Government policies providing more than USD 500 billion to farmers every year distort markets, stifle innovation and harm the environment
(WorldNews Indonesia)

30/06/2020 - The latest edition of the OECD`s annual Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation report shows that the support policies implemented by the 54 countries studied - all OECD and EU countries, plus 12 key emerging economies - provided on average USD 536 billion (EUR 469 billion) per year of direct support to farmers from 2017 to 2019. Half of this support came from policies that kept domestic prices above international levels; such policies harm consumers, especially poor ones, increase the income gap between small and large farms, and reduce the competitiveness of the food industry overall. At the same time, six of the countries implicitly taxed farmers by USD 89 billion (EUR...