FAO at the 9th Global Review of Aid for Trade
The 9th Global Review of Aid for Trade took place from 26 to 28 June 2024 at the WTO headquarters in Geneva. The Global Review, which takes places every two years, serves as a global platform to highlight areas where developing economies and least developed countries need support to overcome supply-side constraints limiting their participation in global trade. This year`s event, at which FAO was represented at the highest level, focused on food security, digital connectivity, and mainstreaming trade.
FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, participated in the high level plenary session `Strengthening Food Security through Trade` together with Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, Cameroon’s Minister of Trade, Mathieu Guibolo Fanga, Chad’s Minister of Trade and Industry and other experts. The session examined challenges to global food security and explored how international cooperation aimed at promoting food trade, boosting agricultural productivity and strengthening food safety can be part of the solution. The Director-General cautioned participants that global hunger is on a “dangerous” rising trajectory and that achieving a sustainable and food-secure world requires not just economic policy measures, but strong political and social commitments. He highlighted the importance of investing in rural infrastructure and research, development and innovation, reducing food loss and waste, focusing on smallholders and vulnerable populations, and strengthening global collaboration and governance.
Various other sessions focused on food security and FAO also contributed to the discussions. Máximo Torero, FAO Chief Economist, speaking at the session ‘The Role of Aid for Trade in Enhancing Food Security through value addition and market access in OACPS countries’, underlined the Hand-in-Hand Initiative and the important role of data in unlocking public-private partnerships for improving market transparency and information and the overall enhancement of food security. Torero, joining another session organized by OECD on ‘Prospects for Global Agricultural Commodity Markets: 20 Years of OECD-FAO Collaboration’, shared insights on the FAO-OECD collaboration on food security and sustainability, provided FAO’s perspective on the future of global agricultural markets, and highlighted that the FAO-OECD outlook exercise will help outline the consequences of inaction and assess the implications of alternative pathways, thus guiding policy decisions.
Audun Lem, Deputy-Director of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, participated in the session ‘Leveraging Global Partnerships to Implement the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies for a Sustainable and Food-Secure Future’. This session focused on the importance of strengthened collaboration for the sustainability of oceans, expanding on the implementation challenges of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies and the role of the Aid for Trade initiative to this end. Mr Lem provided updates on the upcoming improvements the stock assessments and stressed that better assessment and management, and thus data, are crucial to ensure fish stock sustainability and contribute to better food security.
On the sidelines of the 9th Global Review of Aid for Trade, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu had a bilateral meeting with WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The meeting provided an opportunity to reiterate the two organizations’ commitment to collaborate for the achievement of food security for all and the SDGs.