Trade restrictions played a pivotal role for this differential outcome. While countries in developing Asia managed to insulate themselves from the price hike through export restrictions and ‘aggressive buying", many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa experienced a sharp food price increase and had to bear the brunt of the price hike, with a marked increase in undernourishment. If these are insufficient, tighter disciplines on export restrictions and ‘demand-augmenting measures" need to be envisaged in a second step. Over and above improving the trade disciplines, he suggested promoting public investment in agriculture and food safety nets. A well-functioning international trade system is all the more important in the context of increasing pressures on natural resources, especially land and water, and with the expectation of climate change affecting production potentials differently in different regions of the world. Dr van Tongeren considered that the present external economic, financial and fiscal environment was a good basis for further agricultural reforms.