Agricultural Trade and Multifunctional Agriculture

The research project tries to examine the framework for agricultural policy design for a multifunctional agriculture and its compatibility with WTO rules. It is to be analysed which consequences result from a further liberalisation of agricultural trade and a reduction of farm support for societal goals that go beyond the production of food, raw material for industrial uses, and energy. Goals concerend are the maintenance of a plurality of farming practices, food safety and quality, positive effects on the environment and cultural landscape, and viable rural areas. The project tries to shed light on the suitable range of policy instruments that support these goals taking into account the increasing discipline for national agricultural policies resulting from WTO rules. The research is assisted by the development of a quantitative agricultural sector model that combines the approach of a traditional multi-country-multi-market model for the analysis of international agricultural trade policies with production models for non-commodity outputs of agriculture.