From the Newsroom*
São Paulo – The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) and another three international organizations are going to promote a global meeting on commodities between May 07 and 11 in Brazilian capital Brasília. The matters to be debated will include the "conundrum of greater demand, but lower profits" with regard to agricultural products. The idea is to launch a "Global Initiative on Commodities".
According to a statement disclosed today (25) by the Unctad, some 2 billion people and 86 governments depend on a currently dysfunctional commodities sector. According to the organization, international prices for commodities have climbed in recent years, spurred by increased demand, but profits for farmers in developing countries have fallen even as they have greatly increased production.
In the evaluation of the Unctad and of the other organizations promoting the conference – the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) and the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Countries (ACP) -, one person in three worldwide is affected by this aberration. The use of agricultural commodities as a "valuable" source of growth and income is escaping the governments of the South, who could use it more for financing their development.
According to the organizations, the current upward trend in prices is likely to last another five or ten years and, if the movement is made use of in a better way, it could help reach the Millennium Development Goals, objectives established by the UN which aim at halving global poverty rates by 2015.
The conference to be held in Brasília will aim at placing the question of commodities in the centre of international debate, guide discussions of poverty reduction and define strategies to make commodities into an engine for development. The event, sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture of Brazil, will be the first of a series of preparatory meetings for the 12th Unctad Conference, to be held in Ghana next year.
*Translated by Mark Ament
