FIRST MEETING
PREMIERE SÉANCE
PRIMERA SESION

(16 November 1977)

The First Meeting was opened at 14.50 hours
J.C. Vignaud, Chairman of Commission I, presiding

La première séance est ouverte à 14 h 50, sous
présidence de J.C. Vignaud, Président de la Commission I

Se abre la primera sesión a las 14.50, horas, bajo la presidencia
de J.C. Vignaud, Presidente de la Comisión I

EL PRESIDENTE: Queda abierta la primera sesión de esta Comisión I del 19° período de sesiones de la Conferencia.

En primer lugar deseo agradecer, muy profundamente, la designación que ha recaído en mí como Presi dente de esta Comisión I. Este agradecimiento lo formulo principalmente en nombre de mi país, Argentina, y también en nombre de la región latinoamericana. Agradezco esta designación, como digo, en nombre de mi país, ya que esta Presidencia constituye una distinción hacia él que a la vez que empeña nuestra gratitud significará una motivación adicional y un incentivo de gran valor para que participemos cada vez más activamente y con el espíritu constructivo de siempre en las actividades de FAO.

Desde el punto de vista personal, esta designación implica el habérseme conferido un honor y confiado una responsabilidad que trataré de sobrellevar con la mayor eficiencia posible y con la mayor dedica ción, con la mayor objetividad y con el mejor espíritu conciliador.

Nuestra agenda, señores, no tiene muchos temas, pero sí creo que todos ellos son de trascendental importancia. Tengo la firme esperanza de que con la participación de todos ustedes en los debates podremos aunar criterios que permitan dar recomendaciones a la comunidad internacional y también orientaciones concretas y positivas al Director General a fin de que la FAO continúe haciendo aportes cada vez más efectivos para que la insidiosa presencia de la escasez y del hambre desaparezcan de la faz de la tierra.

No tengo la intención de hacer un discurso, sino simplemente quisiera agregar una reflexión y un voto para nuestras deliberaciones. La reflexión, que vivimos en un momento histórico caracterizado por la industrialización de una parte del mundo y por las frecuentes negociaciones para asegurar el sumi nistro de energía para esas industrias a través de la utilización de lo que todos llamamos oro negro, mientras que otra parte del mundo sigue sumida en la pobreza. Tratemos entonces de que esta Confe rencia culmine con las acciones positivas que posibiliten asegurar a los hombres pobres del mundo el oro blanco que necesitan, para así poder tener también ellos la energía que como seres humanos nece sitan para llevar una vida digna y acorde a su condición de persona humana.

El voto que deseo formular es para que nuestras deliberaciones pongan de manifiesto la existencia de una auténtica voluntad política de cooperación entre los países y también una auténtica vocación en favor de la definitiva implantación y respeto de la justicia distributiva internacional.

Y ahora felicitar al Sr. Rittershaus por su nombramiento como Relator de los debates que se celebren en el plenario de esta primera Comisión y seguidamente ceder la palabra al Sr. Director General, quien entiendo que hará una introducción en relación con el temario, que tenemos la responsabilidad de analizar en nuestras sesiones.

DIRECTOR-GENERAL: Mr. Chairman, firstly I should like to apologize for not being able to stay after delivery of this statement. I am obliged to go from here to Plenary and then to attend to some urgent matters. I hope, however, to be able to return at a later time.

My interest in the discussions of this Commission on the major trends and policies in food and agriculture has prompted me to make an introductory statement.

You have four items on your agenda, each of which is of major importance.

As I indicated to the Council a year ago, I consider that the state of food and agriculture lies at the very heart of FAO - it is what FAO is all about - and I shall therefore address most of my remarks today to your agenda item on the world food and agricultural situation.

As regards the other items on your agenda, the prevention of food losses is a matter of global concern which has been discussed in a number of international fora, including the World Food Conference and the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

As the Commission knows I have attached high priority to an FAO initiative for the formulation of a programme to tackle this largely avoidable loss of food in a hungry world.

The approach to this programme and the action proposals that have been developed have received general support from the Committee on Agriculture and the Council, and are now before the Conference.

Another major agenda item is my report to the Conference on progress in international agricultural adjustment.

You will recall that the last Conference Session approved a strategy for international agricultural adjustment. It requested the Director-General to prepare an assessment of progress in the achievement of the agreed objectives and policies of adjustment, for consideration by the present Conference session.

You have before you my report, which seeks to analyse the different ways in which the world has adjusted during the last three years in agricultural production, food consumption, agricultural trade, external assistance, and food aid.

The remaining agenda item concerns developments in the regime of the sea.

In my view they have major implications for the future development of the world's fisheries.

In fact, we are already feeling the effect on fish catches of various national decisions on territorial and other limits.

While all these items are important, I would like to concentrate now on our assessment of the world food and agricultural situation. I hope that this will set the stage not only for your discussion of item 6 but also in a more general way for all of the deliberations of the Commission.

You have before you the usual two documents to assist you in your deliberation on item 6. The "Mini-Sofa" (C 77/2), which was circulated in advance, assesses the world food and agricultural situation as of late July. It is brought more up to date (to late October) by the supplementary document (C 77/2 - Sup.1) that has been tabled during the session.

I have already spoken briefly about the situation in my opening speech to the Conference. I should like now to go into a little more detail including some new information that has become available.

The latest information largely confirms our earlier assessment, that, although the world food and agricultural situation has considerably improved, many serious problems remain.

As regards production, we now have the first preliminary world and regional estimates for 1977. Both for developing countries and for the world as a whole, the latest figures indicate an increase of only 1 to 1.5 percent in food production in 1977 and 1.5 to 2 percent in total agricultural production.

World cereal production is now estimated at about 1 per cent below the record crop of 1976. These figures are slightly revised as compared with those in the supplementary document.

Both at the world level and in the developing countries, the increases in food and agricultural production in 1977 are less than population growth;

The immediate situation would have been less favourable than it was a year ago, but for the welcome rebuilding of cereal stocks that began in 1975/76.

Even so, the generally small production increases in 1977 are disappointing and are causing severe difficulties in a number of countries.

The large production increases in the developing countries in 1975 and 1976 and the replenishment of world stocks owe a great deal to the fact that we have generally been blessed with better weather in the last few years.

At the same time, it is also evident that many new government programmes, started during the crisis years, are beginning to show results.

But these efforts must be stepped up still further if any real progress is to be made over the longer term.

This is readily apparent if we look at the recent performance in relation to some of the goals and targets that the international community has set for itself.

The most basic of these targets is the 4 percent annual average increase in the agricultural production of the developing countries that is called for in the international development strategy for the second development decade.

This target was reaffirmed, in respect of food production, by the World Food Conference three years ago.

The developing market economies as a group actually met the target in the three years 1974,1975 and 1976.

But over the longer period from 1970 to 1976, except in the Near East, the rate of increase in food production in the developing countries as a whole was considerably below the target of 4 percent. It was even lower than that achieved in the previous decade of the sixties and will be reduced still further if our preliminary figures for 1977 are confirmed. What is even more disturbing, the production trends have been least satisfactory in the poorest of the developing countries. For Africa, the rate of increase was the lowest and the MSA countries are again facing large deficits this year. As we all know, one of the worst failures in relation to the targets of the International Development Strategy concerns development assistance.

As regards official commitments of external assistance to agriculture, there was an encouragingly large increase in 1974 and a smaller one in 1975.

But this trend was sharply reversed in 1976, and commitments for agriculture declined both in absolute terms and as a share of the total flow of assistance.

Even with the establishment of IFAD, falls below the requirements for external assistance would be considerable.

If this state of affairs were to continue, the impact of FAO's expended efforts to assist countries in the preparation and implementation of investment projects could be seriously blunted. As a consequence, the development efforts of the poor countries would be considerably retarded.

One of the targets set by the World Food Conference related to commitments of food aid of a minimum of 10 million tons of cereal. FAO's latest estimates indicate that commitments of food aid in cereals for 1977-78 have reached 9.6 million tons, which fall short of the minimum target.

The most ambitious of all the international targets is the goal of the World Food Conference virtually to eliminate hunger and malnutrition from the world by 1985.

The new information available in FAO's Fourth World Food Survey, however, indicates an increase during the early 1970s in the appallingly large number of people suffering from severe hunger and malnutrition.

I believe, therefore, that we must act with a greater sense of urgency to adopt and implenent a strategy that is both feasible and politically acceptable, for the rapid reduction of hunger and malnutrition.

What is needed is of course much more than just an accelerated rate of investment and a faster increase in production, crucial as this is. Concerted efforts must be made to ensure a more active involvement of the rural poor in the development process and to secure a more equitable distribution of incomes and access to land and other productive resources.

These-and unrelated issues will no doubt be considered in depth at the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development.

One of the more sensitive features of the present world food agriculture situation, and yet paradoxically one of those on which international action is most urgently required, concerns world stocks of cereal. There has been an increase in stocks in recent years. This will amount to 166 million tons by the end of the 1977/78 crop season. Despite this increase the stocks represent only about 18 percent of annual world consumption, which is the minimum required to safeguard world food security. Moreover, they are concentrated in a few major producing countries. Abundant supplies at present provide a unique opportunity to establish an internationally coordinated system of national stocks envisaged in FAO's international undertaking on world food security. I urge that food security be given the fullest consideration in the current negotiations on the International Wheat Agreement which have now reached a crucial stage. I have transmitted to the negotiators the recommendations - of the Committee on World Food Security as well as the views of the developing countries. In the absence of the necessary framework, countries are prone to take unilateral action.

I mentioned in my opening speech the recent decision of the United States, the world's biggest agricultural exporter, to introduce a set-aside programme for wheat for 1978 crops, as well as a farmer-owned food reserve. I was glad to note the assurance given by Secretary Bergland in the plenary session this morning that the set-aside, as well as that newly announced for coarse grains, would be subject to review in the light of the changing supply situation. The Commission will no doubt be interested in hearing further details, particularly about the United States' proposal to set up a special international

emergency food reserve, for use in non-commercial food aid, nutritional programmes and meeting United States food aid obligations under the International Reserves Agreement. I earnestly hope that this proposal will soon be given concrete shape and lead the other countries to join in this initiative .I recall here the resolution of the World Food Conference, which urged all donor countries to channel a more significant proportion of food aid through the World Food Programme.

I have concentrated my remarks on some of the highlights which I know are of very serious concern to Member Nations and especially to the many developing countries. There was an improvement in agricultural export earnings of developing countries in 1976. However, this is far from adequate in relation to the requirements and the foreign exchange resources for development. The gains have not been shared by all. The most seriously affected countries continue to face serious balance of payments difficulties. The fundamental problems of instability of commodity prices, unacceptably high barriers to trade and the threat to natural products from completing synthetics remain unsolved. I need hardly emphasise the urgent need for intensified efforts in international negotiations to improve the trade prospects of developing countries.

Finally, I should like to say a word on the arrangements for the Report on the State of Food and Agriculture, since these have recently been discussed by the Programme Committee and the Council. I am gratified that my proposals in this regard have been accepted, including a flexible approach to the contents each year designed to produce a development-oriented, practically useful publication. Last year's report contained a special survey of the important subject of energy and agriculture. This year's report will include a special chapter on the state of natural resources and the human environment for food and agriculture. We hope to have copies of a preliminary version of this chapter in your hands before the end of this session for your information.

I hope that this not so brief introduction, together with the documentation we have prepared, will assist you in having a useful discussion. I shall follow your deliberations with the keenest interest.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

Applause
Applaudissements
Aplausos

EL PRESIDENTE: Gracias a usted, Sr. Director General. En primer lugar, gracias por habernos acompaña do en la apertura de nuestras deliberaciones.Nos damos cuenta de que usted tiene otros compromisos que no le van a permitir acompañarnos siempre, pero tenemos la esperanza de verlo con nosotros lo más frecuentemente posible. Gracias también por haber inyectado nuevos elementos a nuestra discusión ade más de los elementos que ya tenemos en nuestros documentos de trabajo.

Yo creo que usted ha señalado varios puntos que estoy seguro que las delegaciones tendrán presentes cuando hagan sus intervenciones; particularmente, lo que usted ha dicho en relación con la falta de, diría yo, de proporción entre el aumento de la población del mundo y el aumento de la producción agrí cola.

La preocupación que usted señala de que, precisamente en los países en desarrollo, es donde los niveles de producción son menos satisfactorios; su nueva cita o insistencia sobre el alto número de población que sufre hambre y malnutrición; que el aumento de las exportaciones de productos agrícolas no ha sido suficiente para satisfacer las necesidades de divisas que tienen los países en desarrollo; es esto una cantidad de elementos que yo creo son muy valiosos y que todas las delegaciones tendrán encuenta. Gracias.

Señores; antes de continuar quizá convenga tener presente que el Comité General ya recomendó al Plena rio la aprobación del Programa para las sesiones de la Conferencia, donde por cierto está incluido nuestro Programa y nuestro Calendario. De manera que si no hay comentarios al respecto, continuaré indicándoles que en lo que respecta a la constitución del Comité de Redacción, he celebrado ya algunas consultas con delegaciones, y particularmente con los coordinadores de algunos grupos regionales, y que a la mayor brevedad les haré conocer una propuesta de constitución del Comité de Redacción. Tengo la intención de hacer un Comité de Redacción lo más reducido posible para que sus deliberaciones sean lo más rápidas y concretas posible.

Deseo comunicarles, señores delegados, que hemos recibido en este momento la nominación de los Vicepre sidentes de esta Comisión I que se sometió al Comité General y luego pasó a consideración del Plenario, quien acaba de aprobar los siguientes nombres: S.A.H. Alshakir, Embajador de la República de Irak ante la FAO, Nayen Ben Mohamed, Director de la División de Cooperación y Coordinación Técnica del Ministerio de Agricultura y Reforma Agraria de Marruecos, el Sr. T.J. Kelly, Primer Secretario Adjunto de la Divi sión de Desarrollo del Departamento de Industrias Primarias de Australia, y el Sr. Shiva Β. Nepali, Director General del Departamento de Agricultura de Nepal.

À la vez que deseo felicitar a los cuatro Vicepresidentes que me acompañarán en esta gestión, deseo decirles que tengo la convicción de que podré contar con la muy valiosa colaboración de todos ellos y que cada uno, en alguna ocasión, pueda tomar este lugar en alguna de las sesiones que en los próximos días vamos a celebrar.