The developing countries come to the big international negotiations on agriculture insufficiently prepared. This is specially true of the ACP group which is in the process of negotiating a trade agreement to replace that of the Lomé Convention. The blame for this lies with a lack of timely and appropriately prepared information, complex subjects, multiple fora and weak communication capacity. During a three-day seminar organised by CTA in Brussels, 140 representatives from the ACP countries and the European Union explored ways and means of correcting this situation.

The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States need to coordinate their positions and to liaise more effectively with relevant parties in the EU and elsewhere. All of this requires arrangements for useful management of information as well as awareness of current developments on issues of agricultural trade. For them, this issue is a vital one. Agriculture is their economic and social mainstay. In Africa, it accounts for a third of Gross Domestic Product and represents up to 40 per cent of exports. It employs more than 75% of the working population and is the sole source of income for many families. Yet the ACP countries struggle to defend this vital interest during multilateral trade negotiations. They come to the negotiating table with little power due to lack of information on the legal and financing mechanisms or to a poor communication capacity.

"We are exploring how to help the ACP countries to take part more effectively in these agricultural negotiations," explains Carl B. Greenidge, Director of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA). "It is in this context that we organised this seminar with the aim of paving the way for information and communication management within and among the ACP countries. This is the first stage in a lengthy process."

Reopening internal dialogue

One of the main problems revealed during three days of discussions is the lack of dialogue at national level. Today, in the ACP countries, too many negotiations are held without prior consultation with those involved on the ground. The political authorities make decisions without sounding out the producers and business people. So, supporting a public sector-private sector partnership is essential in order to mobilise the producers during the preparation of negotiations. It is also of paramount importance for the information to be circulated in a form and manner that can be easily understood by all the national players. "The small farmers know what they want," explained one of the 140 participants during a plenary meeting. "But they rarely have the opportunity to express it."

The negotiator's work will be more effective if he or she obtains information from the producers or can rely on sector-related studies. "These are proving increasingly necessary before beginning lobbying campaigns, another weak point of the ACP countries," notes Gisèle D'Almeida, representative of Interface, a network of business people from West Africa, the aim of which is precisely that of influencing the political decision-makers. "They must make the right decisions that will not handicap our businesses," she continues.

But this information should also be circulated outside of our borders. "Information must travel in order to prompt cooperation among the ACP countries, to build regional alliances and to set up networks," comments Anthony Hylton, Honorary Minister responsible for International Trade in Jamaica. "But the gap between the countries is still particularly wide in terms of communication." During this seminar, several working groups highlighted the need for the States to form alliances with each other according to their shared interests. In this respect, CTA helps to facilitate interactive collaboration among the various ACP countries, among other things by setting up the Agritrade gateway site. "This gateway is a great tool for passing on to all the players, decision-makers and partners information relating to the international trade of agricultural products," notes Salvador Namburete, Deputy Minister for Trade in Mozambique.

This seminar will have enabled the representatives of the ACP countries to give effort to their determination to speak with one voice during agricultural negotiations. Building up such a common position appears vital if they want to move away from the sidelines of international trade negotiations. If they are to keep abreast of developments in the different negotiating fora, to adjust their common positions to those charges and if they are to influence the outcomes of deliberations in those fora, including the Cotonou trade negotiations, effective management of information and full use of communication technologies and practices will undoubtedly be of paramount importance.