Rethinking public policy in agriculture: lessons from history,distant and recent

This article reviews the histories of agricultural policy in 11 of today's developed countries between the late-nineteenth and the mid-twentieth century and in 10 developing and transition economies since the mid-twentieth century. After discussing the theoretical limitations of the prevailing orthodoxy, the article discusses the history of a wide range of agricultural policies concerning issues like land, knowledge (e.g., research, extension), credit, physical inputs (e.g., irrigation, transport, fertilizers, seeds), farm income stability (e.g., price stabilisation measures, insurances, trade protection), marketing, and processing. The article ends by discussing the policy lessons that may be learned from these historical experiences.     

The Campesino-to-Campesino agroecology movement of ANAP in Cuba: social process methodology in the construction of sustainable peasant agriculture and food sovereignty

Agroecology has played a key role in helping Cuba survive the crisis caused by the collapse of the socialist bloc in Europe and the tightening of the US trade embargo. Cuban peasants have been able to boost food production without scarce and expensive imported agricultural chemicals by first substituting more ecological inputs for the no longer available imports, and then by making a transition to more agroecologically integrated and diverse farming systems. This was possible not so much because appropriate alternatives were made available, but rather because of the Campesino-a-Campesino (CAC) social process methodology that the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP) used to build a grassroots agroecology movement. This paper was produced in a ‘self-study’ process spearheaded by ANAP and La Via Campesina, the international agrarian movement of which ANAP is a member. In it we document and analyze the history of the Campesino-to-Campesino Agroecology Movement (MACAC), and the significantly increased contribution of peasants to national food production in Cuba that was brought about, at least in part, due to this movement. Our key findings are (i) the spread of agroecology was rapid and successful largely due to the social process methodology and social movement dynamics, (ii) farming practices evolved over time and contributed to significantly increased relative and absolute production by the peasant sector, and (iii) those practices resulted in additional benefits including resilience to climate change.     

No hay ganancia en la milpa: the agrarian question,food sovereignty,and the on-farm conservation of agrobiodiversity in the Guatemalan highlands

Although they receive little recognition for their contribution, peasant farmers in the global South play a fundamental role in securing the long-term global food supply. Via their self-sufficient agricultural practices, they cultivate the crop genetic diversity that enables food crops to adapt to changing environmental conditions. In this paper I draw upon empirical data from the Guatemalan center of agricultural biodiversity to investigate the concern that market expansion will displace peasant agriculture and undermine a cornerstone of the global food supply. I find that even though peasants' livelihoods involve multiple forms of market provisioning, they also engage in a Polanyian ‘double movement’ to protect their subsistence-oriented agricultural practices from the potentially deleterious effects of markets. I also investigate the so-called ‘agrarian question’ about the effects of market expansion on the viability of peasant agriculture, finding that although new forms of market provisioning are likely exacerbating rural inequality, the income from market activities actually enables rural Guatemalans to reproduce the conditions for peasant agriculture. Ultimately, I observe that the conservation of agricultural biodiversity and, consequently, global food security are contingent upon the ‘food sovereignty’ of peasant farmers.     

Hukou and land: market reform and rural displacement in China

Scholarship about the Chinese hukou (household registration) system has focused on the advantages and entitlements associated with urban hukou. This paper shifts attention to the key entitlement provided by rural hukou – village land. While early hukou reforms were mainly designed to open up urban labor markets to rural migrants, recent reforms have also begun to open up rural land markets, by replacing hukou-based land rights with market-based rights. These reforms are designed to facilitate land concentration and the transfer of land to outside developers and agribusiness companies, which has been hindered by hukou-based land rights. Underlying the reforms is the government's agenda of promoting large-scale agriculture and urbanization, both of which require the removal of a large portion of the rural population from the land. By focusing on land rights rather than urban benefits, this paper provides a new perspective on the evolution of the hukou system, and highlights the negative implications of recent reforms for livelihood security in the countryside.     

博弈视角下农地流转与农民利益保障机制探析

农地流转制度在巩固存量利益的同时,也带来了可观的增量利益,各个利益主体为分配新增利益势必会展开激烈的竞争和角逐.运用博弈论系统分析利益主体之间的博弈关系,透视现实制度实行中其他利益主体对农民利益的侵害.在策略选择上从宏观、中观和微观角度着力构建三位一体利益保障机制,矫正农地流转利益博弈中的力量失衡状态,促使农民的存量利益能够得到对价支付,确保农民能够公平参与增量利益的分配.     

我国农地产权分析及制度重构

我国农地产权制度由于产权界定不合理和农民土地产权的缺失,导致违法征地现象严重.土地交易成本昂贵,农民的合法权益得不到保护.文章引入产权理论,特别是从农地的使用权和处置权方面,论述了农地问题造成的原因,提出合理界定农地产权,建立允许农地承包经营权流转的机制,让农民分享产权增值的成果.     

全球化与中国现代农业建设的重大进展

全球化是当代农业和农村经济社会发展的重要背景。全球化将中国农业带入到一个与其＂封闭性＂原状完全不同的开放经济的市场环境中,实现了中国农业生产方式和发展方式的重大变革和发展,突出表现在：农业机械装备总量和农业机械化水平不断提高,为现代农业发展奠定了坚实的物质基础;现代新型农产品流通组织不断涌现,现代农产品流通网络不断完善;农业组织体系不断健全,农户与各农业组织化主体之间的利益联结机制不断完善;农产品质量安全状况不断改善,优质品牌农产品市场占有率稳步提高;逐步建立起有利于强化农业基础的合理有效的农业支持保护制度。     

“十二五”桂林加快转变农业发展方式探析

桂林作为农业大市,加快推进农业发展方式转变具有重大的战略影响和深刻的现实意义。＂十二五＂期间,桂林必须立足本地实际,尊重经济、社会发展规律,按照农业现代化的要求,努力探索一条符合桂林市实际的现代农业发展道路,实现由农业大市向农业强市转变。     

取消农业税对农村基层法治建设的影响

取消农业税既为农村基层法治建设提供了可能性空间,也提出了一些挑战。之前因收取税费而形成的乡村利益共同体正在被打破,村民自治获得了制度性空间;但伴随着税费取消而来,为了应对财政压力而进行的乡村体制改革,对逆转农村社会灰色化和治安恶化趋势无所助益;而税费压力的消除,使得基层司法和基层政府的关系开始疏远,从而为基层司法独立提供了一定的可能性空间。     

再谈农业人口与非农业人口的统计问题

“也谈农业人口与非农业人口的统计问题”发表后,农业人口统计资料失真后该怎么办,我国目前到底是农业人口多还是非农业人口多?这成为笔者需向同行和读者认真回答的两个问题。对前者其办法不外乎以下五种:一是取消农业人口与非农业人口的划分,而代之以乡村人口与城镇人口;二是继续让原有的农业人口与非农业人口资料滥竽充数;三是借用联合国粮农组织数据库中有关中国农业人口的资料;四是公开宣布公安系统统计的人口数据是农业户口的人口与非农业户口的人口;五是千方百计搞一套接近实际的中国农业人口与非农业人口资料。前三种办法均不可取,第四种办法从公安系统来说,也许有一定的保留价值,但它无助于农业人口与非农业人口统计问题的解决,所以,只有第五种办法才是科学合理的;对后者,如截至目前,肯定是非农业人口比农业人口多。