The 11th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC11) and its significance for food security in Africa
This document summarizes the online discussion The 11th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC11) and its significance for food security in Africa, held on the FAO Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition in Africa (FSN Forum Africa) from 20 November to 8 December 2017. The discussion was facilitated by Georgios Mermigkas and Ishrat Gadhok of the FAO Trade and Markets Division, in collaboration with the Africa South of the Sahara Food Security Portal of IFPRI.
Participation and views expressed during this discussion reflect the complexity of the topic of trade and food security and the lively debate that distinguishes it.
Although the discussion received only 16 comments, these represent quite a range of different perspectives.
African governments have committed to boosting intra-African trade in agricultural commodities and services. Trade has been recognized as one of the means for achieving the SDGs, especially SDG2.
However, cross-border trade is also implicated in exposing vulnerable small-scale actors to greater competition and undermining food availability and food access in low-income countries under certain conditions.