ABSTRACT
Global agricultural conditions are changing rapidly.World trade protocols appear to be breaking down. Investments by huge agribusiness and food retail chains in developing countries have raised fears that smallholder farmers are becoming increasingly marginalized. Local and international political economy problems are changing the nature of access to markets and technology. One might easily conclude that farmers in developing countries face an inevitable onslaught which neither they nor the governments representing them can influence, let alone use to their advantage. However, the risk of conceiving global food systems as irreversible exogenous shocks on developing countries is to neglect the role of public policy in moderating and shaping the way international forces affect local agricultural sectors.
