September 2016 marked the fifth anniversary of the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), which had convened its inception meeting on 15-16 September 2011. A series of events were organized in the week of 3-7 October 2016 to celebrate this important milestone, including an interactive workshop with participants of FAO's Committee on Commodity Problems and the 10th Session of the Global Food Market Information Group.

When the G20 leaders decided to launch AMIS, global food markets were struggling with uncertain supply and demand prospects and a stormy market climate. Food prices were at historic highs and experienced extreme fluctuations, which threatened the food security of poor consumers around the world.

AMIS was to guide the international community to ride over those turbulent waves and keep a close eye on market conditions to avoid future crisis. It has done so by enhancing market transparency through regular information updates and by building a network of main producing and consuming countries of agricultural commodities to coordinate policy actions in times of market instability. In fact, these two pillars constitute the main foundation on which the initiative is built.

Five years on, AMIS can pride itself of having realized most of its initial goals. After organizing ten international expert meetings on ways to improve market information, five high-level events to discuss policy matters, and numerous presentations, seminars and training workshops at country level, the international community today has a better grasp on the global food market situation and a strong instrument to rely on when the next storm approaches.

These achievements have been reached through a rich and collaborative network of national and international experts, and an exceptional spirit of partnership among all stakeholders involved in AMIS who strive for a common objective. The AMIS Secretariat is grateful for the continued support of participating countries and looks forward to further strengthening the initiative in the future.