Presentation transcript

1. What role does regional trade play in getting food from the farm to the fork?
Francesco Rampa, Programme Manager Food Security
GDPRD Annual General Assembly, 31 January 2013, The Hague

2. Why regional trade?
• Integrated regional markets enable food to move from surplus to deficit areas, increasing food availability, reducing price volatility, stimulating diversification
BUT: poor performance of African agricultural markets (only 25% marketed – 19% of intra- African exports is agriculture) >> infrastructure & Governance & Policy Bottlenecks >> low supply response, no incentives to inv, export bans…

3. Why regional cooperation?
• Individual countries alone cannot address challenges & opportunities
• Coherence/coordination of different regional initiatives enhance their chances of success, also ODA (HORIZONTAL COHERENCE)
• Coherence/coordination of regional and national action increase the value of both (VERTICAL COHERENCE)
• Linking food security and regional integration can help public-private cooperation & stimulate investment

4. This group
• Challenges and opportunities: corridor approaches & trade facilitation for PSD for food security
• Political economy and trade policy issues that constrain open regional trade
• A common vision on
– opportunities for private sector involvement in infrastructure development for regional trade
– opportunities for the expansion of local and external agribusiness investments in regional trade corridors in Sub-Sahara Africa
– the role donors can play in promoting regional trade

5. Different Regions – Shared Challenges
• ECOWAS, COMESA, EAC, SADC, ECCAS, IGAD … Spaghetti
• Vertical coherence & horizontal coherence
• Businesses say (“Grow Africa”) bottlenecks to inv in CAADP are often regional … business-led RI
• Participation of NSA in Reg CAADP Compact preparations?
• Which agric.model ?

6. DPs challenges
• DPs at HQ-reg-nat to align/coord/harmonize Regional Compacts (reg DWG)?
• From aid to development effectiveness?
• PPPs?
• What are early deliverables & pilots (CAADP)?

7. First ever AU Joint Ministerial on Trade & Agriculture 
• Plan of Action for Boosting Intra-Africa Trade …early deal to liberalise key regional food staples markets?
• CAADP the instruments to define and operationalize trade-agriculture collaboration
• Strengthening the capacity of relevant institutions and producers to effectively participate in these innovative practices and monitor their impact at country level;
• Mandating AU, NEPAD, RECs to institutionalize policy dialogue aimed at realizing synergies between agriculture and trade sectors;

8. Thank you