Public policies and the competitiveness of agricultural exports

This article analyses the behaviour of the region's agricultural exports in the period following the onset of the debt crisis and makes some recommendations regarding public sector action with a view to improving the competitiveness of such exports. Section I describes the main trends which have been shaping international agricultural markets in recent decades and which have also marked their future trends. Section II shows how the region's agricultural supply has reacted to these changes. Finally, in section III -on the basis of a stylized representation of the behaviour of agricultural products in international markets- some criteria are laid down for the design of policies aimed at promoting the development of medium- and long-term competitive strategies for exportable agricultural supply, especially in order to facilitate the incorporation of the agricultural sectors with least capital (small and medium-sized producers); into the benefits of a development strategy aimed at integration with the rest of the world. As far as public intervention is concerned, the implicit thesis of the analysis is that although the adjustment and greater openness have brought some progress towards macroeconomic stability and some export growth there are still flaws in domestic markets -due rather to microeconomic factors- which hinder the incorporation of lower-income producers into the benefits of export agriculture.