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COMCEC Agriculture Outlook 2019
Food security is one of themost important challenges faced by the governments in theWorld as
well as in the OIC Member Countries. In this respect, a well -functioning agricultural market
performance is essential toensure food security in theMember Countries. Given the significance
of this issue, the 10thMeeting of the COMCEC AWG was held on September 28th, 2017 in Ankara,
Turkey with the theme of “Improving Agricultural Market Performance: Creation and
Development of Market Institutions”. Following this meeting, the 11thMeeting of the AWG was
held on February 22nd, 2018 in Ankara with the theme of “Improving Agricu ltural Market
Performance: Developing Agricultural Market Information Systems”.
On the other hand, global trade in agricultural products has grown rapidly in recent decades
and is also expected to grow further over the coming decades. International trade promotes
economic growth and createswelfare gains. But, many developing countries, including the OIC
member countries, face serious difficulties that prevent them from fully reaping the benefits of
international trade. To help the OIC member countries formulate effective measures and
policies so as to make greater use of their potential as trading partners in global market as well
as within the OIC markets for agricultural products, diverse needs and priorities of the
Member Countries need to be examined. In this respect, the 12th Meeting of the COMCEC AWG
was held on September 20th, 2018 with the theme of “Analysis of Agri-Food Trade Structures
to Promote Agri-Food Trade Networks among the OIC Member Countries”. As a
complementary to this meeting, the 13th Meeting of the Agriculture Working Group was held
on February 21 st, 2019 in Ankara with the theme of “Reviewing Agricultural Trade Policies to
Promote Intra-OIC Agricultural Trade” and a research report on the same subject was
considered by the WG.
Regarding the upcoming period, the 14th AWG will be held on to be held on 9-10 October 2019,
in Ankara, with the theme of “Increasing the Resilience of the Food Systems in Islamic
Countries in Face of Future Food Crises.” Furthermore, in line with the relevant resolution of
the 34th Ministerial Session of the COMCEC, the 14th Meeting of the AWG will also serve as the
preparatory platform for the Ministerial Exchange of Views Session of the 35 th COMCEC
Session to be held on November 27th, 2019with the theme of “Sustainable Food Systems in the
OIC Member Countries.
In each meeting of the AWG, the research report prepared specifically on the theme of the
meeting is considered by the AWG. “COMCEC Agriculture Outlook” reports are prepared and
submitted toWGMeetings. As the outcome of themeeting, theWG comes upwith concrete policy
recommendations. In addition, Proceedings of theseWorking GroupMeetings, which reflect the
outcomes of theMeetings, are published by the CCO, following eachWGMeeting. All the relevant
publications and presentations are available on the COMCEC website nd
.
Furthermore, theMember Countries having registered to the AWG have the chance to propose
multilateral cooperation projectswithin the framework of the COMCEC Project Funding, which
is another important implementation instrument of the Strategy. The projects to be financed
under the COMCEC Project Funding need to servemultilateral cooperation and be designed in
accordance with the objectives and the expected outcomes defined by the Strategy in its
agriculture section. The projects also have important role in realization of the policy
recommendations formulated by themember countries during the AWG meetings.