trade dialogues
Trade Dialogues on Food
As part of its Trade Dialogues initiative, the WTO is launching Trade Dialogues on Food, with the aim of encouraging a debate on the role of international trade in food security. Experts from governments, non-governmental organizations, businesses, academia, think tanks and foundations will be invited to discuss the most topical issues in food trade. Each discussion can be watched live on this page. If you wish to participate in the debate, please email us your questions in real time at Dialogues@WTO.org. A recording will be made available after the event.
Introduction
The aim of the WTO Trade Dialogues on Food is to create a conversation around the role of international trade in food security. The Trade Dialogues on Food invite experts from governments, non-governmental organizations, businesses, academia, think tanks and foundations, to debate the most topical issues in food trade. Each year the international trading system moves enough wheat, maize, rice and soybean to feed approximately three billion people around the globe. Meanwhile, 190 million tons of fertilizer applied to farmland annually play a key role in helping us grow enough food to sustain our expanding population, with much of it traded on the international stage. Climate change will make international trade even more central to food security, acting as a vital conduit for food from food-surplus to food-deficit nations in the wake of natural calamities. The Trade Dialogues on Food are designed to shed greater light on the complexity of the food trade nexus, creating a safe space for public policy debate.
Thursday 1 April, 2-4 pm CET
Enabling Agricultural Trade; An Independent United Nations Food Systems Summit Dialogue by the WTO Secretariat
Live streaming
Speakers

Marion Jansen
Director, Trade and Agriculture Directorate, OECD

Geeta Sethi
Advisor and Global Lead for Food Systems, World Bank

Arianna Giuliodori
Secretary-General, World Farmers' Organisation

Boubaker Ben-Belhassen
Director, Markets and Trade Division, FAO

Robbert de Vreede
Executive Vice-President Global Foods, Unilever

Berry Marttin
Member of Managing Board, Rabobank (responsible for International Rural and Retail Banking, Leasing, Sustainability)
WTO Representatives on Episode

Michael Roberts
Head, Aid-for-Trade Unit, WTO

Melvin Spreij
Head, Standards and Trade Development Facility
Moderator

Doaa Abdel-Motaal
Senior Counsellor, WTO Agriculture and Commodities Division
Thursday 25 February, 2-3.30 pm CET
The Africa Agriculture Trade Monitor; What Next for the African Continent?
A joint event by WTO-IFPRI-IISD
For the Background Documents for the Dialogue click below:
Live streaming
Speakers

Chahir Zaki
Associate Professor of Economics (and Co-Editor of the Trade Monitor), Cairo University

Halima Noor
Senior Trade Advisor at the African Union

Elizabeth Nsimadala
President of the Pan-African Farmers Organization and the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation

Xolelwa Mlumbi-Peter
Ambassador of South Africa to the WTO

Edwini Kessie
Director, Agriculture and Commodities Division, WTO
Moderators

Doaa Abdel-Motaal
Senior Counsellor, WTO Agriculture and Commodities Division

Jonathan Hepburn
Senior Policy Advisor, International Institute for Sustainable Development
Thursday 19 November, 2-3.30 pm CET
The AOA@25, Teaser for WTO Agriculture Symposium 2020
Live streaming
Speakers

Sunanta Kangvalkulkij
Ambassador of Thailand to the WTO

Xolelwa Mlumbi-Peter
Ambassador of South Africa to the WTO

Eugenio Diaz-Bonilla
Head of Latin American and Caribbean Program, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Robert Koopman
Director, Economic Research and Statistics Division, WTO

Edwini Kessie
Director, Agriculture and Commodities Division, WTO
Moderator

Doaa Abdel-Motaal
Senior Counsellor, WTO Agriculture and Commodities Division
5 November, 2-3.30 pm CET
The Future of Food, Digitalization, Automation and COVID-19
Live streaming
Speakers

Maximo Torero
Chief Economist, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

Sean de Cleene
Head of the Future of Food, World Economic Forum

Emma Weston
CEO & Co-Founder, AgriDigital

Oswaldo Loor
Founder and CEO, Shenzhen Drones

Ulla Kask
Counsellor, Agriculture and Commodities Division, WTO
Moderator

Doaa Abdel-Motaal
Senior Counsellor, WTO Agriculture and Commodities Division
1 October, 2-3.30 pm CET
Food Trade Policy, the G20, and COVID-19
Live streaming
Opening Remarks

Alan Wolff
Deputy Director-General of the WTO
Speakers

Saad Abdullah Khalil Esa
Economic Advisor, Ministry of Environment, Water, Agriculture (MEWA) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Randal Giroux
Chair of The Grain and Feed Trade Association (GAFTA) Global Trade Policy Committee, and Vice President - Global Regulatory Leader at Cargill

Maximo Torero
Chief Economist and Assistant Director-General of the Economic and Social Development Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Edwini Kessie
Director, WTO Agriculture and Commodities Division
Moderator

Doaa Abdel-Motaal
Senior Counsellor, WTO Agriculture and Commodities Division
25 June 2020, 2.00 - 3.30 pm CET
The Disruptors: A Conversation with the Technology Giants Revolutionizing African Agriculture
Live streaming
Speakers




WTO participants

Emmanuelle Ganne
cAnalyst, WTO Economic Research and Statistics Division
“Blockchain, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises and the WTO”

Gabrielle Marceau
Senior Counsellor, WTO Economic Research and Statistics Division
“Innovation and the WTO Rule-Book”
Moderator

Doaa Abdel-Motaal
Senior Counsellor, WTO Agriculture and Commodities Division
11 June 2020, 2.00 – 4.00 pm CET
Food Trade Logistics, Navigating the Risks of COVID-19
Joint WTO - World Economic Forum (WEF) Webinar
Speakers

Siddharth Adya
Vice President, Group Cargo Solutions and Platform Development, PSA International

Ertharin Cousin
CEO and President, Food Systems for the Future (former Executive Director of the World Food Programme)

Allan Lerberg Jørgensen
Head of Sustainable Trade, Maersk

Arnaud Petit
Executive Director, International Grains Council

Sheri Rosenow
Counsellor, Market Access Division, WTO Trade Facilitation Section

Lisa Sweet
Head of Future of Protein, COVID Response, and Food Health of the World Economic Forum
Moderator

Doaa Abdel-Motaal
Counsellor, WTO Agriculture and Commodities Division
Webcast
28 May 2020, 2.00 - 3.30 pm CET
COVID-19, Flattening the Food Insecurity Curve in Africa
Speakers

Trudi Hartzenberg
Executive Director TRALAC (Trade Law Center, South Africa)

Theo de Jager
President, World Farmers Organization

Junior Davis
Head of Policy Analysis and Research Branch, Division for Africa and LDCs at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Edwini Kessie
Director, WTO Agriculture and Commodities Division

Halima Noor
Senior Trade Advisor, African Union
Moderator

Doaa Abdel-Motaal
Counsellor, WTO Agriculture and Commodities Division
Webcast
14 May 2020, 2.00 - 3.30 pm CET
Global Value Chains in Agriculture and Food, in an Era of COVID-19
Speakers

Caroline Emond
Director-General, International Dairy Federation

Paolo Giordano
Principal Economist, Inter-American Development Bank

Charlotte Hebebrand
Executive Vice-President and Chief Sustainability Officer at Nutrien, and former Director General of the International Fertilizer Association

Edwini Kessie
Director, WTO Agriculture and Commodities Division

Matt Kovac
CEO of Food Industry Asia

Daniel Njiwa
Head of Regional Food Trade, Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa
Moderator

Doaa Abdel-Motaal
Counsellor, WTO Agriculture and Commodities Division
Webcast
30 April 2020, starting time 2 pm CET
International Trade and Food Security in the Era of
COVID-19
Speakers

Shenggen Fan
Senior Chair Professor, College of Economics and Management, China Agriculture University, and former Director General of International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Andrea Gruber
Head Special Cargo, International Air Transportation Association (IATA)

Maximo Torero
Chief Economist and Assistant Director-General of the Economic and Social Development Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Alan Wolff
Deputy Director-General of the WTO
Virtual Remarks
Moderator

Doaa Abdel-Motaal
Counsellor, WTO Agriculture and Commodities Division
Webcast
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in the Trade Dialogues on Food do not in any way reflect the official position of the WTO or its members.
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