WTO Agricultural Negotiations and Developing Countries: an overview

The aim of this paper is to give a broad overview of the main issues faced by developing countries in a context of trade liberalization as part of the multilateral agricultural trade negotiations in the WTO Doha Round. The bargaining positions of developing countries in the Doha Round are described. A comparison of empirical results on possible outcomes of a Doha Round agreement follows with a focus on impacts in terms of poverty reduction. Results are then analyzed using the main theoretical findings on trade-poverty links and the specific role of preference erosion in order to shed some light on potential failures of a trade reform in the absence of complementary policy actions.