For the industry and services sectors, agriculture has always been a thorn when it comes to trade negotiations. That remains the case, but a heartening approach is being taken by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other ancillary organizations. Doomed from the Start At a meeting last week under the African Union, African leaders signed the Malabo Declaration, pledging at least 10 percent of their national budgets would be dedicated toward bolstering their agricultural systems. However, there are at least two reasons for skepticism: They made the same pledge more than a decade ago via the Maputo Declaration, and a majority of countries have not even come close to that target. The declaration pins its hope on the continent becoming not just...

TAGS – North America