"There is an urgent need to ensure that trade in food and agriculture contributes to ensuring everyone can access sufficient, safe, and nutritious food at all times," DG Okonjo-Iweala said in her opening remarks to participants.
While the Agreement on Agriculture has underpinned five-fold growth in agricultural trade since the start of the century, the challenges facing the sector have evolved significantly, she noted. Agricultural markets remain highly distorted, while UN figures indicate that around 9 percent of the world's population faced hunger in 2022 — with climate change among the factors exacerbating existing challenges.
Policy-makers need to rethink how existing policy frameworks affect the sustainable management of land and water resources, DG Okonjo-Iweala emphasized.
Sessions during the workshop explored challenges related to sustainability, food security, and reducing poverty as well as possible new avenues that members could consider in ongoing negotiations on agricultural trade rules at the WTO. Experts from academic institutions and international agencies addressed the event, which was attended by ambassadors and trade officials from WTO members.
DG Okonjo-Iweala called on trade officials to find the political will to make the necessary trade-offs to achieve progress in talks. "We should use every single means to try and get a breakthrough," she told the meeting. "And that is why I think this workshop is very important."
The workshop agenda and other details are available online.
More on WTO agriculture negotiations: WTO | Agriculture — negotiations