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IAMO Forum 2023

International Agricultural Trade, Geopolitics and Global Food Security

21 - 23 June 2023 | Halle (Saale), Germany

International agricultural trade is key to improving global food security. It ensures better access to more diversified and nutritious food, especially in low-income countries, and acts as a safety net against food shortages caused by climate risks, crises, political tensions and other shocks.  However, recent supply chain disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather events and the war in Ukraine have posed serious challenges to international agricultural trade. Rising geopolitical risks, such as the China-US trade conflict and tensions between Russia and the West, are further challenging trade relations. Following a long period of reduced agricultural trade barriers, the global food economy could now be faced with growing isolation and autarky resulting from trade-restricting measures, such as sanctions and export restrictions.

Against this background, IAMO Forum 2023 focus on the role of international trade in improving global food security while also considering geopolitical interests and geographic reconfigurations. Particular attention will be paid to the benefits, stability and resilience of global versus local agricultural supply chains. In particular, the forum will look at how geopolitical interests and the division of the world into like-minded economic blocs could lead to the de-globalization of established agricultural trade structures. This is likely to be to the detriment of food-insecure people in the Global South and to cause economic hardship in Eurasian transition economies.

Over the three-day forum, distinguished guests from research, civil society, agribusiness and policy will discuss international trade and global food security with particular focus on the growing importance of geopolitics. These topics will be addressed from an interdisciplinary perspective that will include contributions from fields such as agricultural sciences, economics, political, social and geographical sciences, and economic history. The regional focus will be on transition and emerging economies in Eastern Europe and Asia, and developing countries in Africa.

More information about the IAMO Forum 2023 will soon be available at: www.iamo.de/forum/2023

Contact:

Dr. Inna Levkovych
Tel.: +49 345 2928-232
forum2023(at)iamo.de

Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO)
Theodor-Lieser-Str. 2
06120 Halle (Saale), Germany

Announcement 2023 (Pdf)