Netherlands, Italie, Bangladesh, United States of America, Brazil, Australia, China, Norway, Israel, Cameroon, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Denmark, Bénin, Tchad.
CHAIRMAN: This morning we will begin the general discussion proper and I will give the floor to the Heads of Delegation who have requested speaking time in advance.
You will recall that the Conference agreed to the Council's suggestion that Heads of Delegation, as on previous occasions, limit their statements to a maximum of fifteen minutes.
We have many requests for speaking time and this is really the only way for us to proceed.
I would refer the Honourable Delegates to paragraphs 18 to 22 of document C 91/12 which we approved on Saturday 9 November.
In view of the large number of speakers and the limited time at our disposal, may I appeal to you to limit yourselves to the fifteen minutes indicated.
I shall now call upon the first speaker, the Head of the Delegation of the Netherlands, His Excellency Mr Piet Bukman, Minister of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries.
Piet BUKMAN (Netherlands): I am very honoured to be today's first speaker at this Twenty-sixth Conference of FAO.
In the more than forty years that the Organization has existed a lot of things have changed.
Since the last Conference, however, developments have succeeded each other more rapidly than ever.
I shall discuss three of them.
In the first place, the wave of democratization in Central and Eastern Europe has greatly altered political relations in and between countries, and has also affected developing countries - and, very fortunately, it has also led to new membership. My congratulations.
Secondly, the notion that there is a limit to the carrying capacity of nature and the environment has now become widely accepted.
The Den Bosch Conference on Agriculture and the Environment - Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development, which was organized jointly by FAO and the Netherlands in April last, has translated this notion into a programme for action.
The Director-General yesterday also referred to this successful meeting. In particular, as a result of the excellent cooperation with FAO, the Den Bosch Conference has led to important recommendations, which will be presented to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development to be held in Brazil next year.
Thirdly, there are the changes that have occurred in international economic relations.
I am thinking in particular of the GATT negotiations in the context of the Uruguay Round.
The Netherlands has dedicated itself to a successful completion of these negotiations, which are in the interests of all countries, developing as well as developed countries.
These changes in international economic relations have consequences for FAO, too.
Another matter is the relationship of FAO with the European Community; after two years of studies and negotiations the Community hopes to join the Organization shortly.
As President of the European Community's Council of Agriculture Ministers I sincerely hope that this Conference will come to a favourable decision.
The last Conference has approved the Review, which lays down several clear priorities. I think that is a good thing.
Financial margins are tight, which is reflected in a zero budget growth proposal in real terms. Therefore, choices will have to be made.
In Mr Saouma's vision on the future as outlined in his introduction to the Medium-Term Plan, I recognize these priorities again: on the one hand, a shift in attention from transfer of technology to improvement of efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and on the other, emphasis on achieving a better balance between the top-down and bottom-up approach to development.
Strengthening the role of rural organizations is very important in this respect, because these organizations can serve three purposes at the same time.
First, people will be better able to take decisions, carry them out and benefit from them; this is what we call human resources development.
Secondly, the wealth of knowledge and experience gained by the local population of production systems and the carrying capacity of their natural environment will be put to more adequate use.
Thirdly, people will be better able to dialogue with their Governments when they are organized. There is hardly a better basis for sustainable agriculture.
This brings me to the concept of Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture. The potential for applying the principles of this concept will have to be considered separately for each individual situation.
For although it may be desired to limit the application of chemical fertilizers and agrochemicals, as long as the harrowing shortage of food is the number one threat to life in many developing countries, absolute priority should be given to the increase of food production in developing countries. Our agricultural policy should therefore first and foremost aim at general food security. Not until this aim has been achieved can we think about and work for agricultural systems that are in every respect sustainable.
This is why I would rather speak about adequate external input agriculture adjusted to local circumstances. The system is not the end; the end determines the system.
On sustainable management of tropical forests, the Dutch Government has also taken a considered stand. Economic development is indispensable to the countries of the Third World. Our aim is to encourage the conservation of the rain forests via a balanced and sustainable use in order to call a halt to the rapid process of deforestation and other forms of environmental degradation.
We attach major importance to an updated Tropical Forestry Action Plan as a principal framework for achieving protection and sustainable management of tropical forests.
Therefore, we urge FAO to fully exercise its lead agency role in bringing about the establishment of a consultative forum or group on the Tropical Forestry Action Plan.
The discussions in last week's Council on this issue have yielded some positive results which deserve serious consideration and follow-up.
Decentralization within FAO, another just priority, is a logical consequence of recognizing the individual responsibilities of the developing countries.
In this respect FAO will focus more on the outlines of development in policy advice, institution building and human resources development.
Implementation of this vision has obvious consequences for FAO's functioning. More than ever technical specialists will have to try to place their efforts in a wider framework of sustainable farming systems and against a socio-economic background. As a result, the number of multi-disciplinary activities will increase.
Efficient cooperation between FAO divisions, with the country offices and with other international organizations will and should gain importance.
A moment ago I mentioned GATT. The Director-General yesterday also referred to its importance. The agriculture dossier proves to be one of the hardest in the Uruguay Round talks, but also one of the most important, not least to the developing countries.
The outcome of the negotiations may have a variety of consequences for various developing countries, depending, for instance, on whether the countries are exporting or importing agricultural products.
To consolidate the improved export position and to mitigate the probable effects of rising food prices, prolongation of support is necessary, support that should aim not only at food security but also at participation in the world markets.
I would applaud more FAO assistance to developing countries in setting up programmes and suggesting instruments, ranging from establishment of tariffs for a transitional period to sustainable rural development, in order to improve efficient participation of these countries in world trade. FAO, of course, is active in this area of policy advice, but I think further marshalling of activities is required.
Depending on the outcome of the Uruguay Round, there will be a need for policy advice at the side of developing countries: how to grab new opportunities.
I am, of course, aware of the fact that FAO alone has insufficient means to realize all this. Therefore, the Netherlands proposes to carry out a joint FAO/Netherlands pilot study in one or two countries. This study would have to lead to policy advice for the country or countries concerned, if they are interested, on how to cope with these new opportunities. The results of this project could also assist FAO to direct their new activities.
The quick succession of international developments requires critical reflection. Again and again we have to ask ourselves how we, in these changing circumstances, are going to realize our aim of feeding the rapidly increasing world population adequately using a system of sustainable agriculture.
Together with donor and developing countries, an international organization such as FAO will play a central part in this, but it forms our common and joint challenge.
Giovanni GORIA (Italie) (Langue originale italienne): M. le Président, M. le Directeur général, Messieurs les délégués, je suis très honoré de pouvoir intervenir à cette Conférence, qui est l'organe suprême de la FAO, et de le faire en tant que représentant du Gouvernement de ce pays qui, depuis 40 ans, abrite l'Organisation. Nous avons d'ailleurs célèbre, hier, au Capitole, cet anniversaire.
Tout d'abord, je tiens à féliciter le Ministre Malik Abdul Majid qui a été élu Président de cette vingt-sixième session de la Conférence. Je salue également tous les membres du Bureau. Je voudrais féliciter tout particulièrement le Directeur général, M. Edouard Saouma, qui s'est remarquablement conformé, dans toute la mesure possible, aux indications relatives au programme de l'Organisation approuvées lors de la dernière Conférence. Mon salut chaleureux également à tous les délégués et, en particulier, à mes collègues, les Ministres de l'agriculture, ici réunis.
Notre réunion se situe sur une scène internationale bouleversée. La géopolitique s'est radicalement transformée. On a vu se renforcer l'influence des institutions internationales, qu'elles soient régionales ou
universelles; d'ailleurs, nous en avons la preuve ici: d'une part, l'adhésion à la FAO de la Lituanie, de la Lettonie et de l'Estonie - et c'est avec chaleur que nous accueillons ces pays. Par ailleurs, il y a la demande d'accès à titre de participant à part entière de la Communauté européenne; les travaux se poursuivent à un rythme accéléré et nous espérons aboutir rapidement sur ce point.
Le nouvel ordre international qui est en train de s'esquisser, pour être juste et durable, suppose que les gouvernements passent à une forme de coopération dynamique avec une programmation internationale, surtout pour le désarmement et le développement. C'est sur cette voie que se trouve la détente internationale ainsi, d'ailleurs, que la bataille pour régler les problèmes transversaux.
Si les totalitarismes s'écroulent et si la communauté internationale en vient à agir de concert, il reste toutefois des drames tels que la faim pour 500 millions d'habitants de la planète. Il faut donc plus que jamais poursuivre une stratégie mondiale qui tienne compte de trois réalités.
Premièrement, la planétarisation des circuits productifs, commerciaux et technologiques. Cela peut se traduire par des avantages pour tous les pays à condition que la politique économique des pays industrialisés arrive à moduler par synergie l'aide publique au développement, les flux financiers privés de crédit et de capitaux ainsi que les règles commerciales.
Deuxièmement, ces notions, de plus en plus acceptées dans le système de l'ONU, de bon gouvernement et de bonne gestion, c'est-à-dire la synthèse des principes de la démocratie et des principes du marché libre dans le cadre d'une administration publique efficace. Cela doit constituer partout le paramètre de référence, au Nord comme au Sud.
Troisièmement, le développement agricole bien conçu représente pour les pays en voie de développement l'élément essentiel si l'on veut arriver à ce que l'on appelle une croissance durable. Cela est indispensable non seulement pour assurer l'approvisionnement alimentaire, mais aussi pour que l'on crée des revenus suffisants pour les équilibres territoriaux et également pour la sauvegarde de l'environnement.
Dans cette optique, il y a des responsabilités accrues, des possibilités nouvelles pour la FAO qui oriente maintenant, à juste titre, son activité vers une programmation à plus longue échéance: six années (1992-97). A ce sujet, il y a ce que la FAO réalise avec d'autres organisations des Nations Unies dans ce secteur de l'environnement. Il faut mentionner, en particulier, ce que la FAO a fait pour contribuer à la réussite du Congrès forestier mondial, qui s'est tenu à Paris en septembre. Il y a aussi les efforts que fait actuellement la FAO pour préparer la Conférence sur l'environnement et le développement qui est prévue, au mois de juin 1992, à Rio de Janeiro. A cet égard, signalons la collaboration de la FAO avec l'Organisation mondiale de la santé pour organiser la Conférence internationale sur la nutrition qui aura lieu à Rome en décembre 1992.
Dès lors, pour nous, en Italie, l'Examen du budget de la FAO pour 1992-93 constituera l'un des éléments essentiels de tous nos travaux. Essayons d'aboutir à son adoption par consensus.
L'Italie a toujours accordé une très grande importance au versement en temps voulu des contributions à titre obligatoire. Elle accorde aussi une grande importance à l'alimentation des fonds fiduciaires de la FAO grâce auxquels elle peut financer des projets de développement ad hoc. Je rappelle qu'à ce titre mon pays vient en tête de la liste de ceux qui appuient le programme de coopération entre la FAO et les pays membres. L'Italie, entre 1980 et 1990, a accordé quelque 280 millions de dollars aux fonds fiduciaires, aux programmes d'urgence et aux programmes spéciaux de la FAO. En 1991, ce que nous avons apporté comme contribution sur ce point représente 40 milliards de lires.
Au cours de cette session, l'Italie présentera sa candidature au Comité financier et au Comité des questions constitutionnelles et juridiques, précisément pour aller dans le sens de l'harmonisation des compatibilités financières et des aspects juridiques.
Pour l'aide publique au développement, qu'elle soit bilatérale ou multilatérale, l'Italie reste convaincue qu'il y a une complémentarité très marquée entre ces deux voies d'acheminement, et on peut espérer qu'on arrivera à bien coordonner les programmes en commun.
Dans le cadre de la Communauté européenne, l'Italie souhaite - c'est un de ses objectifs prioritaires dans la définition de l'union politique - faire harmoniser les politiques de développement des pays membres, et souhaiterait que l'on accorde des ressources plus importantes aux programmes gérés par la Commission supranationale.
Quant à la subdivision sectorielle, depuis des années notre manière de concevoir l'aide au développement insiste surtout sur le secteur agroalimentaire. Il faut, d'une part, répondre aux besoins fondamentaux, puis assurer l'autosuffisance alimentaire et mettre en valeur tout ce secteur, parce que c'est lui qui pourra propulser les autres mécanismes de développement.
J'en viens à mes conclusions. Je vais évoquer tout particulièrement les négociations de ce que l'on appelle l'Uruguay Round. J'ai déjà dit ce matin même qu'il faut une stratégie cohérente unissant l'aide au développement aux échanges commerciaux et aux équilibres financiers. Les règles que prévoira le GATT, et qu'il faut dès maintenant définir, devront tenir compte des règles internationales du commerce qui devraient permettre de surmonter dans tous les secteurs les barrières visibles et invisibles qui gênent les échanges. Et cela non seulement au sein des pays industrialisés, mais également dans le cadre de ce que l'on appelle l'axe Nord-Sud et aussi dans les échanges Sud-Sud.
Pour ces deux derniers contextes, il faut mettre en place et renforcer des voies préférentielles pour les pays en développement, et il faudrait en arriver dans le secteur agricole à un système d'échanges qui libère les flux de produits agricoles, alimentaires ou autres, du Sud vers le Nord. Cette perspective à long terme devrait nous montrer que tous devraient en tirer parti, et qu'en particulier on réduirait ce phénomène anti-économique et antisocial d'excédents dans certaines zones et de disettes dans d'autres pour les mêmes produits. On pourrait rendre plus élevés les prix internationaux des produits agricoles pour assurer de meilleurs revenus aux producteurs du Sud, et pour l'avantage également des citoyens du Nord, en réduisant les prix artificiels. On réduirait ainsi l'instabilité des prix sur les marchés internationaux et on avantagerait les consommateurs. On
pourrait donc destiner à des aides structurelles pour l'agriculture les sommes du budget qui sont actuellement consacrées au soutien conjoncturel des produits agricoles. Et surtout, la libéralisation progressive des échanges en matière agricole permettrait de surmonter le cercle vicieux de la dette extérieure et du taux de développement faible dans de nombreux pays.
Major General Majid-Ul-HAQ (Bangladesh): Mr Chairman, Mr Director-General, Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a great pleasure and honour for me to address this Twenty-sixth Session of the FAO Conference. On behalf of the Bangladesh delegation and my own behalf I offer you, Mr Chairman, my warmest felicitations on your election as Chairman of the Twenty-sixth Conference.
Your election to this high office is indeed a tribute to your personal qualities and vast experience and also to the friendly country of Pakistan. I assure you, Mr Chairman, of our fullest cooperation in ensuring the success of this Conference. I would also like to thank the other members of the Bureau whose experience, I am sure, will assist you in the discharge of your onerous responsibilities. In your opening address, Mr Chairman, you have given the Conference important guidelines which will immensely help us in our deliberations and in realizing our desired objectives.
Mr Chairman, I would also like to convey through you our heartiest congratulations to the Director-General, Mr Edouard Saouma, for his illuminating statement which has set the Conference priorities in perspective. We deeply appreciate Director-General Saouma's efforts in upholding the Charter of the FAO and his sincere efforts in strengthening the FAO as an instrument for providing succour and relief to the poor and the needy of the world.
It gives me great pleasure to express my heartiest felicitations to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as members of FAO and to Puerto Rico as an Associate Member of the Organization. I wish them well.
Mr Chairman, momentous political and social changes have taken place around the globe. Many nations which had earlier chosen different system for socio-economic development are now switching over to democracy and market economy commensurate with the hopes and aspirations of their people. Cooperation among nations is also helping the process of finding solutions to long-standing local and regional problems. These changes provide us opportunities and challenges for promoting the well-being of the common man.
Mr Chairman, as a direct consequence of lessening of international tension the developing countries expect to get the benefit of reduced spending on armaments, although many are apprehensive that with the increased focus on new areas the attention of developed countries may be diverted from the urgent needs of the low income developing countries.
Mr Chairman, in Bangladesh momentous development has taken place in the recent past. A historic popular upsurge swept away an authoritarian regime and helped restore a legitimate democratic government after almost a decade. To consolidate the political gains achieved through popular movement a free and fair election was held on February 27, 1991 resulting in the restoration of parliamentary form of government under the dynamic
leadership of Begum Khaleda Zia. All these have made the Government accountable to the people and have paved the way for people's participation in national development endeavour.
I would like to mention here that economic development effort in Bangladesh is being greatly hampered by high rate of population growth and recurrent disasters. However, due to the determined efforts of our people and continued cooperation from our development partners we have been able to achieve some progress particularly in the field of food production. Our production of food grains increased from 9 million tons in 1970 to about 19 million tons in 1990. This has been possible through various policy support and technical assistance given by FAO, UNDP and other agencies and also bilateral economic assistance given by other development partners. Our recent policy of privatization and deregulation of fertilizer and agro-machineries have shown some gains. However, attaining self-sufficiency becomes doubly difficult with an existing large population, high rate of population growth and limited land. While attempt is made to utilize optimum available land mass, at a certain stage there is hardly any room to increase the acreage any further. With this as a fixed factor, we plant as best as we can, with as much adaptation of present day technological advances as possible, in order to get more and more tonnage out of the same limited acres. Towards achieving greater yield, agro-scientists have developed HYV of seeds, evolved new techniques of planting and have been experimenting with newer varieties of fertilizers. Even then an optimum level of production will have been reached at the end of the next decade, while the population growth will not decrease correspondingly to keep level with food production. As a matter of fact, even with the present reduced population growth rate from 3 to 2.2 percent in 1990, we will have a staggering 2.5 million new mouths to feed every year, in our country.
In the light of what I have explained, it is now clear that although the Green Revolution technology of the past few decades using high yielding variety of seeds and other inputs have proved useful in raising production and productivity of food grains, this technology has its constraints and limitations. Therefore, we have to look for new technologies to increase the agricultural production to match the rapidly growing population in the coming years in the developing countries in general and Bangladesh in particular. Development of new technology especially bio-technology seems to offer the possibility of another great revolution in agriculture. The developing countries will require considerable assistance from the developed countries for adaptation of this technology through strengthening the institutional framework, research and training facilities. Here again we the poorer of the developing countries must not forget the added cost that will have to be borne to use these sophisticated technologies of the future. On this issue an important question will have to be addressed, i.e., will the poor farmers, 60 percent of whom live below subsistence level, be able to bear this? If not, who will then?
In this context, it is also our view that every effort must be made to maintain the genetic diversity of the crops and the crop varieties which still exist. We require crop varieties which are not only high yielding but are also resistant to insects and diseases. In Bangladesh we are considering the possibility of establishing a Plant Genetic Resource Bureau which will enable us to preserve varieties which still exist in Bangladesh.
Mr Chairman, hitherto our development efforts have brought about environmental problems such as loss of soil fertility, soil erosion, water pollution, shortages of fuelwood, over-fishing, etc. Such problems are common in many developing countries and the solution to these problems calls for immediate action through cooperation by both developed and developing countries. To protect the environment and to ensure sustainable development, awareness of the farmers must be raised through education and training, and offering technology to the farmers which is not hazardous for environment. In this transfer of technology which is environment-friendly we will need the support and cooperation from the developed countries and multilateral agencies.
In Bangladesh, fisheries have traditionally served as a major source of protein for the people. In the recent years per capita consumption has declined because of reduced production of fish. It is our assessment that there are immense possibilities for increasing fisheries production in Bangladesh. The fisheries are a renewable resource and it is critical that a system of sustainable production be established. I hope deliberations in FAO will give some guidelines about the future development of this sector.
In Bangladesh there is an increasing awareness about the role of women in development particularly in agricultural development. A recent study indicates that 40 percent of our rural women are involved in primary agricultural production. Through our new projects, we will try to ensure adequate involvement of women in production activities both as beneficiaries and as participants.
Mr Chairman, many countries of the world including the developed countries have achieved considerable success in agricultural production through government intervention in the form of heavy subsidy to the farmer community. We in Bangladesh adopted a similar policy in the previous years to encourage farmers to use fertilizers, irrigation water and high yielding variety of seeds. But in the recent years we have taken positive steps for gradual withdrawal of subsidy in order to attain the goal of free market mechanism. But I am afraid the withdrawal of subsidy should be gradual and in a phased manner, otherwise it may be counter-productive.
Mr Chairman, we have read with interest paragraph 6 of document C 91/26 on FAO's involvement vis-à-vis LDCs. We note with satisfaction FAO's Special Action Programme covering areas of particular interest to the LDCs such as food security, seed improvement and development, soil fertility improvement and pest control programmes. However, in the view of my delegation, we have a long way to go to achieve our objectives of: (a) sustained and increased production of food grains to match the growing population; (b) crop diversification and increased production of non-cereal crops; (c) increased production of fisheries and livestock; (d) conservation and expansion of forest resources; (e) alleviation of poverty; (f) providing more employment and higher income to the rural poor; and (g) improving the nutritional level of the vulnerable groups especially women and children. Therefore, efforts should be made to do more within the framework of the FAO for the LDCs.
We are aware that to provide effective support to the LDCs in these areas the existing institutions are far from satisfactory. New mechanisms, therefore, must be devised. The international community should come forward and help us with adequate and timely measures for the accelerated development of the LDCs.
Mr Chairman, at this stage I want to make a brief comment on the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific. You will recall that FAO played a significant role in establishing this Centre in Bangladesh. CIRDAP projects are funded, amongst others, from sources such as FAO, the World Bank and the Commonwealth Secretariat. The main focus of the Centre's activities has been on the follow-up of the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development. As the Centre was established at the initiative of FAO, Mr Chairman, it would be appropriate for FAO to provide full support and assistance to CIRDAP in its expanded programme activities.
I would also like to acknowledge the very close cooperation we have been receiving from the FAO Representatives in our country and our region. They have always operated in the most professional manner and we appreciate their efforts.
From the perspective of Bangladesh and the LDCs it is of paramount importance for us, as well as the developed countries, to concentrate on the primary role of small farmers in achieving a permanent solution to hunger and the vital need to help them acquire easy access to the factors of production and to share in the results. This is so because hunger and poverty should not be seen purely as technical issues but as a consciousness of the real problem, viz., the unjust and ineffective economic and social structures that distort and constrain the development process, particularly the external economic environment.
Once these distortions and aberrations are corrected, then only will you have proclaimed Freedom from Hunger.
Edward R. MADIGAN (United States of America): Mr Director-General, fellow delegates and friends. We are entering a new and challenging period for world agriculture. It is fair to say that the agriculture now plays a pivotal role in the political and economic changes sweeping the globe.
The peoples of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union are fighting to free themselves from the vestiges of communism and build strong private sector economies. Agriculture is crucial for their success. If agriculture fails them in the next few years, we may soon see renewed threats to their experiment in freedom.
The people of Africa continue to struggle to feed themselves against a backdrop of widespread war and civil unrest. Tens of millions of Africans live precariously, poised on the brink of starvation. If African agriculture does not help meet this challenge, we can forget the promising political and social reforms now surfacing all over the continent.
At the global level, we all face an even broader challenge. After five years of negotiations, the world still awaits the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of the GATT. Again, agriculture is crucial. If we can come to an agreement on agriculture, the Uruguay Round can and will succeed.
Despite the tremendous importance of agriculture in world commerce and politics, many countries still view all agricultural issues through the narrow prism of their own self-interest. No country is blameless on that score. It is time for us to move beyond that. It is time we all accept that we have a world agricultural system and act accordingly.
What an American farmer plants in Iowa, may help or hurt a farmer's income in Poland. An Argentine wheat farmer's profits may hinge on the EC Common Agricultural Policy and the plantings of a farmer in France. A Thai rice farmer's future may ultimately depend on a political decision made in Japan. Farmers in small nations become the unintended victims of subsidy battles among their larger neighbours.
The failure to find cooperative solutions to production and trade problems within this world system costs taxpayers and consumers in the OECD countries alone US$300 billion a year. And those who can afford it least - the farmers in developing countries - lose US$26 billion in income each year because of export subsidies, protectionism, and other trade distorting measures. In 1991 no nation can pretend that its production and trade decisions exist in isolation, that these decisions do not deeply affect the well-being of its neighbours.
What can we do to begin a new era of world cooperation in agriculture?
First and foremost, we must come to an agreement on agriculture in the Uruguay Round. Eastern Europe will not thrive if it is denied access to the markets of its neighbours. The farmers of the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America will never climb from poverty if they cannot sell their products freely on world markets.
Agriculture is not the only area of contention in the Uruguay Round, but it is the most crucial. The developing nations have said they will not make concessions in areas of interest to more developed nations - areas such as intellectual property rights and services - unless there is a good agreement in agriculture, the sector they depend on most for export earnings.
The United States strongly endorses the views of the developing countries on this issue. President Bush has made it clear that a Uruguay Round agreement must address the issues of market access, export subsidies and trade-distorting internal supports in agriculture.
The United States has put all policies on the table. The resolve of the Bush Administration to come to a good agreement has never been stronger. We are ready to negotiate significant reductions in market access barriers and expect the same from our trading partners. We recognize the need for transition mechanisms for all parties, especially developing countries, allowing for the phased reduction of tariffs and special safeguards to protect against sudden import surges and price drops.
The technical talks on agriculture ended last month. That part of the process was very thorough and productive. Now we must make the tough policy decisions.
Recent signs of movement and flexibility, particularly on the part of our German and French colleagues here in Europe, give me new optimism about the future of the Uruguay Round. I believe that with some hard work we will have the framework for an agreement in agriculture by the end of this year.
A successful Uruguay Round can ensure that all nations share the opportunity to trade and prosper economically. But for the poorest nations, that will not be enough. We have to offer them our support through
technical assistance, training and research so they have the tools to produce and the capacity to take advantage of new opportunities in world trade.
The United States has moved to improve the efficiency and focus of its aid programmes. Last year we rewrote the legislation for one of our leading aid programmes - Food For Peace. As a result we expect to increase the proportion of food aid given on a grant basis. In addition, the President has new authority to forgive indebtedness that he is using to ease the debt burdens of the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
The United States remains a strong advocate of food aid through the United Nations. I am proud to inform you that our contribution to the regular and emergency operations of the World Food Programme this biennium has climbed more than 40 percent. We will soon break the half billion dollar mark, an historic record. We look to WFP to continue its fine work in bringing food and hope into the lives of tens of millions of the world's poor and malnourished.
As evidence of our deep commitment to WFP, the United States has offered a candidate to succeed James Ingram as head of the Programme - Assistant Secretary Catherine Bertini. We appreciate the support she has received from many countries represented here. We are confident she would be a dedicated, compassionate and effective Executive Director.
Agriculture continues to take a leading place in US international aid and we now spend US$1 billion a year on this type of assistance. We are giving high priority to helping developing nations strengthen their private sector; funding micro-enterprises, particularly those run by women; and spurring private US investment in agriculture in developing countries.
We continue to support a vast network of agricultural research and scientific exchanges that spans the globe, so American scientists can pool their talents with their counterparts here in Europe, India, Egypt and many nations in the developing world.
The rapid pace of political and economic changes poses particular challenges for FAO. I call on FAO, with the leadership of the Director-General and his staff, to seize the initiative.
First, find ways to help nations make the transition to free market economies. The welfare of the peoples of Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and Africa depends on making that transition a success.
Second, press for a quick and positive outcome to the Uruguay Round. Then help developing countries and Eastern Europe take advantage of the opening in world markets.
Third, work to strike a sound balance between the need for development and the need to preserve the environment in forestry, fisheries and agriculture programmes. I know that is no easy task. We struggle with this same issue in the United States. People must be fed, but they will not be fed for long if we damage the environment in the process.
In sum, we are looking to FAO to become an innovator in a time of fundamental political and economic change. We are pleased by signs that FAO is moving in that direction. We welcome the Director-General's support of the Uruguay Round of the GATT and urge him to continue and expand these activities.
We look to FAO to play a more active role in fostering international trade in the years ahead. By expanding the scope and effectiveness of the Codex Alimentarius and the International Plant Protection Convention, we can prevent artificial barriers to trade that are not based on genuine scientific standards. We believe these two activities should have a high profile within the Organization.
We encourage FAO to help the developing countries become more involved in the Codex Alimentarius. Through policy advice and its Technical Cooperation Programme, FAO can strengthen knowledge in developing countries on food quality and safety issues as they relate to trade. We encourage greater attention to this area, where FAO can serve the interests of developing and developing countries alike.
The United States appreciates the work FAO has done to gather and upgrade data for the World Agricultural Information Centre (WAICENT). We are also looking forward to the International Conference on Nutrition co-sponsored by FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO). We view this Conference as an opportunity to agree on concrete measures on a wide range of problems, from the micro-nutrient deficiency diseases that scar the lives of millions of children, to broader international agreements on food safety and quality and nutritional labelling for food products.
This year the United States joined FAO's Commission on Plant Genetic Resources. The Commission is addressing important questions on plant genetic resources that will have a direct bearing on our ability to meet the growing demand for food in the years ahead. Issues such as intellectual property rights with respect to genetic resources are not easy to resolve, but we look to FAO to play a central role in this process.
We are very pleased to see that FAO has begun to carry out recommendations from the review of its programmes. We look forward to more progress this biennium, especially in ensuring that: field projects are sustainable, effective and environmentally sound, and focus on areas where FAO has a comparative advantage technically; the role of women as agricultural producers and consumers is considered in all aspects of FAO's work; and, coordination with other UN agencies and bilateral donors is strengthened.
In addition, during this Conference the United States looks forward to beginning a dialogue with other members and the Secretariat on how we can streamline our working methods and decision-making in FAO's Governing Bodies and Technical Committees.
Like so many of its Member Governments, FAO will be asked to do more with less. Virtually every major contributor to FAO is facing a government budget deficit this year. Some are quite severe. The governments of other Member Nations are striving to live with strict fiscal austerity measures. For this reason, the United States must oppose special assessments and we call on our fellow Member Nations to seek a final FAO Programme of Work and Budget for 1992-93 with maximum absorption of non-discretionary cost increases.
The United States is pleased by the actions the Director-General has taken so far to curb cost increases and to achieve no real growth in programmes. From my own experience at the Department of Agriculture, I know first-hand how difficult this task can be.
The United States also commends the Director-General for his support as we seek to make the early submission of a Budget Outline a permanent feature of FAO's budget process at this Conference.
To underscore the United States' interest in lessening the financial difficulties facing FAO, we expedited our last payment as soon as we received the Congressional appropriation for fiscal year 1992. I am please to notify the membership of a United States payment of nearly US$50 million in October, including a US$13.7 million payment toward our arrears. These funds, along with additional substantial payments in the event we join consensus on the budget, could help restore FAO's financial base.
In closing I would like to note that support for the United Nations and its specialized agencies has grown in the United States in recent years. Increasingly, the American people recognize that the United Nations can be a valuable instrument for promoting democracy and needed political and economic change. Dedicated to ending hunger and building economic opportunity worldwide, FAO has a crucial role to play in the United Nations system.
President Bush is personally committed to repaying the arrears the United States owes to the United Nations agencies, including FAO, and he has made this a budgetary priority. Pending Congressional appropriation, we plan to make these payments over the next few years.
FAO can do much to foster a new era of cooperation in agriculture. But it is up to each member country to help. We cannot ask FAO to be innovative, if we are not innovative ourselves.
Mr Director-General, you have my pledge that the United States will help FAO meet the challenges that face world agriculture. In Africa, in Eastern Europe, in every quarter of the globe, those challenges intensify each day. Let's work together to meet them.
Antonio CABRERA MANO FILHO (Brazil) (Original language Portuguese): Mr Chairman, Director-General, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, food production is the noblest and the most edifying amongst the tasks of human labour. In young countries which are still striving to achieve minimum standards of socio-economic development, the difficulties to supply low-income populations are a permanent constraining factor threatening democracy, liberty and political evolution. This Conference, which gathers over 100 Ministers from all over the world, brings us hope for solidarity, support and reconciliation amongst experts and politicians who have taken on complex, personal institutional responsibilities for the maintenance of peace and good relations amongst peoples.
Brazil comes to Rome, the historic cradle of Latin civilization, aware of its role and responsibilities which stem from its condition as one of the largest agricultural nations in the world. Not only the Minister, but all the Government and all Brazilian farmers, are mindful of the duties implied by the position of one of the largest, continuous stretches of agricultural
land in the world. The incorporation of these awesome expanses in the production system is more than just a national objective of the people who till the land in my country. The actualization of Brazil's economic potential is a challenge for all democracies, for all liberal economies, for science, for technology, for societies committed to cooperation and solidarity and, above all, to universal conscience.
On the eve of the celebrations of the Fifth centennial of the discovery of the Americas, the nations of the young continent are here in ancient and wise Italy to account for their responsibilities and to state very clearly the injustices imposed by the current trading practices imposed on countries which believe in the freedom to produce and sell. We have come here to say that the practice of liberalism at the international level has been equivocal, generating an apprehension and disquiet amongst workers, producers, business men and governments.
Gentlemen, Brazil is bracing itself to harvest next year more than 65 million tons of grains, some 30 million tons of vegetables, another 30 million tons of tropical fruit, 10 billion litres of milk and 7 million tons of beef, pork and poultry meats. We are joining the producer nations, even if we are utilizing a small portion of our potential and facing difficulties with our investment. We have ample possibilities to increase immediately five or six-fold the figures for food production which I have just mentioned. The extraordinary artificiality that dominates the terms of trade amongst countries, always to the detriment of the poorest and less developed, indicates that this is something which disturbs the conscience of everyone by virtue of its evident injustice. The subsidies afforded by several highly developed countries give rise to deplorable situations exemplified by the cows which received a yearly subsidy higher than the per capita income of our countries. These subsidies have been rewarding inefficiency and consecrating the reproduction of these distorted and absurdly useless practices. This is an affront to liberal and democratic economies. It is an evident proof of insensitivity with regard to countries with more efficient agricultural production.
In the coming negotiations in the Uruguay Round, it is hoped that rational and intelligent concepts of equity and justice, fundamental principles for harmonious coexistence amongst peoples, will prevail once again.
The example of my country, Brazil, is very clear in this regard. We are systematically and permanently criticized in connection with the Amazon Rain Forest, our inestimable patrimony. The main culprits of the threats to the Amazon Forest are not the humble rubber tappers, fishermen, gatherers of native fruits and small producers who live in that region, nor the rural entrepreneurs who have been trying to produce in that area; the main aggression to nature and to the environment comes from the fact that our small, skilled producers do not receive fair and adequate remuneration because the markets are closed off to them and producers from developed countries are full of subsidies and sheltered by protectionism. We are not asking for exceptions, nor rewards, nor subsidies for our products. We want, in fact, just rewards for the efforts of those who make the land produce, fertilized by the sweat of their brow.
Protectionism by way of trade distortions is an uncontrolled incentive to the degradation of the environment, deeply regrettable in itself, but even more so when added to the lack of respect and consideration for the labour
and for the fruits of the labour of millions of rural families not only in Brazil, but in the whole of Latin America and in other developing regions.
The Twenty-sixth FAO Conference is a moment of reconciliation and hope. Let my words now therefore serve as an alert. There can be no peace, progress or democracy without jobs, without food, without health, without housing. The developed countries have to open their minds and their hearts to understand the extent to which their outdated protectionist measures distort unfairly the terms of trade in the world today.
Developing countries want neither arms nor privileges; we need and demand commercial freedom and that competition through efficiency, productivity and the willingness to work and produce be allowed. This is needed to achieve systems in which the rich will be less powerful and the poor will suffer less. When the distortions are eliminated, we will lead a more just life and have a more lasting peace.
Bitter lessons are sometimes forgotten far too quickly. At the root of all confrontations and all conflicts lie the suppression of liberty and the reduction of the minimal conditions of the survival of peoples, nations and societies. Political barriers fall and the rich and powerful nations establish alliances and systems of solidarity. However, the foremost and most honourable gesture of support and solidarity, the establishment of fair and equal conditions to allow all to live from their work, does not come about.
Simon CREAN (Australia): Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to represent Australia for the first time at this, the Twenty-sixth Biennial Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). My predecessor, Mr Kerin, had the honour of chairing the previous meeting in 1989. May I add my congratulations, Mr Chairman, on your election to the chairing of this meeting.
I would also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the work of FAO under your leadership, Mr Director-General.
As the new Australian Minister responsible for agriculture, I welcome the opportunity to further develop and promote Australia's international agricultural objectives. I would like also to reaffirm our commitment to the FAO as the leading international organization addressing food and agricultural issues.
An additional advantage of attending this Conference is the opportunity it provides me, so early in my new role, to meet with all of you, my colleagues from around the world. I look forward to developing a strong and continuing relationship with you as my colleagues in both bilateral contact and multilateral fora such as the FAO.
Mr Chairman, Australia has had a long involvement in the FAO; we played an integral role in its establishment in 1945, and we have continued since then to maintain a strong commitment to the Organization. We have participated actively in the FAO Council and its Committees as the representative of the South West Pacific region and we intend to continue this active participation.
We, like you, as members of this Organization, have accepted the challenge of FAO's mandate. Its mandate is to raise the level of nutrition and standards of living, secure improvements in the efficiency of food production and distribution, and better the conditions of rural populations, as well as contribute towards an expanding world economy and ensure humanity's freedom from hunger.
Given this background, therefore, I would like to confine my remarks to four broad areas. The first relates to the global challenge; the second is Australia's perspective; the third addresses the critical importance of trade liberalization; and finally, the FAO Agenda itself.
Firstly, the global challenge. Many parts of the world are undergoing fundamental political, economic and social changes and our capacity to support the growing world population is under threat, as poverty and hunger continue to afflict up to one fifth of the world's population.
The world can produce sufficient food to meet the needs of the world's growing population but our challenge is to set in place the correct mechanisms to bring this about and to store and distribute the results of our efforts efficiently.
In the early part of this new decade, as noted by FAO, the overall economic environment has been unfavourable for agriculture. Most countries are experiencing a period of economic downturn which has been exacerbated by the effects of the Gulf War.
In the international context we still confront the legacy of the 1980's - stagnating growth, huge external debts, low commodity prices and restricted market access.
We in Australia understand these problems all too well, being dependant as we are on commodity exports. The industries of my portfolio - the primary industries in our country - are responsible for 80 percent of Australia's exports.
This FAO Conference is meeting at a time not when the challenge has changed so much, as the opportunity to respond to that challenge has.
Highlighting the positive, there remains great potential for continued and strengthened international cooperation. East/West tensions are subsiding and there have been dramatic moves by the countries in Eastern Europe and the USSR towards market-based economies. As well, there have been new efforts by the major powers to reduce nuclear armaments, freeing up resources that can be directed to more productive ends.
From the Australian perspective. Despite being a significant exporter of efficiently produced quality agricultural products, Australia is currently experiencing a rural crisis. A drought in eastern Australia, depressed commodity prices and continued restrictions on our market access have all contributed to this situation.
I am convinced, however, that agriculture has a very sound future in Australia. How sound will depend on two dimensions, the extent of trade liberalization and the extent to which we as a nation more effectively add value to our agricultural output.
On the latter point, Australia is the only OECD nation in the world whose proportion of exports relative to GDP has not increased in 30 years, essentially because we have been too reliant on trading commodities instead of manufactures and services, particularly those based on our natural resources.
The restructuring of our manufacturing base and significant improvements in areas of micro-economic reform, including labour market reform, mean we are poised to make much more of our opportunities in the future.
Using our research and technology capacity more effectively and developing more innovative marketing strategies through expanded agricultural business activities and better linkages between agriculture, innovation and manufacturing will in my view ensure this path.
The other major problem relates to the world trade environment. It is a problem which many in this room face.
Without substantial trade liberalization an effective global response will continue to elude us. The solution to world hunger and economic growth in developing countries cannot possibly be addressed if price support and export subsidy mechanisms continue to sink scarce resources into less efficient solutions to food production and if market access restrictions limit export opportunities from the more efficient agriculture producing nations.
The last two years have seen huge directional shifts towards market driven domestic economies, but we are still to sensibly address that issue in an international context.
Many countries, including Australia, have become frustrated and angry at the inconsistency by proponents of liberalized markets whose own policies, at the international level, distort this goal.
We, like many countries, have developed structural and economic policies resulting in significantly improved efficiencies, competitiveness and productivity. These policies have involved significant political and social difficulties, but the hard decisions were taken to position ourselves as a nation better to participate in world trade.
But what it has taught us is that becoming competitive is not sufficient if access to markets is denied or if the efficient producers must compete with heavily subsidised domestic and export price schemes.
This is fundamentally the complaint of the Cairns Group, a group chaired by Australia, which has been instrumental in ensuring that agriculture is not just included in the GATT Round but that there can be no successful outcome from the Round, as a whole, unless there is a satisfactory outcome in agriculture.
The Uruguay Round continues to offer the best opportunity for over half a century to achieve substantial and enduring trade liberalization and reform. We are poised on the brink of success or failure and the next few weeks are going to be critical.
Discussions in the last week give added weight to optimism that we can succeed. Recent developments build on the commitment of the heads of the
Group of 7 Nations to personally involve themselves to achieve a successful outcome; on a serious addressing by the EC of the CAP; on the encouraging recent stance of the German Government and in the recent and indeed current talks between the United States and EC.
As important as agriculture is, all will gain from a successfully-concluded GATT Round.
Other outstanding issues such as market access, services and intellectual property rights hold enormous potential. But success in agriculture will provide the circuit breaker to the Round.
Such success is critical in addressing world hunger and the economic growth opportunities for developing countries.
There does appear to be a package involving specific commitments on each of the three legs of agricultural support - export subsidies, border protection, and domestic support. The issue remains as to whether the package will go far enough both in terms of the breadth of the areas of reform and the depth of the adjustments.
The disciplines and adjustments agreed must be genuine. Export subsidies should be curbed with quantitative, as well as budget, constraints; export subsidies should not be permitted in new markets. Market access needs to be real. This means full tariffication without exception, with realistic tariff levels. It also means, through tariff quotas, providing minimum access and transforming existing access, tariff quotas in both areas attracting real growth. That any transitional safeguard mechanism does not simply become a second generation variable levy. It also requires that the domestic support reductions must be real, including all commodity-specific payments within the disciplines. We also need to say that a genuine package will be a package which treats equally all of the agricultural commodities covered in world trade, not just focusing on those that the big players have at the top of their agendas. Finally, the package must have significant, real, sustained cuts bound into the GATT. These are among the issues which must be intensively focused on over the coming weeks.
There needs to be a clear signal from this meeting of the FAO. First, that success in agriculture for the GATT negotiations is imperative to tackle world hunger and reduce the North-South inequity, and second, that for the success to be achieved there needs to be substantial reform in the areas and manner which I have detailed above.
Turning finally to the FAO Agenda. The agenda for this Conference demonstrates the daunting size of the challenges facing the world, the FAO and its Member Nations. It also reflects the great breadth and variety of the FAO's work.
The important technical contribution which FAO makes is reflected in such Agenda Items as that on Plant Genetic Resources and the Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides. There are other items which have reform and socio-economic implications and there are items dealing with the Organization itself.
Also needing to be addressed is a resolution on reforms to the governance of the World Food Programme. The WFP has become the largest multilateral aid agency outside the World Bank/IMF Group. While it is not easy to change
a long-standing relationship, it is generally acknowledged that the WFP requires greater autonomy from FAO if it is to operate with the optimal degree of effectiveness demanded by donors and recipients alike.
Australia wholeheartedly commends these far-reaching reforms to the Conference.
I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of a fellow Australian, Mr Jim Ingram, who is to retire after outstanding service from the position of Executive Director of the World Food Programme.
The high priority and increased resources allocated by FAO to the environment and sustainable development of agriculture is very strongly supported by Australia. There is a clear recognition now, by both developing and developed countries, that we must protect the environment and conserve our resources if we are to feed the world and ensure the survival of the planet.
In recent years governments all round the world have focused their attention on the concept of sustainable development and the need to better integrate environmental, social and economic objectives. In Australia we have recognized ecologically sustainable development as one of the major issues confronting policy makers and the Government has established a broad-ranging consultative process so as to provide a basis for the development of policies in the future.
As well as addressing sustainable development domestically, Australia has been active in international efforts in this area. We participated, for example, in the recent FAO/Netherlands Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and the Environment and we have been contributing to the preparations for the UN Conference on Environment and Development next year.
Other areas of the FAO's Programme in which Australia takes a close interest are the importance of women in agricultural development and the emphasis on providing developing countries with sound policy advice for their agricultural, forestry and fisheries development.
I mentioned at the beginning of my address the major challenges facing us as we move into the 1990's. The FAO also faces challenges of its own.
While the FAO is being asked to' respond to ever-increasing demands, the resources available to the Organization are limited. This is a challenge that my Government, and, I am sure, the Governments of most members here, are familiar with. To meet the challenge requires discipline and sensible decision-making.
FAO has made efforts over the last two years to respond to this challenge. Many of the recommendations from the Review of the FAO, endorsed by the last Conference, have been implemented. In particular, the reintroduction of the Medium-Term Plan will help to guide the Organization in establishing priorities and focusing its future work programme.
It is also pleasing to note that the Director-General has, for the first time, prepared a draft budget for the next biennium on the basis of no real programme increase. This, I believe, reflects the understanding that it is
not possible for the FAO's budget to continue to grow while there are budgetary and financial pressures confronting its contributing member countries. The FAO must work within the resources available, concentrating on those areas where it has comparative advantage.
Australia supports a consensus budget based on maintaining the current level of funding in real terms and containing cost increases. There are elements of the proposed budget with which Australia does not fully agree and it is hoped that discussion at this Conference will lead to a budget agreement which has the general endorsement of all members.
There are a number of important areas we will be discussing under specific Agenda Items and in the proposed Programme of Work which, while being of global significance, are of particular interest to the countries of the Southwest Pacific Region.
The Agenda Items I refer to are those covering Fisheries, Forestry and the Medium-Term Plan for 1992-1997.
The fishing and forestry industries are extremely important to the economies of the Southwest Pacific Region and to Australia, and we would like to see them developed in an economically sustainable and environmentally sound way.
Australia's opposition to driftnet fishing continues and we take comfort in the fact that the countries in the Southwest Pacific are working together and have brought about a cessation of driftnet fishing in their region.
We are pleased to see the priority FAO has given to the sustainable development of forestry in its Programme of Work and to the implementation of the Tropical Forests Action Programme in our region. Australia has supported the programme in the Southwest Pacific through bilateral and multilateral initiatives and by direct financial assistance.
Plant protection is another area on which the region places high priority. We have been a strong advocate for the International Plant Protection Convention, including the technical consultations this year among regional plant protection organizations.
Finally, I would like to say how pleased I am that under the joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme, Australia will host the Second Session of the Codex Regional Coordinating Committee for North America and the Southwest Pacific in Canberra in December this year. This is the first time Australia has had the opportunity to host a Codex meeting.
In conclusion, I am grateful to have had this opportunity to address the Conference. I am confident that it will proceed in a constructive atmosphere and that we will be successful in progressing, or reaching agreement on, the important issues before us and in providing guidance for the work of FAO over the next biennium.
Australia will maintain its commitment, in whatever future capacity it can, to the work of this Organization.
Liu ZHONG-YI (China) (Original language Chinese): First of all, in the name of the Chinese delegation I would like to warmly congratulate you and the three Vice-Chairmen on your election. We are confident that under your leadership the Conference will achieve fruitful results.
In general, since the last session of the Conference, people in the world have made new strides in their struggle to seek subsistence and development, the world economy has grown and world agriculture has further developed. However, all this is characterized by an increasingly obvious feature, that is imbalanced development and the vast number of developing countries are faced with a more difficult plight. Thus, some important issues in the world food and agriculture sector have not been adequately addressed and the world food security situation remains fragile. Therefore, to improve the conditions for the development of world agriculture and to promote stable and sustainable development in world agriculture is still a pressing and arduous task for all of us. In this context, I would wish to make the following observations.
Due to varied social, economic and natural conditions, countries have different challenges and advantages in their development. Consequently, they will follow diversified paths and adopt their own policy measures for development. Nonetheless, we believe that for the vast number of developing countries it is necessary to establish a rational and to some extent self-sufficient agricultural and economic structure. Only in this way can we continuously enhance our capability to adapt to the changing world economy and international market. To this end we must carry out the policies that are in line with local conditions that will bring our own advantages into full play with development based on self reliance. Of course, international cooperation and external aid are also necessary.
From a developmental point of view world agriculture has achieved considerable progress with the common efforts of people in the world. However, there are still hundreds of millions of people in the world suffering from hunger and malnutrition, At present, in addition to stimulating a balanced and full-scale development in production, the promotion of rational circulation and distribution of agricultural products will have important and practical significance in addressing this problem. In fact, current global cereal production is around 1.95 billion tons a year and the per capita average is about 345 kilogrammes. According to our experience, such an average level is sufficient to satisfy basic subsistence needs. However, the vulnerable groups still find it difficult to obtain access to necessary food due to the trade barriers and some irrational policies of distribution and economic means. Therefore, we hope that the international community will take effective actions and actively promote rational distribution and circulation of agricultural products. We also urge that the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations on agricultural trade will conclude at an early date with substantial results.
Agricultural development is inter-dependent with the overall social and economic development. Most developing countries have long been bound by unfair treatment under the current world economic order. Thus their economic development has been severely hindered. We can find a full description of their problems in document C 91/2. We believe that only by remedying this situation can we set up a new international economic and agricultural order, lay a sound foundation for the realization of two major goals of humanity at present - peace and development - as well as create the necessary conditions for agricultural development in most developing
countries. Therefore, we actively advocate that international consultation and coordination should be carried out, the international economic situation and relationship should be improved, and rationalization of the international agricultural process should be accelerated under the principle of equality and mutual benefit.
Following the development of world economic integration and interdependence, international exchange and cooperation are more and more important. Economic development in developing countries is no longer a problem of their own, but a problem of whether sustainable development can be achieved for the entire world economy, including that of developed countries. Agricultural economy is no exception. Unfortunately, progress in this respect has not been satisfactory. No breakthrough has been ever achieved in international agricultural assistance. Financial and technical transfer from developed to developing countries has always met with obstacles, and South-South cooperation has seen no active progress. To solve these problems will not only require our humanitarian assistance but our determination to guarantee and promote global prosperity and maintain world stability. I am sure this will be recognized by all far-sighted politicians. We have always held that all countries should take an active part in agricultural cooperation and exchange under the principle of equality and mutual benefit, seeking practical results in diversified forms and achieving common development.
Dialogue between developed countries and developing countries should be strengthened. On the one hand, the scope of assistance should be broadened while unnecessary aid restrictions lifted; on the other hand, efficiency in utilizing assistance should be raised and experience in this regard be extended. Exchange among developing countries should be enhanced through activities of mutual benefit, supplementarity and mutual assistance. International agencies should play a greater role in creating favourable conditions for international agricultural exchange and cooperation.
In spite of its financial crisis FAO has contributed a great deal to the development of world agriculture through its activities over the past two years. But we must face the fact that FAO is facing heavier tasks and more difficulties. In order to well prepare FAO to meet future challenges and make greater contributions to agriculture in developing countries and in the world we hope that all Member Nations will join efforts to vigorously support FAO in its endeavours.
I would like to avail myself of this opportunity to brief all the distinguished delegates on the recent agricultural development in China.
Over the past two years the Chinese Government has taken a series of effective measures by stressing and strengthening agriculture in an effort to further consolidate and expand the achievements made in the agricultural reforms over the past ten years, as well as to ensure stable and sustainable development of agriculture. We continue to follow the policy of reform and openness to the outside world, and to stabilize and perfect all basic agricultural policies which have proved to be effective in practice and well-received by farmers. We have also made great efforts to improve the circulation of farm products.
Last year some provinces of China were hit by severe natural disasters. However, the major agricultural products such as cereals and cotton will still register a fairly good harvest. The rural economy is active and supplies are sufficient.
China is a large country with a significant agricultural sector and a large population. Our experiences have shown us that China has to stick to its own road and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics which uphold the policy of reform and openness to the outside world.
Strengthening international cooperation will place agriculture as a top priority. The sustained and stable development of agriculture in China is the foundation of national prosperity and people's livelihood, which is also important to the stability and prosperity of the world.
Therefore, we shall make greater efforts and carry out more effectively international cooperation and exchanges.
Agriculture is a material-producing sector of high importance and of international concern because of its irreplaceable role in human existence and development. We are firm in our conviction that with our painstaking cultivation in agriculture this broad field will become even brighter and more colourful. Also, with the effective work of FAO this role will be broader in the future.
CHAIRMAN: Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to invite Ambassador Khojane of Lesotho to take the Chair.
Gerard Khojane, Vice-Chairman of the Council, took the Chair
Gerard Khojane, Vice-Président du Conseil, assume la présidence
Ocupa la presidencia Gerard Khojane, Vicepresidente del Consejo
CHAIRMAN: I have no desire to take any more of your time but please allow me to express my delegation's appreciation for having elected me as a Vice-Chairman of the Twenty-sixth Session of the FAO Conference. We wish together to pledge our full time to the Conference.
Mrs Gunhild OEYANGEN (Norway): Mr Chairman, on behalf of the Norwegian delegation I would like to congratulate you and your Vice-Chairmen upon your elections. It is also with great pleasure that I welcome our close neighbours, the Republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia as new members of FAO, and the associate membership of Puerto Rico. This marks another important step towards making FAO a fully universal organization.
During the last years the global food situation has shown great variations. At the same time as some parts of the world are facing problems related to overproduction, hunger, malnutrition and low food security are hampering the development process in other parts of the world. This clearly demonstrates that in the agricultural sector there are important challenges ahead.
One of the main challenges, as clearly stated in the proposed Medium-Term Plan, is poverty alleviation. In sub-Saharan Africa the vast majority of
the population is being robbed of any hope of a decent future. It is intolerable that hundreds of millions of people live on less than a dollar a day and that 40 000 children die each day of malnutrition and disease.
Providing development assistance to poor people is important, but it is even more important to establish more equitable trade systems that would allow poor countries to participate in international trade on more equal terms.
Considerable changes have taken place in the world and in international relations since the last FAO Conference. The notion of reform has taken on a different and more positive connotation than it had before. The need for reform in developing countries is now widely accepted, but also the UN system must adapt to the changing world situation. We need a more dynamic, better focused and more securely financed United Nations system that sets the priorities based on present and future needs.
Norway has always been a strong supporter of the UN system and this is why we together with the other Nordic countries, in 1988 initiated the so-called Nordic/United Nations Project. Through this project the Nordic countries have, based on genuine interest in the multilateral system, presented a number of studies and ideas for improvement. To maintain the support of the United Nations system it is necessary to strengthen the quality and impact of UN development activities and ameliorate the governance and efficiency of the UN organizations.
My delegation has with great interest read the Director-General's report on the implementation of the review of certain aspects of FAO's goals and operations which was adopted at the last FAO Conference. We are pleased to note that the criteria of comparative advantage and selectivity seems to have been adopted as guiding principles for FAO's priority setting. Likewise, for the strengthening of FAO's activities for sustainable development and environment, and higher priority given to policy advice. The main result of the exercise is, however, the re-introduction of the Medium-Term Plan. Through this document we as Member Nations should be able to take an active part in the priority-setting process and thus introduce a sort of permanent review of the Organization's activities.
We regret to note, however, that the Review Resolution has been only partially implemented. The Director General, as stated in the report, is committed to pursue further action. The essential task for this Conference is to decide on how to carry the process further. The progress already achieved must be consolidated and areas not satisfactorily covered should be brought into the process.
Unfortunately, the 1980s have been a discouraging decade for development. The UN system, FAO included, has an important role to play in turning development into a more encouraging direction. We have, however, seen that the United Nations system is suffering from efficiency and coordination problems, and that the support for multilateral development cooperation has weakened in member countries. It is therefore an important task for all of us to do our utmost to re-establish the belief in the multilateral system.
FAO has an important mandate in promoting development of the food sector and is entrusted to implement an extensive field programme. FAO's Field Programme is important for many developing countries. Therefore, the quality of the programme needs to be ensured. Studies conducted by the
Nordic/UN project and others show that there is ample room for improvement in this regard. There is also a need for FAO to better follow up the concept of national execution as the ultimate objective and modality for development assistance. This form of execution should, even if it demands difficult adjustments in some organizations, gradually increase in step with improved capacities and priorities of the recipient countries. Building up capacity to administer its own development activities should be an integral part of any development collaboration.
This session of the Conference will have a chance to discuss thoroughly future priorities when reviewing the first Medium-Term Plan for the Organization. The Medium-Term Plan is well prepared and should be a good basis for a fruitful discussion among member countries on priority setting. Through such discussions, leading to consensus on the main priority areas, the Member Nations can improve the governance of the Organization.
Forward planning is the essence of good management, as the Director-General says in his introduction to the Medium-Term Plan. My delegation can in general adhere to the medium-term challenges he is listing up. In a situation where resources available are likely to continue to be insufficient to meet all demands, an overriding consideration must be to apply the criteria of comparative advantage and selectivity to the extent feasible.
Turning to priorities, I want to emphasize the need to grant top priority to the areas supporting and developing the role of FAO as a center of excellence. This implies concentration of areas and tasks within FAO's mandate where the Organization has clear comparative advantages.
FAO must give higher attention to being the global lead agency within forestry development. The situation facing the Tropical Forestry Action Programme, with protracted discussion on institutional matters, is very unfortunate. The present situation calls for leadership and initiative by FAO, if the Organization is to continue to play a major role through the TFAP. Let me stress, Mr Chairman, that my delegation would not like to see FAO losing ground in this area.
FAO has an important role to play as the leading international organization for conservation and utilization of living aquatic resources. Coming from a major fishery nation, my delegation is well aware that a multilateral approach is the only way of achieving sustainable utilization of these resources. Fisheries and aquaculture are becoming increasingly important in satisfying global nutritional needs, especially with respect to providing a balanced diet. This area must therefore be granted high priority.
The main challenge in the agricultural sector is to modify existing production patterns to become more sustainable. More sustainable practice must be combined with an increase in productivity to enable the sector to satisfy the food requirements of a rapidly increasing world population. This is not an easy task.
We trust that FAO is able, through the opportunity provided by the UNCED process, to focus the world's attention to this challenge. Agricultural issues, including land degradation and freshwater use, need to have a prominent place on the agenda for following-up of the Conference on Environment and Development in Brazil next year. In this follow-up, FAO
should recognize that lack of sustainability is a problem confronting agriculture, in different ways, in all continents.
Mr Chairman, my delegation is pleased to welcome the first progress report from FAO's Plan of Action for Integration of Women in Agriculture and Rural Development. I must, nevertheless, underline that we still have a long way to go before we can reduce the priority given to these aspects of development. Time has come for a critical view on the organizational aspects of women in development activities in FAO. The Women in Development focal point should, in my view, be given a more prominent location in the organizational hierarchy. It is also important that the recruitment policy is altered to allow for a higher percentage of women professionals, particularly at higher levels in the Organization.
The Director-General presented in his speech the sad fact of FAO's financial situation. A situation which is highly regrettable. In FAO, as in any other organization, all members have committed themselves to pay their contribution in full and on time. It is impossible for the Organization to perform its tasks if resources are not at hand and the day-to-day cash management requires more attention than fulfilling the mandate. My Government intends, also in the future, to pay its contributions punctually, and I am concerned about a situation where the Organization has reverted to considerable external borrowing. As a matter of principle, borrowing without a clear idea of how to cover the repayment and interest is questionable and could jeopardize the confidence in the Organization.
We see in this situation no other realistic alternative for FAO than to accept a no-growth budget for next biennium. This does not mean that my Government believes in any general principle of zero growth for international organizations and for development aid. On the contrary, we will not fail to also use this forum for appealing to all Member Nations to increase their development assistance and my own Government intends also next year to use close to 1.2 percent of Norway's GNP for development assistance.
Finally, Mr Chairman, let me conclude by underlining the need for reaching an agreement regarding the Programme of Work and Budget for the next biennium at this Conference. The Organization can no longer afford the controversies we have seen during the last years, resulting in eroding support to the Organization. My delegation is prepared to do its utmost to contribute to reaching a broad consensus at this Conference, enabling the Organization to promote its important mission.
CHAIRMAN: I thank Her Excellency Mrs Gunhild Oeyangen, the Norwegian Minister for Agriculture, for her statement. I thank her especially for her promise for Norway to pay her contribution to FAO on time.
Rafael EITAN (Israel) (Original language Hebrew): With your permission I would like to address you in one of the oldest languages in the world, if not the oldest.
Mr Chairman, Distinguished representatives, the Israeli delegation congratulates the Chairman who has been elected, and we wish him a successful deliberation at the Conference.
The next two years will be crucial in restructuring and reforming the activities of this Organization. The Member States throughout the world will be following closely the steps taken by the Director-General and hoping that his efforts in strengthening and supporting the fundamental principles of universality, objectivity, and cooperation among both large and small nations upon which the FAO is based will bear fruit. Achieving the goals of the Organization is a task of profound importance which requires the full participation of all the Member States and of the Directorate, while overcoming political differences.
As in the past, the State of Israel stands ready and willing today to cooperate and share its experience in the fields of agricultural production.
Half of Israel is arid. Our unique and complex geopolitical position is such that the majority of the desert areas are situated on our borders. As a result, the development of agriculture in these areas is given top national priority, in addition to such issues as food supply, and employment in border regions. These subjects also have international implications since many countries of the Third World are grappling with the same problems.
With your permission, I shall focus my statement on the way in which Israel's agriculture is preparing itself for the year 2000, while facing many of the same problems as those affecting the agricultural sector in other countries around the globe.
Israel's agriculture is in a transition phase stemming from four main factors which are characteristic of many other countries: one, restructuring of the agricultural sector which will require far-reaching changes in the organization of agricultural production, e.g., enlarging the family farm units and its specialization in a small number of high-value income earning branches; two, dramatic changes in international agriculture, with vast stocks of food surpluses piling up in many countries, while other countries are suffering from shortages; three, a significant growth in demand for capital and the financial and economic implications stemming from this situation. It should be taken into consideration that while advanced technologies result in a dramatic rise in productivity and output, they cause the component of capital to be given added weight, thus causing a significant increase in financing expenses and placing stress on the debt burden of the farmer; and four, the shortage of water and the need to make its use more efficient through the recycling of brackish water, the improvement of saline-resistant varieties, and mainly the development of alternative water resources.
Israel is sharing these problems and is making long-range plans, while striving to achieve the following goals:
Obtaining a target-income which will enable the farmer to maintain a standard of living similar to that of those people employed in other branches of the economy, by developing products with a high added value and with an export market potential. The factor is especially important in desert border areas which are remote from the population centres.
The basic concept behind this idea is to exploit research and development for achieving these goals. On the one hand, this means the development of labour-saving technologies, thus reducing the number of people employed in
agriculture in populated areas, and, on the other hand, encouraging labour-intensive and income-generating branches, suitable for arid regions. It will thus be possible to check the negative process of the movement of population from the desert area towards the center of the country, and even to attain an increase in population in these areas.
Formulation of new organizational patterns which will indeed preserve the cooperative framework of the farms, but which will be more suited to the changing conditions and the need to adapt the farming section to modern technologies. Most of the family farms in Israel are organized in a cooperative framework. This organizational structure assists in applying new agro-technical methods.
For example, the introduction of new varieties to the modern farm requires a close follow-up both by the farmer and by the extension officer and researcher. The situation takes place under the aegis of the cooperative board which is elected by the farmers themselves.
Streamlining the agricultural marketing systems and the rest of the components of the supporting system (such as credit, supply of inputs, etc.), in order to increase its share in the profit of the farmer in the final price of the product.
The share of those products which reflect the relative advantage of the whole country will grow in agriculture in the Twenty-first century. We believe that the share of supports in agriculture will return to a more limited scope and will enable free trade between countries.
Preference will mainly be given to development of agriculture in the countries of the Third World. In the realm of competition between the countries, the advantage that each one has in the field of know-how, natural conditions, and production capacity will find expression.
Development of an infrastructure for agro-technical research will enable increased use of marginal water, streamlining and development of irrigation systems, and an increased variety of agricultural products.
Existence of a high level of research and development will allow for the capacity to compete, on the one hand, and will reduce production costs, on the other, for both covered and open grown crops.
Increasing the impact of agriculture on the national economy (relative percent of GNP) and increasing the added value of agricultural products in relation to others.
The problems related to a shortage of water in the Middle East are fundamental. Their solution may contribute to a reduction of tension between the countries of the area which share the same meagre water resources.
I want to make the point that a joint exploitation and sharing of water resources based on regional agreements will aid in postponing a water crisis in our region for many years to come. But if each country will give thought to its own needs only, without taking into account the needs of the region as a whole, we shall surely find ourselves in a deteriorating water crisis.
Let us stop the arms race in our region and direct our economies and financial resources to a vigorous development of the available water in the entire area.
With the cost of a single tank, we could produce one million cubic meters of desalinated sea water and three times as much by desalinated saline water.
With the cost of a single F-15 jet fighter, we could desalinate 17 million cubic meters of water.
Just imagine how much we could change the face of the Middle East if we could transfer money and investment resources from the arms race to the production of water.
Israel and Jordan are the two countries most affected by the water shortage.
We estimate that by the end of this century the consumption of water in these two countries will increase by more than 30 percent.
Cooperation with Jordan in solving the most immediate problems will postpone but not prevent a water crisis at the beginning of the next century.
We believe that the one and only long-term solution is the development of less expensive technologies for desalinating sea water, while at the same time developing new varieties with a high added value, so the price of desalinated water will represent only a marginal share in the cost calculation of agricultural production.
I hope that this process will enable more people to live in peace and prosperity in other arid areas of the world, also.
In the field of international agricultural cooperation as well, the lessons learned in the past will be applied while planning for the future.
Allow me to elaborate on Israel's activities in this field, which began already as far back as 1959. By 1990, 25 courses for approximately 600 people from overseas were held in Israel, while about 15 mobile, on-the-spot courses were held around the world for about 700 trainees.
We have also adopted a new approach based on the principle of holding intensive workshops in a wide range of basic agricultural subjects for senior professional people from countries in Asia, Africa, Oceania, and South and Central America.
This new approach has proved itself, and the final projects and joint conclusions reached in the workshops may be of interest to the FAO, and they are available for your perusal upon request.
Israel's readiness to make available to the developing countries of the Third World the large amount of knowledge and know-how gained in various agricultural fields, and mainly in the development of arid zones, is the best proof of its desire for peace in our region.
Another important development is the expanded involvement of Israel's agricultural research institutions in programmes for scientific-agricultural cooperation with other donor countries on the basis of joint financing.
The emphasis in these programmes is on applied research for increasing yields and the identification of varieties suitable to the special conditions of the recipient country and I would like to praise the high standard of the researchers from the developing countries and their important contribution to research projects.
It is worth noting that as a result of several workshops held in Israel a new concept has developed both in Israel and the developing countries based on the idea that a more vigorous effort must be made to integrate private initiative in the production system in order to free governments of the need to manage on their own a national agricultural network. One of these ways is organizing small farmers into cooperatives. In this matter, an interesting pattern based on a satellite farming system has been created, and Israel can share its experience in this field.
I hope that my statement has succeeded in relaying the message that time is short, and that we must take speedy and decisive action in order to solve the serious problems we face as we approach the year 2000.
The shortage of water, the lack of capital, the absence of markets, and as a result, the movement of population from the arid areas to urban centers, may result in serious demographic changes and we must already prepare ourselves for them.
Allow me to express my hope that this Conference will mark the beginning of a new era, an era of deeper involvement of all the Member States of the FAO in promoting the agricultural sector and in eliminating world hunger.
I repeat the commitment of my country: Israel is able and willing to share its long experience in pushing back the desert and transforming it into a blooming land.
John NIBA NGU (Cameroon): Mr Chairman, the Cameroonian delegation heartily congratulates you and your Bureau on your election at this Twenty-sixth session or our Organization. My delegation wishes you total success in the fulfillment of your delicate and exalting task at the helm of this Conference.
Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my pleasure and duty to extend to all the delegations here present, the warm greetings of the Cameroonian people and the wishes for success in our deliberations, expressed by his Excellency Paul Biya, President of the Republic of Cameroon.
Our Head of State ardently hopes that our discussions, reflections and conclusions will give our respective Governments, our Organization, the specialized agencies of the United Nations, the various governmental and non-governmental organizations here represented, the required impetus and greater awareness for revamping the food and agricultural sector of poor nations on a concrete basis.
This is also the right time and place for me to express, on behalf of the Cameroon Government, gratitude for the honour given to my country, the Republic of Cameroon, by the Permanent Representative of African Governments here at the FAO for electing our Ambassador here to preside over their various consultations during this past year. I am sure that our Organization, the FAO, has benefited from the wise ideas of the African Group.
I want also to take this opportunity to welcome all the new countries who have just joined, or will be joining, the great family of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in their capacity as Member States or Associate Members.
Mr Chairman, is there any further need to mention that the Twenty-sixth session of the FAO Conference is being held at a time when the economic situation of developing countries is very disturbing? Among them, the case of Africa south of the Sahara is a cause for concern in all respects, for - as we all know - all facts from the FAO Secretariat, the United Nations Secretariat generally and the World Bank unequivocally show that the current persistent and unfavourable economic situation of Africa is not only unprecedented but is driving our Continent almost permanently into an unending crisis with devastating and tragic consequences, about which much has been spoken and written.
Top on the list of themes to be considered during our current discussions is the World Food and Agricultural Situation. In our opinion, particular attention should be given to this Item, especially as all the facts produced bear on the uneven distribution of food resources throughout the world.
Indeed, we are living in a situation fraught with contradictions and confusion, together with its overwhelming realities. Two different worlds are actually coexisting on earth: a world of plenty and food security living side by side with a world of food shortages, malnutrition, food insecurity and misery.
This is a situation that should and could be overcome if we actually want to face up to the greatest challenge of our time, that is, to free mankind from hunger, misery and malnutrition.
The food crisis in sub-Saharan Africa is a palpable reality and we have always acknowledged that modernizing the agricultural sector is the sine qua non for eradicating hunger from the sub-region.
In a nutshell, we must immediately, and in a dynamic and coordinated manner, eliminate the socioeconomic constraints that hinder the expansion of this sector. This is because the characteristic lack of dynamism by our agriculture is clearly indicative of the insufficient funding it receives.
We should also underscore the poor performance of the African agricultural sector which relies on the obsolete system of water and land use whereby very little use is made of fertilizers, improved seed varieties and other agricultural inputs, and irrigation techniques are very underdeveloped. In this context, agronomic research, farmer organizations and agricultural credit facilities adapted to the small farmer needs are a priority.
Mr Chairman, we do not expect these problems to be solved on their own. When our Governments adopted the Lagos Plan of Action in 1980 and the Harare Declaration in 1984, during the FAO Regional Conference for Africa in Zimbabwe, they solemnly acknowledged that it shall first of all be the prime responsibility of every nation to transform its agricultural sector into a reliable source of food self-sufficiency. Financial and technical assistance from rich countries and the international community would also be essential components to sustain these domestic efforts.
Mr Chairman, permit me to dwell on the case of the African small farmer or, in short, the Third World small farmer. It is he who bears the brunt of food production. The solution to the problem of hunger therefore depends on him. Once he leaves the village for the urban center, he ceases to be a producer; he becomes a consumer and is often unemployed. Rehabilitating the small farmer is therefore avoiding to bring the production machinery to a standstill, and is tantamount to invariably contributing to finding a solution to the food security problem. Whatever the case, Africa's future and well-being are, in many respects, very dependent upon a dynamic and productive agriculture. In other words, it is up to every African country to increase substantially the required resources with a view to enhancing food and agricultural production. The aim here is to enable everyone to have enough food for himself and the money that would enable him to buy the food when necessary. It is, therefore, by launching efficient and realistic agricultural development programmes, and by adopting food security strategies, involving farmers' participation, that we can guarantee our survival. From this perspective, it is imperative to mobilize human and financial resources, given that the success of any agricultural development policy depends on the degree of active participation of the local population concerned, who must be considered as both actors and beneficiaries. At this level, the training of agricultural practitioners and extension technical staff is of immense importance and everything should be done to sustain and reinforce existing training institutions, the training of basic practising farmers on the job, and the specialization of staff and extension facilities at all levels.
Mr Chairman, in the light of the tragic food situation facing Africa, and the level of balance of payments deficits of many of the countries affected by drought, food aid has been a happy alternative because it permits immediate relief to the populations affected. On behalf of my Government, I hereby express the sincere gratitude of Cameroon to all donors for their generosity. The Director-General of the FAO, Dr Saouma, merits special mention for the untiring efforts which he made to sensitize at short notice donor countries on this situation. His efforts enabled the gathering of important food supplies which benefited our countries, and which continue to benefit our countries, during this period of crisis.
The efficiency with which this aid was managed by the World Food Programme must also be underscored. We are satisfied with the impetus given by its Executive Director, Mr Ingram, both in emergency situations and in the form of assistance to development projects, as well as the direction of this Programme whose primary objective is to assist development programmes and those aimed at increasing agricultural production. In this context, special tribute is to be paid to the development of the policy of triangular operations.
The Cameroon Government is convinced that, in order to achieve real food security in countries with food shortages, the implementation of specific programmes, centered on increasing food crop production, remains a priority. Yet sustaining such a strategy requires the mobilization of a considerable amount of financial and technical resources which unfortunately are lacking in the developing countries. In addition to the national effort, the assistance of developed countries and international cooperation will forever remain a necessity in this respect.
The Cameroon Government wishes to take this opportunity to express its gratitude to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and its President, His Excellency Mr Idriss Jazairy, for much appreciated loan funds that are contributing to the realization of specific projects in the agricultural sector in Cameroon. At this level, the problem of reconstituting the resources of the International Fund for Agricultural Development should be given a lot of attention by the world family of nations.
Mr Chairman, the FAO is our Organization and, as such, it deserves our wholehearted attention. We are convinced that the fight against hunger, misery and malnutrition can be won if one considers the extraordinary scientific and technological breakthroughs that have been achieved. But this objective can only be attained with the cooperation of all men of goodwill.
Long live the FAO! Long live international cooperation!
CHAIRMAN: I would like to thank His Excellency the Minister of Agriculture of the Cameroon for his statement. Mr Minister, I can assure you that His Excellency Mr Kimo Tabong has made a significant contribution as Chairman of the African Group at FAO.
Perhaps at this stage I could warn you that it would appear that we shall have some time to our credit and it is possible to add an additional speaker to our list of speakers. I am told that His Excellency the Minister of Benin would be prepared to speak this morning and I would therefore ask him to be patient but be present in the room so that when the time comes I will be able to call him to the platform.
I now invite His Excellency Issa Kalantari, Minister for Agriculture of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and President of the World Food Council, to come to the rostrum to make his statement.
Issa KALANTARI (Iran, Islamic Republic of): Mr Chairman, on behalf of myself and the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I would like to extend my cordial congratulations to you on your Presidency and wish you success in chairing this outstanding Conference. I hope that this Conference attains its valuable goals and objectives.
I would also like to state the total support of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and wish this great Organization ever-increasing success in adopting efficient policies and methods for helping its Member States to improve their production levels in agriculture.
Mr Chairman, Distinguished Delegates, a glance over the world food situation and the existence of more than hundreds of millions of hungry and poor people are the best witness to this claim that despite the large volume of international aids, the calamity of poverty and hunger still threatens the life of millions of deprived people.
Past experiences reveal the fact that the eradication of hunger can only be achieved through the elimination of poverty.
It is obvious that the campaign against poverty cannot be restricted to the domain of only one organization. It is a great responsibility for everyone, and the activities of international organizations and the developed countries could contribute to its success.
Here I would like to state the support of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the joint Conference of the FAO and the WHO, which will be convened in the near future, and hope they can make fundamental progress in finding new solutions and forming a consensus for the eradication of poverty.
Excellency, as you are fully aware, the number of deprived countries and the domain of hunger in these countries are critically expanding.
In these countries, agriculture is the foremost economic sector and, unfortunately, is severely affected by natural disasters and internal skirmishes. While appreciating the work carried through by the World Food Programme and the investments made by it, it is expected that the FAO should help these countries to establish sustainable agriculture and gradually move toward self-sufficiency in producing their own food.
Since last year, in a joint effort with the FAO, we have started a study for a sustainable agriculture programme in our Bakhtaran Province which we hope could serve as a case study for the Conference.
Mr Chairman, you are fully aware that many regions of the world, especially the Near East, are facing great difficulties in preserving and developing their soil and water resources: At the same time, the problem of feeding the growing population of the world, which is estimated to reach 8 billion by the year 2020, should be tackled. While highly appreciating the efforts of all the scientists and research centres and networks of the CGIAR system. I would like to ask the FAO and all the other responsible organizations to put more emphasis, especially in financial terms, on strengthening the existing research centres and establishing highly equipped new ones in sufficient numbers. Here I propose the establishment of a new research centre for soil and water conservation for the Near East Region. We are ready to accommodate such a centre in our country which could serve as a foundation for the exchange of new information and extension of advanced technology and know-how to member countries.
Excellency, Distinguished Delegates, unfortunately, in spite of national activities and international support for the expansion and revitalization of natural resources, we are still witnessing the destruction and degradation of these God-given blessings. This trend would bring about a threatening aftermath in the developing countries. While wishing success for the coming Summit on Environment, I would like to emphasize the need to study the interaction and close connection with environmental protection and food production.
Mr Chairman, as the newly-elected President of the United Nations World Food Council, I look forward to seeing the fight against hunger, malnutrition and poverty in the work of this forum and I ask all Member States to support the work of the World Food Council.
Mr Chairman, you are aware that agricultural products are the main exports of the developing countries, through which they can finance their infrastructural requirements to achieve sustainability in their agricultural sectors. But trade figures and trends of the 1980s depict a very gloomy picture contrary to the Third World expectations. It is imperative that the FAO should intervene and urge the negotiators of the Uruguay Round of GATT to work for a successful outcome which could be beneficial to the developing countries.
Finally, while supporting the FAO Information System, I would like to ask the esteemed management of this great institution to increase the budget for technical cooperation projects which could be very helpful for developing countries to benefit from different programmes.
In the first half of our first Five-year national development plan, we have achieved some improvement in our agricultural sector. Herewith, I would like to mention some of our attainments:
Infrastructural operations for preservation of soil and water in approximately 260 000 hectares; adopting the policy of increasing the production and reducing the cereal import; during the present year the amount of cereal import has been decreased by 1.3 million tonnes; different projects in our forestry and rangeland sub-sector including preservation, afforestation, reforestation, sand dune fixation and watershed management, have been executed in about 450 000 hectares; extension of our crop insurance and minimum guaranteed price policies to some other agricultural products.
A general campaign against parasitic diseases in 100 million heads of livestock; milk powder importation which amounted to 30 000 tonnes per year was suspended two years ago and all requirements are provided domestically.
In conclusion, while wishing success for the Session in the realization of its goals, and thanking the organizers, I do hope that each and every one of us shall draw the greatest possible benefits from this valuable opportunity.
Laurits TORNAES (Denmark): Mr Chairman, may I congratulate you and the other Members of the Bureau on your election.
I can assure you that the Danish delegation will cooperate with you in bringing this Conference to a successful conclusion.
May I also congratulate and welcome very warmly the newly elected Member States to FAO: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - also Puerto Rico as an Associate Member.
Since the last FAO Conference two years ago, radical changes have taken place on the political and economic scene and the world has become even more interdependent.
The problems of the developing countries remain very serious indeed. In some cases, notably in Africa, they seem almost without solution, and call for considerable efforts both by the countries concerned and by the international community.
The Danish Government is following very closely developments in East and Central Europe: developments which are giving us inspiration to new optimism for our common future.
We have a special obligation to support new democracies in their struggle to establish a solid foundation for their freedom.
We cannot do this merely by declarations. We must provide economic and technical support and we must also be willing to open our markets.
The Danish Government is of the opinion that this great international challenge must be met by FAO.
Variations in harvest from year to year and from one region of the world to another is a reminder to us that agriculture is very dependent on climatic conditions. Even in technologically advanced countries, the climate is an important factor in agriculture.
Agricultural production prospects differ considerably from one country to another. There seems little doubt that at the global level, production can expand to meet effective demand. In spite of this we have started a new decade by having more people than ever hungry. There are an estimated 450 million hungry people living in the developing countries.
Never before have forests all over the world been threatened more than now. Clearance for agriculture, over-cuttings for fuelwood, uncontrolled commercial exploitation, overgrazing, collecting of fodder and degradation and decline from air pollution, fires, pests and diseases are all crucial factors.
There is a great need for fighting these serious problems in a coordinated manner. Especially, integrated agricultural and forestry activities are required.
The last few decades have seen a major change in the orientation of the work of the Specialized Agencies of the United Nations. FAO is the UN system's lead agency for food and agriculture and I would like here to underline the importance of FAO expanding its cooperation with other UN agencies and interested parties of the world community.
The Multilateral Trade Negotiations are now entering the decisive phase. After five years of preparation the moment for decision has come. Denmark is fully committed to the objectives of the Punta del Este Declaration. In particular the negotiations must result in further liberalization and expansion of trade through progressive improvements of market access and stronger disciplines on measures affecting trade. The conclusions of the GATT negotiations should also imply that agricultural policies will be more responsive to international market signals and that account will be taken of the interests of the developing countries.
The Danish Government underlines the mutual responsibility we all share to reach a fast and successful conclusion of the GATT negotiations.
In my view migration is a topic which in many respects is closely linked to food security. The magnitude of the migration problem is not fully realized today and the risk of large and accelerated migration will be a problem of still increasing importance.
I raised this issue during the Seventeenth Ministerial session of the United Nations World Food Council, held earlier this year in Elsinore, Denmark, because I am convinced that the importance of this problem, unfortunately, will increase dramatically during the next decade or two.
Many of the millions of men, women and children who are currently facing starvation are refugees or otherwise displaced by war or famine. Migration is becoming an important factor and as a strong, potential influence on the food security situation and on the developmental process in general.
I believe that the UN system - respecting the mandates of the various bodies - should address the relationship between migration and increased agricultural production and food security.
The application from the EC for membership of FAO is one of the most important Items of this Conference. With the transfer of competence in substantial areas within the purview of FAO, it will be a great benefit for FAO to have EC as a member. I hope this issue can be satisfactorily concluded and with a positive impact on other parts of the UN System.
Let me now turn to some of the issues which are on the Agenda for this Conference, and start by referring to the Medium-Term Plan.
In the past, Member Governments have been advocating more influence in the formulation of FAO's Programme of Work and Budget and a sharper setting of priority, coupled with the fading-out of activities which perhaps are no longer of the highest priority.
In the past many of us have been frustrated when the draft Programmes of Work were first seen, because it was then already too late to make any new proposals for substantial changes. Now we see clear improvements in the budget process of this year.
The necessity to have a better focus on priority-setting is related to the economy measures which are being imposed on all national administrations, and which certainly also will have to be applied to international organizations like FAO.
Therefore, the Danish Government very much appreciates the efforts made by FAO to introduce a Medium-Term Plan. The focus of the Organization's work over the next six-year period is now emerging, and Member Governments, in making their comments, can have a much greater influence on the preparation of future work programmes and future priority-setting of the Organization.
I take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the way in which the proposed Programme of Work and Budget has been prepared by the Director-General.
The proposed Programme of Work and Budget has been examined by my Government and, although we would have liked to see an even sharper priority-setting, we are in favour of having this approved by consensus.
The environmental issue in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is a problem which concerns not only individual nations. It is an international issue which does not respect national frontiers.
The fight to ensure freedom from hunger cannot be won unless the planet's natural resources and environment are safeguarded. This is an issue we must solve together through international action.
Denmark is looking toward the UN system, including FAO, for providing the best possible framework for the required cooperation and action.
The improved international political climate provides a unique chance for reforming the UN system. It is imperative that we improve the efficiency and the economic and social impact of UN programmes and give them more focus and greater cohesion.
The Nordic/UN Project, which was submitted in May this year, contains a number of ideas, which will hopefully be studied carefully. Furthermore, a DANIDA study on the Effectiveness of Multilateral Agencies at Country Level was published in April. It includes FAO and recommends a more stringent division of labour between the various UN bodies.
The Review process initiated in FAO has contributed to improvements. The Danish Government is, however, of the opinion that a review and reform process should be of an ongoing nature. There is never room for sitting back and relaxing.
Denmark is one of the major contributors to the World Food Programme. In endorsing the new pledging target of US$1.5 billion, I would like to express my Government's gratitude to the Executive Director, James Ingram, who will retire early next year after 10 years of service to the Programme. During this time a reform of the whole Programme has taken place and WFP is starting in 1992 with a new, strengthened and expanded Governing Body in which we are looking forward to participate.
The Executive Director has played a major role in readjusting the Programme's general regulations to better correspond to the great challenges which are related to the Programme's involvement in food for work and emergency situations. I wish to pay tribute to the leadership Mr Ingram has given to the Programme, and to wish him well in his retirement. I would like also to draw the attention of delegates to the fact that my Government has put forward a competent candidate, Ambassador Ole Lønsmann Pouelsen, for the post of Executive Director of the World Food Programme.
Lasting peace can only be achieved if we tackle the growing gap between the rich and the poor nations and the rich and the poor peoples within nations. Agriculture and forestry play together a major role in meeting the basic needs of rural peoples, in reducing poverty and especially in securing the requirements for food and energy. For years we have had lengthy and unproductive debates on who is responsible for the lack of progress in developing countries. It is encouraging to note that recently these debates have been replaced by a much more constructive dialogue, which underlines our shared responsibility.
It is of the utmost importance that there is a growing recognition that development of democratic systems, good governments and respect for human rights are essential for ensuring sustainable development of our common future.
CHAIRMAN: I am sure that the Conference will join His Excellency Tornaes in thanking Mr James Ingram for his service as Director of the World Food Programme during the last few years.
Mama ADAMOU-N'DIAYE (Bénin): Permettez-moi tout d'abord, de vous féliciter pour votre brillante nomination pour diriger les travaux de la vingt-sixième session de notre Conférence.
Je voudrais dire ma joie et celle de ma délégation de prendre part à cette session et vous prie de transmettre à Son Excellence, M. Edouard Saouma, Directeur général de la FAO, et à travers lui à toute la FAO, le satisfecit du Gouvernement du Bénin que préside Son Excellence, M. Nicéphore Soglo, pour le travail réalisé au cours de ces deux dernières années.
Les thèmes variés sur lesquels se penchera notre conférence et au nombre desquels ma délégation retient essentiellement: La situation mondiale de l'alimentation et de l'agriculture, les activités de la forêt en matière d'environnement et de développement durable, l'aide aux pays les moins avancés en vue de définir une stratégie du développement agricole, le plan d'action pour l'intégration de la femme dans le développement agricole, et j'en passe, me donne une occasion toute particulière, de faire part ici des préoccupations avec l'aide de la FAO et d'autres partenaires au développement, bilatéraux ou multilatéraux.
Après 30 ans et plus d'indépendance, de tâtonnement d'espoir, mais surtout d'échec réitérés dans la définition et la mise en oeuvre de stratégies de développement, beaucoup de pays africains et particulièrement ceux au Sud du Sahara se trouvent dans une situation critique. En effet, après la période de 1960 à 1972 où l'Afrique a connu une certaine prospérité qui s'est matérialisée notamment dans une élévation de revenu par habitant, la période de 1973 à 1980 a été, quant à elle, marquée par la stagnation de l'économie de nombre d'Etats.
Depuis 1981, le déclin s'est accentué et, en dehors de certaines zones, l'africain est généralement moins loti qu'avant les années 1960.
Le cas de mon pays constitue un exemple édifiant. Sans trop vouloir m'étendre outre mesure sur les causes de cette situation, je dois citer cependant: la baisse vertigineuse des cours des matières premières; la dégradation des structures économiques et financières; la confiscation du pouvoir politique, de tous les pouvoirs politiques par une minorité de citoyens sous la bannière d'un parti unique; dans le secteur agricole considéré à juste titre comme la base du développement économique, on s'est plutôt contenté de déclarations d'intention sans apporter les appuis nécessaires à un réel décollage économique.
Aussi, le secteur rural souffre-t-il aujourd'hui de nombreux maux dont les plus marquants sont: la faible productivité du secteur liée aux techniques et aux conditions de production; la faible performance des structures d'encadrement; la dégradation du patrimoine naturel par les feux de brousse
et par des systèmes de production peu appropriés qui engendrent les pertes de forêts de plus de cent mille hectares par an contre un reboisement de 3 000 ha sur la même période; la non-intégration des diverses spéculations ou actions et les conflits permanents et parfois violents entre les différents producteurs; la marginalisation des producteurs dans la conception des programmes de développement et la préparation généralement insuffisante pour la prise en charge par eux-mêmes dans un avenir raisonnable, de leurs propres affaires; les difficultés d'écoulement des produits agricoles à cause du mauvais état des voies de communication et de la mauvaise organisation des marchés intérieurs, à la méconnaissances des marchés extérieurs et à l'absence de transformation; la faiblesse des revenus agricoles liée essentiellement à des techniques agricoles peu performantes, à l'inexistence de technologies appropriées pour la transformation et la conservation et à une diversification agricole insuffisante.
Mais depuis le début d'année 1990 et plus particulièrement depuis l'historique Conférence des Forces Vives de la Nation tenue à Cotonou du 19 au 28 février 1990, la nécessité d'un changement nouveau en vue de redresser l'économie en donnant force et vigueur à l'agriculture qui représente aujourd'hui 40 pour cent de produit intérieur brut et qui procure des revenus à plus de 70 pour cent des ménages, a été réaffirmée.
C'est pourquoi dans ce secteur vital, le Programme d'Action du Gouvernement vise à: relever le niveau de vie des populations rurales en accroissant les revenus et en améliorant les services; accroître les recettes d'exportation en améliorant la capacité de production et la diversification des produits; redéfinir le rôle de l'Etat dans le développement rural afin de rendre les ruraux et leurs organisations suffisamment maîtres de leur destinée; rationaliser la gestion des ressources naturelles dans l'esprit d'un contrat de solidarité avec les générations futures; améliorer la capacité de gestion des exploitations et favoriser l'organisation des producteurs en structures autonomes grâce à leur alphabétisation fonctionnelle; encourager la transformation des produits agricoles en milieu rural et élargir le rôle du secteur privé dans la commercialisation des produits; accroître les stocks alimentaires dans les zones rurales en améliorant les systèmes de stockage en vue de limiter la détérioration et les pertes des produits; renforcer le système de détection rapide de déficits éventuels et lutter ainsi contre l'insécurité alimentaire; et dynamiser la recherche agricole en la rendant plus opérationnelle et plus proche des producteurs.
C'est le lieu de dire toute la gratitude du peuple béninois à l'endroit de la FAO et de tous les partenaires au développement dont je ne voudrais pas ici citer les noms tant la liste est longue et qui ont permis au Bénin de mettre en chantier des actions qui façonnent son devenir. Il s'agit de: la nouvelle stratégie de développement rural dont les objectifs principaux visent à élever le niveau de vie des populations rurales par le biais d'une conquête des marchés et d'une amélioration de la compétitivité du paysan béninois plutôt que la recherche d'une simple autosuffisance régionale ou nationale; la restructuration des services agricoles afin de les rendre plus opérationnels avec les coûts de fonctionnement plus réduits; la préparation d'un plan d'action environnemental, d'un plan d'action forestier et d'un programme de gestion de ressources naturelles dans le cadre d'un développement durable et participatif des communautés rurales; la mise en place de système d'information et d'alerte rapide et l'amélioration des infrastructures de stockage villageois, comme moyens de prévenir les famines et les pénuries alimentaires.
Je voudrais aborder deux autres questions préoccupantes de l'heure auxquelles s'attèle le Gouvernement de mon pays grâce au soutien des institutions internationales concernant les femmes et les jeunes.
Les femmes au Bénin dépassent du point de vue de leur effectif, plus de 51 pour cent de la population. Elles sont prédominantes dans tous les secteurs d'activité de la vie économique, aussi bien dans le secteur primaire que tertiaire.
La femme rurale en particulier reste le pilier de l'agriculture béninoise, depuis l'amont jusqu'en aval de la production en passant par les activités domestiques et surtout les corvées d'eau qui sont les plus importantes.
La femme rurale béninoise, en assurant ainsi ses fonctions de mère, de ménagère et de productrice doit travailler de manière rude au moins pendant quatorze heures par jour. Ce qui est loin de l'ennoblir, et l'avilit plutôt. C'est pourquoi, les efforts du gouvernement au cours des prochaines années, viseront à réduire la pénibilité des activités de la femme surtout rurale en vue de sa meilleure intégration au processus de développement, à sa promotion sociale et à son épanouissement.
Il est souhaitable que l'attention particulière que la FAO et les autres partenaires ont manifesté à l'égard de la femme rurale béninoise ces derniers temps soit plus soutenue au cours des années à venir.
De la même façon, le délabrement économique et social de mon pays a eu pour conséquence sur la jeunesse les difficultés d'insertion dans la vie active, faute d'emplois. Ici encore, l'attention spéciale qui sera accordée à cette couche sociale ne sera effective, du moins à court et moyen termes que si les conditions de leur retour aux activités du secteur primaire sont réunies étant entendu que c'est le secteur à coefficient d'emplois le plus élevé sur lequel il faut avant tout compter pour régler la crise de l'emploi au Bénin.
En attendant que les programmes de formation plus adaptés et en adéquation avec le contexte social, culturel et économique soient mis en oeuvre, certaines mesures sont prises pour la création de centres de promotion rurale, véritable creuset où se forment, au contact de la réalité vivante, des jeunes diplômés sans emplois et jeunes déscolarisés qu'il faut à tout prix récupérer dans le tissu économique.
La résolution de ce problème d'emploi et ceux qui se posent à l'agriculture d'une manière générale, passe nécessairement par celle de la réforme agraire et foncière qui en 1991, revêt un caractère plus pressant après les inondations que le Bénin vient de connaître et qui n'ont apporté aux braves populations de toutes les régions du pays que la désolation, la famine et la misère.
Il est évident que le Bénin, qui est un petit pays, ne peut rebâtir durablement son économie et développer correctement son agriculture sans l'appui de toute la communauté internationale.
C'est pourquoi, du haut de cette tribune, je voudrais une fois encore remercier à travers la FAO tous les partenaires bilatéraux et multilatéraux qui, aujourd'hui plus qu'hier et demain mieux qu'aujourd'hui, sont et
seront aux côtés du Bénin solidement engagés dans la démocratie, le développement et la paix, pour le relèvement du défi de son économie et notamment de son agriculture.
Dansala BAMBE (Tchad): Les présentes assises auxquelles mon pays à l'honneur de participer se tiennent à peine un mois après que nous ayons célébré la Journée Mondiale de l'Alimentation et le 40ème Anniversaire de notre organisation.
C'est dans un contexte mondial particulièrement prometteur, tant du point de vue de la paix que de la liberté retrouvée que s'inscrit cette vingt-sixième Session. L'espoir qui nous anime est à la dimension de l'enjeu que représente un monde débarrassé de toute crainte dans lequel les peuples oeuvreront enfin à concrétiser les maîtres-mots que sont la coopération, l'interdépendance, la solidarité.
Mon pays qui a vécu, comme vous le savez, une longue période de dictature retrouve, à la faveur du nouveau régime intervenu le ler décembre de l'année dernière, un nouveau souffle que le Gouvernement et le Mouvement patriotique du salut mettent à profit pour redonner au peuple tchadien la joie de la liberté, le goût du travail et la confiance en l'avenir.
C'est dire en d'autres termes que les préoccupations qui sont celles de notre Organisation depuis sa création et dont on ne peut souligner assez la noblesse, puisque vouées au service de l'honneur, retrouvent ainsi leur caractère prioritaire dans la politique de mon pays.
L'autosuffisance alimentaire ne doit pas être seulement une vaine expression comme l'ont été pendant longtemps les mots de liberté et de démocratie. Qui peut imaginer qu'en 1991 elles deviendraient réalité?
La misère est grande et la famine est partout dans le tiers monde. Le défi est de taille mais le contexte mondial est favorable. Les peuples affamés nous interpellent. Aurons-nous un jour la volonté politique de faire en sorte que la famine ne soit plus qu'un épisode dans l'histoire de l'humanité?
Mon pays rencontre les difficultés qui sont celles de la plupart des pays du Sahel, menacés par l'avancée du désert mais continuant à utiliser des moyens rudimentaires qui appauvrissent davantage le sol et détruisent l'environnement. Mais c'est notre seule arme pour continuer à assurer notre économie de subsistance.
Vous comprenez qu'il nous faut redoubler, voire multiplier d'imagination pour trouver de nouvelles voies en-dehors des sentiers battus.
De profondes mutations sont en train de s'opérer sous nos yeux entraînant une atmosphère de liberté et de démocratie partout dans le monde. Mais rien de tout cela ne peut être pleinement réussi tant que le fléau de la faim continuera à sévir dans l'immense partie de notre planète.
Nous sommes de l'opinion que l'Alimentaire restera toujours la pierre angulaire du passage à cet ordre nouveau.
Paradoxalement, et peut être par négligence ou par souci d'autres intérêts, les ressources que nous consacrons à cet idéal sont des plus réduites. La FAO qui est l'Organisation mondiale au service de cette grande cause humaine, traverse une crise de ressources sans précédent. Mon pays est très sensible à cette dégradation et souhaite vivement un redressement rapide de la situation.
Nous avons besoin d'une FAO forte pour appuyer les ambitions des pays qui s'activent à mettre en place les programmes d'autosuffisance alimentaire respectueux de l'environnement en même temps que générateurs d'emploi, de revenus et de synergies tant à l'échelon local que régional.
Le Gouvernement du Tchad souscrit entièrement à une telle politique et maintient résolument son engagement à instituer un ordre juridico-politique basé sur le multipartisme pour permettre toutes les formes d'expression.
Cela va imposer un processus soutenu d'ajustement de tout genre, le monde rural qui porte, presque à lui seul le poids de notre économie jouera pleinement et librement son rôle, avec sans doute plus d'efficacité que par le passé. Le Gouvernement pour sa part, est confiant de pouvoir compter comme d'habitude sur la présence à ses côtés de la FAO afin de soutenir avec les moyens appropriés l'effort de notre peuple pour assurer son alimentation et promouvoir son développement.
La route est longue et dure. Nous ne nous faisons pas d'illusions, mais nous croyons en notre Organisation. Tant qu'un enfant pleurera de faim, tant qu'une seule mère pleurera ses espoirs déçus nous devons conjuguer et poursuivre nos efforts afin de balayer la misère de ce monde une fois pour toute.
The meeting rose at 13.00 hours.
La séance est levée à 13 heures.
Se levanta la sesión a las 13.00 horas.
