What did the participants think of the discussions? We asked a few for their reactions.
Barry Faure, Ambassador of the Seychelles in Brussels, mentioned the threat posed to his country by climate change. Environmental change manifests itself in excessive dry periods which already affect farmers and their crops and livestock. The Seychelles has already put environment at a very high priority, and embedded it in the constitution. Nevertheless, the briefing was very useful to get good contacts which will help in the search for methods to adapt to climate change.
Hervé Leonard of SOS Faim underlined that small farmers in Africa are mostly excluded from financial flows. In these times of strong environmental concerns, it is of utmost importance to stress the links between trade, agricultural and environmental policies, in order to reach not only food security, but also food sovereignty for African countries.
(video in French)
CTA’s Isolina Boto, an organizer of the Briefing, expressed her satisfaction with the discussions. Three main challenges to ACP countries were discussed: trade negotiations, carbon markets and technology. Further, she was very pleased with the composition of the audience. ACP countries were well represented by interest groups and numerous ambassadors. Also the European Commission participated with many representatives DG Development as well as DG Trade, DG Research, and DG Agriculture. It was also heartening to see the participation by farmers’ organizations and many NGOs.
See more from the 13 February briefing