U. S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns was on hand at the World Agricultural Forum Congress. Here he is getting interviewed by Mizzou Ag Journalism blogger Julia Shuck. His full comments are available online. Here’s an excerpt.
Ladies and gentlemen, in the Doha talks, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to really have a profound impact on hunger and poverty in the developing world. Two-thirds of the WTO member countries are developing countries; 32 of these are considered least developed countries, truly the poorest of the poor. In these countries, over 70 percent of the poor live in rural areas where agriculture is the employer.
The World Bank has calculated that roughly half of the global economic benefit from free trade would be enjoyed by developing countries. And more than 90 percent of their gains would come from reducing tariffs. The Peterson Institute of International Economics estimates global free trade could lift as many as 500 million people out of poverty and inject $200 billion annually into the economies of developing countries.
The simple fact is economic growth spurred by trade liberalization can have a profound impact, actually far more than voluntary aid donations although those are enormously important also. When the day comes that the nations of the world agree on greater trade liberalization, the United States is ready to be a good trading partner.