Food Crises and the WTO World Trade Forum

The food and financial crises of 2008 and 2009 have pushed millions more people into poverty and hunger, while changing the parameters of international trade. Both crises have also challenged the fundamentals of WTO rules regulating agriculture, which had been designed to combat trade distortions due to artificially low-priced food commodities. This collection of essays examines to what extent the multilateral trading system contributes to food security in today's volatile markets. Bringing together a renowned group of expert economists, lawyers, environmental and development specialists, it offers a fresh and multi-dimensional perspective combining a strong economic analysis with a comprehensive legal assessment of the interface between food security and international trade regulation. Together, the contributions provide concrete policy recommendations on how the WTO could play a positive role in preventing or mitigating future food crises and promote global food security.

1. Introduction: food crises and the WTO Bariş Karapinar; Part I. Economics of the Food Crisis: 2. The food price crisis, poverty and agricultural trade policy Will Martin and Maros Ivanic; 3. Globalisation of agriculture and food crises: then and now Eugenio Díaz Bonilla; 4. Solving the food crisis in Africa: achieving an African green revolution Akin Adesina; 5. Rising food prices: causes, consequences and policy responses Wayne Jones and Armelle Elasri; 6. Shift and swing factors and the special role of weather and climate Josef Schmidhuber and Ira Matuschke; Part II. Trade and Law: WTO and Beyond: 7. Agricultural policies: past, present and prospective under Doha Kym Anderson; 8. The food crisis and the role of the EC's common agricultural policy Bernard O'Connor; 9. WTO disciplines and economic dimensions of the 2008 US Farm Bill David Orden; 10. Impact of the food crisis on developing countries and implications for agricultural trade policy Michael Herrmann and Ralf H. Peters; 11. Responses by the international trade and aid community to food security Susan Prowse; 12. Food security and WTO rules Christian Häberli; 13. Conclusions and policy recommendations Bariş Karapinar and Christian Häberli.

Bariş Karapinar is a Senior Research Fellow at the World Trade Institute, University of Bern, Switzerland.
Christian Häberli is a Senior Research Fellow at the World Trade Institute, University of Bern, Switzerland.