Trade, Food Security and Nutrition


Course Dates: May 23 to June 19, 2022


Registration is CLOSED
Deadline May 13, 2022 (or when slots are full)

Welcome to the joint FAO-UNITAR online course on "Trade, Food Security and Nutrition"


Course Title: Trade, Food Security and Nutrition

Course Dates: May 23 to June 19, 2022

Language: The course will be conducted in English language only

Registration Status: Registration is CLOSED

Registration Deadline: May 13, 2022 (or when slots are full)


Course Background

Through the 2014 Malabo Declaration, African governments made a specific and clear commitment to boosting intra-African trade in agricultural commodities and services, and to harnessing market and trade opportunities locally, regionally, and internationally. This is increasingly regarded as a means to promote agricultural transformation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), since it can help address the key challenges to agricultural development in the region such as diverse agro-ecological systems, and small national markets.

In this context, the relationship between trade and food security is attracting increased attention on both the trade and the development agendas. The eradication of global hunger by 2030 is a key goal in the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and trade is recognized as one of the means for achieving the SDGs. The challenge is how to ensure that the expansion of agricultural trade works for and not against, the elimination of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. This challenge has been at the forefront as governments’ struggle to negotiate the changes to the current global agreements on agricultural trade that are needed to ensure that trade results in enhanced food security.

The increasing need for trade experts to support trade related development agenda in the region has posed a major challenge. National and regional institutions need to develop technical capacity and resources to map out national, sub-regional and regional level trade priorities and constraints; to empirically assess the implications of their multiple memberships on trade, food security and nutrition; to formulate appropriate mitigation policies and strategies; or to negotiate trade agreements that boost gains from trade and specialization.

This course therefore seeks to strengthen capacities in Eastern and Southern Africa, to develop and implement evidence-based trade policies, and to formulate and negotiate trade agreements, taking into consideration both their needs for economic growth and structural transformation, as well as their food security and nutrition concerns.