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agriculture

WTO seminar on food security:
Technical perspectives


Hybrid
26/04/2022 - 09:00

Objectives

This event will seek to provide an informal space for dialogue on trade and food security among Geneva-based trade officials, experts from international organizations and think tanks, and capital-based officials and policymakers. It will enable participants to explore the conceptual linkages between food security, policy frameworks, and trade and markets, drawing on empirical evidence and experience at the national and regional level. Participants would therefore be able to look holistically at the relationship between trade and the multiple dimensions of food security, including access, availability, stability and use, in light of existing and future challenges. In doing so, the event will contribute to deepening understanding among Members of the main drivers behind food insecurity, and how policies and rules affect trade and markets and the achievement of food security goals.

Context

While global agricultural output has increased significantly in recent years as a result of technological advancement, there are many people still facing hunger and starvation. According to the FAO, between 720 million and 811 million people in the world faced hunger in 2020. Ensuring food security therefore remains a major global public policy challenge that the current international context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the armed conflict in Ukraine makes even more daunting. The resulting increase in the prices of grains and other staple foodstuffs, as well as fertiliser, risk the adoption by Members of measures such as export restrictions which could further exacerbate recent price increases.

The issue of food security is of critical importance to WTO Members, and this is reflected in a number of Decisions. It is also central in the current negotiations to reform global trade rules and also features prominently in the regular work of the Committee on Agriculture. WTO Ministers have also expressly acknowledged the food security challenges faced by Least-Developed and Net Food-Importing Developing Countries.

Governments have also made important commitments on food security and trade in other fora, most notably at the United Nations as part of Agenda 2030, in the targets set out under Sustainable Development Goal 2. Since the adoption of the Agreement on Agriculture, while substantial overall progress has been achieved in reducing hunger, this trend has more recently been reversed, with the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, economic downturns and conflicts among the factors affecting the number and proportion of hungry people in the world - with the armed conflict in Ukraine also recently emerging as an important additional threat to global food security. The United Nations Secretary-General and leaders of international organizations, including the WTO, FAO, WFP, IMF and the World Bank, as well as several Heads of State and Government, have all underlined the risks posed to global food security by the armed conflict in Ukraine.

Format

The event will be held in person, although there will be virtual participation for those unable to physically attend the meeting.

Agenda

The side event will be organized in two main parts. The first part, in the morning, will be devoted to presentations by experts on trade and food security from various international organizations and think tanks. The second part, in the afternoon, will be comprised of a discussion of national experiences from different countries and world regions. In both parts of the event, time will be allocated for open discussion between panelists and participants attending the event.  

Diversity

The Secretariat will take into consideration the importance of ensuring diversity among panelists, including with respect to gender, countries and regions, negotiating perspectives and trade and food security profiles.

Live webcasting - Morning session

Morning - (09:00 – 13:00) LIVESTREAM

COLLABORATING ON SHARED CHALLENGES


INTRODUCTORY REMARKS


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Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

WTO Director-General

PANEL 1 DISCUSSIONS - (09:05 – 10:35)


Moderator

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Jean-Marie Paugam

Deputy Director General, WTO

Speaker/Discussant

FAO: Food Security and Trade: Setting the Scene

Máximo Torero, Chief Economist

Presentation

African Development Bank: Towards Greater Food Security in Africa

Jean-Guy Afrika, Acting Director, Regional Integration Coordination Office

OECD: Domestic Policy Options for Food Security: Trade-offs and Synergies

Marion Jansen, Director Trade and Agriculture Directorate

UNCTAD: Trade and Development Strategies for Ensuring Food Security

Miho Shirotori, Acting Director, Division on International Trade and Commodities

Presentation

Comments by discussants

Ambassador Xolelwa Mlumbi-Peter (South Africa)
Jason Hafemeister, Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, USDA (United States)

First round of discussions

PANEL 2 DISCUSSIONS - (10:35 – 12:00)


Moderator

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Ambassador Gloria Abraham Peralta

COA SS CHAIR (Costa Rica)

Speaker/Discussant

IGC: Food Security in Times of Crisis

Arnaud Petit, Executive Director

Presentation

WFP: Improving Food Security of the Most Vulnerable People

Ronald Tran Ba Huy, Deputy Director of Research, Assessment & Monitoring

Presentation

IICA: Food Security in the Americas

Manuel Otero, Director General

IFPRI: Looking Ahead: Policy Responses to Emerging Food Security Challenges

Valeria Piñeiro, Senior Research Coordinator

Presentation

Comments by discussants

Ambassador Clare Kelly (New Zealand)
Ambassador Manuel Teehankee (Philippines)

Second round of discussions

PANEL 3 DISCUSSIONS - (12:00 – 13:00)


Moderator

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Ambassador Gloria Abraham Peralta

COA SS CHAIR (Costa Rica)

Academic Perspectives

Speaker/Discussant

Centre for WTO studies, Indian institute of foreign trade

Dr. Sachin Kumar Sharma, Associate Professor

Presentation

Institute for international trade, University of Adelaide

Peter Draper, Executive Director

Comments by discussants

Ambassador Stephen de Boer (Canada)
Ambassador Muhammadou Kah (The Gambia)

Third round of discussions

AFTERNOON: NOT PUBLIC - (15:00 - 18:00)

DRAWING ON NATIONAL AND REGIONAL EXPERIENCESS


PANEL 4 DISCUSSIONS - (15:00 - 16:30)


Moderator

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Edwini Kessie

Director, Agriculture and Commodities Division

Speaker/Discussant

Experiences from the Middle East and North Africa: An Egyptian Perspective

Ambassador Dr. Ahmed Ihab Gamaleldin

Experiences from Asia: An Indian Perspective

Srinivasaraghavan Jagannathan,Joint Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution, Government of India

Experiences from the Americas: A Brazilian Perspective

Jean Marcel Fernandes, Secretary of Trade and International Relations from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply

Experiences from an island country: A Jamaican Perspective

Ambassador Cheryl K. Spencer

Experiences from developed countries: A Japanese Perspective

Tetsuo Ushikusa, Deputy Assistant Minister for International Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Tokyo

Comments by discussants

Ambassador Dandy Satria Iswara (Indonesia)
Ahmad Mukhtar, Senior Economist (FAO)

First round of discussions

PANEL 5 DISCUSSIONS - (16:35 - 17:50)


Moderator

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Edwini Kessie

Director, Agriculture and Commodities Division

Speaker/Discussant

Experiences from African Least-Developed Countries: A Chadian Perspective

Ambassador Ahmad Makaila

Experiences from the Americas: A Chilean Perspective

Ambassador Mathias Francke

Experiences from developed countries: An EU Perspective

John Clarke, Director for International Affairs, Directorate General for Agriculture, the European Commission

Experiences from Asia: A Chinese Perspective

Xifeng Gong, Counsellor, Mission of the People's Republic of China to the WTO

Presentation

Comments by discussants

Ambassador José Luís Cancela (Uruguay)
Joe Glauber, Interim Secretary for AMIS, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI

Second round of discussions

CLOSING ADDRESS

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Jean-Marie Paugam

Deputy Director General, WTO

Q&A

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