Agricultural Markets Instability: Revisiting the Recent Food Crises(Earthscan Food and Agriculture)

Since the financial and food price crises of 2007, market instability has been a topic of major concern to agricultural economists and policy professionals. This volume provides an overview of the key issues surrounding food prices volatility, focusing primarily on drivers, long-term implications of volatility and its impacts on food chains and consumers. The book explores which factors and drivers are volatility-increasing and which others are price level-increasing, and whether these two distinctive effects can be identified and measured. It considers the extent to which increasing instability affects agents in the value chain, as well as the actual impacts on the most vulnerable households in the EU and in selected developing countries. It also analyses which policies are more effective to avert and mitigate the effects of instability. Developed from the work of the European-based ULYSSES project, the book synthesises the most recent literature on the topic and presents the views of practitioners, businesses, NGOs and farmers' organizations. It draws policy responses and recommendations for policy makers at both European and on international levels.

Table of Contents:
1. Scope and Objectives Alberto Garrido, Robert M'Barek, Isabel Bardají, Miranda Meuwissen, Cristian Morales-Opazo and José María Sumpsi Part 1: Literature Reviews and New Findings 2. Volatility in the After-crisis Period: A Literature Review of Recent Empirical Research Bernhard Brümmer, Olaf Korn, Kristina Schlüßler, Tinoush Jamali Jaghdani and Alberto Saucedo 3. Has Agricultural Price Volatility Increased since 2007? Bernhard Brümmer, Ayca Donmez, Tinoush Jamali Jagdhani, Olaf Korn, Emiliano Magrini and Kristina Schlüssler 4. Medium-term Drivers of Food Markets Variability and Uncertainty Sergio Rene Araujo Enciso, Maria Blanco, Marco Artavia, Fabien Ramos, Robert M'Barek, Ben Van Doorslaer, Lucian Stanca and Ayca Donmez 5. Transparency of Food Pricing in the European Union Steve McCorriston and Stephan von Cramon-Taubadel 6. A Review of the Role of Contextual Factors on Price Volatility Transmission in Food Supply Chains Tsion Taye Assefa, Miranda Meuwissen and Alfons G.J.M. Oude Lansink 7. Impacts of Increased Food Prices and Volatility on Consumers and Households Sol García-Germán, Cristian Morales-Opazo, Alberto Garrido, Emiliano Magrini, Jean Balié and Isabel Bardají Part 2: The Views of Some Stakeholders 8. Are Derivatives Introducing Distortions in Agricultural Markets? Adamo Uboldi 9. The View of Farmers: German Pig Producers Torsten Staack 10. Mitigating the Effects of Agricultural Price Volatility: A European Cereal Grower’s Point of View Nicolas Ferenczi 11. Milk and Dairy Products’ Price Volatility:The View of a Large EU Cooperative Wim Kloosterboer 12. Coping with Food Price Volatility: The Contribution of Local Food Reserves Gabriel Pons Cortès and Itzíar Gómez Carrasco Part 3: Policy Discussion and Conclusions 13. Assessment of National Policies in Developing Countries to Combat and Mitigate the Effects of Agricultural Markets Excessive Price Volatility Mulat Demeke and Jean Balie 14. Price Volatility Perceptions, Management Strategies and Policy Options in EU Food Supply Chains Tsion Taye Assefa, Miranda Meuwissen and Alfons G.J.M. Oude Lansink 15. Book Summary and ULYSSES Project's Conclusions Plamen Mishev, Alberto Garrido, Nedka Ivanova and Milkana Mochurova

About the Author :
Alberto Garrido is Professor of Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics and a Researcher at the Research Centre for the Management of Agricultural and Environmental Risks (CEIGRAM), Technical University of Madrid, Spain. Bernhard Bruemmer is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development at Georg-August University of Goettingen, Germany. Robert M'Barek is an Agricultural Economist and leader of the "Agricultural trade and market analysis" group at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (IPTS) in Seville, Spain. Miranda P. M. Meuwissen is Associate Professor in the Business Economics group at Wageningen University, the Netherlands. Cristian Morales-Opazo is an Economist in the Agricultural Development Economics Division at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy.