UNCTAD XII is Over. . .More Work Ahead

IATP's Alexandra Spieldoch and Anne Laure Constantin were in Accra, Ghana for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) XII meeting through April 24. They blogged periodically on events in Accra.

I'm now in Geneva, back from Accra and UNCTAD XII. I've not yet recovered from an intensive week of civil society activities, meeting with officials and enjoying the sun and heat of the West African capital. But my head full of new ideas for how to advance our work, in collaboration with other individuals and institutions, as a contribution to make trade work for development.

I find that what’s most exciting about these international conferences is the number of people you meet and the opportunity to exchange perspectives. These discussions enrich our work back home. Over the course of the week, we co-sponsored or attended events on: commodities, biofuels, the future of the WTO, African women and food sovereignty, the food crisis and free trade agreements. All of them were informed by very different perspectives, from civil society, business, governments, etc. The fact that the conference took place in Africa gave us an opportunity to understand better the realities in that region in relation to agriculture and trade.

To be frank, the outcome of the conference in itself was a disappointment. As Alexandra highlighted in her earlier blog, there has been no genuine attempt by the UN to free itself from the neoliberal agenda for development and growth. The final Accra Declaration sadly lacks any kind of ambition. Some of the language is contradictory, reflecting the hard compromises that Member States had to strike to finally come up with a text. UNCTAD’s role in enhancing intergovernmental dialogue on the links – and possible contradictions - between globalization, development and poverty alleviation, is being severely constrained. While developing countries had ambitious proposals in these areas, the outcome was less space for these discussions to take place within UNCTAD.

The dramatic food crisis now spreading around the world was part of every single conversation in the Conference Center. We are satisfied that there seems to be more focus on the need to support agriculture in developing countries in order to increase food supplies. However, we are very concerned that there is no fundamental reconsideration of how to most effectively support agriculture development: how can governments believe that more of the same will solve the crisis?

If the UN is not able to offer bold proposals for how to address the crisis, then who is?

In the end, this conference was only one step on our way. In the months ahead, IATP will keep advocating in favor of a reform of international agriculture trade rules, so as to address the new challenges posed by climate change, rising oil prices, speculation in financial markets and corporate power in agriculture. Stay posted!