FAO and government discuss agricultural trade strategies
A mission made up of a technical Officer of the Division for Trade and Markets of the Food and Agriculture Organization for the United Nations (FAO) based in Rome (Italy), Ms. Melissa Nagadyai, attended a technical meeting about Mozambique Positioning in International Trade from 22 to 25 August. The meeting was promoted by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MIC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Maputo.
The mission aimed to begin an interchange with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and other development partners to identify priorities in terms of technical capacity development at national level.
During the meeting, Nagadyai stated that "FAO is studying methods to support the country in actions that can connect the areas of trade, agriculture and food security, as there are gaps in the ability to articulate business strategies and policies properly.
"We need to involve the various stakeholders of these areas when we need to make decisions in terms of trade policies, especially for the agricultural sector" she said.
Nagadyai also said that in trade area, FAO aims to "facilitate the development of strategies and policies based on evidence designed to guarantee food security, poverty reduction, improve coordination for the inclusion of the marketing issues in food security. FAO also supports the effective participation of country members in the discussions, adoptions and implementation of trade agreements".
In addition to these actions, FAO, through its "Monitoring and Analysing Food and Agricultural Policies" (MAFAP) programme, has been undertaking work on developing the capacity of national experts from relevant sectors about incentives and warnings in the pricing of some products plus their relevance to understand the impact on marketing policies in the country, including analysis of public expenditure in the agricultural sector. FAO also plans to hold in early November 2016 training on the analysis of marketing issues and negotiation skills in order to support national stakeholders within the project MZ / SP4.
These actions fit on one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG´s) that aim to:
-Correct and prevent trade restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets, including through the parallel elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies and all export measures with equivalent effect, in accordance with the mandate of the Doha Development Round.
-Adopt measures to ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives and facilitate timely access to market information, including on food reserves, in order to help limit extreme food price volatility.