Interview with Lee Ann Jackson, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Lee Ann provides an overview of OECD’s role in providing data and policy recommendations to governments for informed decisions. An important focus of her work is on food systems and agricultural trade, and how to make food production sustainable to provide for a growing population.
Lee Ann Jackson
Head of the Agro-Food Trade and Markets Division, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Lee Ann Jackson is the Head of the Agro-Food Trade and Markets Division at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and a member of the Donor Platform.
Michelle Tang/GDPRD Secretariat: As the Head of the Agro-food Trade and Markets Division at OECD, could you share some insights on your job?
Lee Ann Jackson: I lead a division that conducts research on markets and trade in agrifood systems, such as a 10-year market projection of agricultural commodity markets, and work on food systems and tools for agricultural trade.
We manage the OECD function around convening policymakers. For instance, we have a network called the Food Chain Analysis Network which we organize once or twice a year to bring together experts to talk about specific policy issues. This year, we focused on the carbon footprint in agrifood systems and defined the issues around measuring and data.
My team also works on standards. These include long-standing OECD standards such as one on quality seeds. Both OECD and non-OECD members work together to ensure standards for seeds are of a recognizable quality so that they can be traded between the members of this standards scheme.
OECD’s role is about producing data and evidence for policymakers. We're trying to produce the evidence and make sure it gets communicated to policymakers in a usable way. We hope this leads to better policies at the end of the trail. We seek to support better policies by enhancing awareness, usage and, ultimately, the impact of OECD data and evidence.
Lee Ann Jackson | Head of the Agro-Food Trade and Markets Division, OECD. This video is from a recording of the interview, conducted by the Secretariat of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development on 16 April 2024.
Michelle: In your past and current roles, you have extensive experience on the policy side of G7 processes. Last year’s G7 Agriculture Ministers Communiqué stated:
“... the global food and agriculture situation has significantly changed since we first met in 2009, and although our efforts so far have contributed to addressing many challenges related to agriculture and food systems, we need to urgently increase efforts to make them more resilient and sustainable as our legacy to future generations”.
Could you provide a brief background on this? What is the takeaway for donors in the Donor Platform?
Lee Ann: In 2009, I was working at the World Trade Organization. We focused on reforming policies in agriculture. We dealt with subsidies, tariffs, tariff rate quotas, and export subsidies.
What’s shifted over the years is the recognition that to change agriculture and food, you must adopt a food systems approach. We're asking the sector to feed the world. It must be environmentally sustainable and ensure livelihoods for all food systems actors. And we know the agricultural sector is a big contributor to greenhouse gases. This shift in thinking about the “triple challenge” means thinking in sets of policies. On top of that, agriculture is globally diverse, arguably more so than non-agricultural sectors, so there is no single silver bullet solution to promote.
In the G7 communiqué, I saw a call for more efforts around sustainability and resilience. Here, resilience means predictable supply chains. It means having a sector that can adapt to shocks. Also, having rules and investments in transparency and good regulatory frameworks are important to enable the agrifood and private sectors to adapt to disruptions and move food to where it's needed.
We need to make sure the broader macro institutional setting is set up to support well-functioning markets. If the institutional setting is chaotic such as in recent years with COVID-19 and multiple conflicts, you're going to have difficulties in solving this triple challenge. You won’t be able to draw investments into the sector in a way that's going to allow for transformation.
This shift in thinking about the “triple challenge” means thinking in sets of policies. On top of that, agriculture is globally diverse, arguably more so than non-agricultural sectors, so there is no single silver bullet solution to promote.
Michelle: The food systems priorities of the G7 Italian Presidency are food security, food and finance, and food and climate. What are the opportunities for key public donors, some of whom are part of the Donor Platform, to align their work for maximum impact?
Lee Ann: On the macro level, much of the scope for enhancing impact is around investments in transparency platforms and in institutions that build trust. These are investments and processes that enable conversations across different stakeholders within agrifood systems.
Because to get that broader macro environment working, we've learned these past three or four years that we can't take trust for granted. We must think about what investments are needed to make sure countries and the private sector believe the system will allow them to innovate and take action that will improve their outcomes in agriculture and food.
On the micro level, one key area is small-scale innovation. It often happens in less wealthy parts of the world. The issue is what do we know about scaling up those innovations? Donors should think about investments in enabling conditions and sharing best practices, to have a bigger impact.
We know that just having facts will probably not change minds. We need mechanisms to express and exchange different views.
Michelle: What gives you hope in 2024 and why?
Lee Ann: We've seen an uptick in what the OECD calls deliberative processes, bringing evidence and data to a broader audience and creating consensus about where policy reform should happen. We know that just having facts will probably not change minds. We need mechanisms to express and exchange different views.
This move is about creating space for deliberations across opposing views to find common ground. That's encouraging. I've seen it happening at the country level, but also in discussions on bringing expert panels that inform the United Nations into conversations with policymakers. These things will help us move into a reform agenda.
Michelle: What are your thoughts about the role of the Donor Platform?
Lee Ann: What’s important is this idea that together, you can have a bigger impact and that doesn't mean you have to do the same things. If many donors are considering similar initiatives, you're more likely to have an impact. Going off in different directions creates more disruptions. This resonates with OECD’s work on coherent policies.
Dr. Lee Ann Jackson is the Head of the Agro-Food Trade and Markets Division in the Trade and Agriculture Directorate (TAD) at the OECD. Dr Jackson manages a team that develops evidence-based advice for governments with the aim of helping them improve the domestic and international performance of their policies for agro-food trade and markets.
Dr Jackson has over 20 years of experience in agriculture, multilateral trade, and management. She joined the OECD in 2020 after 16 years at the WTO where she served as the Secretary to the WTO's Committee on Agriculture in the Agriculture and Commodities Division and supported multilateral agriculture negotiations. Prior to the WTO, Dr. Jackson held various research roles including as a Research Fellow in the School of Economics at the University of Adelaide in South Australia and a researcher in the Environment Division of the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington DC.
Dr. Jackson completed her Ph.D. in applied economics at the University of Minnesota; and has joint master’s degrees in public and private management and environmental policy from Yale University.
