Análisis de la producción y comercialización del banano, su aceptación y evolución frente al Tratado de Libre Comercio con la Unión Europea

Colombia ha sido tradicionalmente un país exportador de banano, incluso éste producto es uno de los que conforman la canasta de los tradicionales. Ahora bien, con el Tratado de Libre Comercio con la Unión Europea es factible que su posición mejore en este mercado de más de 500 millones de habitantes, sin embargo, y bajo el supuesto que a futuro Ecuador ( el primer productor mundial) y Costa Rica suscriban TLC´S con la Unión Europea . El país ha emprendido una etapa de transformación que tiene como fin convertirla en una economía atractiva, es por esto que el gobierno ha decidido firmar acuerdos que permitan abrir nuevas oportunidades gracias al acceso preferencial a mercados como el de la Unión Europea otorgando así un beneficio para el sector agropecuario y por consiguiente para los productores bananeros. El Tratado de Libre comercio es una herramienta que permite desarrollar la economía del país que acompañado de la globalización que se vive actualmente a nivel mundial permite llevar a cabo procesos de integración entre países con el fin de impulsar el comercio internacional porque este es el motor del crecimiento para alcanzar una economía sostenible.

Efectividad estimada de algunos de los principales instrumentos de política agrícola en Colombia

Algunos cambios recientes en la política agrícola en Colombia se han orientado hacia la implementación de medidas de apoyo directo a los productores, con el fin de proteger su ingreso y fomentar una mayor competitividad del sector. No obstante, estimaciones acerca del impacto esperado de este tipo de instrumentos, medido en té rminos de cambios en el valor agregado, indican que este es reducido. Como quiera que la política emplea diferentes instrumentos para el logro de sus objetivos, surge la pregunta de cuál es el grado de dependencia que los resultados esperados presentan respecto a la forma como los recursos son asignados a dichos instrumentos. Este estudio utiliza un modelo de equilibrio general computable para explorar este problema, para un conjunto de tres de los principales instrumentos de política utilizados en la actualidad, en un contexto de corto plazo. Los resultados indican que, en presencia de rigideces de corto plazo y, en particular, de inmovilidad del capital entre actividades productivas, todos los instrumentos de política llevan a la obtención de resultados modestos y que, en un escenario de mediano y largo plazo, el comportamiento de la inversión parece ser crítico para la obtención de impactos más significativos y para el logro de los objetivos de política buscados.

La política comercial de Estados Unidos en el marco de la Organización Mundial del Comercio. Discurso vs. comportamiento con relación a prácticas anticompetitivas

El objetivo principal de esta monografía es identificar cuáles son las razones que justifican las contradicciones entre el discurso y el comportamiento de Estados Unidos en el marco de la Organización Mundial del Comercio, particularmente con relación a prácticas anticompetitivas derivadas del programa de protección a la agricultura del país. Para ello se analizan el interés nacional y los elementos de la seguridad nacional a partir de los cuales éste se ha construido. También se evalúan los procesos de formulación de política comercial y las interacciones entre los representantes políticos, las asociaciones de productores y el sector privado para mostrar como este comportamiento contradictorio corresponde a la legitimización de un interés particular.

Las semillas del imperialismo agrícola estadounidense en el Ecuador (Estudios)

El artículo analiza la manera cómo, mediante emprésitos, asistencia técnica y el establecimiento de estaciones experimentales agrícolas en la región andina, los Estados Unidos desarrollaron una política imperial de planificación y dirección del desarrollo agrícola de vastas zonas de América Latina. En relación al caso ecuatoriano, el estudio centra su atención en las políticas implementadas por el United States Department of Agriculture, a partir de 1890, y la creación de la Estación Experimental Ecuatoriana como mecanismo para la explotación de la quina y el caucho en el marco de la obtención de recursos y materiales estratégicos para la guerra.

The CAP and EU enlargement: Prospects for an alternative strategy to avoid the lock-in of CAP support

The integration of the central and east European countries (CEECs) into the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) could become a major problem. At the Copenhagen European summit in December 2002, the EU agreed a transitional period with a gradual phasing in of direct payments. However, this strategy will not solve the problems of the CAP: budgetary limits remain problematic, the policy ignores possible developments in the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the extension of direct payments to the CEECs will further capitalize, and hence lock-in, agricultural support. The latter makes future reform even more difficult and, to overcome these problems, we suggest an alternative strategy to integrate the CEECs into the CAP. The EU should phase out direct payments by applying a bond scheme. Finally, we consider whether this option is politically viable.

Carbon addition alters vegetation composition on ex-arable fields

1. Recent changes in European agricultural policy have led to measures to reverse the loss of species-rich grasslands through the creation of new areas on ex-arable land. Ex-arable soils are often characterized by high inorganic nitrogen (N) levels, which lead to the rapid establishment of annual and fast-growing perennial species during the initial phase of habitat creation. The addition of carbon (C) to the soil has been suggested as a countermeasure to reduce plant-available N and alter competitive interactions among plant species. 2. To test the effect of C addition on habitat creation on ex-arable land, an experiment was set up on two recently abandoned fields in Switzerland and on two 6-year-old restoration sites in the UK. Carbon was added as a mixture of either sugar and sawdust or wood chips and sawdust during a period of 2 years. The effects of C addition on soil parameters and vegetation composition were assessed during the period of C additions and 1 year thereafter. 3. Soil nitrate concentrations were reduced at all sites within weeks of the first C addition, and remained low until cessation of the C additions. The overall effect of C addition on vegetation was a reduction in above-ground biomass and cover. At the Swiss sites, the addition of sugar and sawdust led to a relative increase in legume and forb cover and to a decrease in grass cover. The soil N availability, composition of soil micro-organisms and vegetation characteristics continued to be affected after cessation of C additions. 4. Synthesis and applications. The results suggest that C addition in grassland restoration is a useful management method to reduce N availability on ex-arable land. Carbon addition alters the vegetation composition by creating gaps in the vegetation that facilitates the establishment of late-seral plant species, and is most effective when started immediately after the abandonment of arable fields and applied over several years.

The 2003 CAP Reform: Accommodating WTO Pressures

In 2003, the EU agreed a major reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP). Its centrepiece was a new Single Payment Scheme (SPS). Policy concerns at the time involved the budget, EU enlargement to the East, the WTO negotiations, and a perception (articulated by Commissioner Fischler) that there should be a shift of budget funds from CAP's Pillar 1 (price and income support) to Pillar 2 (rural development). We outline these concerns, conclude that the WTO was the main driving force of the reforms, set out the key parameters of the new support scheme, and outline some thoughts on the durability of the reformed CAP in the face of continued internal and external pressures.

Decoupling EU farm support: Does the new single payment scheme fit within the green box?

Recent reform of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has led to a further decoupling of farm support. The EU believes that the new Single Payment Scheme, which replaces the former system of area and headage payments to farmers, tied to production, will qualify for green-box status in the WTO. We examine this contention, particularly in light of the recent WTO panel report on upland cotton.

The potential for competitive and healthy food chains of benefit to the countryside

Agricultural policy liberalisation, concern about unhealthy diets and growing recognition of the importance of sustainable land use have fostered interest in the development of competitive food chains based around products that are beneficial to the rural environment. We review the potential for foods with enhanced health attributes based on alternative varieties/breeds and production systems to traditional agriculture which has been predominantly motivated by yields. We concentrate on soft fruit, which is an important source of polyphenols, and grazing livestock systems that have the potential for improving fatty acid profiles in meat products and find there to be clear scientific potential, but limited research to date. Consumer research suggests considerable acceptance of such products and willingness to pay sufficient to cover additional production costs. Purchase of such foods could have major implications for agricultural land use and the rural environment. There is little research to date on specific healthier food products, but spatially explicit models are being developed to assess land use and environmental implications of changing demand and husbandry methods.

Implications for food production, land use and rural development of the European Union's Single Farm Payment: Indications from a survey of farmers' intentions in Germany, Portugal and the UK

The 2003 reform of the European Union's (EU) Common Agricultural Policy introduced a decoupled income support for farmers called the Single Farm Payment (SFP). Concerns were raised about possible future land use and production changes and their impact on rural communities. Here, such concerns are considered against the workings of the SFP in three EU Member States. Various quantitative studies that have determined the likely impact of the SFP within the EU and the study countries are reviewed. We present the results of a farm survey conducted in the study countries in which farmers' responses to a decoupling scenario similar to the SFP were sought. We found that little short-term change was proposed in the three, rather different, study countries with only 30% of the farmers stating that they would alter their mix of farm activities. Furthermore, less than 30% of all respondents in each country would idle any land under decoupling. Of those who would adopt a new activity, the most popular choices were forestry, woodland and non-food crops. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.