Farm earnings in Latin America have been depressed by pro-urban
and anti-trade biases in national policies and by the agricultural support
policies of richer countries. These policies have reduced economic welfare
and hampered trade and growth, and may well have added to income
inequality. This paper synthesizes results from a World Bank project that
provides: measures of the extent to which national policies have changed
farmers' price incentives; partial equilibrium indices of the impact of farm
policies on trade and economic welfare; general equilibrium estimates of
trade, welfare and poverty effects of global reforms retrospectively and
prospectively; comparisons with similar estimates for Asia, Africa and
high-income countries; and a discussion of prospects for agricultural
policy reform.