Annual Report 2005 - Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka

IPS Research Themes__Agricultural Economic Policyand determining the farm productivity and accessibilityto financial and labour markets. This study attempts todevelop a programme for empowering the poor so thatthey can participate in planning on matters related toland and land use.Agricultural Trade Liberalization Trendsin the Asia PacificCountries, such as China and Thailand, have usedbilateral and regional trade agreement mechanisms inin an attempt to make progress on agricultural trade Dilhani Marawila and Manoj Thibbotuwawa during a fieldvisit to a vegetable plot in Nuwara Eliya and having a discussionliberalization. A comparative assessment of the expected with the farmers on the project “Agricultural Land Sector in SriLanka”.impact of regional trade agreements and multilateraltrade liberalization on trade and development of theagricultural sector is needed to assess whether LDCs, many of which are still engaged in the WTO accessionprocess, take a similar approach? Thus, the main objectives of this research are: a) to map the characteristicsrelated to agricultural trade under different agreements in this region; b) examine the nature and level ofagricultural liberalization of these different trade agreements; c) to analyze the extent and nature of welfaregains, effects on trade and effects on different industries under various scenarios of trade liberalization inagriculture in the Asia Pacific Region; and d) to derive implications and recommendations for policy makersand negotiators. A research network was established with the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Bangladesh,Bangladesh, Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), Philippines, Peking University, Chinaand Griffith University, Australia through the Asia Pacific Regional Trade Network (ARTNeT) at the UnitedNations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP). A presentation was made onpreliminary findings of the Study “Agricultural Liberalization Trends in Asia Pacific” at the Second ARTNeTConsultative Meeting of Policy Makers and Research Institutions organized by the UN-ESCAP at theUniversity of Macau, Macao, China on 7 October.South Asia Strategy Paper: The research team at theIPS also prepared a paper on “Sri Lanka’s AgriculturalSector” for the “South Asia Strategy Paper onAgricultural Sector” compiled by the InternationalFood Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). This paperconsisted of major reforms in the agricultural sector,key issues in food security, important gaps in productdevelopment and technology, critical issues inagricultural policies and more specifically, policy leveland institutional recommendations.Parakrama Samaratunga and Manoj Thibbotuwawa at theARTNet Research Team meeting held at the IPS during9-10 August.Research PersonnelP.A. Samaratunga , Dilhani Marawila and Manoj Thibbotuwawa24__________ Annual Report 2005