Australia WPC2008: Call for poultry think tank

This suggestion was given by Prof. Dr. John Hodges, former FAO head of genetic programmes for farm animals, during his openings address to some 2,000 delegates from all over the world attending the 23rd World Poultry Congress in Brisbane Australia.

Hodges said that the poultry industry needs new leadership, which can bring in proposals to modify the economics of the global food chain to ensure food security. Appeals to ethics will not work and should be considered as issues of elite capitalism. The poultry industry has to play an important role in a sustainable food supply but it will than have to express better how it can contribute. Here the think tank could take a lead.

Presenting technical solutions do not help. There is more to be done. Prof. Hodges expressed that policy makers should sustain domestic agriculture by providing national legislation for long-term farming development. A better link between farmers and consumers should be encouraged and the agro-diversity should be freed from patents laws.

Within this context, Hodges called upon the regulators to put agriculture and food in a unique category within the WTO mandate and laws so that levies on international trade in food can empower rural development and power.