Presentation given by Jonathan Baker at the CCRI - concerning his Nuffield Farming Scholarship. Investigating rural policies in Non-EU countries. Switzerland, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand & Norway

1. RURAL POLICIES MODELS AND
TOOLS FROM OUTSIDE THE
EUROPEAN UNION
Jonathan Baker

2. This afternoon
■ Who
■ What
■ Why
■ Country by country
– Four things you need to know
– Policy highlights
■ Lessons for UK

3. Nuffield Farming Scholarships
What are Nuffield Scholarships?
■ 70 years old travel scholarship
■ “Leading positive change in agriculture”

5. Nuffield Farming Scholarship
My scholarship
■ What are the agricultural policies of rich nations, outside
the European Union?
■ Switzerland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Norway.
Senior Land Use Policy Adviser at
Country Land and Business Association (CLA)

9. SWITZERLAND
With great subsidy, comes great responsibility

10. Four Things You Need To
Know
■ Switzerland is rich – budget surpluses are frequent
■ Farms are small, average is 20Ha
■ Food production and maintaining a dispersed rural
populations are strategic priorities
■ Incredibly devolved – farming, international trade and defence
are the only totally national policy areas

11. Policy Highlights
 Constitution sets basis
• Agreed in 1996 via popular
referendum
 Policy and budget decided every
four years
 Signed off by Parliament

12. Agricole Politique 14-17
■ Last change was quite significant, but changes to total budget or tariffs were not
seriously considered
■ Current policy is still very protectionist, limits likelihood of major changes
■ Strategic case for the budget is food production
■ Tactical case for policy design is public good delivery
■ Farmers ‘need’ protection
■ Public want something in return for providing it

13. Payment for
food
supplies
Farmland
payment
Biodiveristy
payment
Payment for
production
system
Payment for
landscape
quality
Payment for
animal
welfare
Farmer choice
Proof of Ecological Performance (PEP) and other conditions
Transitional
Payments

14. "Sometimes I feel we're being paid to create a
façade," she says. "It's not motivating. I'd like the
food we produce to be valued more."

15. Implementation ■ Oct
– Choose programmes and control
organisation
– Canton start planning control
■ Feb
– Farmers formally apply
– Cross checks start
■ June
– First payment made
■ October
– Second payments
■ November
– Final payment
 Control system varies by canton
 Up to canton to decide to do
what they want
 Farmers controlled every year,
but only on one element
 Farmers pay for the control and
choose who does it

16. Food Security
Public Good
Provision
Regional Policy
Economic
Switzerland

17. SOUTH KOREA
Sorry about the free trade

18. Four things you need to know
■ Experienced major post-war land
reform and ‘land-to-the-tillers’ is
part of the constitution. 70 years
later the average farm is 1.12Ha.
■ Just 22% of land mass is farmland.
■ In 1960 it was one of the poorest
country in the world, now highly
urban and wealthy
– It took 120 years for the UK to
industrialise, and agriculture to
move from 40% of GDP to 5%.
In Korea it took 30 years.
■ Korea has more FTAs than any other
country

19. South Korea – Policy Highlights
■ Land zoning
– Land use types
– Agriculture development zones
– Masterplans of rural life
– Innovation clusters
■ Fostering Successors and Elite
Farmers
– ‘Local leaders’
■ Framework Act on Agriculture and
Rural Communities
■ Direct support
– Compensate for the impact of
Free Trade Agreements (FTA)
– Farming transfer (early
retirement of farmers)
– Conserving rice household
income
– Landscape crops
– Environmentally Friendly
Farming
– Disadvantaged areas

20. Policy Highlights
■ Special Tax for Rural Development
– Hypothecated tax that has been in place since 1994. Post-Uruguay round. Major
source of money for subsidy / rural support.
■ Rural quality of life
– In late 90s – 2000s big investment in agricultural productivity.
– Limited results, saw increased productivity but more debt and lower income
levels. Also highlighted poor infrastructure in rural areas
– Committee for the Improvement of Quality of Rural Life chaired by Prime Minister.

21. Food Security
Public Good
Provision
Regional Policy
Economic
South Korea

22. NEW ZEALAND
Farming in the “raw”

23. Four Things You Need to Know
■ No agricultural subsidies
■ Major increase in dairying
■ Export 3% of world’s dairy produce, but 33% of the volume that is traded
internationally
■ There is trouble in (free market farming) paradise
– Land prices
– Aging farmers and lack of new entrants
– Lack of migrant labour
– Water quality

24. Policy Highlights
■ Farm Environment Plans
– Property specific
– Identify risks, environmental
assets and goals and
aspirations
– Water use, water ways, land
and soul, waste, nutrients and
effluent
– Overseer
■ Resource Management Act
– Integrated environmental
permitting
– National environmental
standards

25. Policy Highlights
■ Regulation
– All rivers swimmable by 2040
– All water courses fenced off by
2020
■ Land and water forum / collaborative forums
– Frequent use to tackle tricky policy, e.g.
National Policy Statement
– Similar process due for biodiversity

26. What do NZ policy
makers do all day?
■ Market access
– Non-tariff barriers
– FTAs
■ Competition within sectors
■ Set standards
■ Lobbying
– WTO
– Bilateral
■ Programmes
– Research
– Investment
“Our job, is to get other
Governments out the way”

27. What do NZ lobbyists
do all day?
■ Traditional lobbying
■ Government – industry
collaboration
– Information sharing
– Problem solving

28. Food Security
Public Good
Provision
Regional Policy
Economic
New Zealand

29. JAPAN
Rice, rice, (no) baby

30. Four Things You Need to Know
■ Just 12.5% of Japan is farm land, 68.5%
is forest
■ In 2005, there were over 2M farmer
households, in 2015 there were 900,000
fewer (1.4M according to MAFF). Over
that time, small farms (less than 5Ha in
Japan) decreased by 33% whereas large
farmers (over 100Ha) increased by 165%.
■ World’s biggest importer of food
■ Farmer cooperatives through JA Zenchu are
hugely influential

31. Policy Highlights
In 1999 ‘Basic Law on Food, Agriculture
and Rural Areas’:
■ The law identifies food policy,
agricultural policy and rural area
policy.
■ The law stipulated the
responsibilities of the different
levels of Government, farmers,
consumers and businesses involved
in the food chain.
■ A ‘Basic Plan’ would be created and
this would be revised every four
years. The Plan would have to be
consistent with the law and
specifically the four basic principles.
1. Securing a stable food supply
2. Sustainable agricultural
development [not that sort of
sustainable]
3. Development of rural areas
4. Fulfilment of multifunctional roles

32. Basic Plan 2010, revised 2015
Ultimate goal of doubling income of
farmers and agricultural villages
■ Rural policy
– maintaining and developing
multifunctional roles
■ Commercial policy
– turning agriculture into a growth
sector
– Ninaite
■ Food Self Sufficiency potential index
– Food self-sufficiency ratio target
of 45% on a calorie supply basis
and 75% on a production value
basis for FY2025.

35. Direct support – Japanese style
■ Multifunctionality payments
– No income support before
2000
– No agri-environment schemes
until 2011
– Multifunctionality
– Most are payed to
communities not individuals
– Combine rural development
with agri-environment

37. Food Security
Public Good
Provision
Regional Policy
Economic
Japan

38. NORWAY
Ig – Norway – ing liberalisation

39. Four Things You Need
To Know
■ Norway is huge
– If you pivoted Norway around
Oslo, it would reach as far
South as Rome.
– 8th biggest country in Europe
■ 3.2% farmland
– Only 5% of farms get 90% or
more of their income from
farming; and this number is
dropping.
■ Most supportive policy in the world
– Top ranked support for farmers
– Support extends beyond
agricultural support
■ Farmer representatives help set the
policies
– Every year farmer
representatives agree the
policy

40. Policy Highlights
■ Policy measures
– Output-based payments
– Target-prices
– Border tariffs
– Transport subsidies
– Acereage-based payments
– Headage payments for livestock
– Dairy-industry payments
– Vacation and replacement assistance
– Regional environmental programmes
– Agriculture Development Fund
– Income-tax deductions
– Transport subsidies
– Land regulation
■ Policy is agreed every year between
farmer representatives and the
Government.
■ Closed sector

41. Lessons for UK
■ Don’t take rural for granted
■ Know strengths and play to them
■ Everyone wants to focus on quality
and added value
■ Food safety has to be earned
■ Create new industry-Government
relationships
■ Structural reform / becoming
‘competitive’ is easier said than
done
■ Get ready for agri-politics
■ Be creative
■ De-centralise
■ What the UK is proposing is
exceptional

42. THANK YOU
https://nuffieldjbaker.wordpress.com
@jojabaker

43. Budget for direct payments
About twice as
generous as the
CAP on an acre-by-
acre basis
£2.2bn/yr

44. Direct payment requirements
■ To access support you must:
– Undertake a minimal amount of
work on the farm (0.2FTE)
– Age limit (65 years)
– Agricultural qualifications

45. Direct payment requirements
 All payments require meeting Proof of Ecological
Performance (PEP) on all agricultural land. PEP
includes:
– Crop rotation (minimum of four and limits on crop
%)
– Water and soil protection (no bare soil after
August 31)
– Nutrient balance (+10% N and P)
– Pesticide use (buffers and equipment testing)
– Animal welfare
– Biodiversity area (7%)

46. Types of payment
■ Farmland payment
– To keep agricultural land open
– Payments for managing
difficult land / summer
pastures
■ Payment for ensuring food supplies
– Direct support
– No activities, other than PEP
required
– Differentiated for different
regions
– Recently changed to support
arable more than livestock

47. Types of payment
■ Biodiversity payments
– Additional funding available to actively manage the
7% of land all farmers must allocate
– Funding also provided to increase % of ‘area of
biodiversity promotion’
– Two levels
■ First is based on management
■ Second on delivery
– Funding available for landscape projects.
– Projects are part funded and approved by the
canton

48. Types of payments
■ Payment for production system
– Organic farming
– Extensive production of arable crops (no growth
regulators, fungicides or insecticides)
– Animal welfare particularly animal-friendly indoor
systems and regular outdoor exercise
– Grassland-based dairy farming and meat production
– Efficient use or resources: use of modern
techniques such as no till, precision technology

49. Types of payment
■ Payments for landscape quality
– Funding to support the
maintenance and creation of
regions’ typical landscape
elements.
– Examples are forest
pastures, arable farmland in
mountain areas or tree alleys
– Part funded by the canton
■ Transition payments
– To smooth the impact of those
who were disadvantaged by the
reform – primarily livestock
farmers in the plains and hills

50. Framework Act on Agriculture and
Rural Communities
■ Constitution requires that “The State establishes and implements a plan to comprehensively
develop and support the farm and fishing communities in order to protect and foster
agriculture and fisheries”
■ “The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall formulate a plan to develop
agriculture, fisheries, rural communities and the food industry”
■ Plan should include:
– Objectives and direction setting
– Targets
– Policies
– Funding plans
■ Includes a requirement for each
municipality and borough to produce
a plan for their own area

51. Agriculture Basic Law
■ 1961 - The first Agricultural Basic Law
– Focused on increasing production and maintaining the post WWII land reforms.
– Crucially it looked at increasing the incomes of rural populations, resulted in
high rice price policy.

52. Basic Law
■ Post Uruguay Round – need for a new Basic Law
– An Investigate Committee on Fundamental Issues in the Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries Industry found four major ‘changing conditions’ that the new law
should address:
■ Falling self-sufficiency rates – driven in part by richer consumption habits.
■ Reduced agricultural land and aging farmers.
■ Loss of vitality in rural areas.
■ Changing public awareness with consumers having greater interest in stable and
safe food and concerns about environmental and cultural sustainability.

53. Basic Law on Food, Agriculture and
Rural Areas
■ In 1999 debates stared in the national Diet and a number of key features of the
‘Basic Law on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas’ emerged and ultimately were put
into the final law. These were;
– The law would be divided into food policy, agricultural policy and rural area
policy.
– The law stipulated the responsibilities of the different levels of Government,
farmers, consumers and businesses involved in the food chain.
– A ‘Basic Plan’ would be created and this would be revised every four years. The
Plan would have to be consistent with the law and specifically the four basic
principles.
– The law would create four basic principles

54. Basic Law on Food, Agriculture and
Rural Areas
■ Securing a stable food supply
– ‘unstable factors’ in world food trade
– Refers to, food consumption, food industry, imports and exports, food security,
international cooperation
– The law requires the creation of a food security ratio that must be published
annually and should be improved over time. The current Basic Plan includes a
self sufficiency potential ratio.

55. Basic Law on Food, Agriculture and
Rural Areas
■ Fulfilment of multifunctional roles
– Article 3 refers to ‘the multiple roles that agriculture plays through food
production in rural areas, from the conservation of national land, water
resources and the natural environment to the foundation of a good landscape
and maintenance of cultural tradition’.
– These multifunctional rules ‘shall be fulfilled sufficiently for the future’.

56. Basic Law on Food, Agriculture and
Rural Areas
■ Sustainable agricultural development [not that sort of sustainable]
– Article 4 is not about environmental or cultural sustainability.
– Rather it is about ensuring that agriculture remains viable, that there is
sufficient workforce and infrastructure.
– Refers to agricultural structure, farming operations, farmland, agricultural
infrastructure, developing the workforce, women’s involvement, elderly
farmers, production organizations, technology, price and farm management,
disasters, natural cycles in agriculture, agricultural materials
■ Development of rural areas
– Article 5 talks about the importance of rural areas and their ‘conventional role
as primary food supplier and the multifunctional roles’.

57. Basic Plans
■ “The basic plan shall stipulate the following matters:
– (1) Basic direction in formulating policies on food, agriculture
and rural areas
– (2) Target for food self-sufficiency ratio
– (3) Policies implemented comprehensively and systematically by
the Government with regard to food, agriculture and rural areas
– (4) Besides the preceding matters, matters required to
comprehensively and systematically promote policies on food,
agriculture and rural areas”.