Bile Rafle GULED (Somalia): First and foremost, on behalf of my country I should like to present our deepest sympathies and expressions of sorrow to the people of Colombia for the tragedy which has hit this friendly country. We should like to ask all international organizations and all friendly countries to provide the necessary assistance to this country to enable it to overcome this tragedy.
I am pleased to take this opportunity to greet this international assembly which represents the culmination of worldwide efforts to provide food for every human being on this planet.
Allow me, Mr Chairman, to congratulate you most warmly on your election to theChairof this Session. I should also like to congratulate the Vice-Chairmen.
I should like to take this opportunity to express my thanks and appreciations to the Director-General of FAO and to all those who have assisted him in organizing the work of this meeting. I should like to thank them for their efforts in developing the programmes of this Organization and consolidating its potential in meeting the needs of member states, particularly in the African continent in which, in the last few years, we have witnessed a very dangerous food situation due to famine, desertification and the increase in the number of refugees.
I am pleased to present my warm congratulations to the Cook Islands and Solomon Islands for joining this Organization recently. I wish them every success in their efforts to meet the food needs of their people and in joining the battle against hunger and poverty.
At the end of last year, my Government had the honour of welcoming the Arab Ministerial Council for Agricultural Development which thoroughly considered a number of issues, foremost among which was the problem of food security. The Conference also discussed the concern of the international community over the worsening food situation and the means to avert such dangers. The meeting called for additional efforts to build bridges through cooperation with international organizations specializing in nutrition, in particular the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, to arrive at formulas conducive to a unified stand in raising food production and combating the causes of hunger, without duplication of efforts.
This Conference was convened at a time when drought was spreading and affecting many parts of the world, particularly the African continent where millions live under the perpetual threat of drought, desertification and famine. The meeting, of course, gave the issue of drought due attention in keeping with the gravity and intensity of the problem. It worked together with the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development in establishing and implementing terms and programmes to face the problem on a short-term and long-term basis.
We commend the immediate measures taken by FAO to combat famine in Africa, as well as the continued efforts that are being made within the framework of the programmes of action to rise to the challenge constituted by this crisis in the countries in the African continent that are hardest hit by drought.
We hope that this will enable us to bring together the necessary funds to implement programmes and projects that will help the intensification of food production in those countries. We see that the efforts that the Organization has made are part and parcel of the overall efforts that have been made by the United Nations and the international community in general to alleviate hunger and famine in Africa.
We are looking forward to this session to resolve the problem of hunger and famine. We hope that the programme geared towards solving that problem will be strengthened on a short- and long-term basis.
The delegation of my country would like to support the Programme of Work and Budget for 1986-1987 as presented by the Director-General, Dr Edouard Saouma. We also support the TCP because we believe that Programme is geared particularly to helping the small farmers in the developing world.
From this rostrum, on behalf of my country, I am happy to thank all of the countries that have helped Africa in its hour of need, whether through food, aid, through financial aid, or by sending tools for agriculture. When I express my thanks to those countries I would like to recall that food aid is not the best strategic solution for African problems. It is a stop-gap, short-term solution. Therefore, developed countries as well as international organizations such as FAO should create opportunities for the African continent to enable these countries to obtain the necessary tools and agricultural know-how. They sho.uld also give the opportunity to local African experts to manage agricultural projects in African countries.
I should like here to say to Africa that time is against us. This is why this assistance should be distributed in a just manner to help African countries in enhancing their agriculture.
Developing the agricultural sector is a matter of great priority in my country. Somalia has great potential in agriculture, fisheries and livestock. Development projects are based on a strategy aimed at developing agriculture through better irrigation, seed improvement, and better land and water resource use. Investment in water resources irrigation, storage and price liberalization are geared for one single target. All of these have led to a great demand on the part of the public for agricultural products.
As regards livestock, the policy centers on forestry and pastures, and on developing water resources in order to safeguard our animal resources quantitatively and qualitatively.
With regard to fisheries, I should like to say that the goal is limited to safeguarding the fishries we have now through external investment and through liberalizing commerce from the present restrictions.
Mr Chairman, I should like on this very important occasion to take the opportunity to congratulate the FAO on the Fortieth Anniversary of its founding. I should like to express my country’s appreciation for the great achivements made by this Organization in the last forty years in nutrition and food production in the world. I express my thanks to you, Mr Chairman, to the Organization and to all the countries which are participating in this session, for your attention. I wish this session every success.
NZUNGU LUNTADI (Zaīe): Le Zaīre, par ma voix présente les condoléances les plus émues au Président de la République colombienne, ainsi qu’à son peuple. Nous les assurons de tout notre appui moral.
Je voúdrais, avant de commencer mon intervention, m’acquitter d’ un agréable devoir, celui de vous présenter, Monsieur le Président, au nom du Président fondateur du M.P.R, Président de la République du Zaīre et du Conseil exécutif, mes vives félicitations et de vous dire ma joie de vous voir diriger les travaux de la 23ème Session de la Conférence de la FAO.
Je félicite également les Vice-Présidents ainsi que le Secrétariat qui a bien voulu mettre à notre disposition d’excellents documents de travail.
Je voudrais aussi, Monsieur le Président, saluer l’admission des lies Cook et Salomon au sein de notre Organisation. Leur présence parmi nous confirme, encore une fois, le caractère universel de la FAO. Quarante ans se sont écoulés depuis la création de la FAO. Quarante ans vite passés et nous voici parmi les privilégiés de ce monde à célébrer cet anniversaire au siège même de l’Organisation.
Je saisis cette occasion pour presenter au Directeur général, Monsieur Edouard Saouma, et à tout le personnel de l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’Alimentation et l’Agriculture les meilleurs sentiments de la République du Zaīre.
En quarante ans d’intenses activités, la FAO a joué un rôle très important dans la recherche des solutions aux problèmes de la faim dans le monde.
Bien que la production agricole ne cesse d’augmenter, la situation alimentaire mondiale reste pré-occupante, surtout dans certains pays où elle est aggravée par les calamités naturelles.
Cette situation ne devrait pas nous décourager mais, bien au contraire, elle devrait nous inciter à soutenir et à renforcer les actions de la FAO pour hii permettre de poursuivre, sans relâche, les objectifs nobles qu’elle s’est assignés.
La FAO a su mobiliser et concrétiser la collaboration entre les nations et, par ses appels fréquents, elle a réussi à établir un élan de la solidarité internationale en faveur des peuples sinistrés. Cet élan s’est traduit par des programmes d’aide alimentaire précieux mais dont l’efficacité, il est vrai, n’a pas toujours été garantie par le relai logistique local.
Nous pensons, néanmoins, que ce genre d’aides devrait être intégré aux stratégies nationales pour contribuer à l’installation et au développement des capacités productives propres et apporter ainsi des solutions durables aux problèmes alimentaires.
En matière de sécurité alimentaire, nous rappellerons ici la déclaration faite par le Président fondateur du M.P.R., Président de la République du Zaīre à la tribune des Nations Unies le 4 octobre 1973, je cite: “Les gouvernements seront jugés par leur capacité de nourrir leur peuple”.
La FAO, en encourageant les autosuffisances alimentaires nationales, oeuvre dans ce sens. Comme nous venons de le souligner, l’élan de solidarite qui s’est manifesté pour assister les pays défavorisés peut être considéré comme un début de prise de conscience de la communauté internationale sur le fait que le problème de l’alimentation des peuples est de la responsabilité mondiale. Nous ne pouvons que soutenir cette tendance et demander aux différents membres de notre Organisation de s’engager davantage dans cette voie. Les propositions de la FAO en cette matière nous le recommandent.
En ce qui concerne les programmes 1986-87, programmes qui renforcent les activités de la FAO et du PAM sur le terrain; nous souhaitons que soient attribués à la FAO les moyens financiers nécessaires à la réalisation de son programme, tandis que pour le PAM un effort devrait être fait pour atteindre les objectifs de contribution souhaités par le Sécretariat exécutif.
Le Code international de conduite pour la distribution et l’utilisation des pesticides soumis à cette Conférence par le Secrétariat devrait être aclopté sans réserve. Devrions-nous rappeler ici que les pesticides, tout en présentant un intérêt pour l’agriculture, restent cependant un produit toxique qui présente un danger permanent pour l’utilisateur.
L’application de ce code permettrait de limiter les dégâts et aiderait l’agriculteur ainsi que le vulgarisateur à se mettre à l’abri du danger.
Avec votre autorisation et dans les limites du temps qui nous est imparti, je voudrais faire un survol rapide de la situation agricole de mon pays à l’intention de l’Honorable assemblée. La crise économique n’a pas épargné l’agriculture zaīroise, bien au contraire, elle s’est traduite par un certain nombre de déséquilibres dus a la stagnation et même à la régression de la production dans certains secteurs. Depuis quelque temps cependant, une évolution positive mais lente se manifesté dans la production des cultures vivrières.
A l’occasion de son investiture à la Magtstrature suprême le 5 décembre 1984, le Président fondateur du M.P.R. Président de la République du Zaīre, a dans son discours-programme mis un accent particulier sur la relance de l’économie zaīroise par son agriculture.
Afin de concrétiser les grandes options annoncées par le Président de la République, le Plan quinquennal 1986-1990 en cours d’élaboration au niveau du Conseil exécutif prévoit un volet agricole important dont les objectifs généraux sont:
- accraissement de la production vivrière pour réaliser l’autosuffisance alimentaire;
- promotion des cultures industrie1les servant de matières premières aux industries locales;
- développernent des cultures d’exportation génératrices de devises nécessaires à l’équipement du pays.
D’une manière générale, pour les principaux produits de base qui constituent la préoccupation constante du Conseil exécutif, le niveau de production actuelle n’est pas encore à la hauteur des besoins.
En effet, si avec ses 15 millions de tonnes de tubercules, le Zaīre s’autosuffit en manioc, les besoins en maīs sont couverts à 80 % et ceux du riz à 60 %.
La production de coton et de Sucre en 1984 ne représente que 50 % des besoins réels du pays. En ce qui concerne le café, les problèmes de financement des stocks se posent. Les programmes de relance de la culture de palmiers, de cacao et de thé sont en cours d’execution. Il en est de même pour le secteur de l’élevage et de la pêche.
Pour atteindre les objectifs du plan quinquennal, le Conseil exécutif a retenu l’aménagement de l’espace rural comme cadre de futures actions du programme du développernent agricole.
Ce cadre général des actions, qui n’est pas une fin en soi, comportera essentiellement des interventions d’appui à la production et s’étendra dans plusieurs domaines relatifs aux infrastructures socio-économiques et aux équipements collectifs susceptibles d’entraîner le regroupement des paysans afin de diminuer leurs coûts sociaux de développernent.
Les objectifs ainsi définis ne peuvent se réaliser pleinement que si les contraintes au développernent, du reste connues, font l’objet des politiques spécifiques satisfaisantes, politiques dont les grands axes seront les suivants:
1. Régionalisation et concentration des différentes actions de terrain dans le cadre d’une stratégie basée sur la création de foyers de développernent et où les projets seront les points d’application de programmes généraux nationaux.
Dans ce contexte, le foyer de développernent désignera “une zone spatiale” dotée d’une structure opérationnelle et autonome dans laquelle on peut déceler la présence des éléments socio-économiques susceptibles de promouvoir et d’entretenir le développernent de cette zone et de ses environs.
2. Accroissement de la taille des exploitations traditionnelles et création de petites et moyennes entreprises dans le secteur agricole.
3. Amélioration générale de la productivité, réduction des coûts de production et augmentation conséquente des revenus.
4. Maintien de la libéralisation des prix pour stimuler la production.
5. Développernent du secteur privé associé à la branche en amont et en aval.
6. Amélioration des mécanismes de financement de l’agriculture compte tenu de la faible parité de ce secteur par rapport à d’autres secteurs de l’économie.
7. Diversification de la production paysanne qui devra progressivement s’intéresser aux cultures industrielles.
8. Intégration des différents secteurs agricoles pour maximiser l’utilisation de ressources disponibles.
9. Relance des coopératives agricoles comme moyen permettant aux petits agriculteurs d’avoir accès aux techniques modernes de production.
Le Conseil exécutif déploie des efforts considérables pour la mise en oeuvre et la réussite de toutes ces politiques. Néanmoins, il reste entendu que le succès de ce programme agricole dépend bien sûr des efforts propres du Conseil exécutif, mais également de l’assistance de la communauté Internationale.
A ce sujet, nous nous réjouissons des bonnes relations qui existent entre la FAO et les autres organismes internationaux, car cela permet une meilleure coordination des actions sur le terrain.
Qu’il me soit permis à ce stade d’exprimer ma sympathie et mes sentiments de profonde gratitude au Président indépendant sortant qui durant quatre ans a dirigé brillamment les travaux du Conseil.
Pour terminer, je tiens à réitérer mes remerciements à l’adresse de la FAO qui, durant 25 ans, a contribué à épauler le Conseil exécutif dans ses efforts de développement.
Je vous remercie.
Borom TANTHIEN (Thailand): First of all on behalf of my delegation and myself I associate myself with the expression of deepest regret and grief to the people of Colombia for the disaster which has struck their country.
It is my great pleasure to attend this important conference for the second time. On behalf of the Thai delegation, I wish to extend to you our sincere congratulations on your election to the Chairmanship of the Twenty-third Session of the FAO conference.
In the same manner, I wish to extend our warm congratulations to all the Vice-Chairmen, representing the different regions of the world.
Forty years have passed since the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations came into existence. This year, the Fortieth Anniversary of FAO coincided with the Fifth World Food Day, which made the Sixteenth of October all the more special. On this occasion, a special ceremony was held in the premises of the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, which is located in Bangkok, Thailand. Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn had most graciously consented to preside over the ceremony, in which outstanding farmers were also recognized and awarded by FAO.
FAO and Thailand have cooperated with each other in many fields of food and agricultural development, to our mutual benefit. Moreover, a large number of fellowships have been granted to the Thais by the Organization for academic and practical training: as well as for study tours abroad. FAO cooperation has enabled Thailand, in no small part, to improve its economic well-being and agricultural productivity. My delegation trusts that: this collaborative effort will continue for many years to come.
Asia and the Pacific, despite its remarkable record in approaching food self-reliance, is still a developing region where many of the world’s chronically undernourished live. Thailand has not only tried to find ways to reach its people who face this problem, but also to increase their income and productivity as well. The problem is perceived primarily as a race against time to balance a rising number of people in the nation and total national food supplies, while maintaining our share in the world market. In this context, population growth is being reduced through family planning, which has been successful in Thailand.
The world has to accommodate nearly one billion more people in 1985 than in 1976. Despite plenty of food, there remain hundreds of millions of hungry and malnourished, especially in Africa, and certain parts of Asia and Latin America. Thus, the problems of hunger and malnutrition that we are facing today do not come from world food insufficiency, but from inequitable and untimely distribution. We must find ways and means to distribute food effectively from areas of food surplus to areas of food shortage, while at the same time we must render assitance to the hungry to produce sufficient food for themselves.
Regarding food aid, Thailand has devoted itself to help other countries with food, especially those facing natural calamities such as floods, typhoons, and drought. As a food surplus country, Thailand has always been concerned and obliged to help and to cooperate in reducing the plights and sufferings of friends in the Third World. Thailand has been making contributions to world relief as required, as well as giving diverse assistance, both in cash and in kind, to affected countries.
My delegation believes that in addition to food aid, hunger and malnutrition can also be alleviated through the use of international trade and food security programmes. However, import restrictions, export subsidy programmes and other trade barriers based on domestic agricultural policies by developed countries have had a destabilizing effect on the international market and on the food security of many developing countries. Therefore, my delegation would like to urge developed countries to curtail protectionism, which fosters international market instability. They should consider tripartite trade policies to support developing countries with food surpluses while providing food aid to other developing countries with food deficits. My delegation strongly believes that the world food problem can be solved only by restructuring the international economic order on a just and equitable basis. My delegation also supports the World Food Security Compact proposed to this conference.
My delegation would like to express our view concerning the Director-General’s Programme of Work and Budget of 1986 and 1987. It is difficult for the Thai delegation to accept the proposed zero net growth budget.
Under the present situation, we strongly believe that there is greater need for developing countries to seek more assistance from FAO than in the past. We further believe that the net programme increase of only 1.1 percent will not be in keeping with the proposed strategies, priorities and programmes, in particular the Technical Cooperation Programme. My delegation also feels that the proposed budget for the next biennium should have been set at a higher level to ensure the effective implementation of the programme as planned.
Food is obtained not only from the soil but also from the water. Thus, I would like to inform the Conference that my government recognizes the significant role played by fisheries in my country’s economy. Under the coming sixth Five Year Plan, more emphasis will be placed on the proper management of marine fishery resources in our exclusive economic zone, on coastal and inland aquaculture development and on the increased use of fish as food to improve the nutritional level of the poor, especially in the rural sector. Thes-e are in line with the Strategy for Fisheries Management and Development and the associated Programme of Action approved by the 1984 World Fisheries Conference. My delegation is, therefore, pleased with the progress made by FAO in the implementation of the Programme of Action. We hope that more funds will be forthcoming from various donors to ensure their effective implementation.
Thailand realizes that the attainment of farm product quality is becoming a more important goal of agricultural policies and strategies. Thus, my delegation lends its wholehearted support for the establishment of a Regional Pesticide Training Center and Service Laboratory in Thailand. The objectives of this Center are to increase the production and to improve the quality of food products through the use of pesticides in amounts as low as necessary to be efficient. The safe and efficient use of pesticides are considered the most effective preventative measures to avoid harmful pesticide residues and at the same time to ensure food safety and protect the health of consumers.
I wish to extend our appreciation to FAO for its cooperative efforts and assistance to Thailand and offer my best wishes for the further success of FAO and for a fruitful and successful conference of ours.
Thank you for your kind attention to my speech.
M.E. MAHACHI (Zimbabwe): I would like on behalf of the people and the Government of Zimbabwe to join the other speakers before in conveying our deepest condolences to the Government and people of Colombia for the great suffering brought upon them by the recent volcanic disaster. It was with horror and deep shock that we received the tragic news and the horrifying pictures on TV of the disaster in Colombia. We hope that the international community will, in the spirit of brotherhood and solidarity, come quickly with material support for our brothers and sisters in Colombia.
I would also like to congratulate you, Mr Chairman, on your election and the distinguished way in which you are conducting this Conference. We would also wish to join others in welcoming our two new members, our sister Nations, the Solomon Islands and the Cook Islands to the FAO. I have no doubt that the FAO will benefit from the wealth of ideas and the new experience brought by the two sister countries.
It is a great pleasure for me to speak on behalf of the Government of Zimbabwe, at this Twenty-third Session of the FAO Conference, and at the same time join other delegates in commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the FAO.
Please permit me to start by mentioning that, due to a variety of reasons, the agricultural sector in Zimbabwe has earned the country quite an impressive record especially during the past two seasons in 1984 and 1985.
A notable feature of our agricultural performance in 1984 had been the steep rise in food imports, particularly maize and wheat, following a severe three-year drought.
This however, was immediately followed by an estimated 12 percent increase in real output in agriculture during the 1985 season.
As a result of this rapid recovery in agriculture, real growth in gross domestic product is forecast at 6 percent compared with 1 percent in 1984, minus 3.5 percent in 1983, and zero growth in 1982, when drought started to affect the economy of our country.
The combination of good rains, higher commodity prices in world markets, a moderate domestic rate of inflation coupled with the depreciation of the local currency and more favourable terms of trade resulted in a radical improvement in the balance of payments position.
Exports of tobacco, meat, tea, coffee and cotton accounted for the bulk of the country’s export earnings during this period of recovery. This year in addition to the above commodities, substantial quantities of maize, sorghum and millet will be available for export.
While the recovery of the agricultural sector has also benefited from realistic domestic fiscal and monetary economic stabilization policies adopted by the Government, in part this performance has served to highlight the critical role of agricultural sectors not only in Zimbabwe, but also in other southern African countries with a similar economic structure.
Small-scale and peasant farmers in Zimbabwe have dramatically demonstrated an ability, given the necessary incentives, to cater to their own needs in providing food and generating income through sales of surplus agricultural produce, while simultaneously playing a bigger part in national agricultural production and food security, and contributing to the export earnings of the country.
The contribution of the small-scale farming sector to total marketable agricultural output, in volume terms, has risen from a proportion of under 10 percent in 1981, to a proportion which is in excess of 40 percent in 1985, most of it via an increase in the production of maize, sorghum, millet, cotton and sunflower seed.
The fact that this growth took place during a period associated with severe drought and international economic recession goes to prove that this was mainly a policy-induced volume growth in agriculture, and not just a natural growth in output as might be expected.
In that respect, Mr Chairman, the impressive performance of our small farmers is being largely attributed to vigorous agrarian reforms and agricultural adjustment programmes introduced by the Government since 1980.
Some of the reforms include the rapid expansion of adaptive research, training and extension services geared for the small-scale sector, provision of farm credit, and the establishment of controlled marketing depots giving appropriate guaranteed producer prices for the major agricultural products delivered by farmers. Pricing policies and related policy mesaures have also had a significant impact on boosting production and maintaining a satisfactory balance between cash crops and food crops.
A major feature of agricultural structural adjustment has been the resettlement of some small-scale farmers to more productive lands, and this, together with the expansion of state and co-operative farms, has greatly contributed to increasing agricultural output.
At the same time, large-scale commercial production has continued to play a critical role in the Zimbabwean agricultural system, and the sector has exhibited notable gains in productivity during this period.
The major challenge now facing government is how to sustain the positive improvements so far achieved, against the background of a possible recurrence of drought, deterioration in the international economic environment and several other unforeseeable economic disturbances which might arise.
We believe that the development of our irrigation resources is essential to offset effects of future droughts. We live in a region that generally receives low and unreliable rainfall. The proper management of irrigation is essential as well as the project planning, which must be done on our irrigation schemes.
Mr Chairman, the causes of our recent agricultural successes which I have outlined, though, will need to be diligently investigated further before concrete lessons and inferences can be derived from them.
On the production side, it is evident than an over intensification of certain crops or over-grazing of livestock, in the absence of effective land management policies, can lead to excessive land degradation, conservation problems, and an irreversible loss of productive capacity. Problems of pest and disease control, it appears, seem to become more pronounced as production is intensified and as new crop varieties are introduced.
Given the bare fact that high rates of population growth will inevitably continue to place considerable strain in our finite arable land resources, there will be need for us to focus attention on improving productivity, maintaining a correct production mix in each agro-economic zone, and at the same time attempting to equitably absorb the increased rural population into productive activities.
The critical role of women in food production is beginning to be recognized in agrarian reform measures, and training, extension and transfer of technology are being appropriately adjusted in order to accommodate the special needs of women farmers who had been ignored in the past.
On the marketing side, severe bottlenecks have come to light during the procurement of crop surpluses from the enlarged harvest in communal areas, particularly with respect to transport and suitability of rural feeder roads, availability of grain bags and village storage facilities that cater to the sudden build-up of grain stocks, and delays in processing the payment of producers. This latter aspect is crucial to farming because it may affect loan repayment and consequently the disbursement of further credits for the purchase of farm inputs for the new season, thereby seriously affecting the proper timing of production processes.
Emergency measures, such as the establishment of temporary marketing depots, have had to be introduced to deal with recent bumper harvests while longer term solutions for improving the entire crop marketing system are under review, coupled with various other factors that affect food accesibility for rural families and their nutritional status.
Mr Chairman, I would mention here the plight of some countries in our region that have achieved food surpluses. Being landlocked, transport to overseas markets reduces our ability to compete with the rest of the world. Within the region, commodities are imported from developed countries that are better able to subsidize their exports. At the FAO Council, we have and continue to appeal for support in this regard.
The lack of markets for our surpluses may result in the dampening of our production, which, in turn, may result in reduced productivity.
Finally, Mr Chairman I would like to mention our involvement in regional economic cooperation efforts, specifically under the auspicies of the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) and the Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern Africa States (PTA). Notable progress is being made in many SADCC regional agricultural and food security programmes, and in fostering regional trade among Preferential Trade Area (PTA) states as a result of regional cooperation under these fora.
Some of our projects have received quite generous technical and financial assistance from external agencies, including the FAO, and we are very grateful for that.
Regional economic instability, which incidentally has been aggravated by the drought situation, has however contributed to lessening the flow of outside investment into the region.
Export market conditions in the southern African region crucial in sustaining economic recovery and in creating a conducive investment environment are being further complicated by the South African authorities, who are using transport and subversive means to exert political and economic pressure on neighbouring States.
The need for increased and more rapid aid disbursements from developed countries, together with an inflow of private foreign investment for strengthening the recovery of our agricultural sectors, which form the backbone of the sub-region, cannot be overstressed.
We also, on our part, remain firm in our commitment to adopt sound agricultural policies towards achieving self-reliance in agriculture.
We also remain firm to our commitment to all of the objectives of FAO.
Long live FAO! Long live the solidarity of mankind to eradicate hunger from this planet!
J.M. WATSON (Panamá): Sr. Presidente: Ante todo, nuestras muy sentidas condolencias al pueblo hermano de Colombia. En estos momentos trágicos, toda nuestra solidaridad.
La delegación de Panamá desea de manera especial hacerle un reconocimiento a usted ante esta tribuna mundial por su elección como Présidente de la 23a Conferencia de FAO y en este año que conmemoramos el 40o Aniversario de su fundación. Por su gran experiencia y sabiduría estamos seguros del éxito que alcanzaremos al finalizar nuestras labores. De igual manera, queremos felicitar a los tres distinguidos Vicepresidentes que lo acompañan en la conducción de los debates diarios, cuya colaboración ya hemos visto con gran satisfacción.
Para el Sr. Director Général, Dr. Edouard Saouma, nuestro homenaje en este 40o Aniversario por su dedicación a la FAO, su magnífico trabajo en la ejecución de los programas y su gran sensibilidad ante los problemas de mi millones de seres humanos que día a día tocan la puerta de la FAO en busca de efectiva ayuda.
Les damos a las Islas Cook y a las Islas Salomón la más cordial bienvenida a esta Organización y estamos seguros de que su presencia fortalecerá a nivel mundial los nobles propósitos de FAO.
Sr. Présidente: La República de Panamá tiene el honor de ser uno de los 34 Estados Miembros de esta Organización, que el 16 de octubre de 1945 firmó la Constitución que dio vida a esta Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación. Panamá lo hizo compenetrada, tanto de su espíritu panamericanista como internacionalista propio de una joven República. Esta identificación de Panamá con la FAO se ha venido acrecentando durante estos fructíferos 40 años de existencia, la cual, conforme a su Carta Fundamental, tiene como responsabilidad básica elevar los niveles de nutrición y vida de los pueblos, mejorar los rendimientos de la producción y la eficiencia en la distribución de todos los alimentos y productos alimenticios y agrícolas, así como mejorar las condiciones de la población rural, contribuir a la expansión de la econonomía mundial y liberar la humanidad del hambre.
La República de Panamá ha expresado en todo momento su identificación con estos objetivos maestros de la FAO, y, sinceramente considera que el balance de las realizaciones de esta Organización durante estos primeros 40 años de existencia son definitivamente positivos. Más aún, considera, que de no existir una Organización como ésta, la humanidad se vería hoy en la obligación de crearla.
Es la FAO el Organismo dentro del Sistema de las Naciones Unidas que con mayor éxito contribuye a desvirtuar, en la práctica, las posiciones de aquellos que quieren a toda costa, y por distintas formas, poner en crisis el multilateralismo.
La República de Panamá mira con gran preocupación el empobrecimiento de la región centroamericana debido a conflictos de orden económico y político que como resultado del enfrentamiento ideológico imperante en parte del área y la manipulación de gran parte de sus productos básicos por las transnacionales, ha convertido en activo caldo de cultivo posiciones extremistas al parecer irreconciliables. No obstante, ante esta situación, y tomando en cuenta nuestra experiencia negociadora en base al diálogo, surge la iniciativa de Contadora, que con gran coraje y dinamismo llevan a cabo Colombia, México, Venezuela y Panamá. Iniciativa que se ha visto reforzada con gran satisfacción, ya que los Gobiernos de Argentina, Brasil, Perú y Uruguay hace poco iniciaron en Cartagena su función como mecanismos de apoyo al Grupo Contadora. Esperamos resultados positivos, puesto que la comunidad internacional respalda firmemente los postulados para la paz enunciados en el acta de Contadora.
Panamá, dentro de sus planes y estrategias nacionales, lucha por el establecimiento de un modelo de desarrollo intensivo del agro, que incluye la introducción y empleo de nuevas tecnologías, mejoramiento de la seguridad alimentaria y de los ingresos, procesos tecnologícos y operaciones de trabajo, que promuevan una efectiva utilización de los recursos, comercialización de sus productos y sobre todo un incremento de la producción, con miras a garantizar la autosuficiencia alimentaria y reducir la importación que hoy alcanza el 40 por ciento en el total agropecuario.
Igualmente, deseamos alcanzar un desarrollo rural integrado, encaminado a combatir la pobreza, el desempleo y la destrucción en las áreas más pobres del país. Este objetivo exige implantar acciones tendientes a crear condiciones para incorporar a la población rural marginada en actividades económicas rentables y productivas, con el propósito de reducir la brecha existente entre otros sectores económicos y con el fin de lograr mayores ventajas y atractivos para el asentamiento de los recursos humanos.
Sin embargo, Sr. Presidente, nuestro país es consciente de los obstáculos que enfrentamos los países en desarrollo para poner en práctica tales medidas, especialmente por los problemas económicos y financieros por los cuales atraviesan nuestras economías.
Esta situación se caracteriza por el ya conocido endeudamiento de nuestros países, que trae consigo que un alto porcentaje de sus exportaciones, bienes y servicios estén dedicados al servicio de la deuda externa, debido en gran parte al aumento de las tasas de intereses reales que efectúa la comunidad financiera internacional para resolver problemas totalmente ajenos al desarrollo económico y social de nuestros pueblos.
La transferencia neta de recursos de los países en desarrollo a los países desarrollados, como hemos ya señalado en otras oportunidades, es realmente dramática, al punto que hoy día cada vez pagamos más caro por lo que importamos y nuestras exportaciones se reducen, producto de las injustas condiciones de intercambio imperantes, lo que, unido a un proteccionismo creciente y asfixiante y a un proceso inflacionario galopante, han provocado en los países en desarrollo una progresiva escasez de recursos que les impide sufragar su desarrollo.
Para Panamá, el aumento sólo de un punto porcentual en los intereses de su deuda externa significa el pago de 16 millones de U.S. dólares adicionales, y la transferencia anual neta de recursos viene a significar actualmente unos 250 millones de U.S. dólares.
Es por ello que la República de Panamá considera que la crisis actual exige de la comunidad internacional respuestas que tiendan a proyectar el desarrollo permanente en búsqueda de la autosuficiencia alimentaria de cada pueblo, efectuando una repartición más equitativa y justa de los recursos disponibles, conforme a lo que se prevé en el Nuevo Orden Económico Internacional.
Frente a la crisis africana, producto entre otros aspectos del desajuste económico mundial, al que nemos hecho referencia, esta delegación considera imperativo que el consorcio de naciones aquí reunido reafirme los criterios encaminados al desarrollo agrícola y rural del Continente. Las medidas deben enfrentarse a largo plazo y deben ser tendientes a solucionar de raíz los problemas estructurales que les aquejan, con miras a lograr la autosuficiencia alimentaria y un desarrollo integral basado en modelos propios y ajustados a las condiciones del Africa.
Igualmente y dentro de este contexto, Panamá desea expresar su apoyo a la iniciativa de la FAO de aprobar un Pacto de Seguridad Alimentaria, y hace un llamado a la comunidad internacional, en especial a aquellos paises que han puesto reparos en su adopción, a que el mismo sea aprobado por unanimidad en esta Conferencia. El Pacto que se nos sugiere constituye simplemente un llamado a los deberes morales que todos los países miembros tienen para combatir, según su capacidad, el hambre y la malnutrición en el mundo.
En un mundo como el de hoy, en donde predominan el subdesarrollo, el hambre y la malnutrición, es imposible negar la importancia del ideal y de las concepciones éticas, morales y religiosas. Por ello, el Pacto constituye un faro de esperanza para millones de seres humanos que claman por asegurarse día a día el sustento vital.
En relación con los aspectos referentes al Programa de labores y Presupuesto, deseo, en primer lugar, reiterar la posición de mi Gobierno, tantas veces expresada en éste y otros foros, y manifestar, en consecuencia, no sólo en el caso de la FAO, sino también en el de otros Organismos de las Naciones Unidas, nuestro total y firme rechazo de la política de crecimiento cero o del concepto de crecimiento simbólico, propugnados por unos pocos países. Insistimos en nuestra posición porque coincidimos con la mayoría de los países que componen esta Organización, en el sentido de que tales políticas simbolizan un ataque al multiiateralismo y frenan nuestras posibilidades de desarrollo. Nos mantenemos en esta posición porque, mientras de una parte conocemos de la reanudación económica con considerable vigor en casi todo el mundo industrializado, obtenida en muchos casos a expensas de la transferencia neta de nuestros recursos, por la otra sabemos que, como consecuencia en gran parte de tal hecho, en muchos países en desarrollo particularmente en Africa y en nuestra region, América Latina y el Caribe, continúa el estancamiento e incluso el empeoramiento económico. Tal situación provoca, en consecuencia, un aumento sensible de las necesidades del sector agrícola vital y de los recursos para combatir el subdesarrollo, el hambre y la malnutrición. Perseveramos en nuestra posición porque nos preocupa la tendencia generalizada a reducir la asistencia internacional para el sector agrícola, y en manera particular hacia aquellos Organismos que, como la FAO, practican la acción multilateral, y nos preocupan las consecuencias politicas que de tal tendencia se podrían derivar. Insistimos en nuestra posición porque, como ellos, contribuimos con nuestras cuotas de manera proporcional y, según nuestras posibilidades, a los diferentes presupuestos del Sistema de las Naciones Unidas. Todo esto a pesar de que, por efecto de la crisis económica imperante y de la devaluación de muchas de nuestras monedas, posiblemente, en relación con los países desarrollados, nos costará más el aporte de nuestras contribuciones.
Por todo ello, creemos injustificado el aducido pretexto de la limitación del gasto público nacional de esos pocos países, porque a la luz de cuanto hasta aquí se ha expresado, nos parecía injusta y en ciertos aspectos hasta inhumana la concepción de una tal política frente a las necesidades de millares y millares de personas que padecen hambre y malnutrición.
El Gobierno panameño, a través de la participación de nuestra Misión Permanente ante la FAO, conoce no sólo la actitud flexible y de profundo sentido de cooperación con que el Sr. Director Général ha acogido los señalamientos planteados tanto por el Consejo como por los Comités que lo asesoran, sino también su esfuerzo para limitar al máximo el crecimiento del presupuesto para el bienio 1986-87 a fin de que el mismo pueda recibir el consenso de todos los Estados Miembros. La delegación de Panamá a esta Conferencia por lo tanto, aun insistiendo en que las necesidades para hacer frente a los problemas son mucho mayores y reiterándose en los conceptos antes emitidos, no puede hacer menos que elogiar la actitud del Director Général y apoyar dicho programa de labores y presupuesto.
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En efecto, y dentro de este contexto manifestamos, además, nuestro apoyo total y decidido a las seis prioridades de la FAO, a la apropiada repartición regional de las diferentes actividades que ella ejecuta, a sus programas prioritarios y a las prioridades en los medios de acción. Apoyamos asimismo, aunque llamando la atención de nuestra preocupación por el hecho que no se pueden hacer indefinidamente recortes de esta índole sin afectar la eficiencia de la Organización, la disminución en gastos de plantilla. Queremos también manifestar nuestra complacencia por las actividades de las Oficinas Regionales de esta Organización.
Dentro de este marco de referencias general, permítanos Sr. Presidente, expresar que para mi delegación la cooperación económica y técnica entre los países en desarrollo, CEPD y CTPD, representa uno de los mecanismos de autosuficiencia colectiva más válidos que poseemos los paises en desarrollo y lo consideramos una de las premisas fundamentales para la instauración del nuevo orden económico intemacional. Por esta razón la apoyamos de manera firme, decidida y prioritaria. Destacamos, sin embargo, que dicha cooperación no debe sustituir a la cooperación Norte-Sur. Es en este contexto que manifestamos nuestra identificación y apoyo a los conceptos que en tal sentido coqtiene la Conferencia de Buenos Aires, el Plan de Acción de Caracas, el Programa de Acción de la Conferencia Mundial sobre Reforma Agraria y Desarrollo Rural y la Reunión Global de Bucarest sobre la Cooperación Económica entre Países en Desarrollo en el Sector de la Agricultura y la Alimentación.
Asimismo mi delegación estima oportuno reiterar su apoyo prioritario al Programa de Cooperación Técnica (PCT) dentro del Programa Ordinario de la FAO. Y es que a nuestro juicio de propias experiencias, el mismo por su flexibilidad y acción catalítica, representa un instrumento de gran beneficio para los países en desarrollo, sobre todo ahora que existe una crisis en la acción multilateral y que, tal vez por sus efectos, han disminuido sensiblemente otros recursos de asistencia para el desarollo, tales como por ejemplo: el PNUD, el FIDA, etc., etc.
A este propósito y respecto al FIDA insistimos en la necesidad de que se lleve a cabo, a la mayor brevedad posible, la segunda reposición de sus recursos.
Es innegable que el PCT ha permitido reforzar, no sólo las relaciones entre los paises en desarrollo y la Organización, sino también entre los propios países en desarrollo.
Con relación a este último concepto en nuestra región - América Latina y el Caribe - tenemos ejemplos palpables de la necesidad y beneficios de este tipo de asistencia que es perfectamente canalizable a través del PCT. Tal es el caso, por ejemplo, de la solicitud de asistencia para beneficiar a la empresa multinacional latinoamericana de comercialización de fertilizantes, MULTIFERT, integrada actualmente por ocho estados de la Región, pero abierta a la participación de todos los otros. Por tales motivos, entre otros, mi delegación da su total apoyo, no sólo al establecimiento de una nueva categoría (C) para proyectos del PCT destinada a actuar como catalizadora de la cooperación económica y técnica entre países en desarrollo, sino también al propuesto aumento del límite de costos de uno de estos proyectos de 250 000 a 400 000 dólares de los Estados Unidos.
La delegación de Panamá no puede dejar pasar la ocasión sin hacer referencia a la particular consideración que nos merecen’ los aspectos relacionados con la promoción del papel de la mujer en el desarrollo rural, en especial en nuestros países en desarrollo. Aunque estimamos que se han logrado algunos progresos en tal sentido, consideramos que ello no es suficiente, y que es necesario dar nuevos y vigorosos impulsos a los esfuerzos que para tal fin se ejecutan. Debe prestarse especial atención a aspectos tales como: una creciente capacitación de las mujeres, no sólo para mejorar sus condiciones productivas, sino también, y sobre todo, para lograr que las mismas alcancen ocupar posiciones directivas, hoy en muchas partes del mundo reservadas a los hombres.
Igualmente somos portadores en este Año Mundial de la Juventud, de un saludo muy especial a los jóvenes del campo que con su esfuerzo y sus ideales contribuyen efectivamente al progreso y bienestar del género humano. Estamos seguros que miles de corazones de jóvenes panameños que labran nuestra tierra se unen con regocijo a este saludo.
Destacamos y reconocemos, por otra parte, la función de la FAO para la puesta en marcha de la estrategia para la ordenación y el desarrollo de la pesca, así como de sus 5 programas de acción propuestos por la Conferencia Mundial de Pesca. Nos complace, además, dentro de este marco de referencias, la importancia que esta Organización presta a la pesca continental, y en especial a la acuicultura, en su afán por mejorar tanto la nutrición humana, como de aumentar los ingresos de las poblaciones rurales pobres.
Instamos asimismo a la Conferencia a que adopte por consenso el Código Internacional de la Conducta para la Distribución y Utilización de Plaguicidas, así como a los países que aún no lo han hecho para que se adhieran al compromiso internacional sobre recursos fitogenéticos.
La República de Panamá ligada por su posición geográfica a los destinos de la humanidad, une dos mares; hoy los dos lemas de FAO y de Panamá (“Fiat Panis” -”Pro mundi beneficio”) complementan uno de los más caros anhelos del hombre.
J.C. WHEELER (United Nations Environment Programme): This is the year of the 40th Anniversary of both the United Nations and of the Food and Agriculture Organization. It is a time of celebration and of taking stock. May I extend heartiest congratulations on your 40th Anniversary from your very much younger and smaller sister in Nairobi, the United Nations Environment Programme Unit.
In taking stock, it is worthwhile to look at what has happened to the world in the perspective of this 40-year period. In the developed countries average standards of living have gone up, as indicated by the statistics on per capita income, life expectancy, levels of education, automobile ownership and all the rest. In the developing world there have been extraordinary development efforts have resulted in a nearly doubled life expectancy rate, a dramatically increased literacy and, for most parts of the world, improved nutritional levels. All of these improvements can be listed as successes for humanity. But success has bred new problems.
In the North the decisive improvements in the standard of living, involving increased use of resources, has put new pressures on the environment in the form of water pollution, air pollution, congestion, noise and frequent contact with dangerous chemicals. To an encouraging extent these challenges to the environment in the North have brought an effective response and, where problems have emerged, solutions have often followed. Yet new issues constantly come into view. The pressures on our natural environment are relentless.
The developing world has experienced very rapid population growth as well as increases in the use of resources to meet improved standards of living. The developing world is going through the demographic transition at a much faster pace than was the case in the developed world, and we are still in the middle of it. The environmental pressures have resulted in desertification, where the world is losing perhaps 6 million hectares a year — mostly in the developing world — deforestation, where we are losing perhaps 11 million hectares of tropical forests per year — again, mostly in the developing world — loss of soil, pollution of water and in some cases, the conditions for famine. Yet we know that there is no going back — indeed, there is no desire to go back. What is needed is to complete the demographic transition, to face up to the policy and technical issues involved in dealing with the problems of desertification, diminished wood fuel supplies, soil loss, etc., and then to consolidate and extend the gains which have been made in terms of life expectancy, literacy and nutrition. The environmental agenda in the developing world is long and awesome as we face the problems of disease, unfulfilled educational aspirations and food production shortages while trying to feed a burgeoning population scheduled to double over the next six or seven decades.
In this brief intervention on behalf of the United Nations Environment Programme I would like to discuss only a few issues. The first of these is the crisis in Africa.
In Africa we might say that the environmental glue of that continent is coming unstuck. The natural resource base on which progress depends is quickly being chopped down or eroded away.
It is in this context that the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme has asked that we facilitate, in co-operation with the OAU and the ECA, an African Environmental Conference to be held at the environment minister level in Cairo from December 16 through 18.
To you the Ministers of Agriculture from the 50 countries of Africa we urge your close collaboration with your environmental counterparts in preparing for participation in this critical meeting. We have put forward a paper for this Cairo Conference which urges action at the national and regional level in dealing with the most important environmental problems on that beleaguered continent. The, issues are as much agricultural as they are environmental and they must be dealt with in a comprehensive way on an inter-agency basis, with each Ministry in each Government playing its proper role.
It is said that at the beginning of this century 40 percent of northern Ethiopia was covered by forests and that today the figure is 4 percent. And it is said that the loss of top soil in much of this area is now being measured in the thousands of tons per square kilometre.
It is said that the Sahara has moved south by 150 kilometres during this century and that the rate has accelerated. But, of course, deserts generally do not move on their own initiative. People create deserts. And the process of desertification must be reversed.
We urge the African States to give this Conference the importance it deserves and we urge the donor community to participate with the African Environment Ministers and consider support to the practical follow-up programmes the Ministers decide upon. The African Environmental Ministers will be looking for an African solution to the African crisis. But to make it work the United Nations system, the donor agencies, both multilateral and bilateral, and the non-governmental organizations around the world will each have to give their support.
We do not go into the African Environmental Conference knowing all the answers but we certainly know that to feed the billion Africans that will need to be fed in just one generation the problems of the African environment need a whole new magnititude of attention.
The second point I would like to stress is in reference to the world’s tropical forests. UNEP and FAO are convinced that the world’s forests must be more effectively utilized and in some cases must be re-established. Every minute some 15 hectares of tropical forest are cleared for agriculture or for other purposes. A joint effort between UNEP and FAO concluded that between 1980 and the year 2000 one-eighth of the world’s tropical forests will disappear. Other assessments go much further.
Again, there must be a new magnitude of attention. The good soils must be used even more intensively in order to avoid the misuse of fragile soils, the cutting of forest areas unsuitable for agriculture and the overgrazing of pasture areas. We must make more efficient use of wood by introducing more efficient stoves that are already available, and we must grow trees on private and community lands to meet the needs of fodder and fuel. While a good start has been made in many parts of the world toward more efficient use of the best soils and toward reforestation programmes, in many countries these tasks must be tackled with a whole new sense of urgency. Failing to do so may well put at risk the livelihood and even the very lives of the generation yet to be born.
UNEP supports the FAO Action Plan on Tropical Forests. We appreciate the donor initiative in assembling forest advisors in The Hague this week for the purpose of considering the response to the Action Plan. Our Executive Director, Dr Mostafa Tolba, in speaking before the Second Committee in October, has called for a new focus on the issue of tropical forests. UNEP, like FAO, will participate in the February conference initiated by France on the future of the tree and the forest in Europe and in Africa. But we all know that no amount of effort by the United Nations system and no amount of effort by the donor community will solve the problems of the world’s forests. They will be solved at the national, community and individual level, and it will require the best efforts of the leadership represented here at this Conference to arouse the national consciousness and to give leadership to the individual actions which will solve these problems. This year has been declared by FAO as the International Year of the Forest and we commend that. But to deal with this problem, every year must be a year of the forest.
I turn now to my third point, the question of resource management. In our governments, from the Prime Minister down, we need improved information on what is happening to natural resources. We need to know what the problems are to figure out how to solve them. UNEP for many years has been working: with other organizations within the UN system and with member governments on the Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS). Now, in September in Geneva we dedicated the pilot stage of a new component of GEMS - the Global Resource Information Database or GRID. This is an environment resource database that can be snared by the whole UN system and by participating national governments. GRID uses breakthrough advances in both computer hardware and software. GRID is to provide georeferenced data that will help us to understand both global and regional issues and which, when fully operational, should provide vital assistance to the planning agencies and line ministries of member governments. Commitments of support, already in hand, are valued at more than $2 million in the form of computer programmes, hardware, seconded personnel, data processing and accommodation for the facilities. While the “GRID control’1 facility is located in Nairobi, the main processing and modelling facility (GRID processor) is in Geneva. Eventually GRID will be available on-line to the whole UN system and other cooperating institutions.
GRID’S pilot phase calls for assembling and inputing information on soils, forests, climate, species, vegetation, air, water, CO2, and a variety of social and economic data sets ranging from demographic and economic indicators to tourism drawn from existing GEMS databases and data held by other UN, international and national organizations. All data will be related to specific geographical coordinates or areas. Existing data sets will be upgraded and new monitoring data, for example, from selected tropical forests and rangeland sites, will be included. A particular effort will be made to improve desertification assessment models, Resources and Biological Nitrogen Fixation, established in 1983 and 1984 respectively. I simply want to underline the importance of continuing to work closely together with the FAO and with the member governments of our two organizations in a coordinated effort to preserve genetic diversity. Genetic diversity is fundamental to food production and to other resources needed for a world that is expected to accommodate 10 billion people sometime in the next century.
Discussions leading toward cooperative programmes in these areas are also underway between UNEP and a number of countries in the developing world where particular problems and opportunities exist. Training in appropriate geographical information systems technology and analytical methods will be actively pursued from the outset in order to strengthen institutional capabilities at the national level.
We see GRID as also opening up important new areas for cooperation between UNEP and FAO, as well as with other agencies. GRID can help governments put together and then comprehend the jigsaw puzzle of the world’s resources. Ministers and delegates present here need to consider whether they have the institutional capacity to receive and utilize the explosion of information rapidly becoming available. We in UNEP will be interested in hearing from Governments around the world who need help in developing this institutional capacity. For the interest of the delegates I have put one copy in English of a recent publication on GRID in delegation pigeonholes.
My fourth point, Mr Chairman, has to do with genetic diversity, an area which has been receiving increasing attention in the world community during the past year. UNEP’s Governing Council in May took a decision on the implementation of the Action Plan for Biosphere Reserves. This grew out of the first International Congress on Biosphere Reserves held in Minsk in 1983 and co-sponsored by FAO. The issue, of course, is not unrelated to the question of tropical forests. UNEP historically has advocated conservation of the widest genetic diversity made freely available to all potential users. The adoption of the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources by the FAO Conference in November 1983 was an important move towards the development of a coordinated network of centres and for the drafting of an international convention on plant genetic resources. We are working with FAO in the Ecosystem Conservation Group (ECG), in the Working Group on in situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources, which held its first meeting in Gland, Switzerland in April 1985 and in the expert panels on Animal Genetic Resources.
Finally, Mr Chairman, I would like to make reference to our mutual concern about environment and pesticides. We certainly know that pesticides are an important part of the food production process. We also know that their use is expanding, particularly in the developing countries, at a very rapid rate and that there is considerable misuse.
We have worked with FAO in development of the Code of Conduct for the safe use of pesticides which is before you for adoption at this Conference. It will be important to press ahead with programmes to avoid the problems associated with overuse and misuse of pesticides and at the same time to continue our work on integrated pest control as an ecological approach to pest management. We have worked together with FAO in this latter area through the Collaborative Global Programme for the Development and Application of Integrated Pest Control in Agriculture. We hope that the members of FAO wil give increasing attention to this promising field.
The concerns of FAO and the concerns of UNEP are inseparable. Whether we are talking about desertification or a world soils policy, genetic diversity or forest cover, particularly in the developing countries, environment is as much an agricultural issue as it is anything else. We welcome the high priority placed on environment related issues by the FAO and by the Ministers of Agriculture and look forward to our continuing association in this vital area.
Again, congratulations to FAO on its 40th Anniversary. I hope when UNEP, a quarter of a century from now, reaches the same maturity our record of accomplishments will be as great.
R.M. BANDA (Malawi): I would like to join the other delegations in congratulating you on your election to chair this Conference. The choice was indeed the best for this Conference as one can see the manner in which the proceedings are being conducted. I would also like to commend the Director-General of FAO for his untiring efforts in directing the affairs of FAO successfully despite difficult conditions. May I also express how pleased we are today to witness the joining of Cook Islands and Solomon Islands to this important Organization. I wish them all the best.
May I express on behalf of my Government and the people of Malawi our sympathy to the Government and people of Colombia on the disaster that has occurred there.
On this occasion, when all member countries of FAO are celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Organization’s founding, Malawi would like to associate itself with this historical event. Our association with this historical event is not only rhetorical but action-oriented. In our national efforts to meet the expectations of the basic needs of the people of Malawi, which I believe are the expectations and needs of all mankind, His Excellency, Ngwazi Dr H. Kamuzu Banda, the Life President of the Republic of Malawi has focused on addressing the basic needs of the people.
Malawi is purely an agricultural country. We have no gold, silver or any other precious metals. Immediately after attaining our independence in 1964, our Life President decided to become his own Minister of Agriculture to cope with the food crisis the country had been experiencing during colonial times. He did not hesitate to inform his people of the serious task lying ahead of them in making Malawi self-sufficient in staple foods. His policy for agriculture was to make Malawi self-sufficient in staple foods, to increase farmers’ incomes from the sale of their agricultural produce, and to have surpluses for sale to gain foreign exchange. He informed the people that the wealth of the nation is in the soil. He appealed to his people to take the axe and the hoe and go to their gardens to cultivate. This message was disseminated to his people through the Malawi Congress Party and the mass media. It is fortunate for Malawi that the people listened to this appeal.
To ensure that his words meant action, he established his own farms to give an example and to train his people in farming techniques. He encouraged people to establish farms and provided the means to do so by providing credit packages for improved seeds, fertilizers and other farm implements. Quoting our Life President’s own words, he has continuously stated that, “Whatever the people of Malawi may not have, the Government must ensure that her people must have enough food, good clothing and good houses to live in”. In the context of FAO’s objectives, Malawi has achieved food self-sufficiency.
I need not emphasize that in the developing world the means to produce food must be given priority in each country. The international community’s commitment towards food production should supersede the commitment towards luxuries. We must remember that a hungry man cannot work in the garden or office, nor can he fight. Yet it is regrettably true that external assistance to agriculture remains inadequate in most cases.
The means for higher food production which we have found to be of major importance in Malawi are good quality seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and improved farm implements. However, these are not enough in themselves. It is vital to provide incentives to farmers to motivate them in their food production activities by taking their culture into consideration. We have found in Malawi that producer prices can be effectively used as incentives for higher production. However, good prices may lead to overselling of food items, if not well guided. Hence the need arises for farmer extension and training programmes in “setting their objectives relative to food storage and in ensuring that only surplus produce is offered for sale. Farmers also need support services such as credit at low interest rates, and infrastructure such as roads and markets.
Our experience in Malawi has shown that the extension research linkage is vital in ensuring the development of technologies that are useful and appropriate for the small farmers, who are the main food producers in developing countries.
With regard to drought, which has affected food production in many African countries, we believe the development of irrigation is important. I realize that irrigation development is possible only where adequate water is available and Malawi is fortunate in that we have adequate water supply. We believe such resources must be tapped and be utilized for agricultural development. The irrigation study I reported on during the 87th Session of the Council has now been completed. We are now appealing to donors to assist us in developing our irrigation projects.
In order to ensure food availability, the development of food storage facilities is another very important factor to consider. Location of such facilities must take into account distribution factors so that food can easily be made available to all parts of the nation, especially those areas that suffer frequent droughts or dry spells. In this connection I would like to appeal to donors to assist Malawi in achieving this objective.
I need not remind the Conference that Malawi is one of the landlocked, developing countries in Southern Africa facing serious problems from external factors. In this connection, the agriculture-dependent economy has been badly affected by fluctuations in commodity prices in the world market, as well as high overland road transportation costs due to regional instabilities. These costs per tonne have in most cases gone up five to ten times, thereby making our exports uncompetitive on the world market. Imports, especially crop inputs, have made the life of smallholder farmers difficult in the production of cash and food crops. Unfortunately some donors do not seem to understand these adverse conditions and have demanded the removal of crop input subsidies that primarily affect smallholders.
It is of major concern to note that agriculture cannot be divorced from the global economy. Developing countries are further adversely affected by high costs in loan servicing. Policies and strategies could be ineffective in a climate of adverse world economic conditions.
Malawi has in the past cushioned farmers from most of the burden of high crop input prices in order to ensure that the smallholder still has an incentive to produce. However, there is a limit to how much and for how long a government can cushion such burdens. I know that this is not uncommon in developing countries.
Most developed countries protect their farmers through sustained subsidies or other means in order to reduce production cost burdens on them. This is why such developed countries manipulate world market prices and bring about trade barriers to protect their farmers. Since developing countries do not have the capacity to shoulder such burdens, their agricultural systems are in trouble and deteriorate to the point of famine.
As a man from a developing, agriculturally dependent country, I would be failing in my duty if I did not refer to the two speeches made by two distinguished speakers who addressed this Conference on 14 November 1985. I refer to their Excellencies President Soeharto of Indonesia and President Mitterrand of France. The first one gave a graphic picture of successful agricultural development in the developing world and the other one reviewed the problems of agricultural development from the point of view of the developed world. I thank both of them very much for their efforts in trying to make the life of their peoples, as well for the world at large, bearable. I am sure that delegations both from the Third World as well as the developed countries have something to emulate from the two experiencies.
Concern has been expressed in many meetings that food aid has not reached the victims for a number of reasons, of which transportation is one. This situation is further aggravated when food has to be transported for long distances. I wish to reiterate that food aid must be. regionalized as much as possible. If there were stockpiles of food in certain countries in a particular region tapping costs to supply needy countries from within the region could be significantly reduced. This would not only save on transportation costs but also ensure timely delivery of food, while at the same time acting as a catalyst for further regional food production and self-reliance.
My delegation did indicate at the Eighty-Seventh Session of the Council that Malawi has surplus maize for export. This maize is produced by smallholder farmers in remote areas of the country through the use of simple implements: hoes. There is no sophisticated mechanization to which this achievement can be attributed, although a few farmers use work oxen. We consider that this area of development deserves the support of the FAO and other donors in order to sustain the momentum of production already achieved, and suggest that Malawi maize be purchased for food aid purposes, expecially for Southern Africa. The proposed measures will help both Malawian producers by assuring their incomes, as well as the region by assuring timely deliveries of food aid.
Allow me to refer once again to financial aid. I have indicated that Malawi has greatly benefited from external financial aid. One of the donors whose service we have appreciated is IFAD. Despite the many concerns expressed at the World Food Council Sessions, FAO Sessions, and other meetings of the same kind, little support is forthcoming to IFAD. I wish to register our concern over such a turn of events.
Let me now turn to Forestry development. Malawi has intentionally included forestry development in the National Rural Development Programme together with Agriculture, Health, Community Services and water supplies. This is done in the realization that wood products are an important source of fuel and shelter for the rural people and that the urban population relies on supplies from the former. Therefore, the involvement of area and Village Action Groups in forestry management is an important part of the Programme.
In order to achieve rational development in forestry, I appeal to friendly donors to consider increasing funding for forestry research and in-country programmes. Moreover, agroforestry forestry in Malawi could be to the mutual benefit of both forestry and agriculture for which the target groups are the same, namely the rural farmers. Since Malawi is landlocked and without fossil fuels, the country would particularly welcome any possibility of extracting alternative fuels and gas from her forest products.
Linked to deforestation are desertification and soil erosion. Malawi has established a National Secretariat for Environmental Protection in an attempt to find solutions to these problems. In this regard, a National Environmental Rehabilitation Programme is being formulated to which donors will be asked to contribute. This is important for Malawi in order to safeguard its environment.
The fisheries policy also aims at the national goal of achieving self-reliance in food, in line with recommendations made by the FAO World Conference on Fisheries Development and Management. Since the natural fishery is a finite resource, the increase in human population requires that emphasis be appropriately balanced between fishing and fish culture. The increase in human population is causing a decline in average fish consumption per capita. It could result in serious nutritional repercussions as fish forms about 70 percent of the total animal protein consumed by rural populations. Malawi is therefore developing fish preservation techniques, including the use of appropriate insecticides, in order to increase the shelf life and the quality of the product. I appeal to donors to help us develop these techniques according to international standards.
It is hoped that with assistance from FAO, Malawi will upgrade staff training programmes and its research capabilities to ensure that fish protein continues to be available to all people at a cost they can afford. May I appeal to donors to help Malawi reverse declining trends in specific fisheries, even if this may involve restocking, of fish into appropriate acquatic habitats. There is abundant water in Malawi and therefore it must be used wisely and efficiently.
May I emphasize that women have played an important role in the development of agriculture in Malawi. They are a kingpin in most smallholder farming activities and they are contributing actively in smallholder tea, coffee and dairy production. With greater motivation and improvement of their programmes, women’s impact should soon be realized in the fight against hunger and malnutrition.
In conclusion Mr Chairman, I would, like to endorse the Council’s recommendations to this Conference to adopt the resolutions on Plant Genetic Resources, World Food Security Compact, the Code of Conduct on Distribution and Use of Pesticides and Programme of Work and Budget for 1986-87. In doing this, we would meaningfully celebrate the 40th Anniversary of FAO’s founding.
G.M. OTENG (Botswana): It is indeed a great honour for me to have the opportunity to address this important Twenty-third Session of the FAO Conference. This is a very important session since it falls at the time when we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of FAO. As we look back at the past forty years of the existence of this important organization, we need to make a sober assessment of our achievements and failures in our goal to eliminate hunger and malnutrition in the world.
The objectives which resulted in the establishment of FAO forty years ago were very noble ones. I assure you that I fully believe that a great deal has been done over the years to meet these objectives. From a modest start, the organization has, through the years, continued to grow in many respects. The membership has grown with the birth of new nations, such as mine, and many new programmes have been added during the years. With the assistance of FAO great progress has been made in crop research and resource conservation resulting in improved varieties and hybrids which, in turn, have resulted in increased crop production especially in Asia and South America.
Despite these positive achievements, the road has been a long and difficult one. Prospects for the future are also clouded with uncertainty. I strongly believe that progress can only be achieved if there is close cooperation between developing and developed countries in tackling the problems of rapid population growth, international trade and resource distribution. A lack of a coordinated approach to these problems will continue to frustrate efforts to bring food and security to the world, especially the developing countries.
It is unfortunate that while we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of FAO the world continues to be beset by a myriad of political and economic problems. We are faced with a continuing deterioration in the political relations between nations, an acceleration in the arms race and a continued increase in the number of trouble spots throughout the world.
All this has led to an increased state of insecurity among the peoples of the world. We in Botswana and in the Southern African Region as a whole have recently been subjected to this phenomenon.
Problems in the economic area are no less critical. Those of us in the developing countries are confronted with both national and international problems. These include economic recession, high inflation rates, unemployment, high interest rates, cuts in investment and disruptions in the monetary system and exchange rates. These problems have generally led to a decline in the foreign exchange earnings of developing countries because of drops in prices of raw materials. This has also resulted in a sharp rise in the indebtedness of these countries. The high cost of imports and the adverse balance of payments faced by developing countries, together with the general decline in development assistance, has led to a slowdown and, in most cases, a stagnation in their development programmes.
This bleak picture, Mr Chairman, has adversely affected the development of agriculture and food production in most developing countries and, more especially on the African Continent. While the primary cause can be attributed to great increases in production costs resulting from rapid increases in prices of the means of production and credit costs, the continuing drought situation in most parts of Africa has also had a significant adverse effect on food production.
We fully support the concept that national food strategies and programmes of individual countries should provide foundations for food security. Most of the developing countries have come to recognize the need to reorder their development programmes in order to give priority to rural development and food production. In the case of Botswana this is clearly spelled out in our Sixth National Development Plan which runs until 1991. The national commitment, which is the basic requirement, has been made by most of the developing countries. The translation of the national commitment to actual programmes will, however, require large financial and other resources which the developing countries, as already indicated, do not have.
It is clear therefore, that in implementing their programmes, which indeed coincide with the objectives of the international community, the developing countries will require international action and assistance in establishing and strengthening national planning institutions and national and international scientific and research units, and in providing increased development assistance. In addition to this, there is a critical need to find ways to resolve the problems of high foreign debts in developing countries and to eliminate the trend towards protectionism by developed countries in improving international trade. All these are essential prerequisites in improving the ability of the developing countries to increase food production and food security.
One sometimes marvels at what man has been able to achieve in the scientific and technological fields in the past forty years. We have computers and televisions, we have put man on the moon and we have developed sophisticated weapons that can destroy the earth at the push of a button. In the medical field, we have almost eliminated certain diseases and organ transplants are now a routine thing. With all these spectacular achievements one often wonders why we have not been able to feed mankind. I am aware of breakthroughs, such as the development of high yielding varieties which resulted in increases in food production in Asia. I am, however, still wondering as to whether we have committed the same amount of resources and efforts in the field of agriculture and food production.
I do not want to leave the impression that nothing positive has been done in the past years. I merely wanted to show the problems that we have to contend with in the future. FAO and the rest of the U.N. system has done a great deal of commendable work in assisting the developing countries during the recent food crisis in Africa. I wish to associate myself with those who have already commended it for its work. I wish to take this opportunity to reaffirm Botswana’s continued support and active participation in the programmes of the organization.
We in Botswana will continue to give priority to rural development and food production.
We are fully aware of the fact that the obligation to feed ourselves remains largely with us. We are, however, aware of constraints caused by the lack of adequate resources. We are therefore prepared to work and cooperate with those who share our common goal. The problem of hunger and malnutrition is an international problem. We therefore call for an increased commitment by the international community towards seeking solutions to these problems that hamper the development of agriculture and food production.
Mr Chairman, I wish also on behalf of my delegation and indeed the Government of Botswana to convey our sincere condolences to the people and Government of Colombia in view of the terrible disaster which recently befell that beloved country.
L.E. WILLIAMS (Trinidad and Tobago): I feel deeply honoured and privileged to speak at the Twenty-third General Conference of FAO on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and particularly so as it coincides with the celebration of the Fortieth Anniversary of the United Nations and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
Allow me, Mr Chairman, before addressing the main issues, to offer the sincere regrets of my Minister of Agriculture, Lands and Food Production, the Honourable Kamaluddin Mohammed, on his inability to join us on this momentous occasion.
Allow me as well to join previous delegations in expressing the condolences of the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago to the Government and people of Colombia on the tragedy which that country recently experienced, and on the great loss of life and property resulting there from. We feel sure that the international community will rally to Colombia’s assistance at this testing time of crisis and suffering for that sister nation.
Let me next, Mr Chairman, extend warmest congratulations to you on your election as Chairman of this august body. Your election to preside over the deliberations of this historic session of the FAO Conference is a significant tribute not only to you personally, but also to the Government and people of Cameroon. I also wish to extend our congratulations to the Vice Chairmen and to the other members of your bureau. To the Cook Islands and the Solomon Islands, the Organization’s newest states, we say welcome. We feel sure that theirs will be an invaluable contribution to the affairs of this Organization and look forward to our association with them in the work of FAO. Before I turn to my general comments on the issues before us at this Conference, I would like to join previous speakers in the encomiums of praise bestowed on FAO for the magnanimous efforts made by the Organization over the past forty years in its fight to eradicate hunger and malnutrition from the face of the earth.
Trinidad and Tobago became an Independent Nation State in 1962. In taking up the challenges that go with independence we needed to reorder and streamline our traditional export philosophy to bring it into the realities of our own needs and aspirations for agricultural diversification.
It is in this context we saw the FAO as the medium through which this new development thrust in agriculture could be accomplished.
At the time of our entry into the Organization dramatic changes in science and technology were taking place, introducing revolutionary and sophisticated systems in the production and distribution of food and the development of agriculture.
Simultaneously the scope and functions of FAO were also changing to meet the needs of newly emerging developing countries like my own.
In our own case, through joint projects with the FAO, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago has sought, as one of its major development thrusts, to increase food production in the domestic agricultural sector so as to satisfy an increasing percentage of our food requirements.
As a direct result of this policy, the direct value of domestic agriculture rose tenfold from $ 35M in 1970 to $ 365M in 1983, with marked improvement in poultry, pork and vegetable production.
Even more significant is the fact that domestic agriculture has doubled as a proportion of total agriculture rising from just over one-third to just over three-quarters between 1970 and 1983.
In the same period sugar cane production fell from about half of the total domestic agricultural output to about one-fifth, a structural adjustment in our agricultural economy more consonant with the goal of increasing domestic food production and of moving away from the production of raw materials for metropolitan markets when the cost of production exceeds the international market prices. Our internal domestic policies have also been influenced by the realization that developing countries will have to continue to strive to harness and develop their own resources, however limited, to the maximum extent possible and to inculcate in their populations concepts of self-reliance, discipline and production.
An important development in the scope and expansion of FAO services over the last forty years has been the introduction and effectiveness of the Global Early Warning System, through which bold and coordinated measures of international cooperation to take remedial action became possible.
This System allows Member States to maintain an active awareness on crucial questions of agricultural concern, and enables us to proceed with the strengthening of national defences, not only for emergencies but also as a prescription for the implementation of preventive measures to plan for our own food security.
Other aspects of the multidimensional approach of the work of the FAO from which we in the Latin American and Caribbean region, and indeed throughout the developing world, receive tremendous support, include programmes on agricultural research, storage and processing technologies development, management of water resources and technical assistance. These all have a major influence on the thrust of our developmental strategies.
We are all aware of the nature of the major functions of the FAO and of their global scope and impact. The developing world looks towards this Organization as the principal lever for the promotion of its food and agricultural programmes, and more specifically, in assisting our governments in their plans for increased agricultural production and food availability. We support the Organization’s six priorities which include the promotion of food production, and improvement and strengthening of food security and information systems, and give priority to training and promotion of economic and technical cooperation among developing countries.
Through the varied and efficient programmes we anticipate the continued provision of expertise and the exchange of valuable information required for our agricultural development. But development is a complex process which calls for concerted action on many fronts.
Because of the economic vulnerability occasioned by the limited natural economic resources of small island States like Trinidad and Tobago, Independence has placed on us a greater obligation to maximize the support of the international community through our bilateral and multilateral relationships.
In our efforts to mitigate and improve our social and economic positions, particularly in the field of food and agriculture, we have placed greater emphasis on the multilateral approach. Conscious of the importance of this approach for the economic welfare of developing countries, we urge the Member States of the developing world to utilize every form of persuasion to convince those of the developed world against implementing a shift in their support away from international cooperation.
At the last two sessions of the Council we have been seized with the debate on the budget, that agenda item which will determine the course of the work of the Organization for the biennium 1986-87. Regrettably, we were not able to reach a consensus at the Council level.
The financing of this Organization’s work requires that a consensus be reached on the level and content of the budget. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago accepts the present budget ceiling and appreciates the reduction made in the growth level from 1.4 to 1.1 percent. We also applaud the reduction in expenditure for administration and support services, which has now been reduced to 55 percent. We realize that a rigid adherence to conceptual differences stymied recent debates, thereby militating against the adoption of the budgetary estimates proposed at the two recent Council Sessions. We consider it imperative, therefore for all Member States to be governed by a spirit of compromise and to be mindful not merely of their own positions, however justifiable these might be under the circumstances, but more so of the Organization and the urgent humanitarian work which it has to accomplish in many parts of the world in these difficult times. I now wish to turn my attention to the Technical Cooperation Programme which has the full support of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. My Government continues to receive valuable assistance in funding and expertise from the FAO in the field of advisory, services and technical assistance. In this regard we are pleased to see the Technical Cooperation Programme identified as a separate budgetary chapter in the Programme of Work. In doing so, the need for transparency, sought by some countries, is met. In addition, the provision of separate identification enables Member Governments to give easier support for the important catalytic functions and responsibilities the programme offers. Moreover, as an important ingredient of multilateral assistance, my Government sees the effectiveness of FAO being enhanced in one of its principal functions, that is, in assisting and responding swiftly and meaningfully to regional and national requests.
Our own perspectives on valuable FAO assistance available through this programme have been geared to pooling our resources among the peoples of the region in order to propel our. nation States forward to higher levels of efficiency. The development and expansion of the fisheries industry in the Caribbean and adjacent regions is such an example.
Trinidad and Tobago has become increasingly aware of our stake in the seas which surround our two-island State. Our efforts to enhance, at the national and regional levels, the capabilities of ongoing exploitation and preservation of our resources have, been made possible through the Technical Cooperation Network for Artisanal Fisheries Training in the region.
Trinidad and Tobago is sparing neither effort nor resources in the thrust to develop the fisheries sector. We have recognized the importance of the fishing industry as a source of food, in particular as a relatively cheap source of protein, and we intend to continue to tap the resource efficiently. By the end of this year we would have invested over $250 million in the fishing industry.
I come now to the World Food Security Compact. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago regrets that the Director-General’s programme for a World Food Security Compact did not receive the desired unanimity or consensus at the June Council Session. However, some progress was made at the 87th Council Session in that it was agreed that the improved text of the Compact should be submitted to the Conference. We then expect its adoption without reservation. We believe that the set of principles outlined in the Compact reflect the accepted international goals and aspirations. We are convinced that the full community of nations recognize the need for appropriate steps to be taken towards the attainment of World Food Security. But we are chagrined that the very nations that accept that this need exists quibble over procedure and form. Meanwhile many parts of the developing world continue to live in a state of perpetual uncertainty arising from the lack of such security.
The Compact seeks to promote on a voluntary basis a concept which other United Nations bodies are seeking to elaborate as a binding fundamental human right designed to commit us all to an appreciation and acceptance of the dignity and worth of the human person. Understandably some will detect shortcomings in the improved text. This is only to be expected. The aims and objectives of the Compact are of such overriding importance however that these shortcomings should be forgotten and we should, - as a fitting tribute to the Fortieth Anniversary Celebration, exercise the good judgment and prudence to adopt and lay before the international community these concrete principles which will be a lasting demonstration of our desire to maintain the integrity of the pledge contained in the FAO Charter.
The food situation in Africa, Mr Chairman, although considerably improved over the last year, still warrants international concern and attention.
We note from the Director-General’s statement in document C 85|INF|20, that both food and agricultural production on the continent increased by about 4 percent in 1985 and that, in fact, several African countries now have surpluses to export.
We also note from the report, however, that on the overall, a large amount of food assistance will still be needed.
Trinidad and Tobago wholeheartedly supports the programmes and policies initiated by FAO with a view to meeting this deficiency. More particularly we welcome the long-term programmes being advanced by the Organization for the rehabilitation of food and agriculture in certain African countries and urge their support.
Trinidad and Tobago is convinced that the success, authenticity and legitimacy of FAO has been achieved and maintained over the past forty years, not only because the Organization adhered to those precepts and influenced its establishment, but also because the diversity of its membership and the determination shown by all Member States to resolve the plethora of international, regional and national agricultural problems experienced worldwide is great.
Organizations are, however, effective primarily as a result of their Administrators. It is in recognition of this that I wish to pay tribute to the Directors-General who directed the affairs of the Organization during the last forty years. More particularly I wish to pay special and glowing tribute to the present Director-General, Dr Edouard Saouma, whose dedication, zeal and inspired leadership of a highly professional and motivated team of secretariat and field officers have contributed greatly to the unquestionable success of FAO during these recent testing years.
On another note, I wish to mention that Trinidad and Tobago has now advanced its candidature for election to the Council during this Conference. We will be greatly honoured if allowed to serve.
We now look ahead to the year 2000 and to our working together towards the development of an international community where all nations will continue to display a commitment to the eradication of human suffering, hunger and poverty, for it is only then that mankind will have taken a further and positive step towards the accomplishments of one of the main mandates as embraced in the FAO Charter.
R. MARTINEZ-MUÑOZ (Namibia): On behalf of the United Nations Council for Namibia, the legal administering Authority for Namibia until independence, I should like to join other delegations in congratulating you, Mr Chairman, and your distinguished colleagues of the Bureau on your election to these important posts, and in extending a warm welcome to our newest members, Cook Islands and Solomon Islands.
The Twenty-third Session of the FAO Conference has been convened under circumstances where millions of people in Africa and elsewhere are suffering the consequences of drought, famine and malnutrition as well as continuing declines in food-crop production, losses of cattle and severe ecological degradation, all of which have had deleterious effects on their already fragile economies. The role FAO has played and continues to play in helping to alleviate the disastrous consequences of the drought and famine in Sub-Saharan Africa in particular merits special praise.
In this regard, the United Nations Council for Namibia would like to take this opportunity to express its support for the World Food Security Compact and the principles contained therein and to thank the Director-General for his initiatives.
While the onset of colonialism in Namibia was linked to the search for mineral wealth, it also resulted in the wholesale seizure of land for the benefit of white settlers. In particular, the seizure of land and the agrarian policies imposed by South Africa have led to the impoverishment of the Namibian people and have brought about severe ecological damage to their country.
The policies and practices of water development have also been a powerful tool in the hand of South Africa in Namibia. More than 90 percent of the dams and boreholes serve white-owned ranches and settlements. All agricultural support services, including agricultural credit, training and research, agricultural extension and veterinary services, agricultural inputs, transportation facilities and marketing organizations, are geared to the benefit of white farmers and ranchers.
Due to these and other factors, Namibian agriculture is today in deep crisis. Firstly, the present combination of over-intensive, profit-motivated commercial ranching and over-crowded, impoverished peasant farming is seriously damaging the ecological base of the agricultural economy, and will continue to do so as long as the present distribution and use of the land remains substantially unchanged.
Secondly, both sectors of Namibian agriculture exhibit an extreme form of colonial exploitation, in peasant agriculture through the migrant labour system, and in commercial farming through the labour of a repressed workforce on starvation wage rates.
The transformation of rural Namibia from extreme exploitation and ecological degradation to a productive, rational pattern of rural economy and society would therefore be of vital necessity. To achieve this, comprehensive international assistance would be needed to support the transition and to help the government of a free Namibia to cope with disruptions and to institute its programmes for rural change and development.
When the United Nations General Assembly revoked South Africa’s mandate over Namibia and took direct responsibility over the Territory two decades ago, it did so because South Africa had failed to fulfill its obligations under the mandate in promoting to the utmost the economic, social and political development and well-being of the inhabitants of the Territory.
Having assumed direct responsibility for the Territory, the General Assembly established the United Nations Council for Namibia as the legal administering Authority for Namibia until independence, and charged it with the responsibility of representing, protecting and promoting the interests of Namibia and its people.
The General Assembly also called upon the specialized agencies and international organizations and institutions in the United Nations system, to provide as a matter of urgency programmes of assistance to the Namibian people, and further called upon the Council for Namibia to coordinate such assistance.
In response to the requests addressed to it by the General Assembly, FAO has executed in its area of competence, a broad range of projects of assistance for Namibians. Currently, there are a number of important FAO-executed projects under the Nationhood Programme for Namibia and the United Nations Institute for Namibia. They include projects on fishery policy options, agricultural education, agrarian reform and resettlement, protection of food supplies, food and nutrition education and assessment of potential land suitability.
The World Food Programme has also been providing much needed food assistance for Namibians, particularly in Angola.
While assistance from FAO has been generous, the Council for Namibia believes that there continues to be a critical need for more assistance for the people of Namibia. Specifically, the Council should like to request FAO to consider financing from its own resources, resources at its disposal or individual fellowships for Namibians in agriculture and related fields.
The Council would also like to request FAO to continue to support the project on food and nutrition assistance for the SWAPO Women’s Council by funding the 1986-1987 activities of this important project.
Furthermore, in accordance with the request by the General Assembly addressed to all specialized agencies, the Council would like to call upon FAO to continue to grant a waiver of the assessment of Namibia during the period in which it is represented by the United Nations Council for Namibia.
Finally, Mr Chairman, it needs to be pointed out that, as the General Assembly has repeatedly stressed, the distortions inherent in Namibia’s agricultural economy and the deteriorating conditions of Namibia’s rural populations are a direct consequence of its continued illegal occupation by South Africa and the racist regime’s refusal to cooperate in the implementation of. the United Nations Plan for Namibia’s independence contained in Security Council resolution 435 (1978), the only internationally accepted basis for a peaceful solution of the Namibian question.
Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the revocation of South Africa’s mandate over Namibia and the transfer of the Territory under the direct responsibility of the United Nations. The inalienable right of the Namibian people to self-determination and independence is a fundamental principle enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. South Africa’s presence in Namibia has been called illegal by the General Assembly, the Security Council and the International Court of Justice. The apartheid regime’s refusal to withdraw from Namibia has been universally condemned.
Under these circumstances, this Conference which coincides with the 40th anniversary of FAO, cannot remain silent as the people of Namibia continue to languish under racist colonial occupation. Nor can it remain silent as millions in Namibia and South Africa continue to be oppressed and hundreds more killed by a minority regime that flouts the will of the international community with impunity. After all, Mr Chairman, the struggle of the Namibian people for self-determination and independence is inextricably tied to our common endeavour to promote the universal principles of equality, justice and peace.
El Hadj Mamy KOUYATE (Guinée): Permettez-moi, tout d’abord, de vous présenter les excuses de Son Excellence Monsieur le Ministre du développement rural de la République de Guinée qui, pour des raisons indépendantes de sa volonté, a dû quitter l’accuëillante et hospitalière ville de Rome pour une mission importarìte du Gouvernement de la République de Guinée.
Monsieur le, Président, je voudrais m’associer aux distingués orateurs qui m’ont précédé pour vous adresser les sincères félicitations de la délégation guinéenne pour votre election bien méritée à la présidence de cette importante session de notre organisation - Comme vous l’avez si bien fait remarquer ici dans cette même salle, selon un adage américain, la vie ne commence qu’à 40 ans; notre organisation vient de célébrer son 40è anniversaire ce qui lui permet désormais d’agir avec beaucoup plus de responsabilité, pour mettre à profit toutes les experiences accumulees au cours de ses 40 ans de vie.
Nous sommes convaincus que, sous la brillante et magnifique conduite de son Directeur général, le Docteur Edouard Saouma, notre organisation continuera dans la voie qui lui vaut aujourd’hui respect et confiance.
Si toutes les idées qui ont présidé à la création de cette organisation sont loin d’être concrétisées, il va sans dire que les efforts déployés par les Etats Membres sont appréciables.
Monsieur le Président, en ce plein 20ème siècle où l’homme a accru ses capacités scientifiques, techniques et technologiques dans la production des produits de consummation, certaines parties du monde connaissent la faim et la misère, malheureusement.
Les homines meurent, les animaux disparaissent et la végétation s’éteint. Face à cette tragique situation, l’appauvrissement de I’Afrique et du tiers monde, à travers les prix des matières premières, s’aggrave chaque jour davantage.
Du haut de cette tribune, d’éminentes personnalités ont souligné avec force la tragique situation paradoxale d’abondance et de misère dont la Communauté internationale est responsable.
Elles ont également insisté sur la nature de la solidarité humaine qui doit, dans l’intérêt de la paix, régir les rapports entre tous les Etats Membres de cette Communauté.
L’on se souviendra qu’au lendemain de la deuxième guerre mondiale, plusieurs plans de reconstruction et de redressement avaient été conçus et mis en application en faveur des pays européens afin de leur permettre de retrouver leur équilibre économique et social. N’est-il pas temps d’envisager une telle opération à l’avantage des pays démunis? En tout cas l’environnement économique et financier qui caractérise notre monde actuel nécessite un réexamen fundamental qui doit prendre en compte le problème de la dette extérieure, celui du prix des produits agricoles d’exportation, et du prix des intrants agricoles - C’est dans cette direction que s’orientent les espoirs des peuples africains dont les efforts doivent être soutenus par une aide accrue pour le développement de leur agriculture en vue de l’autosuffisance alimentaire. Dans mon pays, depuis le 3 avril 1984, le gouvernement de la Ilème République, que préside Son Excellence Monsieur Lansana Conte, a fait naître un nouvel espoir - Le Chef de I’Etat, en fréquents contacts avec les paysans guinéens, à travers le pays, stigmatise la priorité de l’activité agricole et assure les producteurs de la sollicitude du Gouvernement qui a décidé de rendre disponibles les différents facteurs de production, conformément aux objectifs du plan intérimaire de redressement que les Nations Unies, et particulièrement la FAO, nous ont assistés à élaborer. Le Chef de I’Etat guinéen qui preside lui-même une coopération familiale ne cesse de faire remarquer que i’une des grandes portes ouvertes sur le paradis se trouve dans la terre.
Monsieur le Président, une organisation ne peut être que le reflet de la volonté de ses membres qui, sans contrainte, l’ont créée. A ce niveau, il est difficile de comprendre le refus de certains pays membres d’appuyer le moyen que constitue le budget nécessaire à l’accomplissement des objectifs clairement définis dans le programme - C’est pourquoi, compte tenu des nécessités qui s’imposent, notre pays appuie le projet de programme et de budget qui nous est proposé par le Directeur général et invite tous les Etats Membres à adopter ce projet qui, en réalité, n’est qu’un minimum. Par ailleurs, nos pays nourrissent un espoir certain quant à l’aboutissement heureux des négociations en cours pour la deuxième reconstitution des ressources du FIDA.
Ma délégation apprécie le rôle du PCT et considère son impact comrne un apport substantiel soit dans le démarrage d’un projet important de déveioppement rural, soit dans le déroulement normal d’une action économique ou sociale.
Le pacte de sécurité alimentaire est un acte de foi, nous le considérons comme un symbole de la responsabilité morale et de la solidarité entre les hommes de notre planète. C’est un jalon important que nous planterons à l’occasion du 40ème anniversaire de la FAO, en l’adoptant à l’unanimité – Nous saluons l’initiative du Directeur général quant à la proposition d’un code de conduite pour l’utilisation des pesticides. En effet, ce document comble un vide très important, c’est pourquoi nous l’appuyons fermement - Les travaux relatifs à l’étude des prix sont une source précieuse d’inspiration pour les pays membres en vue de l’assainissement et d’une meilleure organisation du système commercial, tant en faveur des producteurs qu’à l’endroit des consommateurs eux-mêmes.
Monsieur le Président, mon Gouvernement m’a chargé d’exprimer aux organismes internationaux, aux organisations non gouvernementales, aux gouvernements et aux hommes de bonne volonté de notre communauté universelle, la grande reconnaissance du peuple de Guinée pour avoir spontanément répondu à l’appel de I’Afrique plongée dans une grande crise alimentaire. Aux artistes qui ont organise à travers le monde des soirees de soutien aux peuples affamés, nous adressons nos très profonds remerciements.
i Avant de terminer, je voudrais adresser mes sincères felicitations aux îles Cook et aux îles Salomon pour leur admission au sein de notre communauté en qualité de membres à part entière.
Aussi, j’aimerais, le coeur attristé, adresser mes condoleances les plus émues à la délégation colombienne présente dans cette salle pour la tragique disparition de plus de 20 000, Colombiens à la suite de l’éruption volcanique qui a enseveli la ville d’Armero. Puisse Allah leur ouvrir les portes du Paradis.
The meeting rose at 17.40 hours.
La séance est levée à 17 h 40.
Se levanta la sesión a las 17.40 horas
