OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook: 2008-2017: highlights

This&nbsp;synthesis report presents the&nbsp;main findings of the&nbsp;2008&nbsp;Agricultural Outlook report, an annual publication&nbsp;prepared&nbsp;by the Organisation for&nbsp;Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The report draws on the commodity, policy and country expertise of both organisations in providing a longer-term assessment of future prospects in the major world agricultural commodity markets. This edition of the Agricultural Outlook offers an assessment of agricultural markets covering cereals, oilseeds, sugar, meats, milk and dairy products over the period 2008 to 2017. For the first time, it also includes an analysis of and projections for global biofuel markets for bioethanol and biodiesel, facilitating the discussion of interactions between these markets and those for the main agricultural feedstocks used in their production. Set against a backdrop of exceptional increases in prices for many agricultural commodities, the report comes at a very timely moment and provides important information, with a view to enlightening the discussion on food-price increases, their causes and their likely consequences for agricultural markets as well as for the policy formulation process.Key findings include: prices will gradually come down once because of the transitory nature of some of the factors that are behind the recent hikes, but they&nbsp;are likely to stay at&nbsp;higher average levels than in the past and may be more volatile the epicentre of global agriculture will further shift from the OECD towards developing countries high prices will hit the poor hardest, and in many low-income countries, the higher prices contained in this Outlook will push more people into undernourishment. LDCs&rsquo; domestic supply capacity should be developed by improving enhancing governance and administrative systems and investing in education, training and extension services, research and development and physical infrastructure increased humanitarian aid is needed to reduce the negative impact of high prices on the very poor, and&nbsp; this could be done without any major impact on markets public and private investments in innovation and increasing agricultural productivity, particularly in developing countries, would greatly improve supply prospects by helping to broaden the production base and lessen the chance of recurring commodity price spikes. <br /><br />