Agriculture

Resolving the Food Crisis: Assessing Global Policy Reforms Since 2007

Executive summary

As Congress fails to pass a new Farm Bill, its expiration leaves farmers and rural communities in the dark

MINNEAPOLIS—In response to the expiration of the 2018 Farm Bill on September 30 — and no new Farm Bill to take its place — the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) has issued the following statement from Michael Happ, IATP’s Program Associate for Climate and Rural Communities:

So you want to be a farmer? Our current system poses many obstacles

As part of our exhibition at Farm Aid 40, we have created an interactive game that highlights some of the unpredictable challenges facing small farmers, and how better agriculture policy can help build a fairer and more sustainable food and farm system for all. This article is a companion piece to that game and an introduction to some of the issues we focus on.

Putting together the puzzle of a successful Farm to School system

Sourcing, storing, preparing, and serving local products requires a complex network of partners to reach the scale of purchasing that can impact our local economies and build markets for local producers and businesses. Together, all these partners create the Farm to Kids network, ensuring that millions of dollars of local food makes its way to school and early care plates in Minnesota each year.

IATP comments to USDA on Department reorganization plan

The following comments were submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture on August 28, 2025 in response to the Department's announced reorganization plan. Download a PDF of the full comments here.

Removing trade policy obstacles to agroecology and seed sovereignty

Central to the survival of small and mid-scale farmers is their right to save, use, exchange and sell their own seeds — that is, what agroecology advocates have come to recognize as their seed sovereignty.

Battling for Farmers' Seed Systems: UPOV 91 and Trade Agreements

This memo is an attempt to draw attention to the international policy-level challenges impacting Farmers’ Seed Systems broadly, but with a focus on communities in the Global South, and on how the U.S. and its seeds companies use free-trade agreements to undermine the policy space available for farmers to save, use, exchange, and sell farm-saved seeds.

Trade pressures threaten Kenya’s small-scale livestock producers

A new report commissioned by IATP and BIBA-Kenya analyzes Kenya's livestock sector and highlights increasing pressure from U.S. trade flows and Big Ag interests.

Kenya Livestock Sector: Value Chain Analysis, Trade Impacts & Recent Trends

This report provides a value chain analysis of Kenya’s livestock sector with a focus on beef, pork and poultry. It examines the impact of trade liberalization on Kenya’s domestic livestock and meat producers and within the East African Community (EAC) market.

The Republican budget chainsaws the food system

The Republican budget passed earlier this month took a chainsaw to several foundational pillars that prop up the U.S. food system: public spending for those facing hunger; under-paid immigrant workers; and a Farm Bill coalition of rural and urban policymakers.