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I'm not qualified to answer this question for any country other than our own and may not be qualified to answer for it either but my understanding of why there are agricultural subsidies is to protect American farmers from unfair foreign competition. On the surface this probably tends to cause increased prices for subsidized product. It is my belief that nations who produce a surplus beyond what there is a legitimate export market should make that surplus available to relief programs for areas in which it is needed. I beleive that the US normally does this through loans with strings attached (ie the money must be used to purchase US agricultural products) In an ideal world we would just give away the product to those who needed it but this would not protect us from nations which subsidize their agriculture and then dump the product on world markets for less that its actual cost.
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Life isn't always a bowl of cherries, sometimes it's more like a jar of Jalapenos --- what you say or do today might burn your ass tomorrow!!!
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