Politics and Policies

Developed World

What is the Farm Bill?• Primary agricultural and food policy tool of the federal government.

• passed every 5- 7 years by the United States Congress

• deals with both agriculture and all other affairs under the purview of the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture)

• Contains 15 different titles within the Bill

History• The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933

• Dust Bowl and Great Depressions

• Most significant forces affecting food, farming, and land-use in the US.

• Total of 14 Farm Bills

How does the Farm Bill affect me?

• Both directly and indirectly, the Farm Bill impacts: • who can farm• how they farm• the types of food that can be grown• what sort of foods we eat • how they taste and how much they cost• which crops are grown under what conditions

• Ultimately… whether we’re properly nourished or not

Forces Shaping Agricultural Policy

• Social and Political• The Market Environment• Budget Constraints • Trade Commitments

In the U.S., diverse stakeholders contribute to Farm Bill debate:

• Farm and Commodity Associations• Agribusinesses • Consumers & Food Safety Group• Environmental Groups�• Rural Communities�• Taxpayers�• Biofuel Interest�

Current Farm Bill Spending• 2008 Farm Bill: $284 billion

• $189 billion (67%) supports the cost of nutrition

• $42 billion (15 %) supports payment programs for commodity crops

• $22 billion (8 %) supports crop insurance

• These three program categories account for about 90% of all Farm Bill spending.

Food Stamp Participation

Food Stamp Participation

Commodity Crops

• Problem w/ Commodity Crops

• Fruit and Vegetables???

Problems with the Bill

• The Farm policy is a big part of the reason fast food is cheap and healthy food is harder to find.

• Many programs designed to ensure healthy food for all and fair prices for farmers, have been stripped away or replaced with programs that benefit corporate interests

• Federal policies discourage farmers from producing and strategically marketing food crops, such as fruits and vegetables

Key findings from an analysis of the 2008 Farm Bill

• Fruit and vegetable farmers lack a safety net that is available for commodity crop producing farmers

• Fruit and vegetable price and yield data are not collected

• Crop insurance, disaster assistance, and loan and conservation programs are not designed to address the unique characteristics of fruit and vegetable production and marketing

• Nutrition program expenditures are not adequately directed to ensure children, including those from low-income households, receive healthy food

Why Farm Programs might change between Farm Bills?

• Meet need not covered by existing program• Ex.: disaster assistance

• Cut spending• Ex.: budget reconciliation to reduce deficit

• Meet WTO (The World Trade Organization) requirements • Ex.: circuit- breaker

• Political trade-offs provide opportunities• Ex.: tobacco buyout gained votes for overall tax bill

Farm Act Legislative Process

Opportunities in the upcoming 2012 Farm Bill

• Providing crop insurance to fruit and vegetable farmers

• Explore policy changes to enable farmers participating in the commodity programs to use program acres for the planting of fruits and vegetables.

• Collect and use price and yield data for specialty crops

• Ensure that USDA procurement decisions serve the two stated goals of most nutrition programs

• Increase funding, education and technical assistance for farmers’ markets to adopt the use of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) for SNAP and participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program

Room for Change

• There are many opportunities for the farm and public health communities to work together with other stakeholders in implementing policy changes to address some of the key challenges outlined in the report.

• Some program policy changes could be made by USDA without the need for additional direction from Congress, but in some cases, Farm Bill action will be required.

• Questions to consider…

Developing Countries:Politics, Policy, & NGO’s

United Nations’ global Development Network(UNDP)

•organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life

• 177 countries

• Millennium Development Goals• cutting poverty in half by 2015

•Solutions towards:Democratic GovernancePoverty ReductionCrisis Prevention & RecoveryEnvironment & EnergyHIV/AIDS

http://www.beta.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/operations/about_us.html

•Human Development Index• Developing vs Developed• Life expectancy• Years of Schooling• Gross national Income

•Human Development Report• Multiple reports for different

countries• Policies• Requirements for developing

Human Development Index (HDI) - 2010 RankingsVery High Human Development 1. Norway2. Australia3. New Zealand4. United States5. Ireland6. Liechtenstein7. Netherlands8. Canada9. Sweden10. Germany11. Japan12. Korea (Republic of)13. Switzerland14. France15. Israel16. Finland17. Iceland18. Belgium19. Denmark20. Spain21. Hong Kong, China (SAR)22. Greece

High Human Development 43. Bahamas44. Lithuania45. Chile46. Argentina47. Kuwait48. Latvia49. Montenegro50. Romania51. Croatia52. Uruguay53. Cuba54. Palau55. Libya56. Panama57. Saudi Arabia58. Mexico59. Malaysia60. Bulgaria61. Trinidad and Tobago62. Serbia63. Belarus64. Costa Rica

23. Italy24. Luxembourg25. Austria26. United Kingdom27. Singapore28. Czech Republic29. Slovenia30. Andorra31. Slovakia32. United Arab

Emirates33. Malta34. Estonia35. Cyprus36. Hungary37. Brunei

Darussalam38. Qatar39. Bahrain40. Portugal41. Poland42. Barbados

65. Peru66. Albania67. Russian Federation68. Kazakhstan69. Azerbaijan70. Bosnia and

Herzegovina71. Ukraine72. Iran (Islamic Republic

of)73. The former Yugoslav

Republic of Macedonia74. Mauritius75. Brazil76. Georgia77. Venezuela (Bolivarian

Republic of)78. Armenia79. Ecuador80. Belize81. Colombia82. Jamaica83. Tunisia

84. Jordan85. Turkey86. Algeria87. Tonga

http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/

Human Development Index (HDI) - 2010 RankingsMedium Human Development 88. Fiji89. Turkmenistan90. Dominican Republic91. China92. El Salvador93. Sri Lanka94. Thailand95. Gabon96. Suriname97. Bolivia (Plurinational State of)98. Paraguay99. Philippines100. Botswana101. Moldova (Republic of)102. Mongolia103. Egypt104. Uzbekistan105. Micronesia (Federated States of)106. Guyana107. Namibia108. Honduras109. Maldives

Low Human Development 130. Kenya131. Bangladesh132. Ghana133. Cameroon134. Myanmar135. Yemen136. Benin137. Madagascar138. Mauritania139. Papua New Guinea140. Nepal141. Togo142. Comoros143. Lesotho144. Nigeria145. Uganda146. Senegal147. Haiti148. Angola149. Djibouti150. Tanzania (United Republic of)151. Côte d'Ivoire

110. Indonesia111. Kyrgyzstan112. South Africa113. Syrian Arab Republic114. Tajikistan115. Viet Nam116. Morocco117. Nicaragua118. Guatemala119. Equatorial Guinea120. Cape Verde121. India122. Timor-Leste123. Swaziland124. Lao People's

Democratic Republic125. Solomon Islands126. Cambodia127. Pakistan128. Congo129. São Tomé and Príncipe

152. Zambia153. Gambia154. Rwanda155. Malawi156. Sudan157. Afghanistan158. Guinea159. Ethiopia160. Sierra Leone161. Central African

Republic162. Mali163. Burkina Faso164. Liberia165. Chad166. Guinea-Bissau167. Mozambique168. Burundi169. Niger170. Congo

(Democratic Republic of the)

171. Zimbabwe

Types of Governments Present Today

Absolute monarchy Anarchy Authoritarian Commonwealth Communist Confederacy (Confederation) Constitutional Constitutional democracyConstitutional monarchy Democracy Democratic republic Ecclesiastical Emirate Federal (Federation) Federal republic Islamic republic

Maoism Marxism Marxism-Leninism Monarchy Oligarchy Parliamentary democracy Parliamentary government (Cabinet-Parliamentary government) Parliamentary monarchy Presidential Republic Socialism Sultanate Theocracy Totalitarian

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2128.html

NGO’s

World Food Program• MERET: Managing Environmental Resources to Enable

Transition• Treat cultivated land• Rehabilitate forest areas and gullies• Harvest water and improve draining structures• Build & Maintain feeder roads to improve access to markets

• P4P: Purchase for Progress• Demand: tests innovative ways to buy staple food and promote

marketing opportunities for smallholder farmers.• Supply: support farmers to achieve better yields, reduce their losses

after the harvest and improve the quality of their staple crops.• Learning and Sharing: share lessons on effective approaches to connect

smallholder farmers to markets in a sustainable way

• School Meals• Food for Assets• Cash and Vouchers http://www.wfp.org/

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian AffairsOCHA

• Coordination• Policy• Advocacy• Information Management• Humanitarian Financing

USAID- government

Goals:– economic growth, agriculture and trade– global health– democracy, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance

Provide assistance in five regions of the world:– Sub-Saharan Africa– Asia– Latin America and the Caribbean– Europe and Eurasia– Middle East

Cases on Policy

112) South Africa

• Republic• 1990s six years- established a new, democratic

political order• power of international and local organized

business to set the pace of change in a market economy imposes severe constraints on government’s capacity to reduce social inequality

• Amended Labor Relations Acthttp://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/national/africa/southafrica/south_africa_2000_en.pdf

http://www.labour.gov.za/legislation/acts/labour-relations/read-online/amended-labour-relations-act

127) Pakistan

• Federal Republic• Landlords Power• Illegal pumping from canals • failure to conduct an effective land reform • 1900 Alienation of Lands Act

http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/national/asiathepacific/pakistan/pakistan_2003_en.pdf

143) Uganda

• Republic

• Land belongs to the citizens

• Government policy regarding land is to provide security of tenure for all

http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/national/africa/uganda/uganda_2005_en.pdf

Land Act 1998• To provide security of tenure to all land users • To resolve the land use impasse between the registered owners and the

lawful and bonafide occupants of this land• To provide an institutional framework for the control and management

of land under a decentralised system• To ensure proper planning and well-co-ordinated development of urban

areas• To ensure sustainable land use and development throughout the

country to conserve the environment• To redress historical imbalances and injustices in the ownership and

control of land• To provide for government and local government to acquire land

compulsorily in the public interest and public use, public safety, public order, public morality or public health.

169) Zimbabwe•Parliamentary Democracy

•the unity government was meant to end the economic ruin brought about by Mugabe's tyranny

THE LAND QUESTION AND GOVERNANCE IN ZIMBABWE •inequitable distribution of landownership between large-scale commercial farmers, the communal small farmers and the landlessThree components namely: • unequal and inequitable land distribution, • insecurity of land tenure, • unsustainable and sub-optimal land use.

•Independence, the Zimbabwe Government was therefore faced with the enormous question and challenge of land redistribution

•Lancaster House Constitution made it virtually impossible to redistribute land in any comprehensive manner. 1997-the government had acquired 3,4 million hectares of land on which it resettled about 71 000 families

•The inherited economy contained inequalities

•The council illegally allocated municipal land to themselveshttp://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/hww/results/results_single_fulltext.jhtml;hwwilsonid=B0NHXA3WOUADLQA3DILSFGOADUNGIIV0http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/national/africa/zimbabwe/ZHDR2000-Governance.pdf

Somalia• No permanent national Government– Collapse in 1991

• Restricted aid access• US Eases Restrictions on Aid Groups

http://horn.wfp.org/main.html http://english.alshahid.net/archives/22013http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4760775.stm