SEÑORA DOÑA ETNA HERAZO DE VITI (Panamá) : Antes de todo la Delegación de Panamá desea felicitar muy calurosamente a los tres Vicepresidentes elegidos y al Presidente del Comité de Redacción, deseándoles mucho éxito en el delicado ejercicio de sus funciones.
El "sí" muy matizado como respuesta a la pregunta de si la situación de la seguridad alimentaria mundial es mejor ahora que hace un año, formulada en el párrafo primero del documento CL 83/2, la situación actual de la alimentación en el mundo, y el sentimiento de incertidumbre del cual nos habla el reciente documento distribuido que es Suplemento del CL 83/2, ha planteado a esta Delegación una preocupación, sin que queramos denotar con esto una posición negativa. Y esta preocupación es válida, Señor Presidente, porque el documento en la página 3 expresa que las grandes existencias de cereales que hay actualmente en el mundo proporcionan tan solo cierta protección frente a los efectos de posibles déficits de producción en 1983.
Con amplitud y profundidad se analizó este problema en el reciente pasado período de sesiones del Comité de Seguridad Alimentaria del pasado abril, donde determinamos el hecho de que en sólo doce países se vienen a concentrar el 63 por ciento de las reservas mundiales de cereales. En el Documento CL 83/2, en el penúltimo párrafo, página 15, se señala que se prevé que los países desarrollados mantendrán el 70 por ciento de las existencias mundiales de cereales al final de sus cam-pañas agrícolas para 1982/83.
Analizando el problema de la situación alimentaria mundial, a través de indicadores, como los de suministros dietéticos y precios de los alimentos, nuestras preocupaciones vienen a encontrar muchas más justificaciones. Esto, sin olvidar el problema concerniente al acceso y distribución de los alimentos. Si bien la producción alimentaria por habitante mejoró considerablemente en las economías asiáticas con planificaciones centralizadas de Asia y de nuestra región, América Latina y el Caribe, y moderadamente en las economías del mercado de desarrollo del Lejano Oriente, se produjo, sin embargo, por otra parte, una ligera disminución en Africa y el Cercano Oriente.
En cuanto a los precios, mientras que estos en los países en vías de desarrollo aumentan con más rapidez que otros precios para el consumidor, en los países desarrollados sucede lo contrario; el aumento del precio de los alimentos es menor que el aumento de otros precios para el consumidor, A estas tendencias generales, tenemos que agregar aspectos particulares y propios de cada país, como el nuestro por ejemplo, que recientemente ha sido afectado por una prolongada sequía en una de las dos regiones de mayor población ganadera, reduciendo esta población a un 50 por ciento. Esta situación, Señor Presidente, es la que ha motivado a mi Gobierno a solicitar una pronta asistencia por parte de las Operaciones de Urgencia del Programa Mundial de Alimentos, el PMA, así como de esta Organización, la FAO.
Otros países, incluyendo algunos de nuestra propia región latinoamericana, han tenido problemas de inundaciones y plagas con sus secuelas de situaciones difíciles de superar en las condiciones actuales. Paralelamente con estos señalamientos, esta Delegación no desea dejar pasar esta oportunidad para deplorar el hecho de que durante 1982, de las 68 operaciones de urgencia, FAO-PMA, por un costo de 191,5 millones de dólares, casi la mitad se destinó a las necesidades de los refugiados en distintas partes del mundo y que medidas estas operaciones en términos de costo, representan el 69 por ciento. Ojalá iniciemos pronto el camino que conducirá a que cese esta situación y puedan estos recursos ser empleados como agentes catalíticos del desarrollo.
En este debate de la situación actual de la seguridad alimentaria mundial, que efectúa este Consejo de la FAO, hay que ver estructuralmente el problema de la producción de alimentos y destacar que estamos frente al hecho de que los pequeños y moderados aumentos en la producción alimentaria se enfrentan a una escasa demanda de los mercados, especialmente de exportación, que viene a provocar una acumulación de existencias y el consiguiente descenso de los precios mientras que, por otra parte, escaseces temporales que se registran en ciertos productos, por razones climatológicas principalmente, dan lugar a alzas temporales de los precios, persistiendo el desequilibrio estructural básico entre la oferta y la demanda, como es el caso de Panamá que fue objeto de análisis hace dos semanas por parte del Grupo Intergubernamental de la FAO sobre este producto y que convino en acelerar los esfuerzos necesarios para llegar a la adopción formal de un convenio internacional sobre el banano.
Por otra parte, esta Delegación subraya la preocupación recogida en la última reunion de la Comisión de Fertilizantes, por estancamiento en la capacidad de producción como resultado de los bajos precios y la tendencia a no invertir en nuevas fábricas de fertilizantes, con un consecuente aumento de los precios y reducción del consumo, previéndose una escasez de fertilizantes concretamente para 1985-1986. Situación ésta que debe llevar a los países en desarrollo a la proyección de empresas conjuntas con otros países integrantes en su propia región o área, para aprovechar disponibilidades de materia prima y de mercado para los fertilizantes producidos.
La materialización de aspectos como los dos últimos señalados, la adopción formal de acuerdos internacionales o productos básicos y creación de empresas conjuntas entre países de la misma región o área, contribuirán efectivamente a superar la actual situación imperante en el comercio agrícola y alimentario mundial que ha venido a significar para los países en desarrollo, considerados como grupo, el que por primera vez en 1981 pasaran a ser importadores netos de cultivos y productos pecuarios.
Sobre lo señalado en el documento correspondiente a las tendencias descendentes de la asistencia exterior a la agricultura y los bajos niveles de las asignaciones en comparación con las necesidades estimadas, la Delegación de Panamá quiere expresar a los representantes de los países desarrollados que la crisis que se les presenta al interno de sus propios países, se da dentro de un margen tal de bienestar, en crisis, muy superiores a las mejores condiciones por las que pueden pasar los países en vías de desarrollo. Este señalamiento es igualmente válido sobre el estancamiento de la ayuda alimentaria durante los últimos cinco años.
Para finalizar, Señor Presidente, conforme a lo que esta Delegación planteó en la pasada reunión del Comité de Seguridad Alimentaria, expresamos en este Consejo de la FAO nuestro pleno apoyo al concepto ampliado sobre seguridad alimentaria propuesto en el informe del Director General con sus correspondientes medidas a nivel nacional, regional y mundial, y la realización por etapas, pero sin dilación, de las mismas.
G.J. NEWELL (United States of America): The United States delegation has studied with care the document on the Current World Food Situation. We also listened with attention to the comprehensive statement made yesterday by the Director-General. The paper before us, the Director-General's remarks and the observations made by Dr. Islam in introducing this item provide the setting for our deliberations. We believe that the report we are considering presents a fair and balanced picture of the current world food situation,. The paper correctly points out that, unlike the situation a few years ago, we are not faced by a combination of widespread emergency relief needs and tight food supplies.
On the other hand, repeated and proper reference is made throughout the analysis to the plight of the developing countries whose fragile economies have suffered inordinately from the effects of the world-wide economic recession.
Since levels of official development assistance are unlikely to be increased in the short term due to the effects of the world-wide recession, it is essential that efforts be focused on how to achieve the most effective and efficient use of available resources. Each country must be responsible for carrying out programmes and policies which will increase its own food productivity. To this end, through our bilateral agricultural development assistance programmes and in international fora, the United States seeks to assist in food production and provide food assistance through a number of measures.
First and foremost among these is the priority we give to improving agricultural production, with an emphasis on increasing and sustaining the productivity, income and market participation of small farmers, with special attention to food production.
Second is the need to promote greater economic efficiency in the marketing and distribution of agricultural output and food production, exports and imports.
Third is to achieve improved food consumption through expansion of productive employment and incomes of men and women who at present lack the purchasing power to obtain adequate food.
Fourth is to promote a more effective system for direct distribution of food from domestic or external sources to those facing severe malnutrition and temporary food shortages.
We seek from countries where assistance is concentrated, commitments by their governments to the objectives that I have just outlined within an appropriate policy framework to achieve these objectives. Such a framework should include policies that seek to keep to an appropriate level intervention in the price-information and distribution systems, subsidization, public-sector production and distribution, and rationing, all of which tend to result in substantial reductions in efficiency and productivity with little or no benefit to the disadvantaged groups they are often supposed to help. In many cases, the benefits of these policies accrue, not to low-income groups, but to relatively well-off groups instead. Interim steps towards these long-term goals are necessary preconditions to establishing viable dynamic agriculture sectors.
Reference has been made to measures that my government is taking to adjust our agricultural policies. In 1981 and 1982 the United States had two consecutive years of record grain production. At the same time, demand for our products, including our exports, declined. This put American farmers in an unfavourable position, with large and growing stocks, depressed farm prices and income, and a rising number of bankruptcies within the farming community.
As the 1982-crop programmes were considered, it was apparent that the oversupply situation was unlikely to be temporary. Demand was growing very slowly. Other factors affecting United States exports were the financial positions of some of our customers, the strong US dollar and increased competition from other exporters. At home, lower meat consumption weakened the demand for feed grains.
Against this background, the United States decided to institute an acreage reduction programme for the 1982 crops. The purpose of this programme was to reduce production and allow some drawdown of stocks, thus preventing further price declines. However, a low level of participation in this voluntary programme, combined with unusually good weather, resulted in even greater production in 1982 than in 1981. Thus stocks rose and further depressed prices. In addition to the acreage reduction and land diversion programmes announced for the 1983 crops, President Reagan announced on January 11 a payments-in-kind programme.
The goals of this programme are to reduce excessive stocks while providing adequate supplies for domestic consumption and world trade and to maintain incentives for producers. Commodity prices may not increase significantly in the near terms, though they should strengthen somewhat. We expect the longer-term economic outlook to improve as a result of bringing supplies more into line with demand. In the short term, however, the United States has had to take measures to protect the integrity of the agricultural sector and its productive capacity.
Let me emphasize that the United States will continue to be a reliable supplier, and we will maintain adequate reserve stocks, but somewhat below our current excessive levels. We do not anticipate any reduction that would impair our ability to meet global demand for our farm products.
The United States has taken steps during this difficult period to maintain the level of food aid under P.L.480, despite large budget deficits and extreme pressure to reduce government spending. In addition, the President has requested expanded authority to donate government-owned commodities abroad. We are now donating dairy products overseas as well as other commodities. In so doing we are taking steps to insure that these programmes will not result in disincentives to farmers in the recipient countries. The expanded authority we are seeking will enable the government to donate other commodities.
We are confident that our policies of agricultural adjustment are in the long-run interest of world food security. Low prices, leading to low production and loss of long-term productive capacity, pose a far greater danger to world food security than do temporary reductions of excessive stocks. For the sake of both developed and developing countries it is critical that producer prices and incomes be maintained as an essential condition for the food security we all so earnestly seek.
J.R. LOPEZ PORTILLO (México): Señor Presidente, le saludamos a usted y le felicitamos por el trabajo desempeñado en este Consejo y en los anteriores, y felicitamos también a los tres Vicepresidentes ayer electos.
Extendemos nuestro agradecimiento y felicitación al Director General de la FAO por su excelente análisis que nos da la dimension de la problemática alimentaria inserta en el contexto economico y político mundial. Concordamos con esa presentación y la apoyamos; ese tipo de análisis integral nos gustaría verlo sintetizado y complementado en los documentos de trabajo de la FAO.
Respaldamos también todos los puntos tocados por nuestro Presidente del Grupo de los 77 en su discurso de entrada del día de ayer.
Agradecemos y felicitamos al doctor Islam por la magnífica introducción hecha al tema que nos ocupa. Debemos, sin embargo, profundizar en el análisis; solicitamos a la Secretaría que al describir la situación mundial de la alimentación pase de la descripción de los efectos al análisis de las causas y de los agentes y factores que la componen.
Sabemos que hay muchas circunstancias y muchas posibles convenciones para estudiar este problema, pero no podemos obviar aquello que cuantitativa y cualitativamente tiene un gran peso. Si los preciso son importantes en nuestro diagnóstico, si las fuerzas de la oferta y la demanda lo son, igual peso deben tener aquellos pocos agentes que de manera abrumadora dominan el comercio y la industria de alimentos. Me refiero en este caso particular y de manera especial a las corporaciones transnacionales.
Simplemente para dar una muy rápida idea, y de ninguna manera exhaustiva ni completa en el campo del comercio de cereales, del comercio de semillas, de la industria alimentaria, de la industria cereale-ra, encontramos unas cuantas empresas que dominan fundamentalmente el mercado. En materia de comercio de cereales tenemos la Cargill, la Continental, la Bunge, la Dreyfus, la Carnac, y la Mitsui; en el comercio de semillas tenemos la Royal, la Dutch/Shell, la Sandoz, la Ciba-Geigy, la Kemanobel, la Elf-Aquitaine, la Rhome-Poulenc, la Cardo, la Agrigenetic, la Pfizer, la Upjhon, la Cargill, la Continental, la KWS, la Pionner y la Dekalb; en la industria alimentaria tenemos a la Unilever, a la Nestle, a la Beatrice Foods, a la General Foods, al Ralston Purina, al Consolidated Food, y a la CPC Internacional; en la industria cerealera tenemos a la CPC Internacional, a la General Mills, a la Quaker Oats, a la Spillers, a la Kellog, a la Pillsvurg, a la Me. Malm, a la United Biscuit, a la International Multifoods, a la Nisshin Flour y a la Konin, etc.
Estas empresas tienen una participación fundamental en la determinación de la fuerza del mercado y, por tanto, de los precios y de la producción y comercio de alimentos. El 5,5 por ciento de las explotaciones de Estados Unidos controlan más del 50 por ciento de toda la tierra agrícola. Se estima que en 1985 el 75 por ciento de la producción de alimentos de Estados Unidos estará bajo la firma de contrato con las grandes corporaciones.
Seis grandes corporaciones "The big league", la Cargill, la Continental, etc. controlan el 85 por ciento de todas las exportaciones de cereales de ese país. Tan sólo el trigo, y excluyendo a la Mitsui, esta Liga domina más del 60 por ciento de las exportaciones de Estados Unidos, según información que tenemos y que nos gustaría ver confirmada.
En materia de comercio de semillas cuatro corporaciones controlan el 66 por ciento del mercado mundial del maíz, 8 el del trigo, 4 el de frijol, y 4 el de algodón.
Sólo 50 de 30 000 empresas agroindustriales controlan más de la mitad de las ventas de tal industria en Estados Unidos.
El Grupo de las 100 principales corporaciones transnacionales en el área agroindustrial es ampliamente dominado por empresas norteamericanas en más del 50 por ciento; el segundo grupo lo constituyen empresas inglesas, 22 en total, y también empresas francesas, 9, en este grupo de 100.
En fin, los datos, si los datos para esos países desarrollados son abrumadores, para América Latina, así como para otras regiones del mundo, son verdaderamente aterradores y creo que al analizarlos encontraremos las razones que explican en buena parte la aparente falta de una voluntad política más agresiva en materia alimentaria.
El mundo está ordenado de tal manera que los intereses de los poderosos se siguen imponiendo al argumento de los débiles, pero no por ello vamos a cerrar los ojos, a dejar de imputar responsabilidades y a claudicar de nuestros derechos y justas reclamaciones.
Demandamos de la FAO que en los próximos diagnósticos a nivel mundial sobre la situación alimentaria se incluya un estudio de cómo esos agentes transnacionales y otros factores de peso participan en la actividad alimentaria, tanto a nivel mundial como regional. No hay un análisis a fondo que encadene de una manera sistemática, comprensible, la situación económica internacional con la situación alimentaria, y menos una visión de país por país. Aquí apoyamos lo manifestado por Etiopía en el día de ayer y solicitamos a la FAO presente un análisis más comprensivo de esta situación, extendida a la situación de cada país.
En los últimos años, en efecto, la contracción de los flujos de finaneiamiento para el desarrollo, las altas tasas de interés, el peso de la deuda externa en los países en desarrollo, la caída de los precios de las materias primas, el uso de los alimentos como arma, el creciente proteccionismo en el comercio, las estructuras de concentración de la riqueza y de la propiedad agrícola y el incentivo al armamentismo en el mundo en desarrollo, para decir solamente algunas de las principales razones, se han traducido en uno de los grandes procesos de desempleo y erosión de la calidad y de la seguridad de vida en los países en desarrollo con sus consecuencias políticas e ideológicas.
Ante la crisis internacional muchos países se han visto obligados a manejar políticas contraccionis-tas o de estabilización que, finalmente, tienen como una consecuencia principal el encarecimiento real y una mayor inaccesibilidad a los alimentos por parte de las poblaciones de menores recursos en nuestros países. Esto es, como lo hemos dicho en otras ocasiones, un auténtico y trágico círculo vicioso del hambre: los que menos tienen, tienen cada vez menos.
Los países en desarrollo por sí mismos sus gobiernos son incapaces de resolver los problemas del hambre; por eso es indispensable pensar en la solución de los problemas alimentarios como uno que quiere de la revisión profunda del sistema financiero, comercial y económico internacional que ha propiciado esta situación; es decir, buscar y tender hacia un nuevo Orden Económico Internacional y un nuevo multilateralisme reforzado, renovado.
Por lo pronto, los países en desarrollo les estamos entregando recursos, fuerzas de trabajo, bienestar y hasta soberanía a las fuerzas del imperialismo galopante.
Reiteramos aquí, señor Presidente, nuestra solicitud de encuadrar el análisis de la situación alimentaria en su contexto económico y político a nivel internacional.
Otro punto que queremos destacar es lo relativo a la vinculación de producción, ingreso, consumo campesino, que es un imperativo y una condición del desarrollo agropecuario y alimentario y también condición para convertir las necesidades de la población en demandas en el mercado. Por eso vemos con preocupación que el peso específico que se da al desarrollo de las actividades técnicas, al financia-miento, a la reforma agraria, a la organización y, en fin, al desarrollo rural integral de la agricultura de temporal sea proporcionalmente inferior al de la agricultura moderna y comercial. Es en las zonas de temporal, o de secano, donde se pueden obtener los mayores incrementos en la producción y en el bienestar social y, por tanto, debe ponerse todo el énfasis en estudiarlas de manera integral, observando no sólo los aspectos productivos, sino los comerciales, tecnológicos e industriales.
P.W. McLEAN (United Kingdom): My delegation, as always, finds the Secretariat's review of the current world food situation a very useful and factual analysis providing a setting for the work of the Council which is required, as the note attached to the Agenda reminds us, to focus on those of its functions which relate to the general policy of the Organization, including obviously the world food and agricultural situation.
On the paper itself we do consider that its overall assessment is a little too pessimistic about the continuation of economic recession. No-one seriously questions the adverse effects of this in recent years, particularly for developing countries, but there are signs that economic recovery is at least on the way if not yet actually in sight, and this could and indeed should have a beneficial effect on both developing and developed countries alike. I think the delegate for New Zealand made the point yesterday rather better than I can probably do.
As I have indicated, we have no basic difficulty with the historical presentation in the paper although there are factors which in our view are given insufficient weight, for example the degree of instability in world grain markets caused by major cereal shortages in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, for example, which are hinted at in the table at paragraph 4, but not exactly spelled out. I think the most significant thing, as the Council has recognized already, are the factors which affect the situation in sub-Saharan Africa which, as the supplementary paper now shows, are exacerbated by the recent drought and animal disease, particularly in Southern Africa, and this must mean an under estimation of the seriousness of the situation which has developed in the continent. We look forward to seeing the first results of the Task Force which has been set up by the Director-General to review the needs in that part of the continent and we also look forward to concerted international action to help to alleviate what is becoming a very serious situation.
My delegation does not often intervene in discussions of this item. Listening to it, and I hope I will not be misunderstood, both in this forum, other fora of the FAO, and indeed other organizations in the field of food and agriculture, one sometimes has a sense of having been here before. The paper for all its merits does make a very broad overall assessment, and elaboration of some of the issues which contribute to the world food situation. I do feel that some more specific pointers would be useful to the Council and indeed to the members of FAO in determining what we as the international community can do to help relieve most immediate problems. For example, if the paper had an indication of how FAO staff would rate, say, the stocking of cereals in developing countries as against perhaps the provision of credit or other inputs to food production, which of these would be regarded as the most important factor in solving and dealing with the short term problems. In other words, it would be useful we think to have an indication of the major areas which are susceptible to assistance not only by FAO but by the donors generally, particularly perhaps in the field of technical assistance. If members of the Council think this is a, way of reinforcing our views on the need for attention to real priorities then I would say certainly this is the case. While resources remain scarce it seems to us essential that every assessment or study or projection should keep in mind this very important aspect of resource allocation and indeed I echo the remarks made by the United States delegate in the introduction to his statement on this question.
This is all I wish to say on this point on this particular item.
A. NAGA (Japan): While the cereal production in 1982 marked in comparison with the previous year a high record, mainly due to the good crops in the major cereal producing countries, consequently world food cereal stocks are expected to reach a high level representing 21 percent of the annual world consumption by the end of 1982/83, therefore we could say that on the whole the world food situation has improved substantially as compared with a few years ago. However, the stocks are concentrated mainly in a few developed exporting countries. By contrast the food production in the sub-Sahelian countries has been rather sluggish. This situation is an undesirable factor for world food security, as the Secretariat's document has pointed out. In this regard my delegation hopes that FAO will reinforce its activities of collecting and distributing the worldwide comprehensive food and agriculture information which could be useful for the effective and efficient assistance to suffering countries.
We also hope that FAO will provide technical and other appropriate assistance to developing countries in order to support their food production and rural development. My delegation feels that the first responsibility in solving the problems lies within the individual governments and the necessary steps should be taken to increase food self-reliance. In supporting the self-help efforts made by developing countries my government has been providing financial and technical cooperation through bilateral and multilateral channels and has the intention of continuing its support, giving priority to those low-income countries. In fact the share of food and agricultural cooperation in the Japanese ODA rose to 30 percent in 1981.
With regard to the food aid, which should be considered as a temporary measure until the developing countries can fully obtain self-reliance, Japan will contribute during 1983 an amount of about $7 million to WFP and $1.5 million to IEFR besides a contribution of 300 000 tonnes to FAO.
Finally, as far as supporting the developing countries in solving the food and agriculture problems, my government has been contributing to the FAO field projects since 1980 and in 1983 will increase its contribution from $920 000 to $1. 7 million. This additional amount will be utilized for two new projects concerning seIf-conservâtion and afforestation.
Z. GROCHOWSKI (Poland): The awareness that the present food situation is far from good, and that the goals indicated by the World Food Conference nearly 10 years ago will not be achieved, is common. The authors of the document Current World Situation are evidently concerned about the lack of noticeable advance in fighting hunger and malnutrition. This concern is shown all over the document, but it is most striking in the summing up, which shows, in a concise way, the complexity of the present situation and the existing peril. The report of the Committee on World Food Security also expresses anxiety, and the statement of the Director-General of FAO at the April session of that Committee contains simply dramatic formulations.
The Polish delegation shares these worries also because in the past years no solution of a few key issues of hunger and malnutrition problems world wide was achieved.
Undoubtedly, the most important of those issues is the present food situation in many African countries. It is most alarming that in spite of significant financial and organizational efforts the necessary dynamics of agricultural development in that region has not been achieved. In effect, the food situation has not progressed much from that of some dozen years ago, the low-income food-deficit countries of that region still are in abject poverty, and, in some of them there appears aggravation of the situation. That is so in spite of the existence of the complex Lagos Plan of Action for implementation of the Monrovia Strategy for the Economic Development of Africa, and of many detailed programmes.
One of the sources of the existing concern is the fact that in the recent years, in spite of great efforts, the mechanisms for strengthening the world food security have not been successfully developed. The Plan of Action of World Food Security is nearly four years old by now, and some problems mentioned in it have not been solved so far. One of such unsolved issues is the question of the new International Wheat Agreement. The present agreement is worthless as a regulator of the international grain market, as it does not contain any regulation mechanisms. The new agreement would be a vital element for strengthening world food security not only because the Food Aid Convention is linked with the International Wheat Agreement. Its significance results, primarily, from the key role, which the grains play in nutrition of world population. In consequence, the supply, demand and prices on the international grain market directly affect the food situation in the countries being in the most difficult food situation, as those countries cover a major part of their demand for imported grains by purchases on commercial bases.
The International Wheat Agreement is necessary also because the international grain market is one of the agricultural markets which easily goes over from an insufficient to an excessive supply, and viceversa.
The lack of adequate mechanisms, agreed by the international community, accounts for the fact that the exporting countries now tend to stabilize the market situation according to their own interests, which are not in accord with the interests of food security. Therefore, Poland shares the Director-General' s concern that "these essentially short-term and uncoordinated remedies are bound in the long run to curtail food availability and could lead to destabilization of markets and a resumption of the surplus/shortage cycle evident over the past decade".
The third and last issue which I would like to discuss concerns some alarming evolution of consumption in some developing and medium developed countries. It has been noticed by FAO and discussed, among others, at the meeting of the intergovernmental group on meat but it has not been included in the submitted documents. This evolution was named "Westernization of diet" and it consists in abandoning the traditional diet even if the latter is sufficient from the point of view of food science. The new model of consumption often is an imitation of consumption patterns of higly developed countries and it sometimes requires a considerable increase of food imports.
The viewpoint seems to be correct that a rapid growth of international grain trade in the sixties and seventies is, among others, an effect of changes in consumption models, not necessarily justified from the viewpoint of food science, and sometimes bringing about a considerable rise in social costs. The food policy should counteract, in a more definite way than so far, the social pressure, the result of which is an evolution of consumption models in the direction not desirable from the social point of view. The interference of the state, which is too weak, can lead to a high dependence on imported food, which may consequently unfavourably affect the balance of payments.
The ex post acting, after the new consumption model has developed, is much more difficult and mostly less effective.
Therefore it seems that many developing countries should concentrate primarily on development of production of the kinds of food which can be produced locally.
A policy of a similar nature has been assumed by Polish authorities in the plans for the eighties, aiming at better use of the country's own resources, and ensuring in that way food selfsufficiency. That will be connected, of course, with some changes in consumption structure and with the necessary increase of investment outlays for the production fields which promise obtaining fast results.
M. GONZALEZ (Colombia): Señor Presidente, la evaluación general hecha en este documento nos conlleva a una situación muy relativa sobre la mejora de la situación alimentaria mundial, nos indica igualmente los problemas que subsisten en el marco de la recesión económica mundial, el proteccionismo creciente y la falta de voluntad política para iniciar negociaciones globales. La gran existencia de cereales en el mundo deberá proporcionar cierta protección frente a los posibles déficits de producción en este año, pero todo ello se encuentra falseado por el hecho de que esas reservas siguen concentrándose creciente y progresivamente en unos pocos países, productores y exportadores, mientras que hay inmensas deficiencias en los países en desarrollo, particularmente, en aquellos con bajos ingresos y déficit alimentarios.
La delegación de Colombia lamenta que la relativa recuperación de las existencias logradas en 1982 comiencen a disiparse en las perspectivas para 1983. Ojalá que no continúe esa tendencia negativa, sino que se fortalezca el buen signo del año pasado.
Al final de la evaluación general este documento se refiere a la interdependencia creciente entre las economías de muchos países en desarrollo y las del mundo desarrollado. Esto es evidente y hay que destacarlo en nuestro informe. Los hechos de los últimos años nos demuestran que cada vez existe una relación más estrecha entre todos los países del mundo.
Para terminar, la delegación de Colombia opina que en nuestro informe deberemos lamentar la difícil situación de los alimentos en el mundo, particularmente en los países más necesitados, e insiste en que es necesario intensificar la asistencia en favor de los estados menos adelantados, con bajos ingresos y déficit alimentarios, particularmente en Africa.
M. HAMDOON (Iraq) (Original language Arabic): Mr. Chairman, since we are attending the Council Session here for the first time after our election as a Council Member during the last General Conference of FAO, we would like to take this opportunity to personally congratulate you and also to express our gratitude to you for the excellent way in which you are leading our work. We would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Vice-Chairman who were elected yesterday in our first session, and we would also like to present our congratulations to the Chairman of the Drafting Committee.
We also wish to thank the Director-General for his comprehensive opening statement yesterday, and we fully support the content of his statement, especially with regard to the current food and agriculture situation in the world.
We also would like to address ourthanks to Prof. Islam and congratulate him for the excellent introduction he made of this agenda item. We fully support the content of the statement made by Mr. Bula Hoyos on behalf of the Group of 77, and although we are members of the Group, we would like to support it because his statement reflected fully the aspirations of the developing world.
The world is facing a special situation with regard to production, consumption, marketing and distribution of food. Therefore, when we see that the production and offer for food production increases, especially in developed countries, we see that the food production of the majority of the developing countries has dropped and they are therefore forced to increase their imports so as to meet local requirements, but since they have difficulty in their balance of payments, these imports become more difficult and this has meant concentration of stocks in the developed producing countries.
These developed countries shave formulated policies aiming at protectionism preventing the entrance of production from developing countries and also limiting the cultivated areas in some countries. This is quite clear from document CL 83/2, and this is going to influence the consumption and production of food in developing countries. Thus, matters are going to deteriorate especially in developing countries and we are going round in a vicious circle which is going to be difficult to come out of, but to do so, this vicious circle being a bottleneck in the developing countries, with a negative impact on the production and consumption of the developing countries, is not easy nor fast. It requires everyone's cooperation in order to reach a New International Economic Order which will be a just one and an order in which there will be an increase of assistance to the developing countries so as to have an increase of food production in developing countries for them to be able to emerge from the poverty in which they find themselves. This is why we are convinced that FAO, according to its Constitution and its own structure, is the appropriate organization to play a positive and concrete role in this field.
Mr. Chairman, you will note that in document CL 83/2, the production of food in the Far East is 120 percent of what it had been in 1974-1976 and this increase is due to efforts made by all countries in the region. I do not exaggerate when I say that all of the countries in the region feel that the increase in food production and rural development in the very milestone in economic development, and it goes without saying that Iraq has adopted this integral development approach and spares no efforts to reach concrete results. However, in spite of the efforts made in the Near-East region and in spite of the increase in food production in the region, still the per capita share of food production has dropped by 2 percent, vis-a-vis 1976. The ecological conditions, the social conditions and the climatic conditions are the cause of this, because when there is land there is no water, nor rain, and when land and water are available the climatic conditions are not appropriate, and when the latter are available we lack the infrastructure and skilled manpower. Therefore it is FAO's responsability to undertake new types of programmes and projects suitable to the difficult production and climatic conditions of the region. Since FAO and the world community are concerned about the drop of external development assistance given to developing countries we want to give our full support to the Resolutions of the Conference of the non-aligned countries held in India where the accent is on cooperation between developing countries in the field of agriculture and food security. The Summit was also concerned with the use of food as a pressure means on the food deficit countries.
To conclude, we would like to express the hope that in the future we will be presented with the same excellent documents that were given to us now, because these documents pave the way to come out of this vicious circle. Once again we would like to stress our support of what was said by Mexico concerning the role of trans-nationals and multinations. As an example, I mention that lately I read that one of the developing countries, so as to facilitate the transfer of hard currency accumulated by international aviation companies, had to pay these companies with coffee instead of currency and these aviation companies took this coffee and marketed it in developed countries at much higher prices than the developing country would have obtained. This is proof of the imposibility for developing countries to have access to the market of developed countries.
We would like FAO to present to us new perspectives in the field of agricultural development in the Near East, taking into account all the aspects that characterize this region. We are convinced that FAO is in a position to fulfill this task.
N. DIMITRIU (Roumanie): Prenant la parole pour la première fois, dans le cadre de notre session d'une importance particulière, veuillez me permettre, Monsieur le Président, de vous assurer de l'appui entier de la délégation roumaine pour que les travaux se déroulent avec succès. A l'occasion, je félicite les personnalités qui ont été élues et nommées: Monsieur le Professeur N. Islam et le Secrétariat qui ont réussi à nous présenter d'une façon synthétique et nette la situation actuelle de l'alimentation mondiale, situation qui doit nous faire réfléchir et nous obliger en même temps à faire des efforts concrets afin de résoudre, de la manière la plus urgente, la crise alimentaire qui sévit dans certaines zones du monde.
Permettez-moi d'apprécier comme très positive la brillante déclaration de notre Directeur général, Monsieur Edouard Saouma, qui a fait une analyse, nette et alarmante à la fois, de la situation, laquelle peut être caractérisée sous deux aspects principaux; d'une part, l'accentuation de la faim et de la sous-alimentation due aux calamités naturelles et aux restrictions imposées et, d'autre part, la baisse accentuée cette année de la production de céréales d'environ 90 millions de tonnes, ce qui n'est pas. du tout négligeable.
La Roumanie prête une particulière importance à la solution de ces problèmes qu'elle retient comme étant les plus importants de notre époque et qui peuvent être solutionnés seulement à travers l'édification d'un nouvel ordre économique international sur la base de rapports fondés sur l'égalité et l'équité absolue entre les Etats.
La Roumanie, militant avec persévérance pour la solution de ces problèmes, déploie de nombreuses actions de coopération, avant tout avec les pays de l'Afrique où, avec les spécialistes de ces pays, elle réalise des projets pour la mise en valeur de grandes surfaces de terres, de complexes agro-zoo-industriels et des fermes de production agro-zoo-technique. De tels objectifs ont été réalisés en Libye, au Zaïre, au Congo, en Iraq, en Iran et dans d'autres pays qui, à présent, sont en train de mettre à exécution d'autres projets concernant l'aménagement et la prise en culture d'une surface de 400 000 hectares au Mozambique, de même que la réalisation d'un complexe agro-zoo-technique de 5 000 hectares en Somalie. De semblables activités se déroulent aussi avec la Mauritanie, l'Egypte, l'Algérie, etc. Je ne me propose pas de faire ici l'analyse de ce problème ni celle de l'activité de coopération que mon pays déploie avec les pays mentionnés plus haut et avec d'autres pays afin de redresser l'agriculture, mais j'apprécie que l'un des facteurs décisif s dans la réalisation de cet objectif soit représenté par les efforts faits par les pays en développement combinés avec une coopération internationale et avec l'appui des organisations internationales, lesquelles soutiennent ces efforts. Dans ce contexte, l'agriculture doit participer et s'intégrer intensément aux actions entreprises en vue de la mise en valeur des ressources propres afin d'éliminer la pauvreté.
Aujourd'hui plus que jamais, dans la situation de crise où l'économie mondiale se voit confrontée, la thèse concernant le développement des efforts propres est de la plus grande actualité. Par son contenu, elle suppose une collaboration et un échange d'expériences larges, une entraide et une solidarité militante.
Une pareille thèse, ainsi qu'elle est développée dans la doctrine du Président de la Roumanie Nicolae Ceausescu, présume la mobilisation de toutes les forces et des ressources de la nation pour l'accomplissement des programmes de développement socio-économiques, l'élaboration et la réalisation d'une stratégie nationale, dont la responsabilité concernant son élaboration et sa réalisation revient uniquement à l'Etat considéré. En pratique, cela signifie intensifier l'effort individuel afin de mettre en valeur au maximum les moyens et les ressources techniques et matériels de la société, pour la création d'une industrie moderne et le développement harmonieux de toute l'économie.
En ce sens, nous rappelons les propositions faites par la Roumanie lors de la dernière Conférence régionale de la FAO pour l'Europe, afin que soit élaboré, sous l'égide de la FAO, un programme de développement à long terme de l'agriculture des pays en développement, qui comprendrait les recommandations de la Conférence mondiale sur la Réforme agraire, du Conseil mondial de l'alimentation qui commencera ses travaux à New York dans quelques jours, de la Conférence de l'ONU pour les problèmes des pays les moins développés et de la Stratégie internationale pour la troisième décennie du développement.
Parmi les recommandations que proposera ce Programme, un accent spécial doit être posé sur la mise en pratique dans chaque pays de la propre stratégie du développement de l'agriculture, la réalisation dans les pays en développement d'une infrastructure appropriée, l'amélioration des systèmes agrotechniques en vue de l'obtention de récoltes abondantes, le développement de l'exportation des produits agricoles de la part des pays en développement.
En ce qui nous concerne, nous sommes décidés à agir dans le futur, dans la limite de nos possibilités, en vue de renforcer le rôle et les activités de la FAO pour qu'elle résolve, grâce à des efforts concertés, les problèmes majeurs qui se posent à l'agriculture.
W.A.F. GRABISCH (Federal Republic of Germany): Mr. Chairman, my delegation would like to congratulate the FAO Secretariat on the good, clear and informative document CL 83/2 and Suppl. 1 on the current world food situation. This document is particularly suited to provide quick information about the different components making up the food situation. It thus does not only serve as information for a limited group of persons whose task is to keep the world food situation under review, but it can also be used without major changes for the information of a broader public.
My delegation wishes to thank the Director-General for his assessment of the world food situation given us yesterday in his introductory statement in which he drew our attention to particularly striking issues. Delegations will most probably come back to these under different agenda items.
Referring to the three points singled out by M. Islam yesterday in his introductory statement, I should like to say that we fully agree that contributing to the solution of food problems in Africa without neglecting those of other regions is the most urgent task of the international community. We noted with satisfaction that many developing countries stressed so far that the key role for increasing food production and for strengthening food security primarily rests with the developing countries themselves.
With regard to the mentioned acreage reduction programmes pursued by some countries, my delegation holds the view that these programmes might lead to an overall decrease in cereal production but that these decreases would proportionally be much less than one would assume from the areas taken out of use. I think, Mr. Chairman, that the points made on this issue yesterday by Canada, and this morning by the United States, need no further comments.
With regard to the world recession and the direction that the world economy is taking, we agree that there are signs that the recession has bottomed out. My government shares the assessment made at the meeting in Williamsburg, mentioned here in the Council several times, that there are clear signs of recovery, but if this recovery should become more sustained my government feels that every country must spare no effort to first put in order its own house. The government of the Federal Republic of Germany has taken strong and even unpopular financial and other measures affecting almost all sectors of the population in order to foster further economic recovery. Similar plans, Mr. Chairman, -have already been outlined for 1984.
With regard to requests made with a view to extending the grain facility of the International Monetary Fund, my government holds the view that such consideration should take place in the competent forum.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, permit me to recall that the Federal Republic of Germany has since long given high priority to food, agriculture and rural development in its fruitful cooperation with many developing countries in all regions. Despite our economics and financial difficulties we increasingly supported developing countries' own efforts to increase their food production and to further rural development. We were, able, Mr. Chairman, to raise our official development aid to 0.48 percent of our gross national product in 1982. About 27 percent was given in support of agriculture in developing countries. In so doing the government of my country recognized the key role of agriculture for overall development in developing countries.
B. DJIBRIL (Benin): Monsieur le Président, puisque c'est la première fois que ma délégation prend la parole j'en profite pour vous féliciter de votre élection à la Présidence. Ma délégation se réjouit aussi de l'élection du Président du Comité de rédaction et des membres du Comité de rédaction. Elle félicite également le Directeur général de la FAO pour sa déclaration introductive, ainsi que le Prof. Islam pour la présentation de son document qui à notre avis, est très complet et très clair quant au diagnostic posé. Je voudrais souligner que ma délégation fait sien le contenu de ce document, ainsi que le contenu du discours du Directeur général.
Permettez-moi de parler très brièvement des problèmes agricoles qui se posent dans mon pays depuis bientôt six ans. Exportateur de maïs vers les pays limitrophes, mon pays a connu depuis 1976 une série de calamités, sécheresses suivies d'inondations. Heureusement, une accalmie est intervenue au cours de l'année 1981, favorisant une production agricole encourageante. Pour 1983, la production semble être très prometteuse, après un début de saison difficile dû au grand retard accusé par les pluies. Malheureusement, nous prévoyons pour la fin du mois en cours, ou au plus tard pour fin juillet, une attaque massive de sautêriots, acridiens qui dévastent toutes les cultures dans la région septentrionale de notre pays.
A cet égard, nous remercions la FAO pour avoir répondu positivement à l'appel de mon pays qui demandait une assistance dans la lutte contre ce fléau.
Je voudrais souligner parallèlement que mon pays a déjà mis en place tous les moyens de lutte à sa disposition, compte tenu de ses ressources. Nous pensons néanmoins que si le fléau est jugulé de façon satisfaisante, la récolte de céréales sur l'ensemble de mon pays sera encourageante.
A. KOBIR SASRADIPOERA (Indonesia): Mr. Chairman, it is a great pleasure for the Indonesian delegation to see you again in the Chair guiding the deliberations of the Session. My delegation would also like to congratulate the three Vice-Chairmen and the Chairman of the Drafting Committee on their election to their posts in the Council. Allow me further to express my delegation's appreciation for the excellent and inspiring statement of the Director-General in which the current world food situation is dealt with in its proper perspective. And finally, words of appreciation should be addressed to Dr. Islam for his brilliant introductory statement.
Having studied the two documents under discusssion, we all know that the present world food situation is a complicated one indeed and we concur with the overall assessment contained in page 2 of the document CL 83/2. Allow me, Sir, to briefly present the views of my delegation.
The analysis made by the Secretariat that the food problems confronting the world, particularly the Third World, is of a very complex nature. We discussed the matter many times in the past in the various fora and arrived at general agreement that the long-lasting and primary approach to cope with the problem is in the form of efficient measures to increase food production in the Third World. It is equally true that the food problem cannot be solved through production efforts alone.
The document shows that the achievements in food production increase and building of large food stocks in some parts of the world have not been capable of solving the global food problem. This success in physical terms does not constitute a guarantee for the realisation of world food security.
There are still many difficult problems to be solved first, if hunger and malnutrition are to be eliminated from the world. Problems have also been found in the fields of trade, marketing, conservation, transportation and distribution of food. Under the present circumstances developing countries, in particular the LDC's, are in dire need of external assistance, financial as well as technical, in their desperate efforts to cope with their food problems. The rich countries and others in a position to do so should, in one way or another, render their assistance immediately. The fate of millions of human beings is at stake. The TCDC and ECDC which especially enhance the development of food and agriculture, should be further promoted.
I wish to reflect the sentiments of small farmers who happen to have at their disposal enough arable land. In order to produce food in adequate quantities they need farm inputs at the right time and in sufficient quantities. They need proper guidance on efficient and effective farming, and furthermore they need terms of trade of agricultural products in order to support and expand food and agricultural production.
From the documents we note with concern that the increase in food production has not yet reached the target of 4 percent per annum. The volume of external assistance to agriculture is still far from the internationally agreed estimated requirement of $8 300 million at 1975 prices. The number of countries affected by abnormal shortages of food is still high. Food aid has basically stagnated during the past five years. The incidence of pests and diseases continues to pose serious problems for food production.
In his statement the Director-General summed up that the world's most urgent problems today are missiles, money and food. We believe that it is commendable to channel assistance and funds to the food and agriculture sector in the Third World to solve basic human problems rather than using the funds for missiles.
J. PEREIRA SILVA (Cap-Vert) : M. le Président, prenant la parole pour la première fois, je veux d'emblée vous féliciter. Nous sommes sûrs que sous votre clairvoyante direction nous trouverons vite les voies pour nous entendre sur l'essentiel de notre ordre du jour.
Ma délégation et moi-même tenons à remercier le Conseil pour la confiance qu'il m'a manifestée en me désignant pour occuper une des vice-présidences de notre Conseil. Mes remerciements sont spécialement adressés à Cuba, au Royaume-Uni et au Brésil. Nous voulons également féliciter ceux qui ont été élus avec nous, et le Président du Comité de rédaction. C'est aussi un devoir de féliciter et de remercier le Dr Saouma pour sa brillante communication d'hier.
La délégation du Cap-Vert a étudié avec la plus grande attention le document CL 83/2, et je dois féliciter le Secrétariat pour la qualité du travail qui a été préparé pour nous, et en particulier le Dr Islam pour la présentation qu'il nous a faite hier.
Ma délégation est en mesure d'apporter son appui total aux vues exprimées dans ce document, puisqu'elles rejoignent de très près ces préoccupations. Nous aimerions néanmoins faire deux ou trois remarques pour renforcer ce qui est dit dans le document en question.
Le rapport nous donne une vision exacte de la situation absurde qui prévaut dans notre monde, où d'un côté les stocks s'accumulent et créent des problèmes à leurs gestionnaires, et de l'autre côté il existe une énorme demande non satisfaite. Nous sommes d'accord avec ceux qui affirment qu'il n'y aura pas de sécurité alimentaire mondiale tant que les pays qui ont faim aujourd'hui ne produiront pas suffisamment d'aliments ou de moyens d'en acheter. C'est-à-dire que pour résoudre le problème de la sécurité alimentaire mondiale, il faut résoudre la question du développement, et cela passe par une meilleure redistribution, plus juste, des moyens et des résultats.
Il est absolument nécessaire de renverser les tendances actuelles en matière d'assistance technique, financière, de commerce, etc. Globalement, il faut avancer dans le sens d'un nouvel ordre économique mondial.
Le document nous donne aussi une vision très claire de la situation particulièrement grave que nous vivons en Afrique. Le Cap-Vert appartient à une de ces sous-régions d'Afrique qui souffrent le plus de cette situation difficile, le Sahel. Précisément, pour résoudre leurs problèmes de sécurité alimentaire, les pays du Sahel ont créé une organisation, le Comité inter-Etats de lutte contre la sécheresse dans le Sahel, dont la présidence est assurée en ce moment par mon pays.
Je voudrais, avant de terminer, réaffirmer la ferme volonté du Comité inter-Etats de lutte contre la sécheresse dans le Sahel de continuer, avec l'appui de la FAO et des divers gouvernements donateurs, à examiner les mesures à prendre pour réaliser notre projet de création de réserves alimentaires nationales et régionales dans le Sahel.
G. ARUBAKIR (Afghanistan): On behalf on my government and my delegation I wish to thank Edouard Saouma, the Director-General of FAO for his efforts and constant attention to those projects implemented by FAO in my country. It is my duty to appreciate the task of FAO's staff for providing all kinds of help for the success of the projects.
It is quite obvious that the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan has been and will be a loyal and active member of FAO and of the United Nations. The resolutions and decisions of the FAO and of the United Nations have always been honoured by my country and put into action.
I should now like to describe the agriculture situation in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a land-locked and agricultural country. Agriculture forms the backbone of our national economy, as 80 percent of the population is engaged in agriculture; 63 to 70 percent of our national income comes from this sector. Agricultural exports bring about 66 percent of our foreign exchange earnings.
Comrade Babrak Karmal, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan and President of the Revolutionary Council of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, has stated in one of his recent statements that: "without extensive efforts and expansion in economy it is impossible to achieve better standards of living for the people. This must come from agriculture, industry, commerce, transport, exploitation and construction sector."
Our party and our Government has laid more stress on agriculture and has given topmost priority to it. Due to new operating plans and short-term projects, we have achieved a substantial increase in agricultural production recently. The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reform has provided the following services for the farmers through extension services: supply of fertilisers, certified seed, farm machinery, insecticides, herbicides, vaccines and other agricultural services. The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan either subsidizes or gives most of these items free. In case of fertilizer it is subsidized and vaccines and other medical treatment for livestock are given free of chage.
As a whole the situation of agriculture and livestock is considered normal and satisfactory throughout the country in 1982. The total food grains produced were 4.5 million tons, of which 2.860 million tons were wheat. A total of 912,000 tons of vegetables and 920,000 tons of fruit were produced. The position of livestocks in the country constitutes: cattle and buffalo 3.74 million, sheep 18.9 million, poultry 6.6 million. Of these 4.5 million are Karakul sheep. The produce from livestock includes 848 000 tons of milk, 228,000 tons of meat, 1.5 million Karakul pelts and 54 million eggs.
A urea fertilizer factory with a capacity of 105,000 tons has been established in the northern part of the country by our friendly country, the Soviet Union. At present the application of fertilizers is about 12 percent of the irrigated land which is quite low. The use of fertilizer is increasing year after year. The farmers are getting more conscious about the advantages of the use of fertilizers. We import phosphate, potassium and some compound fertilizer. A total of 114,253 tons of different kinds of fertilizers were used last year. 11,498 tons of wheat seeds and at the value of US$1.3 million, insecticides, pesticides and other drugs against animal diseases were distributed to the farmers and to the livestock owners, mostly on credit basis.
The Department of Agricultural Research of the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reform was elevated to the level of Institute of Agricultural Research last year. This institute has conducted 486 experiments in an area of 800 hectares of land on various crops, especially wheat. The Department of Agricultural Extension and Production has established 636 demonstration plots.
Twenty-two new cooperatives for the procurement of agricultural services was established in 1982 and another 16 old cooperatives have been rehabilitated in the country. The Government is providing more and more incentives such as seeds, fertilizer and technical help to this organization as a result of which the voluntary membership has increased considerably.
Our friendly countries, especially the Soviet Union, has taken active part in our agricultural development. For example, the Soviet Union has granted 10,000 tons of improved wheat seeds, 1,000 tons of cotton seeds and 5 tons of sugar beet seeds to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in 1982. Other help includes the Nangarhar Development Project, establishment of agricultural mechanized stations in five provinces, plant protection and helping the livestock and the veterinary departments.
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan appreciates the FAO/UNDP assistance in financing and executing a number of the on-going projects. The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, being one of the least developed countries greatly needs the continuation of such projects, as well as sanction of new projects in the pipeline for the development of agriculture and animal husbandry in the country.
Once again we are grateful to Mr. Edouard Saouma, the Director-General of FAO, and his staff for their efforts for the implementation of the projects for the improvement of agriculture in my country.
A. T. KEITA (Observateur pour la Guinée) : M. le Président, je voudrais, à l'instar des distingués représentants qui sont déjà intervenus, exprimer, en tant qu'observateur, les sincères félicitations de mon pays, la République populaire révolutionnaire de Guinée, aux trois nouveaux vice-présidents pour leur élection ainsi que celle relative à la nomination du Président et des membres du Comité de rédaction, dont le concours et l'efficacité dans leur savoir-faire seront, j'en suis certain, d'une très grande utilité au bon déroulement de la présente session.
Il m'est aussi agréable de saluer M. le Directeur général de l'Organisation pour sa déclaration si claire et si riche d'informations, qui, j'en suis certain, a retenu de manière soutenue l'attention de toute cette auguste assemblée, tant sont nombreuses et éloquentes les louanges qui lui sont adressées à ce propos depuis hier.
Nous voudrions aussi exprimer notre vive satisfaction pour la qualité du rapport traité avec brio par le Dr Islam, auquel nous accordons notre soutien et notre plein accord.
Il n'est nouveau pour personne que le problème de la faim ne se pose plus tellement en termes de quantités globales disponibles, car de la nourriture il y en a en fait pour tout le monde, mais tout simplement en termes de volonté politique pour une répartition cohérente de ces biens vivriers.
Nous nous réjouissons beaucoup que dans sa dimension mondiale la sécurité alimentaire mondiale soit meilleure aujourd'hui qu'il y a deux ans, et notre désir est de voir s'augmenter plus encore la quote-part issue de l'Afrique en général et plus particulièrement de l'Afrique au sud du Sahara.
Mon pays, la République populaire révolutionnaire de Guinée, a accordé et continue toujours à accorder une place de choix à l'agriculture, considérée par elle comme la pierre angulaire de son développement, et c'est à juste raison que notre gouvernement fournit de grands efforts dans ce sens pour la création de fermes agropastorales d'arrondissement et de coopératives agricoles.
Concernant le choix d'un représentant du groupe africain, vous ne douterez pas, M. le Président, que mon pays fait siennes les déclarations du Président du Groupe africain ainsi que celles des distingués représentants de l'Angola, du Congo, de l'Ethiopie. Nous donnons notre plein soutien à cette très bonne initiative. Nous nous réjouissons beaucoup de ce repli stratégique dont a fait montre hier le groupe latino-américain, symbole d'une bonne volonté de coopération et de collaboration qui a toujours caractérisé l'Afrique.
S. P. MUKERJI (India): I think it a privilege to be able to be here to participate in the 83rd Session of the FAO Council. We are privileged to have an eminent scientist in the field of agriculture like you as Chairman. May I, on behalf of my country and delegation, congratulate Mr. Silva of Cape Verde, Minister of Rural Development, Mr. Hamdi of Egypt and Mr. Sorenson of the United States of America on their assuming the office of Vice-Chairmen of this Council.
I did not have the privilege of being able to be present yesterday to hear the impassioned statement of Dr. Edouard Saouma, the Director-General of FAO, but I could glance through his written statement today and I could again perceive the same sense of urgency and his earnestness for ameliorating the condition of distress of the developing countries, especially the least developed ones, his concern for food production and for making food that is available accessible to the poor countries, his concern for the extravagance and improvident expenditure that we on this small planet seem to be carrying on constructing engines of war at the cost of increasing food production. These are all known all over the world and Dr. Saouma's appeal to the world community to help the poor countries and by helping the poor helping the world community as such is very well taken and is very well timed at this critical juncture of the world food situation.
One is intrigued by the paradox of the present situation where the world is having the highest stocks of food grains which is assessed to be 21 percent of the world's annual consumption and yet there are many parts of the world where people are on the brink of starvation. I would not repeat the various statistics and figures which occur umpteen times on the pages of the various documents which have been circulated but suffice it to say that the condition in the developing countries, and particularly in the low-income food-deficit countries is going from bad to worse. It has been estimated that as many as 33 out of 69 low-income food-deficit countries have a situation where the per capita availability of food grain has declined. There are many countries where the food production has declined, not only in per capita terms but also in absolute terms. Apart from that the purchasing power of the developing countries in terms of foreign exchange to make up the deficit by importing food from other countries is also deteriorating because of the terms of trade going against them. The low income groups'export earnings during the last few years has dropped by 60 percent and to cap it all the policy of protectionism which is being followed by the developed countries is again acting against the developing countries. But, may I submit that this policy of protectionism that is being followed is ultimately counterproductive, not only for the developing countries, but for the developed countries themselves because if by this policy of protectionism the foreign exchange earnings and resources of the developing countries are reduced to that extent their capacity to import food grains from the developed countries is also reduced and like the boomerang this protectionist policy recoils on the developed countries themselves in terms of low exports because of the low purchasing power of the food importing countries.
Ultimately the farmers in the developed countries of the U.S.A. and Canada and other countries may suffer because the developing countries' purchasing power is being reduced gradually because of the low export performance. Therefore I feel that when we talk of food security for the developing countries we must take into account two main pillars of that policy. One is increasing production of the developing countries, as also of the developed countries. The other one, which is very important, is maintaining and stabilizing the purchasing power of the developing countries so that they are able to make good the shortfall in food production by importing foodgrains from the developed areas.
What is happening in a global scenario is being repeated even in a country scenario, where in a country like India there are pockets of productivity in foodgrains which in degree and excellence exceed the productivity level of some of the most agriculturally developed countries in the world, like Punjab, where the fertilizer consumption today is 120 kgs. per hectare, yet there are certain pockets of India where the fertilizer consumption is hardly 5-10 kgs. per hectare and food production is very low. Therefore people in these low-productivity areas will have to depend upon states like Punjab, Haryana and U.P., where productivity is high and the national governments' policy is not only to transfer foodgrains from the high productivity area to the low productivity area but also, what is very important, to inject purchasing power in the low production areas so that people are able to get employment and purchase foodgrains which are made available to them through the public distribution system. The same policy will have to be applied and adopted in a global situation - that is, the transfer of foodgrains from the developed to the developing areas will have to be accompanied by a method of increasing the purchasing power of the low productivity area by their export earnings.
The situation in the global scenario in so far as food production is concerned may be better, yet there are certain aspects which may cast a shadow on the situation of food availability to the developing areas. Therefore my delegation would very earnestly urge upon the international community through this forum and plead that the food aid target of 10 million tonnes should not only be attained but exceeded and kept at 20 million tonnes by 1985. Likewise the emergency food reserve target of 500,000 tonnes will have to be increased to at least 700,000 tonnes in order to meet the minimum requirements of the developing areas. For the World Food Programme, which is doing sterling service to the cause of the downtrodden and the poor, their biennial resources will also have to be increased from the present level of $ 1200 million.
I will close with a few statements in so far as India's performance in the field of agriculture is concerned. 1982 was one of the severest drought years of the century. About 40 million hectares were affected by drought and more than 200 million people were affected and we lost during the last monsoon period about 8 to 10 million tonnes of foodgrains. But thanks to the efforts of the farmers and the government we launched what is known as a compensatory food production programme for the winter crop. If I may recall, Mr. Chairman, while you were Secretary to the Government of India a few years, ago it was at your instance that this particular strategy, compensatory food production programme, was launched. This was repeated this year with great enthusiasm by the states• I am very happy to say that because of the conscious and deliberate programmes taken up we have been able to achieve in spite of the drought and untimely rains in April/May this year a record wheat production. Yesterday we estimated that our wheat production during this spring has excelled all previous records and we have harvested 41.5 million tonnes of wheat this year, which is 10 percent more than the highest production of last year of 37.8 million tonnes. This gives us the heart and the hope that with a deliberate and conscious attempt by the people and the government, no matter what may be the degree of calamity, we have the wherewithal through technology and efforts, to give strength and resilience to agriculture in various parts of the world.
It was at the instance of our Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Ghandi, and her 20-point programme that a great push on dryland farming and irrigated farming was given and as a result of that we could harvest a record wheat production this year in spite of very aberrant weather conditions. It was at her instance that a massive programme of assisting the small and marginal farmers in increasing agricultural production was launched with a governmental outlay of $250 million in one year, which has to be supplemented by institutional finance, bank finance, of about $500 million. The total outlay would be about $750 million on agricultural production - an outlay which will be going to help the small and marginal farmers in developing their lands and helping to install irrigation pumps and so on. We feel that with such projects our productivity in agriculture will take long strides.
I will not take more of your time, Mr. Chairman, but what we are doing in India and what we have achieved in India gives us the hope that other developing countries also by their own efforts, by straining at their own bootstraps, and with collaboration amongst developing countries and with the cooperation of the developed countries I can make the future of world agriculture very bright. What is needed is determination and a sense of global cooperation and regional cooperation amongst all the countries of the world.
N. ISLAM (Assistant Director-General, Economic and Social Policy Department): We are very grateful to the delegates for their comments and suggestions on the Secretariat document on the World Food Situation. We have taken careful note of their comments and hope that these comments will be of great use to us in our future work. I will confine myself here to answering a few of the questions raised in the course of the debate.
One question was raised early in the debate as to what FAO is doing in implementing in terms of its own activities the WCARRD Programme of Action. I would like to point out here that the follow-up of the WCARRD Programme of Action is one of the main priority areas of activity in the Programme of Work and Budget of FAO both in the last biennium and in the current one.
Internally the Director-General has established an interdepartmental committee to oversee and stimulate and coordinate the implementation of the WCARRD Programme of Action in terms of FAO's own activities both at headquarters and in the field.
We have already established or formulated a set of operational guidelines which will help both FAO staff and the people in the field and also the member countries in applying the WCARRD principles and programmes in the formulation of programmes and projects.
Secondly, there is a continuous effort to reorient the staff of FAO towards the objectives of the Programme of Action. This year at the FAO Conference in November the Conference will have the first report on the progress of the implementation of the WCARRD Programme of Action at the country level as well as at the level of international community action, including FAO's activities. In order to prepare for this report we have already undertaken a large number of indepth studies at the country level in addition to various intercountry and interagency consultations held both at the headquarters and the regional levels. This is one of a series of reports which will be submitted to the FAO Conference every other biennium, as was decided by the WCARRD Conference.
A question was raised about a statement or analysis in the document about the fall in the world price of fertilizer and its impact on the domestic cost of production in developing countries. Several delegates have rightly emphasized, including Pakistan, that despite a fall in the world price of fertilizer, its effect on the domestic farm food producers is severely limited in those countries where fertilizer which was previously sudsidized faced a reduction in subsidy; so the domestic price of fertilizers could in fact have risen while the world price might have fallen. But these are cases in which the impact in the fall of world prices could not be transmitted to the domestic producers. It is in this context that several suggestions were made that there is a greater need than ever before for the international fertilizer scheme to come to the assistance of low-income countries, especially in Africa.
A remark was made that in the analysis of per capita food supply a deeper analysis of population problems is needed. After all, the analysis of food supply and consumption could be elaborated and enriched relating it to and putting it in the context of population increase in developing countries.
Several years ago we published a number of documents relating to this particular problem. After all, the interrelationships of population and food supply do not change every year. We hope that in the near future we might be publishing, or including in the State of Food and Agriculture, a special chapter on population, urbanization and agriculture interrelationships.
Trans-national corporations : several delegates have referred to the role of trans-national corporations in the field of food production, distribution, processing and marketing. This is indeed a relevant field for investigation. The United Nations Centre for Trans-National Corporations does undertake studies of this kind. If I remember correctly, every five years the Centre publishes a comprehensive report of the activities of trans-national corporations sector by sector, including the sector food and agriculture. We will be getting in touch with them to explore how this analysis especially relating to food and agriculture could be further elaborated and strengthened or enlarged. As many of the delegates will be aware, this is an area in which access to data is a very basic problem. In addition to the UN centre UNCTAD as well as UNIDO to a certain amount of work, one relating to the transfer of technology and the other relating to agro-industry. So we will be in touch with them relating to studies in this area.
Suggestions have been made that in our report on the World Food Situation we should undertake country-by-country analyses of the food situation. This of course will be a very large undertaking. Apart from the fact that it cannot be accomodated within the limits of the documents that are submitted to the Council, it will involve a very high resource intensive activity to include an analysis of each of the countries in a document of this kind. But we do undertake country-by-country analyses in various other ways. First, we have our country reference files and these are used for our programming and project work at the country level.
Secondly, as a part of the study of Agriculture Towards 2000, we have done for each of the individual 90 developing countries very detailed country analysis, and we have sent a sort of computer printout of the data to each of the countries for their comments. But in our State of Food and Agriculture, the annual publication, we do cover the regional analysis in terms of analyses of food and agriculture problems, issues, the performance relating to each region, because analysis for each individual country in a document of this kind would also be an impossible exercise.
Of course, the appendix to the State of Food and Agriculture has data relating to individual countries but not comprehensive analysis of the type that is being suggested.
While commenting on the Secretariat analysis of the flow of external resources to agriculture, comments are made that detailed analyses should also be made on domestic resources invested in agriculture. As the distinguished delegates are aware, FAO is engaged in collecting and analyzing data on this particular subject, and I have explained on other occasions in the past how difficult, how time-consuming this exercise is, partly because the data at the country level in developing countries are very scarce, and the statistical system of these countries is not geared to generating this kind of data. It is a new statistical exercise by itself. We have over the years now made a systematic attempt to collect some amount of this data in cooperation with developing country governments and have obtained through joint efforts some comparable data on current and capital expenditures allocated in the government budget to agriculture during the five years 1978 to 1982. These data are now currently undergoing processing, and preliminary results will be finalized by the end of this year.
Out of the 93 countries contacted, 75 participated in this programme of data collecting on public expenditures in agriculture. We have limited ourselves to public expenditures in agriculture, since any attempt to collect private expenditure we realize will be only met with total failure. Data received covered nearly 57 countries, both general government and public sector expenditure. From preliminary findings, I can report to you that there have been wide variations in the expansion of public sector expenditures in agriculture during this period. This is based on 57 countries for which we could collect comparable data, in many of these countries there has been a growth in public sector expenditures in agriculture in the past 5 years in the period covered in the study.
Several delegates have urged the strengthening of FAO's work in assisting developing countries in their building of agricultural statistical and informational systems. This is indeed an important area of activity of FAO to assist developing countries in setting up statistical systems relating to food and agriculture.
In this context, I would like to mention to you that our recent effort to develop a system of socioeconomic indicators which is associated with our work for WCARRD follow-up. We have undertaken an 18-country pilot study on socio-economic indicators, and these studies are further discussed in four regional expert consultations. Now we have prepared a preliminary set of guidelines for use by Member countries in developing reports on socio-economic indicators relating to their countries. We are now engaged in developing in-depth programme guidelines for the development and implementation of country programmes for monitoring and evaluating agrarian reform and rural development using socio-economic indicators. This is in addition to the work we do for world census of agriculture, the next one in 1990, and also for collection of food and agriculture statistics through household service which emphasize the need for basic data required for socio-economic analysis.
This is all I have to say, Mr. Chairman, at this stage.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you very much, Prof. Islam. Is there any delegate who needs any further information from Prof. Islam at this stage? Of course, he will be introducing the next item also which is somewhat overlapping in terms of food security and the food situation, so if you have any other questions, you can always ask later.
Before we leave this item, may I add my own words to yours, my words of gratitude, appreciation to FAO, to the Director-General, to Prof. Islam and his colleagues for this exceedingly valuable service FAO is rendering, namely, to collect statistics. In spite of diverse viewpoints, I did not hear any dissenting voice in relation to the credibility of the information which was given and which is a very important contribution in having some statistics which will give us some guidelines for policy formulation and also an appreciation of the global situation. This is an exceedingly important service, and the two documents which have been given to us are precise, concise and pregnant with lots of ideas for further action.
From all the interventions made as well as Prof. Islam's introductory remarks, it is obvious as in any other field of human endeavour, there is in this area of food both darkness and light. Darkness and light always alternate in our lives, but here is darkness which we all abhor and which we would like to remove as soon as possible, namely, the darkness in the lives of millions of people who have to go to bed hungry. I agree with those who said that we have been talking about this but we have not been able to remove this darkness in spite of the very powerful light we see, and this document of Prof. Islam more than at any other time before brings out clearly the light we have open today, the great capacity to produce more food. We have seen what power science and technology have conferred on developed countries for converting their agricultural assets into agricultural products, their natural assets into agricultural products.
We heard several intervention today which show how the farmers, even though you reduce the area, are producing more. Whatever you may do, theyr produce more, and one has only tp sustain their enthusiasm. As the delegate of China said, by combining production with payment, you try to sustain their interest in farming.
So then the challenge, I think, before FAO or before all national governments is how to use this light or the ability to produce more food fairly rapidly. I think it is not only the developed countries but many developing countries which have intervened today and yesterday which have shown how through an appropriate package of services, like input supply, and of public policies in terms of resource allocation, in terms of input-output pricing policies and in terms of agrarian reform and the stimulus given to farmers, how many developing countries have really achieved more than what was achieved for centuries. In fact, in Asia the farmers of China, India and many other countries are called farmers of 50 centuries, In other words, for 50 centuries they have been cultivating the land, but if you look at the statistics of Dr. Islam and others, you will find that the progress made in increasing production in the last 20 years in many of these countries transcends the progress made in the previous 5000 years. So herein is this light, herein is this hope, and I think in our subsequent deliberations, we do hope we can try to broaden this light, the circumference of this light and narrow the circumference of darkness, and if we can do this also by terms of statistics by trying to measure how far we have spread light and how far we have reduced darkness, it will be a great contribution.
I think all the interventions as well as the FAO document have pointed out that for achieving this, we require many things, but above all, three primary rules of action: one, of course, action to stimulate production, as Dr. Saouma said, and action to stimulate or facilitate or enable consumption by the rural or urban poor, and thirdly, steps to stabilize population at levels which can promote sustainable development in the respective countries. This again is a concept which will vary at what level we want to stabilize population, it will vary from country to country, but what is important is to have a population policy which will permit sustainable development over a period of time.
Among the factors which have been mentioned by Prof. Islam and many delegates here, I consider the most serious are two major factors impeding production or the desired growth rates in many developing countries. One is the growing scarcity of capital required for the modernization of agriculture. The modernization of agriculture means purchased inputs, the use of purchased inputs, land development and so on. This requires money, and it is rather unfortunate for reasons which have been mentioned here frequently that the resources required for the modernization of agriculture in many developing countries is tending to go down, become scarce, and I think something ought to be done.
The other aspect I think which requires much greater attention and which has been alluded to is this whole area of small farm management. The farm size is going down and down. In fact, in many countries of the Far East you will find that there is no difference today between cultivated area and cultivable area. In other words, they are practically the same. Hence, small farmers who face so many problems are unable to produce more from diminishing land resources. This then requires a considerable amount of effort in management, in small farm management, both in individual management, group management and so on, and this I think again is within the country's own competence to look into what kind of management policies they want to promote, in other words, to help farmers to help the country. That is really the task of trying to help to improve management.
Now I would only like to request Prof. Islam that in these documents it would be useful, taking a cue from his own analysis of Agriculture at 2000, to introduce a separate sub-heading on irrigation - there is something on fertilizer, there is something on inputs - because the FAO document on Agriculture at 2000 places a lot of emphasis on irrigation, and today we know all over the world developing countries in particular are making major investments in irrigation. One would like to know, what progress is made year after year in bringing more land under irrigation, and simultaneously, I would like the data not only in terms of more area under irrigation but also area lost as a result of salinisation, as a result of waterlogging, improper irrigation efforts, and also due to urbanization and industrialization. FAO has one of the best divisions in the world on land and water and with the World Soil Charter we should be able to measure progress in land conservation for farming and water management. This document in my view will be of great value to policy makers because most of them do not realize the enormous amount of soil which we are losing all the time and also the land which is going out of cultivation due to lack of policies preventing good agricultural land being diverted for other purposes. We cannot have a rigid rule but nevertheless I think that every government can have a policy of safegarding the land, because one thing that we have learned from all the space exploration is that as far as we know and as far as humankind exists, we will have to depend on Mother Earth for producing the food we require. In other words, then, with inelastic soil resources, it is important that we conserve them, and it would be useful to have this irrigation data, because irrigation also provides an opportunity for what the delegate from India said of compensatory programmes, drought management strategies, some kind of mitigation efforts become possible when we have a little water somewhere, whether conserved as a result of dry farming practices, through watershed management or by other methods. This then will make the early warning of FAO more meaningful. The early warning system of FAO is of very great service in the global food situation, but - and some of you might have heard me - I have repeatedly said what is the purpose of early warning? There is a saying that forewarned is forearmed. Now are we going to arm ourselves when there is a warning? Otherwise it becomes a piece of a document that goes round the world and the newspapers reproduce it. But I think it is important that while FAO has discussed this global service of early warning, national governments should give a corresponding service to their own public and farmers by timely action. In other words the capacity to analyze an early warning with reference to its implication and convert it into an action plan for timely action. This would then help us to convert a calamity into an opportunity, and I would hope that we would be growing in competence in terms of weather predications. I have seen a very close correspondence in the last few years between many predictions and what has really happened, and with the gaining in capacity to further techniques of forecasting it is important that we have in terms of global food scenario, we have this ability to combine early warning with timely action. Finally, I think it is important in our own deliberations as well as in strategies to make a distinction between steps to increase production and steps to eliminate hunger. We know that historians of famous famines over the centuries starting from Roman days have shown that in many famines - quite frequently I would say - most of the starvation deaths coming from lack of food are preventable and are largely under human control. As Professor Amartya Sen of Oxford who has made an analysis of the major famines of this century, again and again points out that had there been a will, hunger deaths could have been avoided. Therefore a hunger elimination strategy and a food production strategy are both of great importance to every country that is having a problem of hunger.
It is my personal conviction that if there is. a will to avoid humger, there is a great opportunity to see that nobody goes to bed hungry, because the reserves are there in the world, and many statements have been made about them; there is a great opportunity. I recall the plea of President Kenneth Kaunda a couple of years ago when he delivered the McDougall lecture about the need for a hunger elimination treaty. I think in our deliberations this whole question of hunger avoidance and food production have to be discussed separately since the action needed at the political level will be different. Stepping up food production in poor countries may still take some time. But hunger can be avoided immediately through a global Food for Development Programme for able bodied persons and a Food for Nutrition Programme for young children, old and infirm persons and pregnant and nursing mothers.
I am glad that we have had this extensive discussion. Thirty-five countries - 34 Council members and one observer - have intervened in this debate yesterday and today. I think it has laid a sort of framework and I am glad so many delegates participated in this debate because this really provides the foundation for our further deliberations, particularly the next item on food security.
N. ISLAM (Assistant Director-General, Economie and Social Policy Department) : It gives me great pleasure to introduce the report of the Eight Session of the Committee on Food Security which was held in Rome in April under the chairmanship of Mr. Muir of Australia.
The Council will note on page 2 of the report that its attention is drawn in particular to three main items. First, the Committee's assessment of the world food security situation, (2) the Committee's review of the Director-General's report on the concepts and approaches to world food security, and (3) the Committee's consideration of the constraints on food production in low-income food-deficit countries of Africa.
As regards the assessment of the world food security situation the Committee has already examined these issues in detail under the item just completed. The Committee also reviewed the progress made in implementing the plan of action on world food security. It considered that this plan was still valid and important, and recognized that a number of national, regional and international measures had been taken. The Committee concluded however that the implementation of the principles of the plan of action remained partial and there has been only limited progress since the last session of the Committee.
The Committee welcomed however the recent action taken to foster further self-reliance in food security in line with Point V of the Plan of Action, and it appreciated the support provided by FAO to these efforts in a number of regions and sub-regions including CILSS, SADCC and SELA.
The main new policy matter before the Committee was however the Director-General's report on world food security. The members will recall that the Council at its Eighty-second Session had already welcomed his intention to prepare this report, which it considered was a timely initiative arising out of serious concern for the limited progress made relative to the magnitude of the world food security problem. I am sure I do not need to go into detail on the contents of the Director-General's report. Members will be aware that it proposed a revised concept of world food security and suggested a wide range of possible measures for improving the world food security system at national, regional and local levels, including measures to be taken by FAO,
As regards institutional implications, the report forecasts mainly on ways of strengthening and clarifying the role of the Committee on food security. The Committee felt that analyses corresponded both to the seriousness and complexity of the problem, and thus to the primary place given ih the report to increased food production within the framework of national food security programmes, backed up by regional and global arrangements. The Committee however was not able to consider adequately at a single session all aspects of the report, and some delegates indicated they would take the opportunity to express their position on some points during future sessions.
In revealing developments since the world food crisis in 1974 the Committee was in total agreement with the Director-General's assessment. It concluded that although a number of measures had been taken which had strengthened world food security, the results fell far short of expectations and needs. Only a start had been made in building up the policies and the mechanisms in order to obtain world food security. The Committee recognized that the conceptual framework of world food security had been expanded over the past decade. It could thus include very broad issues relating to agricultural and rural development, food production, adequate access and international trade. It agreed that action should be directed towards three specific aims, (1) adequacy of food supplies and production, (2) stability in food supplies and markets, and (3) security of access to supplies. It also agreed that action should cover all basic foodstuffs necessary for health, including roots, tubers and pulses in addition to food grain. On this basis it adopted and revised in a broader concept of food security as viewed from a global perspective, and in a broad institutional context. The Committee on Food Security recognized that the new concept which is contained in paragraph 43 of the report did not of itself have the constitutional or the jurisdictional implications, nor prejudge possible measures to be adopted by CFS or other fora.
The Committee also reached agreement on measures that occurred at national and regional levels. It agreed that action at national levels provided an indispensable basis for increased food security, especially for low-income food-deficit countries. It agreed on the need for developing countries to evolve national food security programme systems or strategies. It also agreed the high priority for increasing food production would need to be backed up by allocation of sufficient resources to food crops, and underlined the need for external systems to supplement domestic resources.
It further emphasized the need for adequate incentives for farmers, with special emphasis on the small farmers, and on the need for national preparedness programmes to cope with year-to-year fluctuations in crops and disasters. The Committee considered that such national measures could be complemented by regional and sub-regional action within the framework of the guidelines which had been considered at its previous session.
In this connection the Committee welcomed the recent establishement of the Action Committee on Regional Food Security within the framexrark of the Latin American economic system. As regards measures at the global level the Committee gave a first reading to a number of wide-ranging proposals, and the views of delegations are noted in its report at some length. On some of these proposals there was general agreement. On several others there were diverging views with some delegates supporting the proposals and others opposing them. In a number of instances many delegates felt that the proposals should be further elaborated for future consideration by the Committee.
Turning to possible measures by FAO the Committee considered that all efforts should be made to bring the Organization's limited resources to bear efficiently on the food security problems of developing countries. There was considerable interest in the Director-General!s proposal that the food security action programme could be established for this purpose. The delegates raised a number of questions and the Committee as a whole considered that the proposal needed further review and clarification. The Committee also took note of the Director-General's proposal for a special rural food security fund as well as for a world food security complex. Once again the views of delegates are noted in the report. There was, Mr. Chairman, an animated debate on ways to enhance the functions of the Committee on World Food Security. There was wide support for a range of strengthening of the CFS within the existing mandate. In particular, there was general agreement that the Committee should overview progress in accelerating food production and support ECDC and TCDC in food production and trade as well as regional and sub-regional cooperation.
On several other aspects, however, divergent views are expressed. The Committee nonetheless agreed on the need for closer cooperation, coordination and working relations between international organizations dealing with various aspects of world food security as well as on the desirability of establishing a fair understanding under the respective roles of the various bodies.
On the whole the Committee recalled that the Director-General's report should be followed up at subsequent sessions, and agreed to the approach set out in paragraph 90 of this report. The Director-General indicated that in a further report on this subject to the next session of CFS he would take into account the comments and suggestions made by the Committee members as well as the reaction of the Council and the Conference.
I now turn to the Committee's discussion on African food production problems. As decided at its Seventh Session, the Committee gave special consideration to the constraints in food production in low-income food-deficit countries in Africa. There was a frank and wide-ranging exchange of views on these problems. They were recognized complex and a number of positive suggestions were made for improving the situation, both on the national and international levels. I would not enter into this discussion in detail but stress that the Committee agreed that efforts to relieve the serious constraints on African food production should be based on zones of priorities by the African governments themselves. It was suggested that priorities should be grouped into four main areas, including training, research, delivery systems and institutional developments. It was unanimously agreed that African food production problems should be kept under review at future sessions, keeping in mind the responsibilities of other FAO technical bodies, especially the Committee on Agriculture. The Director-General was requested to prepare a second report on the subject for the Ninth Session of the CFS which would focus on some selected themes and would also outline possible follow-up action to be considered on a future occasion.
Finally, the Committee discussed ways of increasing the flow of resources for food security programmes. In this connection it confirmed its support for the activities of FAO Food Security Assistance Scheme. Also, it noted its concern that several projects developed under this Scheme remained to be financed. On the whole this Session of the Committee was an important function which reconsidered major policy issues affecting world food security and the way in which the international community could tackle these critical problems in the years to come. It agreed to a new and broader concept of food security. It began a detailed survey of production problems in Africa.
The Council will no doubt appreciate that in many aspects the Committee has not concluded its discussions. Several of the Director-General's proposals are of a preliminary nature which will need to be followed up in future sessions of the Committee. As the Director-General has mentioned in his opening statement, he thinks that the Committee on World Food Security has made a good start in reappraising the concepts and approaches to world food security. He hopes that the Council will approve the Report of the Committee and endorse the revised concepts and more generally provide guidance for further work on this important subject in the years to come.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you very much for this very lucid statement, Professor Islam. We will start the discussion in the afternoon.
The meeting rose at 12.15 hours.
La seance est levée à 12 h 15.
Se levanta la sesión a las 12.15 horas.
