The session, titled “Strengthening Food Security through Trade,” noted that political conflicts, value chain disruptions and rising inflation threaten food security in developing countries, and explored how the international trade community can act to enhance access to safe, nutritious and affordable food.
Particular emphasis was placed on helping smallholder farmers reap greater benefits from trade, including by increasing their productivity and representing themselves in international forums. The importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration, including public-private partnerships, was also highlighted.
Mathieu Gboro Fanga, Minister of Trade and Industry of Chad, as the coordinating economy of the WTO's Africa Group, spoke about the importance of agriculture to African economies in creating jobs and alleviating poverty.
“Within the multilateral trading system, we aim to benefit more fully from the advantages that African countries have in the agricultural sector,” he said, highlighting production capacity in particular. “Advancing multilateral negotiations on agriculture at the WTO is also crucial to establishing a level playing field for international trade in agricultural products.”
Minister Fanga also highlighted the challenges arising from climate change. “Urgent measures are needed to reduce food insecurity in Africa, as supply chain disruptions and continued shortfalls in food supplies are expected due to climate change,” he said. Building resilience to future food crises will require adequate technical assistance and training to build trade capacity, and trade finance to boost production and competitiveness.
Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, Minister of Trade, Cameroon, said that WTO rules and disciplines provide the basis for achieving food security objectives, but more needs to be done. He stressed the need to raise political awareness on the challenges related to food security.
Minister Atangana stressed the importance of the Aid for Trade initiative and called for a further shift of the initiative towards improving productivity in developing countries, with a focus on research on climate change mitigation and the availability of inputs such as seeds and fertilizers for poor countries.
“To achieve the goal of food security, it is essential that the WTO join forces with other specialized international organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Food Programme and the World Bank,” Minister Atangana stressed.
FAO Director-General QU Dongyu recalled that food security is necessary to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and called for building “efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems” accompanied by improved relevant trade practices.
“This must be accompanied by increased investment in rural infrastructure, including roads, energy and broadband, and improved comprehensive market access,” Qu said.
With the world's population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, “we need to increase food production by at least 30 to 40 percent while minimizing negative environmental impacts,” he noted. This means “consuming fewer natural resources such as water and land, and using fewer agricultural inputs such as seeds, chemicals and fertilizers.”
Sachin Sharma from the WTO Research Centre, India shared insights from India's experience, while Susan Ndung'u from Agricultural Inputs Promotion Africa provided the private sector perspective.
More details about the session can be found here.
Small Business Champion
The WTO's Informal Working Group on Small and Medium Enterprises has announced the two winners of its SME Champion Competition to mark Small and Medium Enterprise Day on June 27. The group also welcomed Mauritius as its 103rd member.
One of the winners is the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Fairtrade Small Producers and Workers (CLAC) in El Salvador, a network representing 1,000 Fairtrade certified organizations in 24 economies in Latin America and the Caribbean. The winning project will research existing products that benefit local producers in Latin America, provide training and technical advice, and help local producers identify international markets.
The second winner is O'KANATA from Canada, an organization focused on empowering Indigenous youth. The winning project is an e-commerce platform that provides a marketplace for Indigenous crafts and entrepreneurial capacity building.
The 2024 edition of the Small and Medium Enterprises Champions Competition was held under the theme, “Promoting Indigenous Economic Development through International Trade.” The competition was jointly organized by the Informal Working Group on Small and Medium Enterprises, the International Trade Centre (ITC), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
At the awards ceremony, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala highlighted how the WTO's work can promote inclusiveness, including measures taken by WTO members to make it easier for businesses of all sizes to thrive in the global economy. The ceremony was attended by ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton, WIPO Director General Darren Tan and ICC Executive Director John Denton.
Earlier this week, the WTO Secretariat published two research notes. The first provides an overview of MSMEs' demographics, their involvement in international trade and the challenges they face. The second examines MSMEs' use of digital technologies and digitalization from an international trade perspective. Both notes are based on data from technology company Meta's March 2022 Future of Business (FoB) survey.
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