The WTO Public Forum, that took place from October 8th to 11th in Geneva, included numerous panels and roundtables, among which the working session “Millennial expectations for food systems. Is the WTO flexible enough?” hosted by the WFO Member Organizations Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Swiss Farmers’ Union and Norwegian Farmers’ Union.
Moderated by Marcel Groleau, Director of Canadian Federation of Agriculture, the side event explored whether current WTO trade rules and parameters of the Agriculture negotiations are too narrow to fully encompass consumer’s and society’s expectations.
Panellists, including Denis Kabiito, facilitator of WFO Youth Committee and CEO of Uganda National Young Farmers’Association (UNYFA), and Tim Lambert, CEO of Egg Farmers of Canada, debated on 1) how and why millennials are pushing the envelope in driving change in the food systems, 2) the pressure and challenges these pose on farmers and finally 3) if the WTO is flexible enough to adapt to consumers expectations and if not, what steps can be taken.
Listen to the audio recording of the session at https://www.wto.org/audio/pf19session79.mp3