Vulnerable - yet potentially the main driving force to achieving food security world-wide - small-scale farmers are back on the international agenda. The economic viability of these new rural entrepreneurs in agriculture, forest and water management can be best prepared for marketing opportunities through Aide for Trade (AfT).
The Global Mechanism (GM), a long-standing partner of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and a proponent of enhanced market access and trade for small scale farmers, held a ‘world café' on increasing AfT investments, particularly for Africa, during the Annual General Assembly (AGA) of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (GDPRD), in January 2012, in Berlin.
The AGA was acknowledged as one of the most interactive and lively AGAs ever held, and was acclaimed for its fresh approach to agriculture and rural development (ARD) and food security issues, by looking far beyond food production. Clear messages were launched on the need to break ‘silo thinking’, to enable small-scale farmers to achieve resilience in economic, social and environmental terms.
The main topic of the AGA this year - Strengthening Resilience in Agriculture and Rural Development – was introduced by David Nabarro, UN Special Representative for Food Security. In his keynote address, Nabarro stressed how food security, climate-smart agriculture, food price volatility and aid effectiveness need to be mutually supportive to achieve the envisaged resilience in agricultural production and sustainability. The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) serves a conceptual innovator in this regard, enhancing a sustainable approach to agricultural production and sound land management.
With its new Strategic Plan 2012-14, the GDPRD has set a focused agenda for its interactions with developing countries, based primarily on a broader approach to agriculture and rural development. The GM is contributing specifically by helping to break the silos, by involving new members of the Platform, such as the WTO and the private sector. The topics highlighted by platform members that the GM will follow-up on in 2012 include:
- food security and strengthening the links with links with trade and food price volatility;
- market access and regional integration of markets, particularly in Africa;
- climate-smart agriculture finance; and
- public-private partnerships and value chain development.
For more information:
Dr Christian Mersmann, Managing Director
Tel. +39 06 5459 2155
c.mersmann (at) global-mechanism.org
Download summary of David Nabarro’s keynote address at the AGM
