FAO Calls On WTO Ministerial Conference To Protect Small Farmers

As the biennial World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference is drawing closer, a number of stakeholders are pushing for their priorities to be heard. For its part, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has called on WTO members to protect smallholder farmers.

In a 24 October press release, FAO director general José Graziano da Silva said ongoing international trade negotiations should focus on global trade agreements, harmonised food safety standards and measures that benefit rather than harm poor family farmers in the developing world.

The 11th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC11) will take place from 10-13 December in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In 2015, the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference agreed on the Nairobi package, which eliminated agricultural export subsidies. “A top priority remains to prioritise global agreements over the bilateral and regional trade instruments that have proliferated in recent years,” said da Silva.

He spoke during a meeting of the FAO Committee on Commodity Problems that focused on how to leverage the contributions of trade to the food security and nutrition goals of the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Agenda, ahead of the Buenos Aires WTO ministerial.

Public stockholding for food security purposes, domestic support generally and cotton subsidies, transparency in export restrictions, and market access are among the issues on the table of the MC11, says the release.

The FAO has published a guidance note [pdf] aiming at supporting policymakers and agricultural sector stakeholders on better understanding the implications of trade and trade policies on food security and nutrition.