Abstract
The reform of agricultural trade rules is at the center of negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding a multilateral framework for the global economy. The authors of this article, however, argue that the reforms envisaged do not bold well for the future of agriculture across the globe. According to them, they will deepen the desperation of farmers across the world and undermine local and global ecosystems. In contrast, this article explores new directions for trade rules beyond the free trade paradigm. Placing the challenges posed to agriculture and rural communities at the center of attention, it proposes political perspectives and policy instruments for a trading system that offers genuine opportunities for the poor, preserves the environment, and helps agriculture leap into the post-fossil age.
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Notes
- 1.
The article presents modified parts of a document which was published by the organizations Misereor, Heinrich-Böll-Foundation, and The Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy: “Slow Trade – Sound Farming. A Multi-lateral Framework for Sustainable Markets in Agriculture.” It was written by Wolfgang Sachs and Tilman Santarius in collaboration with Souleymane Bassoum, Daniel De La Torre Ugarte, Gonzalo Fanjul Suárez, Anna Pijnapple, Arze Glipo, Aileen Kwa, Hannes Lorenzen, Sophia Murphy, Odour Ongwen, and Rita Rindermann and printed in Germany in April 2007 (96p). It can be downloaded from http://www.ecofair-trade.org
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Sachs, W., Santarius, T. (2010). Towards a New Architecture of Agricultural Trade in the World Market. In: Gottwald, FT., Ingensiep, H., Meinhardt, M. (eds) Food Ethics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5765-8_12
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