How Can World Trade Organization Rules and Flexibilities Promote Food Security in Least Developed Countries?

The document argues that while WTO rules provide significant policy space for LDCs to invest in agriculture through the 'Green Box' and 'Development Box', the primary barrier to increasing agricultural productivity is a lack of fiscal space rather than regulatory constraints. It suggests that new WTO rules should focus on reducing trade-distorting 'Amber Box' subsidies in developed and large developing countries to make LDC agriculture more competitive and attractive to private investors. Additionally, it recommends improving LDC market access by simplifying sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) and technical barriers to trade (TBT) measures and expanding duty-free market access for key agricultural exports.

• LDCs have substantial existing policy space under WTO rules to invest in agricultural productivity through the 'Green Box' (for general services like research and infrastructure) and Article 6.2 'Development Box' (for input subsidies to low-income farmers), neither of which imposes quantitative limits on support.
• The primary obstacle to increasing agricultural investment in LDCs is a lack of fiscal resources rather than WTO constraints, evidenced by high indebtedness, weak tax systems, and a 12% decline in official development assistance (ODA) to agriculture between 2016 and 2021.
• Trade-distorting 'Amber Box' subsidies provided by developed and large developing countries create an uneven playing field that hinders LDC producers and can stunt the growth of local industries.
• High levels of Amber Box support globally affect key LDC products; for example, removing these subsidies could increase cotton output in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa by 12.1% and increase cotton farm incomes by nearly 20%.
• Non-tariff measures, specifically sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) and technical barriers to trade (TBT), significantly restrict LDC market access, with an average ad-valorem equivalent in agriculture as high as 21%.
• While several countries provide almost full duty-free market access to LDCs (e.g., EU, UK, Chile at over 99%), some preferential schemes still exclude critical agricultural commodities such as coffee, oil seeds, and vegetables.

APA

Calvo, F. (2024). How Can World Trade Organization Rules and Flexibilities Promote Food Security in Least Developed Countries? International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-10/wto-rules-food-security-ldcs.pdf

Chicago

Calvo, Facundo. How Can World Trade Organization Rules and Flexibilities Promote Food Security in Least Developed Countries? International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2024. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-10/wto-rules-food-security-ldcs.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Calvo |first1=Facundo |title=How Can World Trade Organization Rules and Flexibilities Promote Food Security in Least Developed Countries? |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=October 2024 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-10/wto-rules-food-security-ldcs.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{calvo2024how, author = {Calvo, Facundo}, title = {{How Can World Trade Organization Rules and Flexibilities Promote Food Security in Least Developed Countries?}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-10/wto-rules-food-security-ldcs.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }