Over the past years high and volatile agricultural commodity prices have re-emerged as a key risk to international food security. Food importing countries, such as those from the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (“SEMED") region are highly dependent on international markets, with a significant share of their grain supplies coming from the Black Sea countries, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Transition countries in turn are becoming increasingly important players on global food markets with the potential to contribute to food security on a larger scale – in particular the large grain exporters Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. In these two regions with contrasted profiles massive investments are needed to tackle food security issues – and the private sector is key to filling this gap.
The conference will offer an unprecedented format for identifying key areas where private sector investment could make a difference in boosting agricultural production and trade. It will also look at how the private sector could be more closely associated to future policy-making processes. Private sector participants will be given a platform to share experiences across regions and formulate messages directly to policy makers.