Policy Development
In most developing countries, enabling farmers to compete in domestic,
regional, and international markets requires improving national policies
that affect agriculture. And to speed up growth and develop free, open
markets for food and other farm products, there will require, in many
cases economic, legal, and regulatory reform. USAID realizes that you
cannot deal with food security and hunger without investing in agriculture
on the policy level.
The past few years have brought significant market liberalization around
the work. Still, in many developing countries incomplete or inconsistent
policy reforms at the national level have not increased the competitiveness
of domestic and export markets. And this has done little to ensure that
small farmers reap the benefits of global agriculture
Broadly speaking, USAID is working in five areas: monetary and taxation;
privatization of government-run companies; general business, trade and
investment; the legal system and public institutions; and banking and
credit.
USAID is helping governments remove obstacles to trade through policy
reforms in their economic, legal and regulatory sectors. By reforming
policies that encourage agricultural production and export, countries
can speed up their rates of economic growth and develop freer, more open
markets for food and other farm products. To take advantage of the African
Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and other opportunities to participate
in the world market, for example, USAID is training the staff of African
finance ministries and their trade offices.
Aside for working with the national governments, USAID is also involved
with the private sector and in promoting research and policy analysis
in developing countries. So that the private sector can flourish, USAID
encourages reforms that promote increased private investment. In addition,
by providing technical assistance and training to the private sector,
farmers, companies, and industries will be better suited to manage growth.
By supporting innovative ways to analyze trade regulations, USAID helps
developing countries understand how regional and world trade agreements
can affect rural farmers and their agricultural industries.
Mali serves as a good example to the benefits of policy reforms. The
agricultural development program in Mail has transformed the country
from one that suffered food shortages into one with substantial food
surplus. Over the past 30 years, Mali has followed a strict program of
market liberalization. And these efforts are paying off. Last year the
surplus from small farmers’ corn harvest in Mali produced a half-million
dollars. Mali has also become an exporter of rice – due in part
to land tenure reform, private investments in irrigation projects, and
the privatization of the rice milling sector.
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