Highlights from ECDPM’s Talking Points Blog, Great Insights, Volume 3, Issue 9 (October/November 2014)
How can Intra-African Agricultural Trade be Tripled? Talking Points, Francesco Rampa, Lesley-Anne van Wyck and Clément Silverman, 10 October 2014
All the key Comprehensive Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) actors re-affirmed the commitments of the Malabo Declaration this week at the ReSAKSS Annual Conference, saying that they are attainable through multi-stakeholder partnerships and multi-sectoral cooperation. That being said, there are numerous and diverse reasons for low intra-African agricultural trade. For example, low access to agricultural inputs, poorly developed infrastructure, hostile regulatory and legal environment, non-tariff barriers and poor access to market information at regional level ...
Shaping a Real European Foreign Policy: Challenges Ahead for Federica Mogherini. Talking Points, Andrew Sheriff and Cecilia Gregersen, 10 October 2014
European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/European Commission Vice-President (HRVP)-designate Federica Mogherini enters her job with a full plate. The rise of Islamic State, like the Arab Spring, appeared to come from nowhere, the crisis in Ukraine escalated quickly, and the general feeling of the EU Neighbourhood being ‘on fire’ stalks the corridors of the EU institutions. Yet, as we argued just last week, ill-conceived firefighting and wishful thinking won’t impress. A HRVP who dismisses structural reform and longer-term strategic thinking is condemned to repeat past mistakes and be caught in a cycle of ineffectual crisis management ...
The EU Commission’s Private Sector Communication – Communicating with Whom? Talking Points, Bruce Byiers, 9 October 2014
As European Commission Communications go, “A stronger role for the private sector in achieving inclusive and sustainable growth in developing countries” is pretty good. It covers all the possible angles for working with, through and forthe development of the private sector, and even gets down to proposing principles, criteria for working with firms and specific actions to undertake (see infographic for a summary) ...
A Gentle Exchange or an Agenda for Change in the Sahel? Talking Points, Damien Helly, Greta Galeazzi, 9 October 2014
With a new and rebranded Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, comes the desire (as usual) to start with something new. But how have past EU commitments in the Sahel actually been implemented? ...
