Policies for the Future of Farming and Food in Norway
Norway is performing unevenly across its four agricultural policy objectives. While
Norway enjoys a high level of food security and is meeting its aim of maintaining
agricultural production across the country, both environmental performance and the
efficient creation of value added along the food chain are compromised by support
policies linked to production levels. Support to producers relative to gross farm
receipts is the highest among OECD countries, with 59% of farmers’ revenues coming
from government support. Only 3% of total support to agriculture is dedicated to research
and innovation. Moreover, while Norway has strong public research institutions and
well-designed tax deductions, the private sector lacks the right policy incentives
to innovate.
This review proposes a new policy approach, centred around innovations that would
enable Norway to achieve its objectives and improve the productivity, sustainability
and resilience of its agro-food sector. Specific recommendations include increasing
the responsiveness of the sector to markets, giving farmers greater flexibility in
making production decisions, placing greater emphasis on agri-environmental outcomes,
and increasing the role of the private sector in research and innovation.
Published on March 02, 2021
In series:OECD Agriculture and Food Policy Reviewsview more titles