GENERAL DISCUSSION (continued)
DEBAT GENERAL (suite)
DEBATE GENERAL (continuación)

S. MATSUMOTO (Japan): Mr Chairman, distinguished delegates, I am greatly honored to be able to represent the Japanese Government at this Twenty-second session of the FAO Conference and to have this opportunity to exchange views with delegates from other nations.

First, may I offer the heartfelt congratulations of the Government of Japan to Your Excellency on your unanimous election as Chairman of the session. I am certain that with your abundant experience and outstanding leadership, this Conference will be most successful and fruitful.

I should also like to express my sincere admiration for the efforts of FAO Director-General Dr Edouard Saouma and for his dedication to the Organization's activities.

On behalf of the Government of Japan, I should like to extend a most warm welcome to new members of the FAO: Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Vanuatu and Saint Christopher and Nevis.

I would first like to take a look at the global food and agricultural situation of the past ten years.

The repeated fluctuations of world grain production between good and poor harvests in this period has been due primarily to climatic variations. These fluctuations have also been reflected in the extremely complex trends that have affected agricultural produce prices.

The global supply and demand situation for grain in 1983 is expected to be considerably tighter than in the preceding year, due to acreage-reduction programs in the United States and to the damage caused by heat waves and droughts. In view of current stock levels, however, it would seem that there is no cause for serious concern regarding supply and demand.

Nevertheless, the food situation in Africa, particularly south of the Sahara, remains extremely serious, and I would like to recall a speech by Director-General Saouma in which he stated, "... Surplus stocks of exports do not fill the bellies of the undernourished". There are now more than 400 million undernourished people in the developing countries, and poverty and hunger still represent a major challenge to human dignity. The task allocated to us is to conquer these problems.

Medium- and long-range projections regarding global food supply and demand suggest that a basically tight situation is inevitable because of (1) the difficulty of expanding the acreage of farmland, (2) population growth, and (3) the growing demand for grain as a result of various factors, including increases in the demand for livestock products. FAO projections tend to support this view, I am concerned that this will lead to a further widening of regional imbalances in food supply and demand.

I believe that increased food production in the developing countries is essential if we are to find solutions to the world's food problems. Fundamentally, such an increase can only be achieved if the developing countries overcome the various problems involved and promote agricultural development. In addition to efforts by the developing countries themselves, however, it. is vital, both on humanitarian grounds and in view of the realities of mutual interdependence, that the world community act at the international level to provide agricultural development cooperation in forms tailored to the particular circumstances of each developing country.

Japan is deeply concerned about the deteriorating food situation in Africa in particular. This problem can only be solved through the continuation of vigorous international efforts

 In 1980, Japan successfully completed a three-year plan designed to double its official development assistance in order to support the self-help efforts of the developing countries. Despite an extremely difficult domestic fiscal situation, we have maintained our efforts to extend Japan's official development assistance under the new dedium-term target. The main priorities of these efforts will continue to be agricultural and rural development.

However, in terms of financial and technological cooperation aimed at finding solutions to the world's food problems, it is particularly essential that each recipient country makes the best possible effort to maintain and strengthen its aid-absorbing infrastructure. I believe that the developing countries must strive to define their policy goals clearly and enhance their ability to absorb aid. In this sense, I feel that the following policy objectives are particularly important.

First: Social improvements including agrarian reform

Second: Improvements in the agricultural infrastructure

Third: Development of the human resources needed for agricultural production

Fourth: Improvements in agricultural productivity through technological advances

Fifth: Creation of conditions conducive to improvements in rural living standards

I should now like to say a few words about the basic direction of Japan's agricultural policies.

In order to maintain stable food supplies for Japan's more than 110 million people, the government has adopted a policy based on long-term projections of the food supply and demand situation. We are striving through this policy, which clearly defines those categories of agricultural produce which can be supplied from domestic production and those in which we must rely on imports, to maintain and enhance Japan's self-sufficiency in the area of food.

The first step toward the achievement of these goals is the development of a highly productive agricultural sector through the adaptation of the agricultural structure and the improvement of the agricultural infrastructure, and the development and extension of agricultural technology,

Second, in view of the limited availability of land in Japan, agricultural production is being reorganized to provide the most efficient type of output to meet trends in demand and internal regional conditions.

Third, comprehensive measures to secure a stable food supply are being implemented not only at the production level but also at the processing, distribution and consumption stages.

Farming activities in Japan are organized on an extremely small scale. In addition to the main farming activity of paddy cultivation, agriculture has been diversified through the introduction of combined operations that include livestock farming, orcharding, vegetable growing and so on. Our earnest desire is that Japan's historical experience will provide those developing countries whose agricultural environment resembles that of Japan with meaningful hints regarding the solution of their own problems of food and agriculture.

I should now like to make a few comments on the world's forest problems.

The destruction of tropical forests in the developing countries is becoming a serious problem. The maintenance and development of these forests is an extremely important priority from the viewpoints of resource utilization and environmental protection.

A forest is not created overnight. The destruction of forests, particularly in semi-arid regions, may turn an area into desert. Moreover forest depletion leads not only to the loss of timber resources for fuel and industrial uses, but also to the devastation of the natural environment of the region, with serious repercussions for agricultural production and regional society. We hope that every nation will make further efforts to maintain and develop forest resources and that the FAO will expand its activities in this area in cooperation with other related international agencies.

Japan is already providing technical cooperation regarding forest maintenance and development, primarily in Asia and the Pacific and South America. Within Japan, a great deal of emphasis is placed on the multiple functions of forests, which include not only the stable supply of timber but also the preservation of the land and the development of water resources. To date, some 10 million hectares of forest plantations have been established as part of a carefully planned effort to replenish the nation's forest resources and stimulate the development of its forestry and timber industry.

I should next like to make a few comments regarding fisheries. Fishery resources represent an important source of protein that will be of great significance in terms of finding a solution to the world's food problems. The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea is over and a new international system of maritime law and order is now emerging. In June and July of next year, the FAO will organize the World Conference on Fisheries Management and Development, with a view to promoting the establishment of basic ground rules for the management of fisheries and the creation of development strategies. This Conference is an extremely meaningful and timely action, especially for the promotion of fisheries development in the developing countries.

Japan is the world's largest fishing nation. We hope that this conference and similar events will provide opportunities, through cooperation between coastal nations and deep-sea fishing countries, to promote the improved preservation and efficient utilization of fisheries resources.

Japan's fishery industry now faces an extremely difficult situation. Following the introduction of 200 nautical-mile economic zones, operations have been subjected to increasingly stringent regulation as coastal nations exercise their right to control fishing activities. The business environment for the industry has also suffered as a result of the high cost of fuel. Japan is anxious to maintain and foster its fishery resources, and is seeking to achieve stable development is its fishery industry by reorganizing and streamlining the industry's structure and encouraging the development of fish farming.

The FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations dealing with questions relating to food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and has accumulated an immense store of information and technology in these areas. Japan places a particularly high value on the role that the organization has played in achieving breakthroughs in food problems and in the development of agriculture, forestry and fisheries in the developing countries. We do hope that the FAO will continue to utilize its accumulated information and technology to the full in cooperation with other related international agencies, thereby making an even greater contribution to the solution of the world's food problems.

Japan is deeply concerned about the deterioration of farmland and the destruction of tropical forests in the developing countries. In addition to our existing trust funds for food security schemes and so on, a new trust fund of 200 million yen has been established this year for the purpose of investigating soil conservations methods and schemes for the management and utilization of forest resources

I should now like to say a few words about the agenda for this session.

First, during its Eighth session, the Committee on World Food Security examined new approaches to the food security question. Japan welcomes these efforts and hopes that the FAO, in cooperation with other related international agencies, will strive even harder to strengthen world food security.

Second, we have studied the report regarding the progress made in following up the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development. Japan's program of agrarian' reform after the Second World War encouraged farmers to produce more by enabling them to have their own land. This move is now regarded as the starting point for Japan's modern agricultural development.

I believe that the developing countries should pursue bold rural development programs based on medium- and long-term perspectives and on the Declaration of Principles and Programme of Action drawn up by the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development.

Third, it is clear from the Programe of Work and Budget for 1984-85 that much has been done to improve the efficiency of the Organization's activities through such means as reductions in administrative costs. We appreciate this point in general, and I look forward to continued efforts to improve operating efficiency, including a clarification of the FAO's order of priorities and further reductions in administrative expenditure.

Japan will continue to emphasize the role of the FAO in finding solutions to the world's food and agriculture problems, and we intend to continue our support to field projects undertaken by the FAO to promote increased food production and agricultural development in the developing countries.

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries are all. industries that utilize cycles and energy flows within the systems of nature. When these industries are operated appropriately, the resources on which they depend - farmland and fishing grounds for food production and forest areas for timber -are renewed by the natural reproduction and renewal processes. Provided that exploitation is not excessive, these resources are not exhaustible under normal circumstances. Food and forestry resources also fulfil various functions essential to the general well-being of the people, including the provision of a rich natural environment, the protection of the land, and the development of water resources. As such, these resources play a vital role in preserving the foundation of a nation's life.

The maintenance and enhancement of the various functions of agriculture, forestry and fisheries form a fundamental framework, not only for the solution of the world's present food problems but also the provision of food for mankind for the years and generations to come.

A.Z.M. OBAIDULLAH KHAN (Bangladesh): Mr Chairman, Mr Director-General, distinguished delegates, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, first let me congratulate you, Mr Chairman, and the members of the bureau of this Conference for your unanimous election. I take this opportunity also to extend on behalf of my Government our warmest felicitations to the distinguished representatives of Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Saint Christopher and Nevis and Vanuatu on their admission to membership of this Organisation.

Every death diminishes us. Death by hunger does it even more. Yet children go to bed hungry and death takes its toll. We met here in 1981 and we had a dream. Today, we realize that perhaps we had made a rash promise, and I quote the Director-General. "We have not yet overcome the destitution of the poor, nor have we diminished the despair of the hungry". The vast majority of the people in the world continue to live and die in unbelievable misery and unnecessary squalor. The few and the powerful continue their arms race unabated. Inequity breeds instability and corrodes the perspective of a harmonious global community. Meanwhile development stagnates and by-passes the many.

The world presents a dismal spectacle as we look around. Regional armed conflicts threaten peace and inflict untold deprivations, death and destruction on the hapless victims. World-wide recession adversely affects the prospects of global development. While this has meant slow recovery and lingering hardship for the developed countries, the plight of the developing countries is much worse. There is continuous deterioration in their terms of trade, dependence on food imports and indebtedness. In the face of growing protectionism, fluctuating primary commodity prices and rising levels of food imports, the LDCs suffer from chronic balance of trade deficits reducing their capacities to promote growth and welfare.

Crushed under debt-burden and faced with shrinking export earnings they make desperate attempts to improve their liquidity position only to find that international financial institutions are overly cautions and the private capital market shy in dealing with them.

Concerted measures are yet to be undertaken to lay the foundation of the New International Economic Order. We sadly conclude that the failure to address the global economic problems reflects the continuing absence of political will to promote international co-operation.

In the prevailing situation the gap between the rich and poor countries has widened and so has the gap between the privileged and disadvantaged within many developing countries. Today, more than thirty percent of the labour force is unemployed or under-employed in the developing countries. The number of people living in absolute poverty is approaching one billion. It is estimated than 40 000 children die every day from starvation. or malnutrition. The desperate situation in Africa in which some 22 countries face imminent prospect and widespread suffering underscores the continuing crisis.

At this Conference, therefore, we must reaffirm our abiding faith in our fundamental rights, including the most basic, the freedom from hunger. We must pledge our determination for peace and prosperity in the world and secure life for those living on the margins of poverty. It is through solemn declarations for concerted efforts backed up by commitments to implement them that such conferences can transcend their ritual dimensions and become part of the daily agenda of action. We must not abandon the dream we had and the promise we made to ourselves.

As we look at the past biennium we find the FAO has suffered a cutback in its total field programme as a result of the downturn in the UN Technical Assistance. The drop in UNDP allocations has had a negative impact on the agricultural and rural development programme of many countries requiring technical assistance. We therefore urge the recovery of UNDP funding towards the indicative amounts envisaged for the Third Programming Cycle. In the light of the UNDP fund contraction, we consider the recent expansion of Trust Fund activities to be encouraging, so this will not completely offset the shortfall. The continued increase in delivery of Trust Fund will substantially enhance FAO's ability to provide operational assistance to developing countries.

It is heartening to note that in spite of resource constraint FAO has maintained its field programme at fairly reasonable levels making cut-backs in other areas. We will expect the Organization to continue its assistance to developing countries towards promoting rural development raising agricultural production, improving efficiency in land and water uses, achieving optimal utilisation of forestry and fisheries resources and strengthening of national institutions.

However, it should be borne in mind that the developing countries are not an undifferentiated or amorphous mass and their diversity requires programmes specific to their stages of development. Greater integration with the national development plans should make FAO delivery more effective and also avoid the impression of FAO field programmes as belonging to a separate line. The recent shift from the concept of technical assistance with extensive reliance on expatriate experts, towards technical cooperation signifying greater role of national experts will definitely buttress this process of integration. The shift of emphasis from resource inventories and appraisal to resource use, management and conservation in recent years will prove beneficial to the recipient countries. As regards Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries the catalytic role of FAO has not yet produced significant results. Much more vigorous efforts are required to be made.

Mr Chairman, it goes without saying that we cannot attach first priority to food and agriculture without a demonstrable renewed commitment to FAO. While we can and must demand proper resource management directed towards enhancing greater qualitative effectiveness in FAO's work programme, it is certainly self-defeating to demand budgetary restraint as an end in itself. Such a move buttresses the growing trend away from multilateralism and inevitably erodes the sense of community that underlies our global interdependence. This is particularly discouraging in the face of the bold steps taken by the Director-General to limit financial burdens of Member States, to cut administrative costs and shift resources to substantive technical and economic programmes at the country level. Surely the time has come to bolster our commitment to eradicate hunger, poverty and malnutrition by concrete steps towards its realization.

May I express at this point our concern over the dire situation facing IFAD, and join in the appeal to all countries to sustain the Fund's momentum through timely replenishment.

Mr Chairman, distinguished colleagues I now wish to turn to a subject with which we are all familiar, and that is food security. Thanks to the Director-General, the FAO and its member countries, there is now a heightened awareness the world over regarding food security. We note with some satisfaction that although the target could not be achieved, the annual grouwth rate of food production in the developing countries of the period 1974-82 was 3.2 percent compared to 2.8 percent in the preceding period of 1967-74. The amount of land used in agriculture in the developing countries has continued to expand during the period 1974-1981 at a rate of 0.6 percent per annum. There has also been a rapid growth in public expenditure on agricultural research and development. Stock position of basic cereals is satisfactory and FAO has estimated that by the end of 1982-83 crop seasons, stock level would be well above the 'safe' level.

These are happy developments. And, I have prefaced my remarks with these developments because I want, very consciously, to reiterate my conviction that the human race can, in the near future, provide the fundamental security it needs, the security of food for all. But there are disappointing shortfalls in some areas which cause us grave concern. The Food Aid convention has been extended to June 30, 1986, but the 'floor' level of aid it guarantees remains at 7.6 million tons in place of the target which was set at 10 million tons. And, I understand, at the Fifteenth CFA Policies and Programmes, the Secretariat had estimated the requirement at 20 million tons. The FAO states that the Food Security Assistance Scheme still has a substantial shelf of unfunded projects. The International Grains Agreement continues to remain elusive.

Despite the disappointment and the odds, we, in Bangladesh, have made efforts, to the extent it is possible for us, to contribute to fulfilment of the Plan of Action to promote world food security. The short- and long-term Food Security Programme in our context has the following major characteristics :

Ensuring adequate domestic supplies of foodgrains; securing market stability; making possible access to food supplies for all, and maintaining an optimum level of food security reserve.

It is in the context of access to food that we fully endorse the revised concept of world food security proposed by the Director-General for the eighties. We believe that the ultimate objective of world food security should be to ensure that all people at all times have both physical and economic access to the basic food they need. There will be contradictions in the realization of the objective. On the one hand price incentive has to be maintained for the farmers to produce more. On the other, it has to be ensured that food reaches the poorest strata of the population. For many developing countries, even after attainment of self-sufficiency in food production, direct targeting measures have to be continued for quite some time to ensure reaching food to the poorest. International assistance will be required to support direct targeting measures. Such assistance may, in some cases, mean purchasing food within the country for use by the poorest there.

Mr Chairman, global food security is still to be attained. But can we afford any further delay? The world's military budget absorbs 1.3 million dollars every minute and within the same time span 30 children die for want of food and vaccines throughout the world. Can't we divert some of these resources towards achieving food security? Can't we here today make a commitment to support in practice the proposed measures at national, regional and global levels to improve the food security system? We are with you, Mr Director-General, in your suggestion to raise the target for the International Emergency Food Reserve to two million tons. I am confident all of us here also support the three new FAO initiatives of a food security action programme, a world food security fund and a world food security compact.

The medium-term Food Production Plan of Bangladesh holds the key to food security in one of the most populous and chronic food deficitcountries of the world. The Government of Bangladesh has channelled as much as 37 pecent of the development resources to achieve food-sufficiency but its efforts have to be supplemented by her partners in development. We expect FAO and other agencies to continue their support to the Food Security Policy of Bangladesh whose kingpin is accelerated food production programme.

A serious constraint to increasing agricultural production and making the benefits of increased out-put available to all is the structural constraint. By adopting the Declaration of Principle and the Plan of Action at the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development FAO focussed attention of all Member countries on the urgent need for institutional and structural reforms. For a technology oriented organization it was truly a turning point and demonstrated its capacity to own a broader vision of human aspirations. Developing countries already seized with the problem of inequality of access to resources and markets by the disadvantaged received fresh impetus to pursue the social and economic goals of justice and equity. It was a bold assertion on the part of FAO implying that if hunger can be a global concern, so is poverty arising out of inequitable distribution of assets and resources. Bangladesh is firmly committed to the Programme of Action of WCARRD as it conforms to the national objective of alleviating poverty and ensuring social justice to the poor majority. The recent land and tenurial reforms adopted in my country provides for security of tenency for the share croppers or tenants at will. The reform measures also provide a fair share of the produce to the actual cultivators. The future land ceiling has been reduced to 20 acres in place of the existing 33 1/2 acres. Minimum daily wage for an agricultural labourer is being legislated at 3.25 kg of rice or its money equivalent.

These reform measures are expected to release productive forces in agriculture from the exploitative production relations which have inhibited growth by denying access to resources, know-how and markets to a large number of producers. The decentralized administration with authority delegated at local level will be supportive of the policy of accelerated agricultural production and at the same time further orient administration towards meeting the needs of the people at the grass roots level. Strengthened local government bodies through devolution of power, will open up new avenues of participatory development for the rural majority.

Significant increase in the allocation of resources for agriculture together with the institutional reforms are expected to usher in a new era of growth, productive employment and equitable distribution. In this bold venture to rebuild our society, women, owner-farmers, landless workers, fishermen, artisans, in short, every segment of rural society will have distinct roles to play and an assured share in the ensuing prosperity. While it is true that all the measures may not have been taken in direct response to WCARRD the awareness for the early adoption of the same has been unmistakably sharpened as a result of its Declaration of Principles and the Programme of Action. Our agreement to initiate a monitoring system on progress in agrarian reform and rural development has further reinforced the commitment to implement the programme.

From the narrow but overriding concern of freeing man from hunger, to the declaration for a just and participatory society, FAO has come a long way. In widening its focus FAO has demonstrated its vision for the ultimate destiny of mankind to live in conditions free from conflict, degradation and poverty. If material poverty is a threat to survival, poverty of soul thriving in an unjust society diminishes humanity. Bangladesh will always uphold the programme of FAO and other bodies directed to the redemption of man from all bondages, human and otherwise. This pledge we owe to our countrymen and to the heritage of man, which is above all, of freedom. We take courage in facing this awesome task by the fact that we are not alone.

Mr Chairman, distinguished delegates, we have come here, to be together and to renew our commitment, the commitment to make concerted efforts to banish the four horsemen of apocalypse from the face of the earth. We may not have succeeded so far, but we cannot fail. What can and must sustain us is our belief in the essential humanity that governs all rational beings. Against the tide of the remorseless realities, we cannot abandon the only solace available to the hungry of the world. We must, as the late Secretary-General of the United Nations Mr Dag Hammarskjold often quoted: "Hope until Hope creates from its own wreck the thing it contemplates."

Les difficultés concernant le développement de l'agriculture mondiale aussi bien que les difficultés d'agriculture polonaise nous incitent à reconsidérer les activités de la FAO ainsi que notre participation dans le cadre de l'Organisation.

La Pologne est l'un des pays dans lequel la production animale et la consommation de viande ont baissé. Les raisons de ces difficultés sont diverses et complexes. Elles sont dues principalement au déséquilibre dans le développement de l'économie nationale et aux sanctions économiques.

Au cours des années 70 en Pologne, l'accroissement de la production de la viande a dépassé celui de la production nationale des fourrages. Cette tendance s'est avérée nuisible, la production et la consommation de viande dépendant de l'importation d'aliments fourragers. Les sanctions économiques de ces dernières années contre la Pologne, imposées par les principaux pays exportateurs de fourrages et en particulier par les Etats-Unis, ont entraîné une diminution de la production animale.

Ces restrictions ont des conséquences négatives sur toute notre économie nationale, rendant difficile à la Pologne l'importation des produits agricoles, et par mesure de rétorsion, en fermant l'accès aux marchés des pays développés. La société polonaise se rend progressivement compte de cette situation. Cependant l'agriculture polonaise et toute notre économie nationale ont démontré une résistance assez importante et une capacité d'adaptation à cette situation. Ainsi le marché alimentaire ne s'est pas effondré et dans le cas de plusieurs produits l'équilibre entre l'offre et la demande a été rétabli. Nous ne pourrons pas nous permettre d'assurer une consommation élevée de la viande, mais les besoins alimentaires en protéines sont entièrement couverts.

La Pologne demande une suppression de toutes les sanctions économiques ainsi que la non-utilisation dans l'avenir de l'arme alimentaire contre le pays. Les sanctions économiques touchant le domaine de l'agriculture sont contraires au principe de la sécurité alimentaire internationale reconnue par la FAO.

Nous avons tiré des conclusions des restrictions entreprises contre notre pays et de notre propre expérience. La mesure la plus importante consisterait à assurer l'accroissement de notre production alimentaire grâce au développement de nos propres ressources nationales.

L'année passée, le Parlement de la République populaire de Pologne a décidé le programme de développement de l'agriculture et de toute l'économie alimentaire en vue d'atteindre l'auto-suffisance alimentaire jusqu'en 1990. Ceci serait obtenu en assurant le développement parallèle de tous les secteurs de notre agriculture sur des bases politiques, économiques et sociales durables. On prévoit une augmentation des moyens mis à la disposition de l'agriculture tels que l'énergie, les machines agricoles, les produits chimiques, le développement de l'infrastructure rurale ainsi que l'extension et la modernisation de l'industrie agro-alimentaire.

La recherche agronomique est déjà bien développée et la restructuration du système de vulgarisation agricole est en cours. Le programme élargit d'une façon importante le rôle de la coopération agricole et des organisations professionnelles agricoles en développement rural. On améliore le système de l'enseignement et du développement culturel dans les campagnes polonaises.

Grâce à une meilleure rentabilité de la production agricole, les revenus de la population rurale se rapprochent du niveau de la population non-agricole. Les agriculteurs et leurs familles sont couverts par le système général d'assurance sociale; le nouveau système des retraites pour les agriculteurs a été élargi.

Le développement de l'agriculture mondiale exige de la part de la FAO de nombreuses activités. Le programme présenté par le Directeur général, Monsieur Edouard Saouma, comprend ces exigences et c'est pourquoi la Pologne l'apprécie et compte lui donner son appui.

Le programme recommande, à juste titre, les mesures qui peuvent changer d'une façon durable l'agriculture et il servira à assurer l'existence biologique des hommes et activer leur progrès social.

Le caractère universel de la FAO impose que ce programme ouvre de nouvelles dimensions aux activités pour tous les pays. Nous observons depuis un certain temps des changements positifs du travail de la FAO en Europe. Le développement de la coopération entre les pays européens servira à longue échéance à augmenter des possibilités d'aide aux pays qui en ont besoin et contribuera au renforcement de la sécurité alimentaire à l'échelle mondiale.

Ces effets positifs seront pour nous tous encore plus visibles si on réussit à réaliser les programmes de la FAO d'importance globale, qui deviendront la cause commune de tous les pays leur donnant la possibilité d'une participation active indépendamment du niveau de leur agriculture et de leur économie. Un des programmes de ce genre a été soumis aux débats de la Session sous la forme du rapport du Directeur général sur "Les ressources phytogénétiques". Un autre exemple constitue le programme mondial "L'Energie en Agriculture". Nous soutenons les propositions contenues dans ces programmes. En ce qui concerne le programme phytogénétique, nous nous exprimons en faveur de cette forme de coopération qui crée les conditions de la participation coordonnée des pays et de l'Organisation en ouvrant les mêmes chances de coopération pour tous.

Le programme de la sécurité alimentaire englobe les activités agricoles économiques et politiques. Ce programme existe depuis près de dix ans. Les formes réelles de cette action ne se développent jusqu'ici qu'à l'échelle assez limitée, mais ce qui est le plus important c'est la prise de conscience spontanée de son importance et de son urgence.

Notre propre expérience, surtout au cours de ces dernières années, renforce notre conviction sur le besoin de construire avec plus d'élan la sécurité alimentaire de chaque pays. L'insécurité alimentaire peut devenir une cause importante de tension politique dans le monde. La recherche de la sécurité alimentaire exige la mise en oeuvre de moyens pour l'accroissement permanent de la production, en même temps qu'elle exige la création de rapports stables dans la coopération internationale et du commerce, libres de pressions politiques et militaires.

Nous sommes pour les mesures de la FAO dans cette direction et d'une manière encore plus prononcée. Nous considérons la réalisation de notre programme alimentaire comme l'apport le plus important à la sécurité alimentaire à l'échelle mondiale. Nous ne considérons pas l'autosuffisance dans un sens d'autarcie mais bien en vue de couvrir les besoins alimentaires de la société en proche coopération avec des pays membres de COMECON et les autres pays.

En Pologne, les fermes d'Etat, les coopératives, les fermiers individuels redoublent d'efforts pour augmenter la production alimentaire. Comme on le dit dans notre pays, les fermiers polonais sont prêts à participer à la coopération internationale.

Dans l'existence pacifique des nations les Polonais voient la seule chance du développement de l'agriculture et du progrès de leur pays et de tous les pays de l'Europe et du monde entier.

C'est dans cet esprit que la Pologne a présenté à l'ONU l'initiative de créer les moyens de confiance dans le domaine économique. Cette idée nous animait, ainsi que les autres pays socialistes, pendant la récente session du COMECON qui a soulevé les problèmes de l'agriculture et d'alimentation au rang des questions les plus importantes du développement des pays socialistes.

A. AFFANDI (Indonesia): May I first of all congratulate you, Mr Chairman, and the three Vice-Chairmen, for having been elected to these important posts of the Twenty-second session of the FAO Conference. I trust that under your able chairmanship and counsel the Conference will not only proceed in a smooth manner, but also materially contribute to the achievement of our common goal of alleviating hunger and malnutrition and the eradication of poverty. Secondly, my delegation would like to extend its heartiest welcome to our newest joining member countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Saint Christopher and Nevis and Vanuatu. We look forward to working together with their distinguished delegates.

The Twenty-second session of the FAO Conference is being convened at a time when a troubled world is still suffering the aftermath of a long and severe economic recession; accompanied and aggravated by such damaging phenomena as waves of protectionistic policies and practices, financial and monetary instability and collapse of commodity prices. The resulting deterioration in terms of trade, particularly of the low income countries, and the erosion in these countries' earning capacity from their agricultural exports, have had their destructive impact felt on the incomes, nutritional levels and capacity for survival of the hundreds of millions of small farmers and fishermen and landless labourers around the globe.

It is also a time, when, after almost a decade has passed since the family of nations gathered in this very city of Rome to resolve the recurrent perils of food crises and the more deep-rooted problem of hunger and malnutrition, that after these many years, the tragic fact remains, that today more than 10 percent of mankind still suffers from the dehumanizing burden of poverty, hunger and malnutrition.

Even more tragic, however, is the fact that while mankind's resolve and determination to tackle the world food problem in a concerted, integral and integrated way appear to have floundered in recent years, the international community on the other hand, appears to be more than willing (as each one of us is able to observe) to devote enormous efforts and increasing amounts of resources to the building up of armaments and other instruments of war and destruction. Such a deplorable situation is not only to be deeply regretted, but - as our President recently stated in Jakarta on the occasion of the third World Food Day - is also not less than disgracing for mankind, who in this age of progress so admirably has made enormous strides, not only in mastering the techniques of increasing food and agricultural production, but also the more complicated technology of outer space as well.

The eradication of hunger and malnutrition, and assuring adequate basic food for all people, is indeed a primary and common responsibility of mankind as a whole. There is no question that progress in resolving the world food problem and in ensuring world food security is fundamental to the promotion of peace, within as well as among nations. It is also increasingly recognized that such progress will immensely contribute to facilitating a more fruitful North-South dialogue, leading towards the establishment of a better economic and social order for humanity as a whole.

Bearing this in mind and taking into account the highly disturbing prospect of world food security in this decade of the nineteen-eighties, my delegation wishes to appeal most sincerely that Member Nations at this Twenty-second session of the FAO Conference reiterate and re-emphasize their resolution to work in a more concerted and effective manner than before, towards the eradication of today's human's greatest enemy, viz, poverty,hunger and malnutrition.

Available data indicate that over the past decade considerable success has been achieved in the region of Asia and the Pacific in production expansion and nutrition improvement. It has been suggested that one of the basic factors underlying such an achievement, is the fact that in several countries of the region, especially in the sub-region of ASEAN, policy makers and planners have succeeded in adopting a strategy approach which establishes direct linkages between food production, marketing and consumption and treats them in a coordinated and integrated manner. Such concept has been further supported by two contributing factors: namely, first, support at the highest political level to food policies and strategies in the context of national development; and, second, the rapid diffusion of new technologies thanks among others to increased and active participation in the development process of individual farmers, farm women and the rural community in general.

The various modes of intensification programmes, as adopted in Indonesia for rice and other food crops, but recently expanded to also cover livestock and fisheries, and which increasingly rely on local participation and decision making, are a good example of participation in this respect. In addition to the active involvement of the farm community, these programmes have been supported also by close and intimate cooperation between the public sector, cooperatives and the private sector. The latter is very clearly reflected in the so-called "Nucleus-Estates-Smallholders" arrangements, whereby large commercial plantations producing export commodities, transfer technology to the surrounding smallholders and process as well as market not only their own products but also those of the smallholders.

Allow me now to say a few words on the progress we have made in regional cooperation in the sector of food and agriculture, especially among the five member countries of ASEAN. Such cooperative undertakings, basically initiated under the so-called "Bali Concord" in February 1976, have now covered a wide field of activities, the most important of which are the following. First, the ASEAN. food security reserve, now in its fourth year of operation, is increasingly recognized as a model which could well be suitable and viable also for several other regions or sub-regions. Second, cooperation in production and supply of production inputs: the first ASEAN urea plant will start operation in Indonesia early next year and will be followed by a second ASEAN urea plant in Malaysia and ASEAR plants of other types of fertilizers in the Philippines and Thailand; and, third, the promotion of an ASEAN common agricultural and forestry policy, which includes: the establishment of a common quarantine ring and joint eradication of animal diseases; the pooling of research and technology; the sharing of training and extension facilities; and management and conservation of forestry resources and ASEAN trade of tropical timber.

This wide spectrum of regional cooperative activities has been further broadened by the signing of an understanding on cooperation in fisheries, only three weeks ago by the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry at their Fifth Meeting in Singapore. Preparations are now being made to lay the foundations for cooperation in agricultural cooperatives. In this context of ASEAN cooperation and relations, my delegation wishes to indicate our sharing of the sentiments expressed by his Excellency the Minister of Agriculture of Malaysia in his statement yesterday on the most regrettable restrictions imposed on the exports of agricultural commodities, especially vegetable oils, to markets in Western Europe.

Before concluding, my delegation would like to comment briefly on the FAO Programme of Work and Budget as proposed for the coming biennium.

Indonesia welcomes in this respect the continuing emphasis the Director-General has given (and will continue to give) on such vital areas as food production, nutrition and food security, farming systems especially on land under less favourable environments, commodities and trade, appropriate research and technology, rural development, fisheries, forestry for people and rural development. We have observed with concern the financial problems faced by FAO, and we join the other delegates in urging donor countries to increase their assistance to the FAO. We are pleased, however, to see that, confronted by these difficulties, the FAO has managed to adopt the proper strategies and priorities by re-allocating its budget and thereby safeguarding the continuation and even increasing technical and economic programmes. We therefore fully endorse the proposed Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85.

R. CHELTENHAM (Barbados): The Twenty-second Plenary session of the Food and Agriculture Organization meets at a time when the story of world agriculture is one of conflicting trends. On the one hand, there is evidence of increased production and of growing diversification in many countries. On the other hand, food distribution continues to be "skewed" and uneven and food remains outside the reach of millions of hungry mouths.

These developments are taking place in the context of a world economy which is still hampered by the restraints of recession. This in turn has led to reduced funding of the international institutions in the agricultural sector. I refer in particular to the United Nations Development Programme; the Food and Agriculture Organization itself and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. To this must be added the increasing resort to protectionism on the part of many countries, both developed and developing.

The unanimous election of Secretary of Agriculture Block to the high office of Chairman of this Conference at once emphasizes the outstanding role which the United States plays and must continue to play in food production, and in the struggle against hunger. Moreover, it is a tribute to his own personal contribution and commitment to agriculture both as a farmer and administrator. My delegation readily joins with all others in offering him warmest congratulations and best wishes. The Vice-Chairmen, who will assist him in guiding the deliberations of this Conference, are also congratulated.

We are delighted to welcome to the family of FAO, the neighbouring CARICOM countries of Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Christopher and Nevis and Belize. We extend a sincere welcome to the sister Commonwealth country of Vanuatu. I am confident that they will each make a contribution out of all proportion to their size and will, in turn, find the FAO a most useful forum in which to discuss agricultural issues and a ready source of advice and technical assistance.

Increased food production at the national level has rightly come to be recognized as the first and most important requirement of food security. We must also add the requirement of easy access, both physical and economic, to food by all as a matter of deliberate policy. Barbados has always subscribed to this view, to that extent, firmly supports the new focus of the Director-General along these lines. But in many countries, the realization of increased food production is not a simple matter. Invariably, it involves a difficult mix of activities from the clearing of forests to the

resettlement of farmers and the installation of irrigation systems. It also embraces the recasting of existing land tenure or the introduction of new laws to give a hitherto landless class a secure form of land ownership. The technical problems of food production such as the control of pests and disease, the provision of extension and marketing services and the minimizing of post-harvest losses must also be overcome.

The problem of marketing of agricultural produce is inveterate and particularly acute in small countries where the domestic market is so limited that with modern farming technology a relatively small area under production can readily over-supply at any given time the needs of the population. This situation introduces the necessity for food and nutrition strategies aimed at higher levels of consumption of vegetables per caput together with effective systems of storage, distribution and processing. Above all, it calls for access to the large markets of the developed countries.

My country is tackling most of these problems simultaneously. We have addressed the long-standing problems of plantation tenants who occupied lands around and about the plantation from the early days after slavery without being able to secure a freehold title to such land. The enactment of the Plantation Tenantry Freehold Act and the Agricultural Tenantry Landholding Act, which give tenants the legal right to purchase at minimum cost and with easy legal transfer the land which they occupied or worked for over three years, have corrected this inequity. The latter Act in particular will make its contribution to increased food production felt now that tenants have an ownership stake in the lands. Our agrarian reform efforts have also been manifested in a new land settlement project in the north of the Island. Here the Government has purchased a number of hectares of plantation land and has subdivided them into manageable units for leasing to young farmers who would otherwise be landless. In addition, the Government has helped these farmers with housing, credit for production, marketing, extension and irrigation facilities.

These efforts and others have begun to produce fruitful results in our diversification programme. And last year 1982-1983, the contribution of non-sugar agriculture to our Gross Domestic Product for the first time surpassed that of sugar.

Mr Chairman, in our emphasis on the reorganization of our agriculture leading to the increase of food production, Barbados has been greatly assisted by the FAO. This assistance has always been timely and appropriate. For instance, FAO has within recent times helped us in identifying and reversing problems in our dairy industry. They have helped us too in the training of our extension staff and in the strengthening of our plant quarantine systems. Besides, the areas of irrigation and prevention of food losses through the establishment of collection centres wholesale and retail outlets are currently being addressed.

Many of these collaborative programmes with the FAO, which I have just instanced, are shared with the Regional states. And I wish to applaud the beneficial impact which the work of the Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, together with the country representative for Barbados is having on agriculture in our area in general, and in my own country in particular. My delegation is convinced that the FAO policy of decentralizing its activities leads to cost effectiveness and increased efficiency.

In fact, the FAO at a time of financial stringency and budgetary restraints is somehow achieving more in our area than in the past. Beyond any doubt, the Technical Cooperation Programme has proved to be a flexible,swift and responsive mechanism for assistance to the agricultural sector of developing countries in various stages of need. All beneficiaries of this programme have attested to its great utility and have expressed gratification and pleasure that a small increase has been provided for the Technical Cooperation Programme in the next biennium. I trust that hereafter the remaining critics and skeptics of this programme will come to accept its worth and give it full support.

The matter of food and population is one which must neither be overlooked nor sidestepped. My delegation supports the FAO for treating this as an area of serious concern by placing it on this Conference Agenda. Let me very briefly refer to the Barbados experience in this area. Barbados, with a population density of over 1500 inhabitants per square mile (among the highest in the world), has for over thirty years provided government support for a family planning programme. Today we have a growth rate of less than twenty per thousand. This has meant that expenditure on health and education programmes can provide greater benefits to every member of the population.

The management of population growth has made it possible too to improve significantly the standards of human nutrition. We have been able to provide nutrition programmes to benefit special groups such as infants, lactating mothers and primary school children. And here I would like on behalf of my Government to acknowledge with appreciation the important role played by the World Food Programme in providing help with our school feeding scheme.

The control of population growth is a vital prerequisite in the balancing act of equating food production with population needs and I trust that many countries will redouble their efforts in this area.

Mr Chairman, fishing is not only a way of life for many hundreds of persons in island states, but it is also a reliable source of protein for man and animals. Nevertheless, it remains a vital renewable resource which we have insufficiently harvested for use in the struggle against hunger. This is among the reasons that Barbados joins in welcoming the initiative of the FAO in convening the first ever World Conference on Fisheries Management and Development. It is our hope that, as a result of this Conference next year, both the problems and the potential of fisheries development will be more fully appreciated. We also hope that fisheries will come to occupy a higher place on national and international agendas for development, and that increased resources will be channelled to this very important sub-sector.

The issues calling for corrective attention in this sector are many. They range from the need to introduce boats of cost effective design, the provision of modern fishing gear and techniques, to the need to identify the location of fishing banks for traditional fishermen. The introduction of the New Economic Zone extending marine boundaries up to 200 miles, has certainly presented new opportunities and fresh problems to many countries, particularly, small island states. In brief, the problem may be posited as follows: how best can a small island state exploit this added territory or, alternatively, exercise control over it so effectively as to prevent others from plundering its resources. In whatever way we examine this issue it becomes clear that in the foreseeable future many small states will surely be unable to accumulate the resources necessary to exercise or defend their rights in their marine jurisdictions.

My delegation considers that island states urgently need assistance in formulating the strategies and the approaches required to confront the large fishing powers now operating illicitly in our territorial waters. I believe that some regime of sharing and compensating should be formulated and introduced. And I suggest that the FAO view this upcoming focus on fisheries as an opportunity to assist small states with a prototype agreement which will bring on the part of the trepassing nations some understanding, collaboration and sense of fair play in their actions towards small island states.

Mr Chairman, as you yourself reminded us recently, it is now forty years since the FAO was founded with the laudable goal of ridding mankind from the scourge of hunger and want. Next year it will be ten years since the FAO first issued its clarion call for a food security network among Member countries. It was in 1974, too, that the decision to establish the International Fund for Agricultural Development was conceived. In fact, the 1974 biennial Conference of FAO was a landmark - held amidst high enthusiasm. The supporting gestures made and the encouraging words issued at the time gave hope to the hungry and malnourished, and raised the expectation of every undeveloped country.

Regretfully, we must face the sombre conclusion that after 40 years, the goals of FAO are far from realization. That is not to gainsay the fact that much useful work has been done and progress realised in many countries and in specific agricultural sub-sectors. But the transfer of technology and capital from the developed world has not as yet been sufficient to meet the scale of the problem. Nothing short of a "big push" approach would suffice.

Mr Chairman, world food secutiry admittedly a concept with a brief history, seems affected by a decline in political will. Meanwhile, the numbers of the world's hungry have swollen and some developing countries, particularly in Africa, are experiencing ever-widening despair.

I prefer to believe that the apparent lack of commitment along with the slackening of enthusiasm is the direct result of the economic recession and the resultant reduction in financial means.

As soon as the first signs of economic recovery become clearly manifest therefore, we must demand that additional resources be devoted to food production and distribution as a matter of urgency. We must insist that access to food, particularly by the weak and vulnerable, be given the highest priority. We must renew our faith in FAO and our commitment to its goals. And we must throw all our political support behind removing the obstacles that stand in the way of their attainment.

The size of the problem of malnutrition and hunger in today's world is at once an international outrage and an international challenge. Let us together at this Twenty-second Conference, on behalf of the world's poor and hungry and in the name of justice and humanity, once again pledge to meet that challenge.

G.A. SMITH (Bahamas): Mr Chairman, Honorable Ministers and distinguished delegates, I bring you greetings from the Government and people of The Bahamas on the occasion of the Twenty-second session of the FAO Conference.

Confident of the success of this event I trust that all Member States will be mindful of the fact that the deliberations of this meeting will have wide and lasting impact on the people of all countries as we meet to re-examine the world food situation, and formulate meaningful and workable solutions to this grave problem. It is therefore incumbent upon all of us to give the most serious consideration to the matters before the Conference, so that we shall not fail the millions who are depending upon us. We owe them a sacred responsibility to do what is right, and not what may be expedient at this time.

Mr Chairman, The Bahamas is proud to join in the expression of welcome extended to the 4 new Member States of this international family. We are particularly proud to have them with us since Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Saint Christopher and Nevis, and Vanuatu share with The Bahamas the special relationships which are provided through our membership in the Commonwealth. Our pride and happiness extends a bit further in the case of the first three Nations since they are geographically our regional neighbours, and also share in the Caribbean Community of Nations. As a region, the Caribbean is strengthened by their presence here, and we are confident that they will do their best in dealing with the matters which fall within the purview of FAO.

It is opportune, Mr Chairman, that I should congratulate FAO for redesignating the Latin American Region to reflect more accurately the true composition of that area. The addition of the word "Caribbean" to the designation of the Region reflects the acknowledgement by the organization that the input and involvement of Caribbean States in these affairs is indeed appreciated and valued.

Fellow delegates, The Bahamas has over the years benefitted well from the services of the FAO through its assistance and guidance in agriculture, fisheries and forestry, and we have been able to maintain a steady increase in our annual production of food from the land and the sea. Although that increase might seem small and insignificant to some, it represents the will of our people to work steadily towards the attainment of self-sufficiency in food as far as we are able.

I should therefore like to extend the deep appreciation of my Government and our people to the Director-General Dr Edouard Saouma, and the staff of FAO, for the assistance provided. The distinguished leadership which the Director-General has maintained in guiding the affairs of the FAO is evident in the degree of respect accorded the organization by all Member States, and the professionalism displayed by staff sent to The Bahamas has not only meant the presence of technical officers, but also has served as a catalyst for our own people to benefit from exposure to advanced technical expertise.

Mr Chairman, the decision of my Government to press forward with increased food production is not designed solely to ensure food security for The Bahamas. The aim is to eventually contribute to the needs of our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world. We do not however possess the necessary 'natural resources and means to develop as we would wish, but since we cannot do what we wish, we shall do what we can. We pledge ourselves to help as far as we can.

In a previous statement before this organization in 1979, I outlined the state of our land resources in The Bahamas, and despite our progress, some 86 percent of our land with high agricultural potential is still available for development. Recently we have embarked on a new thrust towards increased food production through agro-industrial development. We are inviting private entrepreneurs, Bahamian and foreign, to unite with the Government in this quest towards providing more food. Attractive and relatively liberal concessions have been agreed upon which should create a favourable climate for investment in food production ventures for the local market and for export. I am pleased to state that three projects are in progress of implementation, two in livestock production and one in mariculture.

As many of you are aware, The Bahamas is an archipelagic state spread over 100 000 square miles of the Atlantic ocean. As such, the largely untapped and vast resources of our seas is an important area for meaningful development. It also has potential for providing employment for many more of our citizens creating economic power particularly in the scattered areas of our family of islands.

We are proud to be a party to the Law of the Sea Treaty as this indicates our desire and intention to cooperate in fostering a just and proper use of the sea. It is therefore with good reason that we welcome the forthcoming World Conference on Fisheries, and we give notice of our intention to become fully involved in this and all other efforts towards the orderly and proper exploitation of the seas for the common good of all states whose coasts are fortunate enough to be bathed by them.

At the same time, aquaculture holds tremendous promise for food and economic development. The geography of The Bahamas provides excellent potential for the successful implementation of aquaculture and mariculture development. Here I should like to acknowledge the input of FAO in providing experts to assist in the formulation of proper legislation to govern the development of this activity.

Mr Chairman, I should like to record the deep concern of my Government about the world situation with regard to hunger and malnutrition. Much reference has been made to the expenditure on armaments as opposed to funds spent on the development of food supplies. The correlation between this vast and outrageous expenditure, and the millions of human beings who suffer and die each year because of lack of adequate food is cause enough for all of us to be ashamed. This is particularly true, Sir, when we consider that some developing countries account for approximately 50 percent of the world expenditure on armaments.

At the same time, the importance of the rights of all sovereign peoples to determine their own future cannot be overshadowed by the basic rights of all men and women to be sustained by good and wholesome food. The importance of this upon world peace and security cannot be overstated. When I speak of peace, I do not mean just the absence of war, for the lack of food and sustenance is indeed the beginning of injustice and the flash-point of injury to peace and harmony. It is important therefore, in my view, that those of us who subscribe to the concepts expressed through the United Nations charter give the fullest possible affect through that pledge, and demonstrate our concern for men and women everywhere.

In this context we have examined the Director-General's Programme of Work and Budget 1984-85 and we urge all Member States to fully support it. For our own part, we believe it to be a step towards continuing meaningful assistance where it is needed most. We again compliment the Director-General and his staff for preparing a futurist and workable plan.

I would wish however to offer comment in one area which is of particular concern to The Bahamas, and indeed to all archipelagic states.

One of the greatest needs appears to be the lack of proper marketing strategies, combined with inadequate transportation of products between farming islands and the population centres. The lack of such facilities, together with increased handling of produce results in undesirable and defeating situations. It may well be timely therefore, for FAO to consider examining this matter with a view to formulating strategies which could help to alleviate the problem.

Mr Chairman, in the year 1492, a brave Genovese sailor, had a vision of a new world for Europe which would come about through the development of a new trade route and in his bold quest he stumbled onto a beautiful island which he called San Salvador. I am proud to be a part of the nation which includes that island. 1992 will mark the 500th anniversary of the realization of Christopher Columbus' dream, and in solemn observance of that event The Bahamas will be inviting Member States to share in the celebrations of an event which marked meaningful change for the whole world.

In 1983, The Bahamas shares a vision of a new world of peace and tranquility where all men and women will live in harmony, and having turned swords into ploughshares, divide the fruits of their labour for the common good.