Effective Targeting of Agricultural Policies Best Practices for Policy Design and Implementation

Agricultural policies are dominated by broad measures such as market price support and general payments to all land, animals or farmers. As a result, it is often difficult to associate a particular policy with any specific objective. Recognising the challenge facing policy makers who wish to design more precisely targeted policies, this study defines the operational characteristics of targeted policies and illustrates best practice with concrete examples. The relationship between target variables and objectives is explored and practical ways to define targets or actions are also examined.