The Role of Agriculture in Achieving MDG1 : a review of the leading reports

Over the past few years many policy reports have been published which call for new attention as to the pivotal role of agriculture in (rural) development. These reports raised the question at both the Netherlands’ Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) and the Netherlands’ Directorate-General for International Co-operation (DGIS) whether the Netherlands policy needs adjustment and what role both ministries might play in view of the changing perceptions. In order to answer these questions, the ministries felt the need to have better insight in the debate as fuelled by the various reports: “How do the recommendations of the different reports relate, and what is the expert judgment about these recommendations?” To answer these questions, a Review Team of Wageningen University and Research Centre was requested to analyze the most-relevant reports, summarize their recommendations, organize expert-meetings within and outside Wageningen and define emerging issues in various domains that need to be addressed. This report is the result of that Review