Proceedings of the 13 th Meeting of the
COMCEC Agriculture Working Group
22
7.2. FAO Experiences in Agricultural Trade Policies
Mr. Ahmad MUKHTAR, Economist (Trade and Food Security), FAO Liaison Office Geneva, made a
presentation on the role of trade for food security. He mentioned that the relationship between
trade and food security is attracting increased attention on the trade, agriculture and development
agendas. The eradication of global hunger by 2030 is a key goal as per Agenda-2030, and trade is
one of the means for achieving this goal.
Mr. MUKHTAR highlighted that, as patterns of consumption and production continue to evolve,
global trade in agricultural products is expected to continue to increase over the coming decades.
Trade will increasingly influence the extent and nature of food security across all regions of the
globe. The challenge, therefore, is how to ensure that the expansion of agricultural trade works for,
and not against, the elimination of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. This challenge has
been at the forefront as governments struggle to negotiate the changes to the current global
agreements on agricultural trade needed to ensure that trade results in enhanced food security.
Mr. MUKHTAR stated that the linkages between trade and food security have been subject to
intense debate, at the national and global levels, and have become central to many trade-related
discussions and negotiations. A key challenge that pervades these discussions is the compatibility
between measures intended to address national food security concerns on the one hand, and their
effects on the food security of trading partners on the other. FAO’s research and analytical work
aim to reduce the current polarization of views on the impacts of agricultural trade on food security,
and how agricultural trade should be governed, to ensure that increased trade openness can benefit
all countries.
He mentioned that there needs to be a linkage between the national agriculture, trade and other
complementary policies, such as fiscal, social and competition policies, in order to achieve the policy
synergy and make trade work for the food security. At the international level, there needs to be a
harmonious linkage between the multilateral system (essential the WTO) and national policies
governing the agriculture trade.
Following are the key messages based on Mr. MUKHTAR’s presentation and relevant work of the
FAO on this topic:
Key message 1 Global trade in food products continues to expand rapidly, but the structure and
pattern of trade differ significantly by commodity and by region. Key drivers of production and
demand, including trade and related policies, shape these patterns in different ways, with
potentially important implications for food security.
Keymessage 2 Greater participation in global trade is an inevitable part of most countries’ national
trade strategies. However, the process of opening to trade, and its consequences, will need to be
appropriately managed if trade is to work in favor of improved food security outcomes.
Key message 3 Trade affects each of the four dimensions of food security: food availability, access,
utilization and stability. The interaction of trade with these dimensions is complex and depends on
a variety of underlying factors, producing great differences in country experiences and making it
difficult to ascertain a generalizable relationship.
Key message 4 The relationship between the level of engagement in trade and food security is
influenced by the way food markets work, by the ability and willingness of producers to respond to
the changing incentives that trade can bring, and by the geography of food insecurity, each of which
needs to be accounted for in the formulation of trade policy interventions.