Newswise — The stakes are high as nations struggle to reach consensus on agricultural trade reform. World leaders have missed every deadline to reach agreement on reducing agricultural subsidies and other protectionist measures which hurt small-scale farmers in developing countries. With some negotiators now saying that they are unable to achieve an accord in time for the Hong Kong meeting, the "Doha round" of world trade negotiations is in peril.
This is unfortunate, as the trade policies of the industrialized countries harm the economies of many developing nations which depend heavily upon agriculture. More than three-quarters of the poor in the developing world " some 900 million people " live in rural areas. Most are dependent on agriculture for food and income.
Promoting agricultural growth among small-scale farmers is an effective way to achieve poverty reduction, but subsidies and protectionism work contrary to this objective. Unable to compete against subsidized products or penetrate protected markets, the world's poorest farmers are often pushed out of contention in both international trade and their own domestic markets.
To overcome this problem " to create a rules-based system of fair trade " a three-pronged approach is needed: 1) Industrialized countries must improve access to their markets. 2) Developing counties must do their part, as well, to reduce protectionism. 3) Wealthy nations should provide more assistance to connect poor farmers to markets.
It may be tempting for negotiators to try to rescue the talks with an agreement based on hollow gestures, but this would do nothing to benefit poor people. For the sake of low-income farmers and consumers across the globe, negotiators from the industrialized countries need to move beyond rhetoric. The opportunity to improve the lives of poor people must not be allowed to slip away.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty. IFPRI is one of the 15 Future Harvest Centers and receives its principal funding from 64 governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations known as the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.
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