OECD Review of Agricultural Policies Brazil: (Complete Edition ‐ ISBN 9264012540)

This Review measures the level and composition of support to Brazilian agriculture, and evaluates the effectiveness of current measures in attaining their objectives. The study finds that Brazil provides much lower support to its agricultural sector than most OECD countries. However, a large and increasing share of that support is provided in the form of credit subsidies; support which could be more productively oriented to areas such as research and extension, training, and the development of rural infrastructure. A greater focus on such long‐term investments could help Brazil to address the two major challenges confronting its agricultural sector: the need to sustain improvements in international competitiveness, and at the same time draw poor smallholders into the development process. At the international level, the report finds that, having substantially reformed its own agricultural policies, the main source of future benefits to Brazil will be reforms in other countries, where access to OECD country markets is the most important issue. Yet while trade liberalisation offers important benefits for the majority of households, those gains need to be placed in the context of the broader opportunities and adjustment pressures confronting both commercial farmers and smallholders.



Highlights and Policy RecommendationsChapter 1. The Policy Context‐1.1. Agriculture's Importance to the Brazilian Economy‐1.2. Economic Policy Reforms in Brazil‐1.3. The Effects of Economic Reforms on Brazilian Agriculture‐1.4. Policy Challenges‐1.5. Conclusions‐Annex. 1.A1. Brazil's Agricultural Export and Import Data 1990‐2003Chapter 2. Policy Evaluation‐2.1. Basic Policy Objectives, Instruments, and Institutional Arrangements‐2.2. Domestic Policies‐2.3. Agricultural Trade Policies‐2.4. Evaluation of Support to Brazilian Agriculture‐2.5. Summary and Conclusions‐Annex 2.A1. Brazilian Minimum Crop Prices in 2004/5‐Annex 2.A2. Preferential Credit Programmes for Agriculture in 2004/5‐Annex 2.A3. Zero Hunger Programme‐Annex 2.A4. Brazilian Import Tariff and Export Subsidy Data‐Annex 2.A5. Estimates of Support to Brazilian AgricultureChapter 3. Policy Effects‐3.1. Market Access Barriers to Brazilian Agricultural Exports‐3.2. Welfare Impacts of Trade and Agricultural Policy Reforms‐3.3. Household Impacts of Trade and Agricultural Policy Reforms‐3.4. Changes in Rural Poverty and Inequity in Brazil‐3.5. Summary and Conclusions‐Annex 3.A1. Protection of Agricultural Commodities in Brazilian Export Markets‐Annex 3.A2. SAM Data and CGE Model Results‐Annex 3.A3. Brazilian Agricultural Employment and Rural Income DataAcronymsBibliography