Monday 15 June 2009
Impacts of world sugar policies to be studied
Dr Ackrill will study the impact of sugar policies on food and energy security
Research into how sugar policies in the EU, USA and Brazil impact on world food and energy issues will be undertaken by experts from Nottingham Trent University and the University of Salford.
Dr Robert Ackrill, Reader in European Economics at Nottingham Business School, and Professor Adrian Kay, Professor in Public Policy and Management at the University of Salford, have secured a £78,000 grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to carry out the policy-influencing research.
Sweetness and Power: The Political Economy of Sugar Policy Change, will explore how policies on sugar and biofuels, which can both be derived from sugar cane, can impact on the key areas of current global interest; food security and energy security.
In the past, questions have been raised about the possible impact of biofuel policies on the world trade and food markets. These include the implications of protected sugar and biofuel markets which exclude cheaper imports and the issue of using land for biofuel, rather than food and crops.
Dr Ackrill said: "We are not assuming anything with our research as we want to understand what is actually happening here. By interviewing key policy makers and understanding policy-making processes, we hope that this research will enhance both academic and policy-makers' understanding of how policy areas are linked and how decisions taken in one area affect other areas."
This research, which starts in June 2009 for 18 months, is part of an ongoing collaboration between Dr Ackrill and Professor Kay, which looks generally at the evolution of agricultural policies and specifically at changes in sugar policies.
