International Conference on "Building Sustainable Agriculture for Food Security in the Euro-Mediterranean Area: Challenges and Policy Options"
The International Affairs Institute (IAI), the OCP Policy Center, the Economic and Social Sciences Research Unit at the Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine Institute Hassan II of Rabat and the Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy (CIFAP) at the University of Minnesota are organizing an international conference on Building Sustainable Agriculture for Food Security in the Euro-Mediterranean Area: Challenges and Policy Options in the framework of their multi-year strategic partnership. The conference will take place in Rabat, Morocco, on November 20-21, 2014. The program will include between 10-12 papers, with one or two discussants for each paper.
Sustainable agriculture and food security appear of particular concern for the countries of the Southern Mediterranean region, representing one of the biggest challenges facing the area. As a consequence of the region’s heavy reliance on food imports, the sharp increase in food prices since 2007 has had severe adverse effects in several countries, causing macro-economic problems (inflation, trade deficits, fiscal pressure), increased poverty and political instability. This challenge, coupled with the consequences of environmental degradation and water stress, call for the urgent need to develop sustainable agriculture and food systems.
At the same time, the European agriculture sector is under stress. In light of the interdependence of Southern Mediterranean and European economies, Euro-Mediterranean relations take on particular relevance for food security and, more in general, for sustainable agricultural development. However, agriculture has been marginalized in Euro-Mediterranean cooperation so far and the EU continues to restrict agricultural imports in order to protect the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), fearing competition from the southern shore of the Mediterranean. At the same time, the EU and its Southern Mediterranean partners face common agricultural challenges such as climate change, food price volatility and water stress, which underscores the importance of reinforcing regional cooperation to build sustainable food systems.
Conference Program
Rabat, 20 - 21 November, 2014
Thursday, November 20th | |
9:00 – 9:30 |
Welcome Coffee and Registration |
9:30 – 10:00
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Opening Speech - Mohamed Sadiki, Secretary General of the Ministery of Agriculture and Fisheries, Morocco - Karim El Aynaoui, Managing Director, OCP Policy Center, Morocco - Ettore Greco, Director, Instituto Affari Internazionali, Rome |
10:15 – 11:30
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First Session Food Security Challenges in the Euro-Mediterranean Chair: Nour Said Tligui, Secretary General, IAV Hassan II, Morocco Eugenia Ferragina and Giovanni Canitano - Geopolitical Implications of Watee and Food Security In Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Countries Shadi K. Hamadeh, Lina S. Jaber, Katharina Diehl Daniela Corona Discussant: - Michel Petit, CIHEAM-IAM Montpellier Open debate |
11:30 – 12:00 |
Coffee Break |
12:00 – 13:30
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Second Session Small Farming and Agricultural Production Systems in Southern Mediterranean Counteries Chair: Maria Cristina Paciello, IAI Mohamed Taher Sraïri and Marcel Kuper Omer Gokcekus Discussant: - Rachid Doukkali, IAV Hassan II and Senior Fellow, OCP Policy Center Open debate |
15:00 – 16:30
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Third session EU-Mediterranean Agricultural Policy and its Impact on Southern Mediterraneab Countries Chair: Rachid Doukkali, IAV Hassan II and Senior Fellow, OCP Policy Center Boubaker Dhehibi, Aymen Frija, Roberto Telleria Laura Márquez-Ramos and Victor Martinez-Gomez Discussant: - Terry Roe, CIFAP – Minnesota University Open debate |
Friday, November 21st | |
09:30 - 11:15
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Fourth session Policy Options to Foster Sustainable Agricultural Systems th the Euro-Mediterranean Area Chair: Abdelaziz Nihou, Director, Planning Department, HCP, Morocco Michel Petit Marko Lovec Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi and Cecilia Emma Sottilotta Marco Adami and Alberto Battistelli Discussant: - Hassan Benaderrazik, Economist, Former General Secretary of the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture and of the Ministry of Economic Affairs Open debate |
11:15 - 11:45 |
Coffee Break |
11:45 - 13:00
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Policy Panel Discussion Chairs: - Khalid Meksem, Professor of Plant Genomics, Chief Science Officer, OCP Group Panelist: - Leith Ben Becher, SynAgri, Tunisia Open debate |
13:00 |
End of Conference |
Conference partners :
- OCP Policy Center (www.ocppc.ma)
- CIFAP (www.cifap.umn.edu)
- IAV (www.iav.ac.ma)
- IAI (www.iai.it)