The Impact of the Common Agricultural Policy on Food Prices

The agricultural sector is the most protected sector within the European Union. Although European farmers receive significant sums of subsidies each year in order to protect them from global competition and to ensure their survival in a changing market, fluctuating food prices regularly represent an issue for controversy. As a result, the agricultural budget is constantly inflating. How does the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union effect food prices and what are the consequences for both European and non-European farmers? The author Maximilian Heyde investigates the impact of this policy on rural development in Sub-Saharan Africa. He outlines the historical development of the CAP and illustrates its economic mechanisms and consequences. Market distortions caused by the CAP in Sub-Saharan Africa are deducted and finally different possibilities for trade liberalization are evaluated. The book contributes to seeing the discussion in a broader context and is, thus, addressed to an interested public, economic development cooperations and farmer unions but also to students of economics and development studies.