Agriculture: Improving Policy Coherence for Development

Agriculture plays a central role in economic growth and poverty reduction in developing countries. Although aid remains an important driver for development, including rural development, mutually supportive policies across a wide range of economic, social and environmental issues are needed to support development and poverty reduction.

Policy incoherences are actions that reduce growth prospects in developing countries and undermine aid policies. For example providing aid to improve a country’s ability to engage in agricultural trade while maintaining trade barriers or measures that keep the developing country’s goods out renders aid inefficient and hampers growth.
Beyond issues of international equity and the commitment to the Millennium Development Goals, achieving policy coherence is increasingly in OECD countries’ own interest as well as that of developing countries. Increased interdependence of the world economy, including of global food markets, necessitates coherent policies. Neglecting the development dimension will in time undermine the pursuit of other objectives. If the development progress falters, it can generate highly negative economic, humanitarian and security impacts.

Hence, decision-makers should be well-informed in assessing relevant policy options before disbursing public funds or adopting regulatory policies that may negatively affect developing countries’ agriculture. But promoting policy coherence for development is a challenge since domestic interest groups and government departments often have concerns and direct responsibilities other than combating world poverty.

This Policy Brief explains the importance of agriculture for development and looks at how the OECD is using its multidisciplinary policy expertise and direct contacts in national ministries and authorities to help governments promote policy coherence for development in agriculture.