The WTO and Sustainable Development: Sideline Event
Today kicks off the Ninth WTO Ministerial Conference, taking place in Bali from December 3-6. As a sideline event, the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) will host the Bali Trade & Development Symposium . The event will provide an opportunity for a wide range of stakeholders, from policymakers to businesses to NGOs, to discuss key challenges facing the global trade system and the sustainable development agenda.
Building Smarter Subsidies: Input Subsides in Africa South of the Sahara
Input subsidy programs—a mainstay of 1960s and 1970s international donor agendas—have regained favor in Africa south of the Sahara in recent years. Although 10 African countries spent more than $1 billion on these programs in 2011 alone, little information exists on the impacts the programs are having on households and communities.
Agricultural Export Restriction Negotiations: Much Ado About Nothing?
By Luca Salvatici
Cash, Food, or Vouchers?
IFPRI and others have extensively evaluated social safety net programs in developing countries that provide recipients with cash, food, or vouchers, but there have been almost no evaluations of how those transfers stack up when compared against each other. A new study by IFPRI and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) assesses the impact of these intervention types—and also the most cost-effective ways of delivering those transfers. The findings were presented at a recent seminar at IFPRI’s main office in Washington, DC.
How Can Food Price Instability be Managed through Trade Policies?
By Luca Salvatici
The Road to Bali: WTO Negotiations and Developing Countries
In December, the Ninth WTO Ministerial Conference will open in Bali, Indonesia. Agriculture, and the links between trade and poverty alleviation, food security, and environmental sustainability, will appear again as key issues in the negotiations. The new Road to Bali blog series will provide analysis and dialogue about the critical issues being discussed in the official negotiations, civil society, and research circles, with a particular focus on the negotiations' potential implications for developing countries.
Food Security: What's Trade Got to Do with It? Part II
By Eugenio Diaz-Bonilla
In Part I, I mentioned the different channels affecting food and nutrition security, focusing on trade and trade policies. In Part II, I will go into more detail regarding the links between trade, trade policies, and food security, specifically in the context of the WTO.
Food Security: What's Trade Got to Do with It? Part I
By Eugenio Diaz-Bonilla
Export Taxation in the Context of Food Crisis
By Antoine Bouet and David Laborde