Longueuil, Quebec. 22.10.07. Around fifty researchers and active actors of country organizations primarily from East Africa and from Europe met at the headquaters of the Quebec Union of agricultural producers (Union des producteurs agricoles, UPA) from 1-3 October. This with an aim of discussing and of deepening the various mechanisms of market regulation for agricultural produce in North as in the South.

The event, which proved to be a success, made it possible for the participants to reinforce their capacities and understanding concerning the various mechanisms of access to agricultural markets. During three days, the speakers -- including Bill Vorley and Larry Daigal from Regoverning Markets -- traced several examples of collective actions to improve the capacity of negotiation of the agricultural producers of North and of the South. On this subject, several models were put forward such as vanilla in Tanzania, maple syrup and milk in Quebec, cereals in Mali, rice in Cuba and much more. Beyond the case studies, broad topics were approached: why control the markets, the mechanisms of regulation without management of supply, the management of supply as well as the multilateral regulatory framework. This forum allowed the participants and speakers lecturers from all the corners of the world to share a vision of agriculture and to make known realities of the one another.

Announcement (in French) at www.upadi-agri.org [1]