Agriculture

IATP has been advocating for fair and sustainable agriculture and food systems for more than 35 years. Learn more about our agriculture work on our Agriculture & Food Systems page.

WTO Rules and Food Reserves

World Trade Organization (WTO) rules governing agriculture do not actually make the operation of a grain reserve impossible, but they do create uncertainties. It is time for governments to think again about the framework for agricultural trade rules. 1. Financing a Reserve

Food Reserves In Practice

Growing government interest and support for food reserves has been evident in various international forums of late. At the same time, policymakers have been slow to act, reluctant to move away from twenty or more years of economic orthodoxy that has insisted supply shocks are best resolved through international trade alone.

What Next on Food Reserves?

The public debate on food reserves is shifting from an ideological discussion about markets versus public action to one focusing on the technical, political and institutional feasibility of a system of food reserves.

Seed industry promotes doubling of crop yields by 2030

In 2008, Monsanto launched a major public relations campaign to double crop yields in the U.S. by 2030. Recently, discussions in farm country have again picked up on this claim. It is worth examining the issues in depth.

Farmers’ new normal

Minneapolis, September 29, 2010* — The Minnesota River near Jordan is expected to reach its fifth-highest crest at 32.7 feet on Tuesday. Jordan and much of the rest of southern Minnesota were hit with some 10 inches of rain last week—flooding houses, farm fields, and shutting down highways and bridges.

NAFTA dumping on Mexican farmers

One of the most dramatic effects of deregulated trade has been an increase in agriculture dumping. In agriculture, dumping takes place when an agribusiness firm exports a crop—say, corn—at a price that is below what it costs the farmer to produce it.

So what kind of salmon does Uncle Sam want?

It almost seems preposterous to ask this question, but what type of salmon would you prefer to see on your plate: Genetically-modified Atlantic salmon, spliced with Pacific salmon growth gene and modulated by a regulator protein from an Ocean Pout; or Wild Sockeye from the pristine unpolluted waters of Bristol Bay, Alaska.  

Rethinking the fundamentals of food security

After a lull in public attention over the last couple of years, rising food prices are back in the spotlight. A spike in prices triggered in part by the Russian export ban, and a deadly food price riot in Mozambique have rekindled the debate on global food security.

Trouble Waters' balancing act

The University of Minnesota back-tracked yesterday on its decision to stop the premiere of the documentary “Troubled Waters: A Mississippi River Story” on October 3 at the Bell Museum.

Time to put food reserves on the table

Agriculture prices have always experienced their ups and downs. But in recent years, those ups and downs have become more sharp and extreme. And the result has been deadly to many of those around the world facing hunger.

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