilateral trade agreements.
Alternative Funding Programs: Programs that are alternatives to direct payments like decoupled payments and innovative insurance policy schemes.
Promoting Rural Development: Understanding how government policies can promote sustainable rural development that supports agricultural subsistence.
Direct Payments and Market Distortion: An overview of market distortions that are sometimes caused by direct payments.
Issues of Equity and Poverty: Understanding the relationship between agricultural subsidies and issues of equity and poverty, including affordable access to essential goods for marginalized populations.
Direct payments: These are cash payments given to farmers by the government, regardless of the type or quantity of crops they produce.
Price support: This policy involves the government purchasing and stockpiling agricultural commodities, thereby keeping the prices high for farmers.
Crop insurance: Crop insurance is a type of policy that provides farmers with financial coverage against losses from unexpected weather events or other crop-related problems.
Marketing assistance: Marketing assistance programs aim to help farmers with the marketing and distribution of their products, including providing funding for marketing initiatives, product development, and promotion.
Research and development: Investment in research and development (R&D) programs is a popular subsidy that encourages the development of new technologies and farming practices.
Rural Development: Rural development programs aim to create job opportunities, invest in infrastructure, and support the growth of rural communities.
Export subsidies: This type of policy provides subsidies to exporters, which allows them to sell their products at a lower price than what they would charge domestically. This type of subsidy can be controversial, as it can negatively impact other countries' economies and violate international trade rules.
Input subsidies: Input subsidies provide a discount on the cost of inputs like fertilizers, seeds, and pesticides. These subsidies can improve farm productivity, but they are often inefficient and can lead to overuse and environmental degradation.
Conservation subsidies: Conservation subsidies are provided to farmers who adopt environmentally friendly farming practices, such as reducing the use of fertilizers and adopting sustainable farming techniques.
Disaster relief: Disaster relief programs aim to help farmers recover from natural disasters, such as droughts, floods or hurricanes, by providing financial assistance and support.
"Examples of such commodities include: wheat, feed grains (grain used as fodder, such as maize or corn, sorghum, barley and oats), cotton, milk, rice, peanuts, sugar, tobacco, oilseeds such as soybeans and meat products such as beef, pork, and lamb and mutton."
"A 2021 study by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization found $540 billion was given to farmers every year between 2013 and 2018 in global subsidies."
"The study found these subsidies are harmful in numerous ways."
"In wealthy countries, they damage health by promoting the overconsumption of meat."
"In under-developed countries they encourage overconsumption of low-nutrition staples, such as rice."
"Subsidies also contribute to the climate crisis, by encouraging deforestation."
"They also drive inequality because smallholder farmers, many of whom are women, are excluded."
"According to UNDP head, Achim Steiner, redirecting subsidies would boost the livelihoods of 500 million smallholder farmers worldwide by creating a more level playing field with large-scale agricultural enterprises."
"A separate report, by the World Resources Institute in August 2021, said without reform, farm subsidies 'will render vast expanses of healthy land useless'."