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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | 13/13 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T13:56:01.016896+00:00 | kb-cron |
Agricultural policy is the set of government decisions and actions relating to domestic agriculture and imports of foreign agricultural products. Governments usually implement agricultural policies with the goal of achieving a specific outcome in the domestic agricultural product markets. Some overarching themes include risk management and adjustment (including policies related to climate change, food safety and natural disasters), economic stability (including policies related to taxes), natural resources and environmental sustainability (especially water policy), research and development, and market access for domestic commodities (including relations with global organizations and agreements with other countries). Agricultural policy can also touch on food quality, ensuring that the food supply is of a consistent and known quality, food security, ensuring that the food supply meets the population's needs, and conservation. Policy programs can range from financial programs, such as subsidies, to encouraging producers to enroll in voluntary quality assurance programs. A 2021 report finds that globally, support to agricultural producers accounts for almost US$540 billion a year. This amounts to 15 percent of total agricultural production value, and is heavily biased towards measures that are leading to inefficiency, as well as are unequally distributed and harmful for the environment and human health. Crop use in animal agriculture accounts for one form of inefficiency. Animal agriculture’s estimated land use to produce one kilocalorie or gram of protein is 50 to 100 times that of plant-based alternatives. Furthermore, the larger the livestock, the lower the energy efficiency (kilocalories obtained relative to kilocalories the animal consumes). For instance, beef's energy efficiency is estimated to be 2%. There are many influences on the creation of agricultural policy, including consumers, agribusiness, trade lobbies and other groups. Agribusiness interests hold a large amount of influence over policy making, in the form of lobbying and campaign contributions. Political action groups, including those interested in environmental issues and labor unions, also provide influence, as do lobbying organizations representing individual agricultural commodities. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) leads international efforts to defeat hunger and provides a forum for the negotiation of global agricultural regulations and agreements. Samuel Jutzi, director of FAO's animal production and health division, states that lobbying by large corporations has stopped reforms that would improve human health and the environment. For example, proposals in 2010 for a voluntary code of conduct for the livestock industry that would have provided incentives for improving standards for health, and environmental regulations, such as the number of animals an area of land can support without long-term damage, were successfully defeated due to large food company pressure.
== See also ==
== Sources ==
This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from The State of Food and Agriculture 2025, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from The State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture 2025, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from The Impact of Disasters on Agriculture and Food Security 2025, The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
== References ==
== Cited sources ==
Acquaah, George (2002). Principles of Crop Production: Theory, Techniques, and Technology. Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-022133-9.
Chrispeels, Maarten J.; Sadava, David E. (1994). Plants, Genes, and Agriculture. Boston, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett. ISBN 978-0-86720-871-9.
Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China. Taipei: Caves Books.
This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (license statement/permission). Text taken from Drowning in Plastics – Marine Litter and Plastic Waste Vital Graphics, United Nations Environment Programme.
This article incorporates text from a free content work (license statement/permission). Text taken from In Brief: The State of Food and Agriculture 2019. Moving forward on food loss and waste reduction, FAO, FAO.
This article incorporates text from a free content work (license statement/permission). Text taken from In Brief to The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022. Repurposing food and agricultural policies to make healthy diets more affordable, FAO.
This article incorporates text from a free content work (license statement/permission). Text taken from In Brief: The State of Food and Agriculture 2018. Migration, agriculture and rural development, FAO, FAO.
This article incorporates text from a free content work (license statement/permission). Text taken from In Brief to The State of Food and Agriculture 2022. Leveraging automation in agriculture for transforming agrifood systems, FAO, FAO.
This article incorporates text from a free content work (license statement/permission). Text taken from Enabling inclusive agricultural automation, FAO, FAO.
This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from The status of women in agrifood systems – Overview, FAO, FAO.
This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY-SA IGO 3.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2023, FAO, FAO.
This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from World Intellectual Property Report 2024 - The importance of local capabilities in AgTech specialization, WIPO, WIPO.
== External links ==
Food and Agriculture Organization United States Department of Agriculture Agriculture material from the World Bank Group Agriculture collected news and commentary at The New York Times Agriculture collected news and commentary at The Guardian