Policy Requirements in the EU and the Existing Array of Indicators Problem Definition, Policy Performance and the Implications of Reform
Policies involving agriculture require information about production of commodities and about the firms that produce them. Understanding the behaviour of the family-firm is central to many issues and increasingly relevant as objectives evolve and the pluriactive nature of farm households is recognised. Policy reform is likely to concentrate interest on the welfare of the agricultural household and the various sources of income that accrue to it. However, statistics that have the household-firm at their centre are poorly developed compared with those on agricultural activity. Reasons are explored and opportunities identified to correct this imbalance.
The text is part of a series Workshop on the Farm Household-Firm Unit: Its Importance in Agriculture and Implications for Statistics, April 12-13,2002, Wye Campus, Imperial College Number 15719