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
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
WTO Director-General
PANEL 1 DISCUSSIONS - (09:05 – 10:35)
Moderator
Jean-Marie Paugam
Deputy Director General, WTO
Speaker/Discussant
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
PresentationComments 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
Ambassador Gloria Abraham Peralta
COA SS CHAIR (Costa Rica)
Speaker/Discussant
WFP: Improving Food Security of the Most Vulnerable People
Ronald Tran Ba Huy, Deputy Director of Research, Assessment & Monitoring
PresentationIICA: Food Security in the Americas
Manuel Otero, Director General
IFPRI: Looking Ahead: Policy Responses to Emerging Food Security Challenges
Valeria Piñeiro, Senior Research Coordinator
PresentationComments by discussants
Ambassador Clare Kelly (New Zealand)
Ambassador Manuel Teehankee (Philippines)
Second round of discussions
PANEL 3 DISCUSSIONS - (12:00 – 13:00)
Moderator
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
PresentationInstitute 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
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
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
PresentationComments by discussants
Ambassador José Luís Cancela (Uruguay)
Joe Glauber, Interim Secretary for AMIS, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI
Second round of discussions
CLOSING ADDRESS
Jean-Marie Paugam
Deputy Director General, WTO
Q&A
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