The Proposal for a World Organization for Agriculture Backed by momagri Will be Presented at the Upcoming G8 Summit by President Abdoulaye Wade

PARIS, May 24, 2011 -

As a key element of the Dakar Declaration issued following the
Dakar Agricole Forum, the creation of a World Organization for Agriculture
(WOA) would represent a major step toward a new global governance system.

At the Dakar Agricole forum held on April 18 and 19, and
organized in cooperation with momagri, H. E. Abdoulaye Wade, President of the
Republic of Senegal, proposed that the primary objective of such World
Organization for Agriculture be the regulation of agricultural markets and
the coordination of agricultural policies. President Wade advocated locating
this WOA on the African continent, which will face the most serious
demographic and food challenges in the coming years.

Officials attending the Dakar Agricole Forum collectively
pointed out that "boosting output and regulating physical and futures
agricultural markets are the only solutions to resolve the hyper-volatility
of agricultural commodity prices. Price spikes are affecting consumer
solvency, and price slumps are jeopardizing agricultural output capacity.
Farmers need agricultural price stability and visibility, so that the
development of sustainable agricultural production and global food security
are achieved. The events of the past few years have shown us the limits–even
the dangers–of the 'all market' in agriculture."

For momagri Chairman Pierre Pagesse, "Regulation is quite
conceivable since it would apply to the global trade of some products–such
as grain or milk–that form the basis of nutrition. In fact, international
agricultural trade accounts for less than 10 percent of global agricultural
output and involves a maximum of 10 exporting countries.

"More precisely, this WOA would outline, for these key
products, free fluctuation price tunnels per large geographical zones and
based on the data provided by a cost price watchdog body. No intervention
would be required within such tunnel. Should agricultural commodity prices
come out of their respective tunnels, a 'Global Food Security Council' would
instigate safeguard mechanisms to regulate the agricultural markets involved
on the basis of economic facts observed in each major area of the world."

Two main courses of action could be defined and applied under
the aegis of this WOA:

- Working on market regulating reserves built up in the large
exporting regions as well as on emergency reserves in nations subjected to
food insecurity;

- Insuring better transparency in financial market operations
and implementing rules to fight excessive speculation.

What would the WOA mission and standing be?

As an offshoot of the G20–today's most successful expression
of global cooperation on world issues–the WOA would have a genuine
decision-making capability through a secretariat managed by the FAO or the
WFP. It would thus be in charge of monitoring agricultural markets with
suitable tools, which would permit anticipating crises and acting to regulate
markets when needed.

"The Organization's consultation and decision-making board
would be the Global Food Security Council, established according to a
rationale close to the UN Security Council," added Jacques Carles, Executive
Vice President of momagri.

For momagri, this proposal must be considered in earnest,
since we are probably on the eve of an era during which agricultural price
"seismicity" will get worse, with consequences on world balance that could be
even more calamitous than the economic and financial crisis.

www.momagri.org

Contact : Dominique Lasserre, +33-6-62-23-34-45, dominique.lasserre at momagri.org