Agreement on Agriculture Reimagined

The world is in urgent need of a trading system that supports sustainable, SDG-consistent food systems and equitable outcomes – something the current WTO Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) fails to do. Not only are global warming, biodiversity loss, pandemics, and wars putting pressure on food production worldwide, but agriculture itself is also contributing to these challenges. A more balanced trade regime could counteract such challenges and incentivize a transformation towards more food sustainability.

In the project “Agreement on Agriculture Reimagined – Towards a model Agreement on Agriculture Trade for Sustainable Development (AoA TSD)”, an international group of experts from the global North and global South is exploring ways to redesign global agricultural trade to support sustainable food systems in diverse contexts.

The project seeks to inform the growing debate on the interlinkages between trade and sustainable development, with a particular focus on sustainable food systems. It also seeks to inspire breakthroughs in intergovernmental agricultural trade negotiations at the WTO and beyond. It will help to establish new networks that break through the silos that separate trade from food security and environmental policies, building a much-needed bridge between “Rome”and “Geneva”.

The Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) at the University of Bern, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences (a+), ETH Zürich and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Geneva office are partnering in this project.

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