Agriculture in a Dynamic World

Through a combination of technological progress and economic policy convergence, globalization has markedly changed the setting for agriculture during the last decade. Through trade and international agreements, global changes increasingly affect development options for both industrialized and developing economies. At national level, continued population growth, expanding economies and urbanization have, especially in densely-populated areas, led to unprecedented competition for land and water resources between agriculture and other uses such as infrastructure, urban, industry and recreation/nature. This challenges the agricultural sector to produce sufficient, more diverse and safe food, fibre products and feedstocks for biofuel in a sustainable manner. This has to be achieved in an increasingly competitive and globalizing economy. Meeting these challenges requires significant changes in the way agriculture and the value chain are organized