Monday 9 June 2008

Fourteenth edition of the Agricultural Outlook

This is the fourteenth edition of the Agricultural Outlook and the fourth time it has been prepared jointly by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

This edition covers the outlook for commodity markets during the 2008 to 2017 period, and brings together the commodity, policy and country expertise of both Organisations. The report analyses world market trends for the main agricultural products, as well as biofuels. It provides an assessment of agricultural market prospects for production, consumption, trade, stocks and prices of the included commodities.

In total, the projections encompass 39 countries and 19 regions. The projections are based on specific assumptions regarding global macroeconomic conditions; population growth; national agricultural, biofuel and trade policies; production technologies; and normal weather conditions. The Agricultural Outlook provides a picture of how agricultural markets could evolve in the coming decade given the underlying assumptions.

The release of the joint 2008 OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook, during a news conference on 29/05 with participation of Jacques Diouf, Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General, and the OECD Secretary-General. Paris, France, can [easily] be viewed in a low bandwidth video of one hour!