Platform for African – European Partnership in Agricultural Research for Development

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

New donor directions in combining aid and trade for farmers

30 June - 2 July 2015. An event on 1st July took about new donor directions in combining aid and trade in supporting the agricultural transformation of developing countries on the sidelines of the 5th Global review of Aid for Trade at the World Trade Organisation and was organised by the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development and its partners..

Representatives from developing countries were invited to test these new donor policies against requirements in Asia and Africa such as market access, reduced trade costs and agricultural productivity and rural development.
  • How can farmers be effectively connected to markets? 
  • What should donors do to assist in reducing trade costs and trade barriers by smart upfront investments in line with rural development policies?
  • What do farmers associations and the private sector (SME and lead companies) expect from the new trends and directions of donor agencies on the trade and development agenda for Post-2015?
  • Are the opportunities offered by the international trade system real opportunities for end users? Is there a real perspective for regional trade?

    Audio + Programme

Panel 1: Changing development landscape - donor perspectives on moving from aid to tradeMr

  • Marcel Vernooij , Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, The Netherlands
  • Mr James Baxter, Deputy Permanent Representative and Minister, Permanent Mission of Australia to the WTO
  • Ms Gordana Delic-Radovic, Deputy Director at Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, Canada

Panel 2: Adapting approaches and priorities – response by stakeholders from partner countries.
Marco Marzano de Marinis
  • H.E. Ms. Kamrang Tekreth, Secretary of State, Ministry of Commerce, Cambodia
  • Mr Christopher Onyanga Oparr, Ambassador of the Republic of Uganda to the United Nations office and other International Organizations in Geneva
  • Marco Marzano de Marinis, Executive Director, World Farmers’ Organization
This is the full audio record (MP3)


Audio + Programme

The EU and its member States' commitments of Aid for Trade exceeded EUR 11 billion in both 2012 and 2013. The EU Aid for Trade Strategy was adopted in 2007 and its main quantitative targets have long been met. Moreover, as the outcomes of processes such as the Post-2015 Development Agenda will need to be taken on board, the time is ripe to start reflecting on a revision of the EU AfT Strategy to adapt to new challenges. This side event was meant to initiate stakeholder consultation seeking to identify new priority issues, draw lessons from the latest research and studies, present the view of beneficiaries and ultimately provide some building blocks upon which to launch the review.
  • Introduction by DG DEVCO on the current EU AfT strategy, progress so far and questions to consider ; Giorgio Cocchi, Deputy Head of Unit, Private Sector Development, Trade, Regional Integration, DG DEVCO 
  • Introduction by DG TRADE on the importance of Aid for Trade and how trade and development policies can be mutually supportive; Marc Vanheukelen, Director, Sustainable Development, DG TRADE 
  • EU Member States' challenge of integrating trade and development functions: Dominik Ziller, Deputy Director General, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany 
  • Main trends identified by recent AfT research and studies ; Frans Lammersen, Principal Administrator, Development Cooperation Directorate, OECD 
  • The AfT recipient perspective: how to increase the access/impact of AfT in LDCs?; Stephen N. Karingi, Director, Regional Integration and Trade Division, UNECA 
  • How AfT and trade agreements – bilateral/regional/multilateral – can support each other ; Sanoussi Bilal, Senior Executive/Head of Programme, Economic Transformation and Trade, European Centre for Development Policy Management - ECDPM 
  • Emerging issues for AfT including sustainable development ; Joseph Wozniak, Programme Manager, Trade for Sustainable Development, International Trade Centre, ITC 
Related: 
8-9 July 2015. Nairobi, Kenya. Agricultural Trade Policy and Sustainable Development in East Africa

The aim of this dialogue was to provide policy makers and other stakeholders from the East Africa Community (EAC) an opportunity to explore how global trade rules and national policies affecting agricultural markets could best promote food security and support rural development, in the run-up to the WTO's tenth Ministerial Conference in Nairobi and beyond.

With WTO members currently negotiating a work programme on the remaining Doha issues ahead of a July 2015 deadline, this dialogue will therefore constitute a unique opportunity for EAC Geneva-based negotiators and national and regional constituencies to review priorities and negotiating strategies in advance of the upcoming ministerial conference.

Extract of the programme:

Making food available and accessible to poor consumers: the role of international trade rules and national policies
  • Gerald Makau Masila, ‎Executive Director, Eastern Africa Grain Council: Evolving trends in the use of agricultural exports restrictions and possible options to regulate them (see video at 2:45 - unfortunately the sound is still to be fixed by ICTSD)
  • Jonathan Hepburn, Agriculture Programme Manager, ICTSD : Policy options available and scenarios for a “permanent solution” on public stockholding for food security at the WTO
  • Simon Dradri, Senior Regional Programme Advisor (Market Analyst), United Nations World Food Programme : International food aid and implications for the operation of food markets

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