Globalization and food security: What could 20 years of IFPRI research teach us?

2022 has been marked by another global food price crisis, the third in 20 years. As food systems have become more interconnected, the debate around globalization and food security has reemerged. Are we too interconnected? Are multilateral institutions the only way to tackle global challenges that require collective action, or is that belief fading?

These questions are not new. This webinar will revisit them through the lens of Antoine Bouet’s work on global and regional trade issues and their intersections with food security outcomes. During Bouet’s 17-year tenure as a Senior Research Fellow at IFPRI, his work informed civil society and policymakers and provided evidence for heated debates, from the intricacies of the global trade talks at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference in 2005 to the challenges of measuring informal trade flows in West Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event will review 20 years of policy questions and associated research in the field of trade and food security. It will reflect on progress and mistakes made during this period, highlighting lessons to guide the research agenda needed to address challenges both old and new.

Opening Remarks

• Johan Swinnen, Managing Director, Systems Transformation, CGIAR and Director General, IFPRI

Evolution of debate on global food security and globalization

• David Laborde Debucquet, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI

Panel Discussion

• Tom Hertel, Distinguished Professor of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University 
• Robert Koopman, Hurst Sr Prof Lecturer, School of International Service, American University
• Sophia Murphy, Executive Director, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Reflections

• Antoine Bouet, Former Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI

Closing Remarks

• Rob Vos, Director of Markets, Trade and Institutions Division, IFPRI

Moderator

• Charlotte Hebebrand, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, IFPRI