The Framing of Food Security in the Doha Round Negotiations: The Case of G33 and G10

Food security is one of the key controversies in the WTO Doha Round negotiations. In this paper, we examine how two bargaining coalitions, the G33 and the G10, have discursively framed the issue of food security in the negotiations. We have selected these two coalitions because they have focused on food security as a non-trade concern (NTC). Both were established in connection with the WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun in 2003. However, they are markedly different. The G33 is a developing countries alliance that have concentrated on food security as a livelihood concern, while the G10 consists of some of the richest countries in the world that sees food security as part of the multi-functionality of agriculture. In the paper, we ask how the coalitions frame food security in relation to the three pillars of the agricultural negotiations: Domestic support, market access, and export competition. Second, we ask how the framing of food security influences the bargaining strategies employed by G33 and G10 from Cancun in 2003 to Nairobi in 2015: Do they use distributive or integrative negotiation strategies? Further, to what degree do the two coalitions influence the content of the Doha round negotiations? Last, we provide some conclusions regarding the implication of the findings for the Doha Round.