This collection of essays provides the definitive survey of the importance of agricultural reform to the future of the world's trading system. There is growing consensus concerning the need to reduce the level of subsidies in agriculture and to open up the markets of the developed world more to the farmers of the developing world. However, while non-governmental organizations such as Oxfam may agree on this point with free trade economists, governments in Europe and the U.S. seem reluctant to give up their protectionist habits.

There is no worldwide food crisis. The authors of this volume show that the world food situation has improved dramatically over the past three decades: prices of agricultural commodities are at their lowest level in history in real terms and crop output is continuing to rise faster than population. This book provides a much needed and reasoned view on a subject that is too often treated emotionally. The important changes in the international food economy are considered in historical context and provide a basis for projections to 2010.

There are a number of policy interventions applied in industrial and developing countries that impact world trade and production in agriculture. Autonomous reforms as well as the new multilateral trade negotiations, under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO), will help bring the sector more completely under the discipline of the multilateral trading system. This report contains studies that address such issues as the lessons learned from the Uruguay Round of negotiations which can be applied to the next round of trade negotiations. It details the benefits to date for developing...