The School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London

Session 1: Commodities and the global economy: Reflections on Alfred’s Maizels life and work

• Challenges and prospects for commodity markets in the global economy: An overview (Machiko Nissanke)
• Development Finance in the 21st Century (George Mavrotas)
• Alfred Maizels’s Legacy (Richard Jolly)

Papers tabled:

• Commodities, Co-operation, and World Economic Development: The Mission of Alfred Maizels, 1917-2006 (John Toye)
• The Poorest, Power and Global Economic Governance (Gerry Helleiner)

Chair: Terry McKinley
Discussant: Raphael Kaplinsky
Discussant: David Sapsford

Session 2: The new supply and demand issues in commodity markets

• China, commodity prices and the terms of trade (Raphael Kaplinsky)
• Commodities still in crisis? (David Sapsford and Stephan Pfaffenzeller)
• Crises in Cotton of Francophone Africa: fatality or challenge for multi-dimension cooperation? (Michel Fok)

Chair: Adrian Hewitt
Discussant: Alice Sindzingre
Discussant: Machiko Nissanke or Andrew Dorward

Session 3: Coping with changing environments and structures: Studies on commodity markets, institutions and producers

• Tanzania's agricultural institutions in flux: Lessons from coffee and cotton producing villages (Hannah Bargawi)
• Prices and price risks in international coffee chains, The New Price Makers (Susan Newman)
• Comparative analysis of organization and performance of African cotton sectors: Learning from reform experience (Colin Poulton and David Tschirley)

Chair: Henry Bernstein
Discussant: Peter Gibbon
Discussant: Deborah Johnston

Session 4: Exploring domestic and international instruments for the management of commodity markets

• The impact of copper prices on the Zambian currency (John Weeks)
• Exchange rate policy and macroeconomic management in a commodity boom: The case of Zambian copper boom (Elva Bova)
• Compensatory finance in the 21st century (Adrian Hewitt)

Chair: Christian Haeberli
Discussant: Jane Harrigan
Discussant: Stephan Pfaffenzeller

Session 5: Commodity markets and the new regulatory issues

• An historical account of International Commodity Agreements (ICAs) (Christian Haeberli)
• Sustainable standards, agricultural commodities and development (Benoit Daviron)

Chair: Richard Jolly
Discussant: George Mavrotas
Discussant: Michel Fok

Session 6: Open Discussion: “What next for commodities? Setting an agenda for research and policy”

• Paper Tabled: Commodities and International Poverty Trap (Charles Gore)
• Global Rules and Markets: Constraints over Policy Autonomy in Developing Countries (Yilmaz Akyüz)

Chair: Machiko Nissanke
Discussion Panel: Michel Fok, Raphael Kaplinsky, David Sapsford, Alice Sindzingre