The workshop is being organized by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) in collaboration with a number of other partners (TBC).
The purpose of the Regional Policy Dialogue in Eastern and Southern Africa is to contribute towards peoples’ awareness about policy issues affecting regional and international agricultural trade, promote dialogue among policymakers and key stakeholders on these issues, and to catalyze a consensus-building process toward trade enhancing policies with a view to building up broad-based support for such policies.
The workshop will provide open space for public discussion on important agricultural trade policy issues such as subsidies, tariff and non-tariff barriers, and food safety and quality assurance.
The specific objectives are to:
- Provide space for public discussion of important trade policy issues with a view to building up broad-based support for such policies.
- Stimulate discussion and dialogue among major stakeholders including policymakers, academics, experts, representatives of regional economic communities, representatives from business community, NGOs and other civil society groups on alternative regional agricultural trade policy issues.
- Advocate for pragmatic regional agricultural trade policies that promote and facilitate access to regional and international markets.
- Identify and agree on policy options to respond to the problems of increased subsidies provided by developed countries as well as address issues of SPS requirements.
- Disseminate the outcomes stemming from the dialogue discussion to a broad spectrum of stakeholders.
