Agriculture, Trade, and the WTO in South Asia

by World Bank Group (Editor)

South Asia is home to approximately 1.3 billion people, of whom 70 percent live in rural areas. Therefore, agriculture plays a crucial role in the region's economy, accounting for close to 28 percent of GDP. But poverty is one of the major issues in South Asia, with 40 percent of the world's poor (defined as those living on less than $1 a day). The further opening of international markets to agricultural exports from South Asia promises to raise the standard of living in this region. The inclusion of agriculture under the rules of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/World Trade Organization (WTO) is considered one of the main achievements of the Uruguay Round, which in 1986 established the WTO, the successor to the GATT. The Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) established a rules-based system of agricultural trade and set guidelines to reduce protection and distortional policies in agricultural trade. However, developing countries did not gain as much as expected under the AoA, so it is imperative that they seize the opportunity to actively and effectively participate in future trade negotiations. 'Agriculture, Trade, and the WTO in South Asia' is a compilation of studies presented at a World Bank-sponsored regional conference in New Delhi, India, in 1999. The studies have been revised and updated, and provide valuable insights into various issues, perspectives, and interests of South Asia in future WTO trade rounds. The book is intended for policymakers, analysts, and other stakeholders from industrialized and developing countries.

260 pages, Paperback

First published July 10, 2003

About the author

The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and most famous development bank in the world and is an observer at the United Nations Development Group. The bank is based in Washington, D.C. and provided around $61 billion in loans and assistance to "developing" and transition countries in the 2014 fiscal year. The bank's stated mission is to achieve the twin goals of ending extreme poverty and building shared prosperity. Its five organizations are the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

The World Bank's (the IBRD and IDA's) activities are focused on developing countries, in fields such as human development (e.g. education, health), agriculture and rural development (e.g. irrigation and rural services), environmental protection (e.g. pollution reduction, establishing and enforcing regulations), infrastructure (e.g. roads, urban regeneration, and electricity), large industrial construction projects, and governance (e.g. anti-corruption, legal institutions development). The IBRD and IDA provide loans at preferential rates to member countries, as well as grants to the poorest countries. Loans or grants for specific projects are often linked to wider policy changes in the sector or the country's economy as a whole. For example, a loan to improve coastal environmental management may be linked to development of new environmental institutions at national and local levels and the implementation of new regulations to limit pollution, or not, such as in the World Bank financed constructions of paper mills along the Rio Uruguay in 2006.