CHAIRMAN: -Distinguished delegates, this ninth Plenary meeting is now called to order. Three Member Nations, Cape Verde, Lithuania, and Afghanistan were preparing to make their statements this morning. Unfortunately, there was a slight delay in commencing this morning's session. We had to suspend the discussions so as to have the ceremony of the Oath of Office of the Director-General Elect, and then there was an adjournment so that delegates could attend the Papal Audience. It is my understanding that a number of delegations have other appointments, and we ask that as soon as they return to Conference they advise us so we will arrange for their making their submissions.
We wish to apologize to those countries who have been discommoded or inconvenienced because we did not complete the lists this morning.
Abdul Habib NAWROZ (Afghanistan): Mr Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to offer sincere and best compliments of the leadership, the People of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, and myself to you and all the Honourable Delegates. I also offer my utmost congratulations upon your election as Chairman of the 27th Session of the FAO Conference. May this Conference achieve considerable success under your chairmanship.
Allow me to express our appreciation to Mr Saouma for the hard work and leadership he has given to the Organization during the last eighteen years as Director-General. I also wish to express my warmest congratulations to Mr Jacques Diouf on the occasion of his election to the post of Director-General of FAO. We wish him all success in leading the Organization.
We are sure that such gatherings and conferences of distinguished scientists and policy-makers are important for all, particularly for the developing countries to discuss ways and means of raising standards of living for people in general and small farmers in particular.
As you are well aware, Afghanistan is an agricultural country and its economy right now depends mainly on agriculture. More than 60 percent of the Gross National Product comes from this sector, and it is mainly Agriculture and Livestock Production which provides input to the agro-industry of the country. In 1978 our country was invaded by our Northern neighbour, the ex-Soviet Union, disregarding all rules and regulations of neighbourhood and those of international law. The Soviet invaders involved themselves in this unjust war, which continued for fourteen years, which resulted in the following damages.
- One and a half million innocent persons were martyred. Five hundred thousand people were disabled and became a burden to society.
- Five million people emigrated from their beloved homeland and a lot more were displaced inside the country.
- More than 80 percent productive and public utility institutions, roads, highways and bridges were destroyed.
- Cultivable areas reduced to half, for example, from 3.8 to 1.9 million hectares.
- Likewise, oil crop area dropped from 170 000 to 51 000 hectares.
- Forest lands decreased from 2 million to 200 000 hectares.
In respect to production the following losses were incurred:
- wheat production reduced from 3.5 to 1.7 thousand tons;
- cotton (unfenced) from 120 000 to 28 000 tons;
- livestock from 30 million to 20 million;
- production of urea fertilizer from 108 000 to 22.8 thousand tons.
The main reasons for these declines are the following:
- Shifting of the young farmers to either side of conflict, particularly to the Mujahideen side.
- Killing and emigration of large numbers of farmers, livestock owners and other producers.
- Destruction of irrigation schemes, i.e., canals, karaize, springs and other sources, by air shelling and mining
- Destruction of farm implements, machinery, tractors, draught animals and other means.
- Unavailability and access to abundant supply of agricultural seeds and chemicals for plant and animal pests and diseases.
If we had been able to start the rehabilitation of our country at the beginning of the Islamic Revolution, with the assistance of our friendly countries, the situation would have been much better now and we would not have lost twenty months.
With regret, the ominous hands of the communists delayed the restructuring by one more year and added to our obstacles.
We are confident that day by day with the help of God Almighty and the assistance of our friends the conspiracies of the enemy will fail and our life leads towards security, peace, and prosperity.
The Autumn sowing season has already started in most parts of Afghanistan despite the limited availability of improved seeds, chemical fertilizers, agro-chemicals, farm machinery and implements, and the farmers are pursuing their tasks much stronger and with higher confidence than in the past. As far as the duties of the Government are concerned, shortcomings are conspicuous. To date, only 20 percent of the material needs of the farmers could be procured. However, it is hoped that this condition will not prevail in the Spring sowing when cotton, sugarbeet, vegetables, etc., are cultivated and orchards and vineyards are replanted. I wish to draw to the attention of friendly countries and FAO to help our farmers' need for the Spring sowing season and our overall effort to rehabilitate our war-stricken agriculture.
The farmlands are planted with millions of mines; homes and shelters of our farm families, which account for approximately 80 percent of our population, remain destroyed. Farmers are not able to acquire their needs, for example, draught animals, tools and implements, fertilizers, improved seeds, agro-chemicals, etc. The irrigation system requires rehabilitation to allow the farmers to cultivate their fields. Incentives are required for families returning home to take part in the reconstruction process promoting productivity.
As you can envisage, at this stage, it is not only difficult but impossible for the newly established Islamic State to shoulder such a heavy burden imposed by the war. Afghanistan fell a victim to Soviet expansionism and aggression. Afghanistan paid the price of being destroyed, its population massacred, its agriculture destroyed and its infrastructure broken, not only to safeguard its own freedom but the freedom of other nations as well. It is, therefore, the duty and responsibility of the international community, the United Nations System and all the friendly countries to help the people of Afghanistan in its process of rehabilitation.
Today our people require food more than anything else. We have a wide range of possibilities in front of us to promote agriculture, including vast cultivatable lands, water and unused resources, favourable climatic condition for high qualitative and quantitative productivity, high deposits of plant genetic material that could help world breeders (example: there are about 900 different local varieties of wheat with protein content of about 22 percent, 45 different varieties of grapes and pomegranates, enjoying universal fame), which need to be collected and preserved in genebanks, etc.
Just after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the State High Commission for Prevention of Narcotics, was established by the decree of the Head of State. The Commission is assigned to prevent cultivation, production, storage, usage and traffic of narcotics and its derivatives.
In this respect a number of letters were also written to His Excellency the Secretary-General of the United Nations in order to draw his attention for assistance on a wide range of activities. Without the help of the United Nations and friendly countries, it is impossible to achieve success in this matter. It is necessary for other countries to help us, because the burdens of narcotics would not be limited to our boundaries and would cross the borders. The assistance of the international organization and friendly countries would enable us not only to prevent the cultivation of these illicit crops, but also to replace its cultivation by other essential and high value crops. It is obvious that there are certain plans and programmes under way, with the implementation of which, hopefully, considerable results would be achieved to prevent cultivation, production and storage of illicit crops and its derivatives.
Our policy in agriculture is to increase productivity both intensively and extensively, the main objective of which is self-sufficiency in a short span of time. It is so unfortunate that destruction and damage caused by years of conflict are the main obstacles. To review the matter in detail in this Session would be time consuming. However, we are hoping that FAO with the help of donor countries and funding institutions will help us in the formulation and implementation of a firm and sustainable agricultural programme so as to reactivate our agricultural sector on a short- and long-term basis.
Mr Chairman, we greatly appreciate the TCP assistance given by the Director-General which has allowed my Government to have a rehabilitation strategy and a two-year plan of action. This detailed two-year programme of quick action project has been agreed by all parties and is presently being printed. It will give us a framework for cooperation with those ready to assist us in encouraging the refugees and displaced persons to return as productive farmers of their own lands. We trust that we can have continued FAO assistance in monitoring the rehabilitation process in agriculture and irrigation and in bringing the rehabilitation plan of action to the attention of the countries ready to cooperate with my Government and rebuilding a self-reliant and prosperous country.
The Afghan Delegates avail the opportunity once again to offer their compliments to you, and may this Session end up with valuable decisions under your chairmanship. The Islamic State of Afghanistan, on the basis of its humanistic policy, desires mutual and friendly relations with all member countries, while wishing mutual living and understanding without prejudices among all nations, wants to expand and strengthen its relations on this basis with all of them, and hopes that developed countries will help more developing countries of the world.
Thank you all and may God Almighty assist you all.
Hem Siene SAPHANGTHONG (Laos): Mr Chairman, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, I am very honoured to have the privilege to lead the Lao delegation to attend this Conference.
First of all, I would like to congratulate the organizing committee for having made such excellent preparations for this Conference. I would also like to congratulate His Excellency Seymour Mullings, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture of Jamaica, who has been elected as Chairman by this Conference. I am confident that under your leadership and rich experience, coupled with the skilful leadership of the Vice-chairman, the Conference will be under the taken in a good atmosphere and be successful.
In the past two years since the 26th Conference in November 1991, our Organization has been challenged with many problems, particularly in financial matters. However, the operations of this Organization have continued to give support successfully to member countries according the resolutions of the 26th Conference. During these past two years we have been confronted with many challenges such as natural calamities, which have spread over the world. Hunger and malnutrition are still found amongst a large number of people. In order to overcome these problems, all countries have made strenuous efforts to promote food production in order to gradually reach self-sufficiency. FAO has played a very important role in assisting these countries in this respect.
In the Lao PDR, our Government has continued to implement open market policies and mechanisms which are advocated by the State. In the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry we have implemented programmes according to these policies, and at the present time we have transformed many public enterprises into other types of ownership through sale, leasing and joint ventures. Investment in agriculture and forestry has gradually increased by both domestic and foreign private investors. The public sector as a macro entity has improved its role in guiding the various economic sectors in response to market mechanisms. In the mobilization of investment funds for agriculture and forestry we have paid attention to the following sources:
domestic private funds; foreign private funds; external grant and loan assistance; Government budget.
In the past two years we have suffered from natural calamities: in 1991 flooding and drought in southern provinces, and in 1992 drought has hit northern provinces. In order to combat these disasters, our Ministry has stimulated the people in solving the problems of food shortage by means of intensifying crop production, irrigated cultivation of dry season crops, crop diversification, introduction of simple and appropriate technologies. Furthermore, our northern mountainous provinces have experienced a structural rice deficit, where they mainly practise shifting cultivation which still threatens the environment and forest resources. Although our Government has made attempts to introduce appropriate farming systems' technologies in some areas, we have been unable to solve these problems because of poor physical and social infrastructure. As a result, increased forest destruction has occurred on more than 100 000 hectares per year.
In the past two years we have received food aid from the World Food Programme in relief of people suffering from natural calamities. We have created conditions to assist farmers in continuing with their normal livelihood systems.
At the beginning of this year's wet season we had normal weather with regular precipitation. However, later in the season rainfall halted for more than a month, especially at the crucial flowering stage, which seriously affected total rice production. According to preliminary estimates, rice production for this year will be less than that of last year, therefore we expect some areas will suffer from rice shortages which will extend that into the next year.
In the third year of the implementation of the Third Five-Year Plan [1991-95], our Ministry has been entrusted by the Government to implement five major programmes: food security [especially rice]; reduction of deforestation; promotion of commercial agricultural products; establishment of integrated rural development; development of irrigated agriculture systems.
To implement these five major programmes, the Government has selected target areas. For rice production, the six flood plains along the Mekhong River and its tributaries have been chosen for emphasis, beginning from the central region down through the southern region. The five central provinces have been designated as the focal point for socio-economic development. For the management of forest resources, the Government has taken measures to strictly control timber enterprises, and in areas of shifting cultivation the Government has gradually introduced more permanent farming systems. For integrated rural development, the Government has established four pilot projects in different topographic and socio-economic areas of the country. For the development of irrigated agricultural systems, the Government has paid attention to the development of participatory small-scale irrigation schemes. The Government, coupled with external assistance, will also invest in medium and large-scale irrigation schemes as necessary. At the present time the Government is in the process of transferring the responsibility for operations and maintenance of irrigation schemes to local communities.
In the past the Government of the Lao PDR has received much assistance for the development of its agriculture and forestry from bilateral aid, international organizations, and NGOs. FAO has extended its assistance to the Lao PDR with its Technical Cooperation Programme, which responds to the
real needs of our country whose projects now number more than ten, the Trust Fund and regional programmes. Apart from direct assistance, FAO has been the implementing agency for other funding institutions.
The assistance from FAO to our country has significantly contributed to its socio-economic development and has gradually improved the well-being of our people. This has happened because of the particular attention given by the Director-General, Dr Edouard Saouma, and the FAO staff, particularly the FAO representative in the Lao PDR, who has had very close collaboration with his Lao counterparts. On behalf of the Lao Government, and personally, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to Dr Saouma, who is leaving his position, for his particular attention to the least-developed countries like ours. I am convinced that the incumbent Director-General of FAO will pay even more attention to the least-developed countries so that they will receive increasingly more assistance to gradually develop the performance of their food and agriculture systems. Once again, I would like to appeal to the donor countries and to the international organizations to continue their support to agriculture and forestry development in the Lao PDR.
Finally, I wish a successful conclusion of our Conference.
Teketel FORSSIDO (Ethiopia): Mr Chairman, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, it is a source of great pleasure to have the honour of addressing this 27th Session of the FAO Conference on behalf of the People and Transitional Government of Ethiopia, whose messages of good-will for the success of the Conference I would like to convey.
More than ever before, the 27th Session of the FAO Conference is honoured with the admission of ten new members to this global forum, I will, therefore, use this opportunity to express my warmest welcome. As I welcome them, let me also reiterate my assurance of cooperation in our common endeavour of facing the challenges of food and agriculture in the years ahead.
With your consent, Mr Chairman, may I also express my heartfelt appreciation to the people and Government of the Republic of Italy for hosting the Conference and making our tour of duty pleasant and memorable.
Since the 26th Session of the Conference, the international arena continued to be influenced by major political changes and restructuring of economic policies.
On the positive side, totalitarian dictatorships are being replaced by the conventionally guided transitional arrangements, so as to pave the way for democracy on a permanent basis. Positive changes were also accompanied by adversities of varying degrees thus making the transition extremely difficult. In the global perspective, moral supports were amply voiced for these emerging developments, while material supports were not adequate to cushion adversities, which kept pace with the process of these structural adjustments.
As you are aware, the Ethiopian people through a very high sacrifice and hard struggle, were able to abolish military dictatorship a little more than two years ago, thus diverting its efforts towards progress and development along the democratic line. The process of clearing the damages caused by civil strife, reconstruction and presently the structural
adjustment programme has not been easy, even though signals of positive trends were encouraging.
In the process of changes in Ethiopia, a number of difficulties and entailing barriers were prevalent. In this context one might be able to probe into a number of areas, which I think could be beyond the scope of the time allotted for my statement. I would, however, like to point to some of the factors which are related to the area of food and agriculture.
In the 1993-94 production year, however, the weather condition had significant improvements, and hence the level of production has improved in almost all major crop production areas. The overall production level, however, still remains short of the requirements because of drought in pocket areas, damages caused by flood and pest infestations, including locust.
Lack of adequate crop protection measures and increased prices of fertilizer due to the structural adjustment programme, have each contributed to the worsening of the structural food deficit situation. Amelioration of the food shortage situation will, therefore, need to address shortages created by isolated drought, pest infestations, displacements and settlement programmes.
Although good rains have been received in the main growing areas of the country, initial indicators are that main season crop will be below last year's level. Exceptionally heavy rains at the beginning of the season hampered land preparation and have caused water logging and exceptional weed growth in several areas. Some regions have received erratic rainfall and yields may have been affected. Prices of fertilizer have risen sharply and have most likely discouraged fertilizer application, thereby constraining production. The main season rain which was normally expected to stop around the end of September continued until now. Therefore, there is a strong fear of significant reduction of the 1993 harvest against that of the previous year.
I will, therefore, use this opportunity to appeal to the international community for its usual response and generosity both for the short-term emergency needs and also improving the structural food deficit situation in the long run.
The failure of agriculture to supply the country's food requirements made it necessary for us to depend on food imports, both in the form of food aid and direct purchases. The distressed state of agriculture, and especially its failure to supply raw materials for industry, has increased our dependence on imported raw materials. It has further weakened the linkage between agriculture and industry, thereby adversely affecting the growth of the economy. The decline of exportable agricultural products has worsened the foreign exchange position of the country, thus stifling economic growth even further.
Like the post-war situation in many parts of the world, however, Ethiopia is presently passing through a process of rehabilitation and reconstruction over the ruins of the war. To this end the Transitional Government has issued an economic policy and this has been further reinforced by a policy framework for macro-economic stabilization and structural adjustment for the medium term, 1992-93 to 1994-95.
The history of mankind has always been associated with the history of food and nutrition, and yet the problem of malnutrition and hunger is still the major impending factor in human survival. Failure to efficiently and effectively address the problems of malnutrition, which happen to be the primary challenge for mankind, cannot be isolated from the slowing of all other spheres of progress.
In Ethiopia, FAO plays a crucial role in monitoring the crop and food supply situation of the country. For several years FAO, in cooperation with the World-Food Programme, has fielded an annual Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission to forecast the year's crop and national cereal import and food aid requirements for the succeeding year.
We are very grateful to the Governments of the Netherlands, Italy, United States of America and the EEC, the ADB and the World Bank for their generous assistance with regard to fertilizer supply and FAO's assistance in mobilizing resources.
It is believed that the New Fertilizer Marketing Strategy with its multi-channel approach will induce farmers to increase the consumption and optimal use of fertilizer.
However, in order that privatization can continue and succeed, an uninterrupted and adequate availability of fertilizer is a precondition, which at this point has to be ensured through continued assistance from the donor community.
An efficient Early Warning and Food Information System is, therefore, essential, and we count on FAO's assistance in building up national capacity as an integral part of Ethiopia's food security, disaster preparedness and prevention strategy.
Some weeks ago Member Nations celebrated the 13th World Food Day under the theme of "Harvesting Nature's Biodiversity". In this context, is has been pointed out that Ethiopia contributed to the global biodiversity phenomena and conservation activities even long before the convention, and it continues to do so. To this end, one can probably recall the discovery of Barley Yellow Dwarf (BADV) resistance genes found only in Ethiopia that saved the world's barley, wheat and oat production, and the African maize resistant to the fungus, Helminithousporum meydis. that saved the United States and other countries several million dollars in potential losses. Many other African countries have contributed to the enrichment of biodiversity techniques. But, as all of us know, the community that has offered much of these useful genes for the world is still far from being the beneficiary of its contribution and not even recognized for what it has offered, bur rather being identified as poor and hungry.
Each one of us have come with a view of pointing out issues that need to be addressed so as to overcome challenges of food and agriculture in our respective countries. We also fully realize the central role of the Food and Agricultural Organization in these global efforts.
The proposed priority thrust in the Programme of Work and Budget, changes in resource allocation for forestry, fishery and agriculture are in line with concerns expressed during the last session of the Council. We, therefore, would like to reiterate our satisfaction with these changes and developments.
My delegation welcomes and supports the activities related to environmental and sustainable development. To this and my Government has drawn a strategy of economic development of the country. The strategy for agricultural development is focused on conservation-based agriculture. Furthermore, we have finalized the Ethiopian Forestry Action Plan (EFAP). We are very grateful for the assistance given by the donor community in the preparation of this Action Plan.
With regard to addressing all the relevant issues in the areas of food and agriculture, like those who spoke before me, let me also express my satisfaction with the quality of the document and indicate my due regard for its preparations.
One of the international conferences planned for the near future relates to plant genetic resources. We believe that the convening of this Conference will have a bearing on completing some of the proposals recommended during the recently held conferences on environment and nutrition. We, therefore, look forward to its implementation, and express our interest to participate in this important Conference on Plant Genetic Resources.
In this connection, it might be important to mention the decision of financing the Conference through extra-budgetary funds. Since most of the developing countries are faced with budgetary constraints, it would be of paramount importance to see that the required resources are availed, so as to increase participation of developing countries.
At this stage, I would like to express that the preparation of the draft International Code of Conduct for Plant Germplasm Collection and Transfer deserves our admiration, and hope that the international community would provide the necessary support for its implementation.
Locust invasions, pest-infestation and migratory birds have had significant impacts on food crop supply. In the past control factors have always been limited to available resources and short-term measures. In the short term, such control measures could reduce the extent of the damage and, therefore, its impact on food crop availabilities cannot be underestimated. We do however, feel that there is a need for long-term solutions and on a permanent basis.
The effective eradication of the screw-worm from North-Africa sets up a good example for eradication of the above pests with a view to seeking permanent solutions. While appealing for establishment of long-term solutions for these predators, we warmly welcome the inclusion of Desert Locust in the agenda of the Conference because we believe that such an initiation would lead towards the long-term anticipation and goals.
In as much as resources permit, the cooperation of the international community and FAO's assistance has been very useful and, therefore, I would like to pay my highest tributes for such cooperation and endeavour.
I believe that, forthcoming international conferences on: Population and Development, Women and Social Developments, would succeed in pointing out some of the crucial issues relating to developments of their respective areas. We hope that the planning of these conferences would incorporate adequate provisions so as to increase the participation of countries in the developing world. We would be looking forward towards participating in these conferences.
In preparing to welcome the year 2000 with the two extremes of absolute poverty and absolute prosperity, it is just like having one loaf of bread half cooked. Therefore, please let us pool the resources and get the bread fully cooked.
The world is so much worried on the killing disease AIDS. Much has been said and attempted on AIDS but little attention is being given to stop the exodus migration of rural women from rural areas to urban and semi-urbans for seeking job opportunities. However, this movement is one of a conducive environment for the expansion of AIDS. Therefore, at least to minimize the worry on AIDS, there is a strong need to pool resources that would serve as a revolving credit fund for rural women. Thereby rural women would have better access to resources including the main means of production - the land, which in turn contributes to increased production and productivity of the agricultural sector.
Much emphasis is being given to the settled-agriculture while neglecting the nomadic farming system. However, the nomadic farming system is the immediate area of intervention to fill the food gap for many developing countries including my country - Ethiopia. Therefore, there is a need to draw a strategic plan on how to bring the nomadic farming system to the main economic line. To this end, FAO should take the leading role.
Our delegation has examined the food-security and nutrition status report which reiterates that all people at all times should have both physical and economic access to the basic food they need. To those of us who come from the developing world this is a challenge that we still have to overcome. We, therefore, kindly request our brothers in the north to assist us in overcoming this calamity and avoid the suffering of people, through cooperative spirits without being fatigued.
Like most of our countries, FAO has also come to a stage of transition in its administration. I consider it to be my duty to pay due recognition to this event of significant importance.
In this connection, I would like to pay my profound tribute to the outgoing Director-General, Mr Edouard Saouma, for the long years of devoted service and good works that he rendered to this international organization.
We would also congratulate and welcome the newly elected Director-General, Mr Jacques Diouf, upon his democratic election and wish him success in this extremely important responsibility. I would also use the opportunity to assure the new Director-General of the cooperation of my country in these future endeavours of mutual interest.
The high standard of the competitive spirit in the democratic election process was made possible through the quality of the candidates. We, therefore, would like to express our appreciation and thank them for their voluntary desire to serve the international community.
Rimantas KARAZIJA (Lituanie): Prenant la parole pour la première fois au sein de la vingt-septième session de la Conférence de la FAO, j'ai le plaisir, au nom de la délégation lituanienne ici présente, d'adresser mes vives et chaleureuses félicitations à l'occasion de l'élection du nouveau Directeur général, M. Jacques Diouf.
Ayant l'occasion de parler devant les représentants de tous les pays membres de la FAO, je voudrais exposer ici les traits principaux de ce difficile processus de transformation qui change aujourd'hui l'aspect de notre agriculture et définir les tâches qui se dressent devant la FAO face aux changements survenus en Europe centrale et de l'Est.
Les réformes de notre agriculture ont commencé dès la déclaration de la restitution de l'indépendance le 11 mars 1990. Le parlement de notre pays a adopté des lois transformant fondamentalement notre agriculture dans le cadre d'une réforme générale de toute l'économie nationale de notre pays. La réforme agraire consistait à restituer la propriété des terres aux propriétaires d'avant-guerre et à leurs héritiers (enfants et petits enfants) . Mais les changements survenus pendant 50 ans ont été si profonds que la restitution exacte de toutes les propriétés a été impossible. Selon les lois adoptées, les possessions pouvaient être partagées entre héritiers, ce qui a eu comme résultat la fragmentation excessive de la propriété.
A côté des erreurs subjectives, des facteurs objectifs aggravent la situation de notre agriculture. Avec la désintégration de l'Union soviétique, nous avons perdu la grande partie des débouchés de notre production agricole et le marché domestique est très restreint à cause des revenus très bas des habitants de notre pays. Les prix des matières premières ont augmenté d'une manière dramatique, mais la productivité du travail et la qualité sont restées à un niveau très bas. Toutes ces raisons ont entraîné une baisse dramatique de notre production agricole de 50 pour cent par rapport au niveau de 1989.
Quelles sont les mesures prises par notre gouvernement pour remédier à cette situation? Il ne peut s'agir d'un changement radical dans le processus des réformes déjà entreprises. Mais le gouvernement et le Ministère de l'agriculture doivent changer les lois de la réforme de telle manière que les réformes prennent un cours plus modéré et tiennent mieux compte de la situation réelle qui s'est installée du temps de l'occupation soviétique.
Le but principal de la réforme sera la restitution de la terre aux propriétaires d'avant-guerre et à leurs successeurs, et la privatisation de la propriété non territoriale des entreprises agricoles d'état. Un grand travail a été déjà entrepris par nos spécialistes de l'aménagement des territoires qui doivent préparer les projets de la réforme agraire pour chaque entreprise agraire d'Etat. On prévoit que 260 000 personnes recevront leur terre d'ici 1996 et 160 000 entre 1997 et 1999. La superficie moyenne d'une propriété sera d'environ 7 hectares de terre agricole. On espère que l'établissement du marché pour la terre et la propriété immobilière conduira à l'accroissement des possessions et la superficie moyenne sera de 20 hectares. L'Etat n'apportera son assistance qu'aux agriculteurs propriétaires de plus de 30 hectares (en propriété et en fermage).
Selon nous, les entreprises agricoles avec propriété corporative (qui sont apparues au cours de la privatisation et de la réorganisation des kolkhoz) survivront et auront une grande importance dans le futur parce que, du temps de l'occupation soviétique, beaucoup d'infrastructures et de moyens de production pour les grandes entreprises ont été créés. Une entreprise agricole dispose en moyenne de 550 hectares de terre cultivée. Evidemment, une partie des entreprises agricoles va faire faillite et disparaître.
Nous continuons aussi la privatisation et la restructuration de notre industrie alimentaire. Le gouvernement vient de préparer le programme général de la restructuration et du développement de l'agriculture et de l'industrie alimentaire. Par conséquent, un travail est fait sur les programmes spécifiques dans diverses branches agro-industrielles, telles que lin, céréales, sucre, huile végétale, etc.
Quelle assistance la FAO pourrait-elle apporter dans ce processus de restructuration? Déjà, on peut mentionner quelques projets de la FAO en Lituanie qui sont en cours de réalisation ou sur le point de démarrer. On peut citer par exemple le projet pour l'enregistrement et le cadastre des terres, pour lequel des fonctionnaires de la FAO ont déjà effectué des visites en Lituanie, et le séminaire à Riga. La FAO a également récemment approuvé le projet pour l'assistance dans le domaine de la législation des terres et des ressources aquatiques.
Il y a un grand intérêt à intensifier et activer encore davantage cette coopération. On doit tenir compte du fait que la situation en Europe centrale et de l'Est a complètement changé durant les quatre dernières années. La FAO s'occupait jusque-là surtout des problèmes des pays dits en voie de développement ou du tiers monde et elle doit maintenant faire face à une nouvelle situation dans une région qui lui est assez peu connue. La situation qui s'est créée dans les pays post-communistes est sous beaucoup d'aspects différentes des situations traditionnelles dans les pays du tiers monde; la structure sociale en général, et en particulier le secteur agricole, repose sur une base traditionnelle. Le problème des pays de notre région est complètement différent, nos pays aspirent à créer une agriculture développée d'un niveau égal à celui de l'agriculture en Europe occidentale et en Amérique du Nord. Les obstacles principaux qui empêchent d'atteindre ce but sont la technologie retardée, l'absence de la propriété privée pendant 40 à 50 ans, les distorsions sévères à tous les niveaux et les aspects de la structure de l'économie nationale. C'est une crise structurelle avec ses dimensions inconnues jusqu'ici dans l'histoire de l’humanité. Le tableau du processus des réformes, décrit dans ce discours, pourrait représenter mutatis mutandis la situation dans toute région post-communiste. Cependant, en tenant compte du niveau élevé d'éducation et de la situation sociale et démographique favorable, on peut espérer atteindre de bons résultats, beaucoup plus rapidement que dans la plupart des pays du tiers monde traditionnel. Une grande partie des membres de la FAO devrait prendre cette direction.
Les problèmes sont, comme nous l'avons fait remarquer, à peu près communs à tous les pays de l'Europe centrale et de l'Est. Les efforts pour les résoudre doivent donc être communs. La coopération de la FAO avec les pays, pris un par un, ne suffit pas. La FAO devraita élaborer, avec les pays d'une région, un programme de coopération qui couvrirait tous les aspects de l'agriculture et créer les institutions qui pourraient mettre en oeuvre ce programme. A notre avis, il seraita nécessaire d'avoir un bureau régional de la FAO pour l'Europe centrale et de l'Est, semblable à ceux qui existent déjà en Amérique du Sud, en Afrique et ailleurs.
Quelles devraient être les activitésa principales de la FAO dans l'Europe centrale et de l'Est?
Les sujets les plus importants à traiter sont les suivants:
- La privatisation et la restructuration des entreprises agricoles et
celles de l'industrie alimentaire;
- Le développement de la coopération agricole;
- La gestion des entreprises agricoles privées dans les conditions de l’économie de marché;
- Le crédit des entreprises agricoles;
- La recherche du marché et le marketing pour les produits agricoles;
- Le rôle des gouvernements dans les domaines de la régulation dumarché, la régulation de la qualité des produits agricoles, lefinancement des entreprises agricoles, la politique des subventionset de la protection des marchés, etc.
Un domaine également très important concerne les questions de nature juridique:
- L'établissement des règlements concernant les terres et leur propriété;
- L'élaboration des lois concernant la terre;
- L'établissement de l'hypothèque;
- La mise au point du système de cadastre et de l'enregistrement desterres.
Le développement de la formation des spécialistes en agriculture et des cultivateurs est aussi un problème très important.
Evidemment, la liste des problèmes énumérés ici est loin d'être complète. Pour mieux résoudre à la fois ces derniers et d'autres, existant déjà ou à venir, il serait très utile de créer un réseau d'institutions de recherche placées sous l’égide de la FAO. Les problèmes de notre région sont, comme nous l'avons déjà dit, très spécifiques et, dans beaucoup de cas, l'expérience accumulée dans d'autres régions ne peut être applicable chez nous, d'où la nécessité d'avoir sur place une base scientifique solide pour chercher des solutions.
La FAO pourrait donc continuer dans le futur à apporter son assistance en préparanta des conferences et des séminaires semblables à la consultation ministérielle qui a eu lieu en Hongrie, à Godollo, en août de cette année.
René STEICHEN (Communauté économique européenne): Monsieur le Président, Monsieur le Directeur général, Messieurs les ministres, Excellences, Délégués et Observateurs, Mesdames et Messieurs, c'est un grand honneur pour moi de parler aujourd'hui à cette prestigieuse tribune.
Je ressens d'autant plus vivement ce privilège que c'est la première fois que la Communauté européenne participe en qualité de membre à une Conférence de la FAO. Elle le fait plus forte des responsabilités nouvelles que lui confère le Traité de Maastricht entré en vigueur il y a quelques jours, le 1er novembre.
Mes premiers remerciements iront à M. Saouma pour le travail impressionnant qu'il a accompli et la contribution décisive qu'il a apportée au cours des longues années passées à la tête de l'Organisation.
Il m'appartient également d'exprimer au nouveau Directeur général, M. Diouf, mes sincères et vives félicitations pour son élection.
Sa carrière longue et brillante et l'expérience acquise dans des fonctions eminentes tant dans son pays que dans les organisations internationales lui permettront, j'en ai la conviction, de guider et d'inspirer l'Organisation
dans ses travaux au cours des prochaines années. Je l'assure du soutien entier de la Communauté européenne dans cette tâche importante et difficile.
Monsieur le Président, Mesdames et Messieurs, dans l'excellente étude "L'agriculture mondiale à l'horizon 2010", dont le mérite revient au Secrétariat, les progrès accomplis et les défis à relever dans les vingt prochaines années sont illustrés par deux exemples très parlants.
Pour les progrès, je citerai deux chiffres : 327 kilos de production de céréales per capita aujourd'hui dans le monde contre 305 kg en 1969-1971, 2 700 calories per capita prévues pour 2010 dans les PVD contre 2 500 aujourd'hui et moins de 2 000 au début des années 60.
Les défis maintenant.
Le défi le plus urgent reste celui de la sécurité alimentaire. Certes, au cours des vingt dernières années, la production agricole s'est accrue à un rythme plus rapide que celui de la population pour le monde dans son ensemble. Mais ce n'est pas suffisant: 800 millions de personnes souffrent encore aujourd'hui de faim ou de malnutrition. Ils pourraient être encore 650 millions en 2010, selon l'étude de la FAO. Il y a donc un progrès incontestable, mais insuffisant.
A long terme, le défi le plus préoccupant est toutefois celui du développement durable : à cet égard, certaines techniques agricoles trop intensives ainsi que l'extension des terres cultivées, aux dépens notamment de la forêt, font planer des menaces sur la qualité des sols, les nappes aquifères et la biodiversité. La Conférence de Rio sur l'environnement et le développement et la Conférence internationale sur la nutrition ont mis en évidence la coresponsabilité de tous les pays du monde dans le risque environnemental. Nous sommes donc tous confrontés à la nécessité de réformer substantiellement nos politiques agricoles.
La situation actuelle de la production agricole et alimentaire mondiale se caractérise en effet par de grands déséquilibres: à la surproduction dans les régions industrialisées correspondent une insuffisance de la production et des carences nutritionnelles dans un grand nombre de pays et régions du sud. Mais celle-là ne compense pas celles-ci: les importations à bas prix, limitées d'ailleurs par les disponibilités en devises, et l'aide alimentaire, si elle est mal conçue, peuvent même décourager la production locale dans les PVD et ajouter à l'insécurité alimentaire.
C'est pourquoi il faut s'attaquer en parallèle aux problèmes de surproduction et de sous-production.
Sur le premier point, la Communauté met en oeuvre une réforme de la politique agricole commune visant à une meilleure maîtrise des volumes de production par :
(1) une réduction significative des prix de soutien ou d'intervention (par exemple, 29 pour cent pour les céréales et 15 pour cent pour la viande bovine);
(2) la mise en jachère de terres;
(3) le recours à des aides directes aux revenus des agriculteurs non liées au volume de la production;
(4) l'introduction de mesures d'accompagnement en faveur del'environnement, de l’afforestation de terres agricoles et de l’ajustement structurel.
La mise en application progressive de la réforme à partir de cette année correspond à la fois aux objectifs du Traité de Rome et aux nouvelles conditions du marché mondial:
elle favorise une plus grande stabilité des revenus agricoles tout en améliorant- la compétitivité de l'agriculture communautaire,
elle bénéficie aux consommateurs,
elle améliore la protection de l'environnement,
elle contribue à l'équilibre des marchés intérieurs et extérieurs,
elle améliore ainsi les conditions du commerce international, notamment en rendant possible la conclusion rapide de l'Uruguay Round, que la Communauté tient pour essentielle.
Si, comme je le souhaite et en reste convaincu, l'Uruguay Round s'achève sur un bilan positif, les pays en développement producteurs agricoles bénéficieront de conditions de commerce mondial plus prévisibles et plus équitables. Pour les pays importateurs nets de produits alimentaires, la Communauté serait disposée à fournir une aide alimentaire si les prix mondiaux augmentaient suite à la conclusion de l'Uruguay Round.
L'aide alimentaire ne doit toutefois pas se substituer au développement à moyen terme du secteur agricole qui, dans la plupart des pays en développement, est d'une importance primordiale pour le développement général.
C'est pourquoi la Communauté s'est engagée dans une politique qui vise à ce que l'aide alimentaire renforce la sécurité alimentaire des PVD, grâce à:
l'amélioration de son ciblage, afin d'atteindre les groupes les plus vulnérables tout en évitant de perturber le marché et la production locauxa;
l'utilisation des fonds de contrepartie pour des actions, y compris dans le secteur social, favorisant la sécurité alimentaire;
laa fourniture, sous certaines conditions, de produits locaux et d'autres PVD de la région (il s'agit alors d'actions triangulaires);
la mise en place de programmes pluri-annuels qui facilitent la synergie entre l'aide alimentaire et d'autres instruments de développement.
Ceci m'amène à mon second point, à savoir celui concernant l'insécurité alimentaire dans les PVD et les moyens d'y remédier.
Je voudrais d'abord souligner l'importance à cet égard des politiques de population: une expansion démographique trop rapide, surtout si elle se conjugue, comme c'est souvent le cas, avec un niveau aigu de pauvreté, exerce en effet une pression sur l'environnement et singulièrement sur la forêt, tout en aggravant le déséquilibre entre la population et les ressources; on le voit particulièrement en Afrique, où la croissance
démographique est de trois pour cent par an, alors que l'augmentation de la production agricole n'est que de deux pour cent.
La Communauté aide déjà les PVD à mieux contrôler leur croissance démographique et elle est prête à renforcer son appui. Une résolution a été adoptée à cet égard en novembre 1992 par le Conseil des ministres du développement de la Communauté qui énonce les grands principes de notre politique à l'égard notamment de l'aide à la prévention des naissances non désirées, c'est-à-dire dans le respect absolu de la liberté des individus et des couples. Sur le plan international, la Communauté oeuvrera au succès de la Conférence du Caire de septembre 1994.
Mais la Communauté appuie surtout les PVD dans leurs efforts en vue d'augmenter la production agricole et de renforcer la sécurité alimentaire.
L'action de la Communauté est fondée sur des principes qui visent à aider les pays concernés à mener des politiques agricoles davantage orientées vers le marché:
éviter que la sécurité à court terme (par l'octroi d'aides alimentaires d'urgence) ne compromette la sécurité à long terme;
trouver un juste équilibre entre la production locale de nourriture, les exportations et les importations;
exploiter la complémentarité entre secteurs privé et public, notamment dans le domaine du stockage, de la distribution et du crédit rural;
protéger, de faço temporaire et dans certains cas justifiés, les marchés nationaux des PVD;
assurer une meilleure stabilité de prix aux producteurs;
chercher à augmenter le pouvoir d'achat des consommateurs, et notamment des groupes les plus vulnérables souvent affectés par les programmes d'ajustement structurel;
encourager la consommation de produits locaux.
En Afrique subsaharienne, principale bénéficiaire de la Convention de Lomé qui fixe les rapports entre la Communauté et les ACP, on peut dire qu'environ la moitié de l'aide de la Communauté répond à l'objectif de sécurité alimentaire. S'agissant de la Convention de Lomé, la Commission européenne a proposé que cette Convention, qui couvre la période 1990-99 et pour une dotation financière d'environ 15 milliards de dollars sur la période 1990-94 (soit 12 milliards d'écus), soit révisée à la fin 1994, pour s'assurer qu'elle contribue bien à faire progresser la démocratie, l'Etat de droit et la bonne gestion des affaires publiques, ainsi que pour renforcer l'efficacité et la cohérence des instruments de coopération.
En Asie et Amérique latine, le programme communautaire d'assistance financière et technique, qui est d'environ 3,5 milliards de dollars (soit 2,75 milliards d'écus) sur la période 1992-96 est, pour une large part, destiné au secteur de la production de denrées alimentaires, car c'est notamment dans le monde rural que se concentre la majorité de la population et que se rencontrent les couches de population les plus défavorisées.
En Méditerranée également, la Communauté a décidé d'affecter la plus grande partie des ressources financières, qui s'élèvent à environ 5,5 milliards de dollars (soit 4,4 milliards ECU) sur la période 1992-96, à des projets visant une plus grande autosuffisance alimentaire.
Enfin, dans les pays d'Europe centrale et orientale et dans ceux issus de l’ex-URSS, la Communauté oriente une large partie de ses interventions vers ce secteur. Il importe à cet égard de souligner que l'aide accordée à ces pays ne s'effectue pas au détriment de celle que la Communauté destine au pays en développement, qui s'accroît au contraire, tant pour ce qui est de l'aide humanitaire et d'urgence que de l'appui au processus de développement à moyen et long terme.
Je me suis longuement étendu sur les problèmes agricoles. Permettez-moi de dire quelques mots de deux autres domaines dans lesquels la FAO et la Communauté déploient une activité importante et fructueuse.
Le domaine de la pêche d'abord. Il est clair que sans un grand effort de régulation sur le plan international, la surexploitation des ressources en poissons va s'accélérer dans les prochaines années, conduisant à une réduction dramatique du potentiel halieutique pour les générations futures. C'est pourquoi le travail à accomplir durant les prochaines années se révèle être d'une importance cruciale.
La FAO s'est vu confier la tâche d'élaborer un code de bonne conduite pour une pêche responsable dont l'un des volets, à savoir l'accord pour promouvoir les mesures internationales de conservation et de gestion pour les navires péchant en haute mer, fait l'objet d'un traitement prioritaire.
La Communauté a contribué de manière substantielle à la réalisation de cet accord et prend note avec la plus grande satisfaction, de son approbation par le cent quatrième Conseil de la FAO ainsi que de la recommandation de son adoption par la présente Conférence. Nous pensons que cet accord devrait entrer en vigueur prendre place aussi vite que possible et être suivi par le plus grand nombre de pays signataires. Cet accord permettra d'apporter une contribution importante à la définition d'une pêche responsable et à un développement durable des ressources naturelles.
Dans la même perspective, la Communauté soutient vivement la réalisation, des travaux techniques que la FAO doit effectuer dans le cadre approprié, en vue de contribuer aux prochaines sessions de la Conférence des Nations Unies sur les stocks chevauchant et les espèces hautement migratrices.
Dans le domaine de la forêt ensuite, la FAO fait état de chiffres alarmants: le taux de deforestation aurait atteint 0,8 pour cent par an dans les années 80. Il convient de contrer cette tendance et la Commission s'y emploie en déployant un grand nombre d'activités dans le secteur forestier. Elle aide à établir des plans d'action forêt tropicale (PAFT) dans un certain nombre de pays d'Afrique, de la Caraïbe et du Pacifique. Et elle consacre par ailleurs plus de 100 millions de dollars par an à des projets forestiers dans toutes les régions du monde. Une ligne budgétaire spécifique à la forêt tropicale a même été créée: elle est dotée d'environ 60 millions de dollars pour 1993.
La Communauté se félicite de la compétence irremplaçable et de l'engagement de la FAO dans tous les domaines que j'ai pu évoquer brièvement. Nous continuerons donc à approfondir notre participation dans les travaux de l'Organisation et à renforcer notre coopération sur le terrain avec elle.
Le Président indépendant du Conseil a évoqué, dans son intervention, la coopération entre la CEE et la FAO. Je ne voudrais pas polémiquer ici sur ce qu'il a dit. Je voudrais tout simplement que la Communauté est décidée à approfondir et à amplifier cette coopération dans la mesure où elle se révèle efficace et dans l'intérêt des deux Organisations. Ce renforcement se fait de manière graduelle mais continue; la Communauté se situe déjà tout près du niveau des principaux donneurs. Notre coopération avec la FAO porte en effet, depuis le départ, sur un montant de 11 millions de dollars. Elle est susceptible de porter sur 15 millions de dollars supplémentaires pour les projets en préparation. A cet effort, s'ajoute, par ailleurs, les contributions des "douze" pris individuellement. L'accord technique passé entre le Secrétariat de la FAO et les services de la Commission se révèle donc utile et prometteur.
Cette coopération se poursuivra mais toujours avec le souci prioritaire de la qualité des projets.
J'ai la conviction que les mécanismes de coordination mis en place du côté de la FAO et de la Commission européenne nous permettront de marquer des progrès substantiels.
Les défis que doivent relever la FAO et l'ensemble de la communauté internationale restent donc immenses. Vous pouvez être assurés que la Communauté, pour sa part, contribuera de tout son poids à les relever.
Monsieur le Président, Mesdames et Messieurs, je vous remercie de votre attention.
Mme Maria Helena QUERIDO SKMEDO (Cap-Vert): Permettez-moi, Monsieur le Président, avant tout, de vous exprimer mes chaleureuses félicitations pour votre brillante élection à la présidence de la vingt-septième Session de la Conférence générale de la FAO.
Je suis convaincue que vous saurez animer avec fermeté et dynamisme les débats où seront discutées des questions vitales pour notre Organisation.
Je ne pouvais pas ne pas saisir cette occasion pour féliciter les nouveaux Etats Membres de notre Organisation dont l'admission vient renforcer son caractère universel.
Nous nous réjouissons, de façon particulière, de la réadmission de la République d'Afrique du Sud, membre fondateur de la FAO qui, conjointement avec l'Erythrée, apportera une contribution de poids à l'Organisation et spécialement à l'Afrique.
J'aimerais, au nom de la République du Cap-Vert et de l'ensemble des pays membres du CILSS, féliciter solennellement le Docteur Jacques Diouf, ce grand Sahélien que la Communauté internationale vient de porter à la tête de la FAO.
Homme de compétence reconnue, le Docteur Jacques Diouf a l'avantage de connaître parfaitement les problèmes de développement et de sécurité alimentaire dans le monde et, au cours de son mandat, il aura certainement à coeur de contribuer à leur résolution.
Au nom du Sahel, je lui souhaite plein succès dans ses nouvelles fonctions.
Monsieur le Directeur général Edouard Saouma, en ces instants solennels qui marquent la fin de votre remarquable mandat, c'est avec un réel plaisir que nous vous réaffirmons notre profonde estime. Par votre compétence et votre intelligence, vous avez su diriger avec brio les destinées de notre prestigieuse Organisation, la rendant plus efficace dans le combat contre le sous développement. La Conférence générale de la FAO, en tant que tribune privilégiée de réflexion, de discussion et d'analyse des problèmes relatifs au développement et à la coopération internationale, notamment dans les domaines de l'Agriculture et de l'alimentation, du Développement rural et des pêches, est le cadre idéal pour résoudre les plus pressantes questions qui se posent à l'humanité.
Je suis convaincue que les décisions et les recommandations issues de nos travaux permettront d'atteindre cet objectif.
Monsieur le Président, les pays membres du CILSS (le Burkina Faso, le Cap-Vert, la Gambie, la Guinée-Bissau, le Mali, la Mauritanie, le Niger, le Sénégal et le Tchad) ont l'honneur de participer au plus haut niveau à cette tribune mondiale qu'est la Conférence générale de la FAO.
En plus d'une tradition déjà établie, notre présence à cette Conférence témoigne non seulement de l'adhésion du Sahel aux nobles idéaux de la FAO, mais aussi de la reconnaissance de notre sous-région à l'endroit d'une Institution qui a toujours été à ses côtés, notamment aux heures les plus difficiles de son existence.
Depuis 1984, le Sahel, nonobstant la sécheresse, n'a heureusement pas connu de famine généralisée. Certes, quelques pays ont connu par moments des difficultés. Mais, grâce au Système d'alerte précoce mis en place avec nos partenaires, notamment la FAO, nous avons réussi à prendre à temps les mesures efficaces pour éviter la famine. Les missions conjointes d'évaluation de la campagne agricole effectuées tous les ans témoignent de l'excellence de nos relations qui sont exemplaires.
Je voudrais à présent lancer un appel à nos différents partenaires pour que l'alarme, quand elle est donnée, soit aussitôt entendue, et qu'une prompte et adéquate réponse y soit apportée.
Je me dois de rappeler que notre agriculture est encore tributaire des aléas climatiques. Dans bien des endroits, la pluviométrie se révèle encore capricieuse, sinon déficitaire, avec des conséquences néfastes sur les récoltes.
Ailleurs, et malgré une pluviométrie satisfaisante, les récoltes risquent d'être hypothéquées en raison des sérieuses menaces acridiennes qui pèsent sur le Sahel.
A ce sujet, les pays membres du CILSS, qui ont enregistré, dès les mois de juillet et d'août, l'invasion des premiers essaims de criquets pèlerins, ont déclenché des opérations de prospection dans toutes les zones atteintes. Cependant, il reste encore beaucoup à faire si nous voulons éviter une nouvelle et douloureuse catastrophe.
Dans ce sens, notre appel va en direction de la communauté internationale, en particulier à la FAO, pour une mobilisation de ressources complémentaires pour la lutte contre le fléau acridien. Le Cap-Vert est un pays sahélien où la parcimonie des ressources naturelles, notamment le sol et l'eau, la prédominance d'une pluviométrie irrégulière et la précarité de
la base technologique, constituent de sérieuses contraintes à une agriculture performante.
Il en ressort un pays à faible possibilité de production d'aliments pour nourrir sa population ou pour constituer un stock assurant une sécurité alimentaire minimum. La faiblesse de cette production rend le pays dépendant de l'extérieur sur le plan alimentaire.
Malheureusement, le relatif succès de la campagne agricole actuelle dépend encore de -nouvelles pluies à court terme et si la situation phytosanitaire est bonne, quelques dégâts ont malgré tout été causés par les attaques d'ennemis des cultures, actuellement maîtrisés. La situation des pâturages et l'état nutritionnel du bétail sont, jusqu'à présent, satisfaisants.
Le secteur agricole, nonobstant sa fragilité, ne cesse de jouer un rôle essentiel dans l'économie nationale.
Il me plaît de souligner que le Gouvernement du Cap-Vert a défini, dans son programme d'action, les principes fondamentaux visant au développement du secteur agricole en vue d'atteindre un accroissement de la production alimentaire et une amélioration du niveau de vie de la population qui participera de plus en plus activement à la construction nationale.
Dans ce contexte, l'Etat joue un rôle éducatif moteur en mettant en oeuvre les conditions permettant de répondre favorablement aux souhaits et aux besoins des populations.
Ce développement n'est effectivement possible que grâce à la participation consciente et active du peuple capverdien et à la solidarité de la Communauté internationale.
L'ordre du jour qui nous est présenté me semble particulièrement riche et diversifié et j'aimerais me prononcer sur quelques-uns de ses points les plus importants.
S'agissant du Programme de travail et budget pour 1994-95, une proposition de non-croissance nous est de nouveau soumise, sur la base de 676,9 millions de dollars. Les grands programmes techniques et économiques ont vu diminuer leurs ressources, il en est de même du programme de coopération technique. Ceci nous préoccupe d'autant plus que le nombre d'Etats Membres ne cesse d'augmenter et que les demandes, de plus en plus complexes, et dont beaucoup sont urgentes, risquent de ne pas être réalisées.
En raison du caractère catalysateur du Programme de coopération technique et de son importance pour les pays en développement, il est difficilement compréhensible de continuer à lui affecter d'aussi maigres ressources, qui demeurent très en deçà de la recommandation contenue dans la Résolution 9/89, qui demande de les porter à 16-17 pour cent du budget.
Il est opportun de souligner le rôle primordial du Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM) qui, avec un budget de 1,5 milliard de dollars pour l'exercice biennal 1995-96, devra appuyer l'action préventive de lutte contre les catastrophes et les crises, atténuant ainsi les effets de la faim et de la malnutrition.
Aussi, une attention spéciale devra être accordée au suivi de la Conférence internationale sur la nutrition et de la Conférence des Nations Unies sur l’environnement et le développement qui ont fourni une importante contribution à l'étude "Agriculture horizon 2010". Cette étude, portant sur l'agriculture, les pêches, les forêts et sur d'autres domaines d'intérêt dans la lutte contre la famine et la malnutrition dans les vingt prochaines années, fera aussi l'objet d'analyses et de réflexions durant cette Conférence. Rappelons-nous l'appel lancé en vue du renforcement des Plans d'action forestière nationaux et des soins que l'on doit dispenser aux ressources marines, source d'alimentation et support stratégique pour le développement de différents secteurs générateurs d'emplois et de revenus.
Le Cap-Vert a une zone économique exclusive qui n'est pas encore convenablement exploitée par manque de ressources et de moyens appropriés. Le secteur des Pêches, considéré comme stratégique, contribue significativement à la variété du régime alimentaire des populations et son développement permet la création d'un nombre élevé d'emplois. Ce secteur facilite aussi l'insertion graduelle du Cap-Vert dans le système économique mondial.
A cet égard, nous lançons un appel pour la prise en compte effective du budget de la pêche dans le prochain programme de travail.
En tant qu'instrument de planification, le Plan à moyen terme 1994-99 contient des priorités et des programmes définis par la FAO en corrélation avec les besoins des Etats Membres et en fonction des nouvelles orientations dans le cadre multilatéral. Dans le chapitre IV qui traite des priorités régionales, nous sommes d'accord avec l'analyse faite sur les défis auxquels le continent africain doit faire face, et, par conséquent, avec les propositions d'action.
En tant que femme, je ne pouvais pas ne pas me référer au rôle que joue la femme dans le processus de développement du fait de ses responsabilités et de ses fonctions dans la société, soit comme mère et educatrice, soit comme agent producteur de biens alimentaires et de productions connexes.
En dépit de la nature difficile de ses activités, l'assujettissant à d'énormes sacrifices et fatigues, le statut de la femme dans la société n'est pas encore à la hauteur des responsabilités sociales qu'elle assume, étant plusieurs fois sujette à la discrimination dans l'exercice de certains droits fondamentaux.
Pour les raisons évoquées, chaque programme de développement doit, dans son élaboration, tenir compte de la pleine intégration de la femme comme force vive de la société, sous peine de voir avorter tous les efforts fournis.
Au Cap-Vert, cette problématique fait l'objet d'une attention spéciale de la part du Gouvernement, notamment à travers les programmes éducatifs et par l'accès des femmes aux facteurs de production.
Avant de terminer, permettez-moi d'exprimer au Directeur général de la FAO la gratitude des membres de la Commission sous-régionale des pêches, Commission composée du Cap-Vert, de la Gambie, de la Guinée, de la Guinée-Bissau, de la Mauritanie et du Sénégal, pour l'appui accordé à celle-ci dans la conception du programme de relance de ses activités.
Enfin, Monsieur le Président, je formule des voeux de plein succès pour le déroulement de nos travaux et pour que les objectifs définis soient totalement atteints.
Je vous remercie.
Zine El Abidine SEBTI (Maroc) (Langue originale arabe): Je voudrais tout d'abord vous adresser mes chaleureuses félicitations, Monsieur le Président,- pour la confiance que les Etats Membres ont placée en vous, en vous portant à la présidence de cette Conférence. Je saisis cette occasion pour adresser mes félicitations aux Vice-Présidents et aux membres du bureau. Mes félicitations vont aussi aux nouveaux Etats Membres pour la confiance qui leur a été accordée par la Communauté internationale.
Je voudrais également rendre hommage au Directeur général élu en lui confirmant notre total soutien pour que sa mission soit menée à bien. Je voudrais rendre hommage au Directeur général sortant, notre ami et frère, Dr Edouard Saouma pour les efforts inlassables qu'il a déployés au sein de cette Organisation. Il a pu, grâce à son expérience et à son savoir-faire, consolider les acquis de la FAO et mettre l'accent sur le redressement de la situation alimentaire mondiale dans les pays en voie de développement. Je le remercie tout particulièrement de ses efforts en vue de sensibiliser l'opinion mondiale à la gravité de la situation, ainsi que des actions qu'il a entreprises pour surmonter les problèmes alimentaires, et ce, en dépit d'une conjoncture économique peu favorable.
Je voudrais rendre hommage à Monsieur Saouma pour ses efforts en faveur de la langue arabe dans l'Organisation. Mon pays, qui a des traditions bien enracinées, est attaché à son appartenance arabe, africaine et méditerranéenne. Ces appartenances multiples et complémentaires sont à la fois un facteur d'ouverture et d'enrichissement. Le Maroc tient à cette diversité, surtout dan un monde qui a tendance à s'uniformiser. Quoi de plus fort que les langues pour exprimer cette diversité. C'est pour cela que nous en appelons au nouveau Directeur général pour qu'il traite toutes les langues de travail de l'Organisation sur un pied d'égalité et en le faisant en particulier pour notre langue arabe.
Excellence, il n'y a pas si longtemps, le principe d'autosuffisance prévalait dans toutes les politiques alimentaires; mais lors des dernières décennies des changements sont intervenus dans les transactions commerciales internationales et des groupements économiques régionaux se sont formés. Il est devenu impérieux, pour cette raison, d'opter pour une économie mondiale plus ouverte afin de répondre aux attentes des populations de par le monde. Aussi le Maroc a-t-il pu, sous la direction de sa Majesté le Roi Hassan II, adopter une politique d'ouverture sur les marchés mondiaux. Il a ainsi mis au point des programmes d'ajustement structurel qui ont été appliqués au secteur agricole depuis 1985, et que nous avons l'intention d'étendre en 1994 pour que l'ouverture soit totale.
Les mesures qui ont été prises visent à améliorer la production et la productivité dans un marché interne axé sur la libre entreprise et sur l'esprit de compétitivité, permettant de mieux utiliser les ressources disponibles et de les diriger vers les secteurs agricoles les plus efficaces. Nous sommes tout à fait confiants quant à ces options et nous tentons de les mettre en oeuvre tout en tenant compte de leurs incidences, notamment sur le plan social.
Nous constatons malheureusement une attitude encore hésitante au niveau international en matière de libéralisation, particulièrement dans le secteur agricole. En témoigne le parcours difficile des négociations multilatérales de l'Uruguay Round. Or, l'équilibre des transactions commerciales dépend de l'assainissement des marchés mondiaux en éliminant par exemple des mesures telles que les subventions obtenues par les pays exportateurs pour commercialiser leurs excédents à des prix qui ne reflètent pas les coûts de production; mesures prises alors que nous nous efforçons de libérer le commerce extérieur dans nos pays en démantelant tous les obstacles, surtout les obstacles tarifaires.
Nous restons attachés à ces principes et nous plaçons tous nos espoirs dans la réussite de ces négociations. Nous espérons parvenir à une zone de libre échange avec la CEE mais nous constatons malheureusement que les négociations exploratoires menées avec la CEE restent en deçà du niveau souhaité.
Pour cela, nous attirons l'attention sur le fait que le démantèlement des mesures tarifaires et le recours à un vrai partenariat sont les conditions d'un développement réel et soutenu.
Mesdames et Messieurs, étant donné notre conception des relations commerciales externes et la nécessité d'intégrer notre économie dans un marché ouvert, dégagé de subventions et de mesures protectionnistes, nous avons opté pour une politique agricole plus dynamique tout en établissant les bases nécessaires à la sécurité alimentaire dans notre pays. Nous avons déployé des efforts conduisant les agriculteurs marocains à adopter les moyens et les techniques nécessaires pour augmenter la production agricole qualitativement et quantitativement.
Ainsi, nous couvrons 80 pour cent de nos besoins nationaux en lait et en céréales. 65 pour cent en sucre et 40 pour cent en huile. Et nous savons tous que le Maroc est un exportateur de fruits et légumes.
Conscients du rôle important de l'agriculture dans notre pays sur le plan économique et social, et du fait des vagues successives de sécheresse qui nous ont frappés, nous avons décidé de maîtriser l'élément eau et d'en rationaliser l'utilisation. Pour parer aux effets des changements climatiques sur la production agricole, ainsi que pour garantir la stabilité des populations rurales et lutter contre l'exode rural, nous avons mobilisé tous les moyens matériels et humains afin de créer des moyens d'irrigation et d'élargir la surface irrigable. Mais la mise en oeuvre de ces programmes appelle le concours financier des institutions internationales.
En plus de la sécheresse qui affecte notre production agricole, notre région est également frappée par des invasions acridiennes. Tout programme pour lutter contre le criquet pèlerin doit être basé sur une coopération, une coordination des efforts dans toute la région. Mais les moyens disponibles restent en deçà du niveau voulu. Et pour cela, nous avons besoin de davantage de moyens internationaux. A cet égard, je voudrais rendre hommage à la FAO pour le rôle qu'elle joue dans le domaine de l'avertissement rapide ou la coordination des efforts sur le plan régional.
Puisque j'en suis aux ravageurs qui menacent les récoltes nationales, je voudrais souligner que, dans le domaine de la protection des végétaux, le Maroc, en vue d'adapter les produits marocains aux critères techniques des pays importateurs, a adhéré en 1972 à la Convention internationale de la
protection des végétaux qui a été ratifiée en 1952 à Rome Le secrétariat de cette Convention a été rattaché à la FAO récemment et, de ce fait, notre pays est devenu membre de l'Organisation européenne et méditerranéenne pour la protection des plantes. Le Maroc s'apprête à accueillir le siège de la future organisation régionale de la protection des plantes pour le Proche-Orient.
Pour préserver les plantes et conserver notre patrimoine végétal, nous accordons une attention particulière à l'utilisation rationnelle des pesticides, et ce, en vue de protéger notre environnement. L'accroissement de la production ne devrait pas se faire aux dépens de l'environnement. Et l'un des plus grands défis auquel la communauté internationale doit faire face est celui qui consiste à concilier la croissance économique et sociale et la préservation des ressources naturelles.
Pour relever ce défi qui a été au coeur du Sommet de Rio et pour faire face aux changements climatiques, à la diversité biologique, à la désertification notamment sur le continent africain, il est impérieux pour la communauté internationale de faire preuve de beaucoup de solidarité et de coopération. Il est nécessaire de mettre en oeuvre les moyens nécessaires à l'application des clauses du "Programme d'Action 21" qui devrait être appliqué dans le siècle à venir.
Le Maroc a suivi les travaux du Sommet de Rio avec beaucoup d'intérêt. Il y a dépêché une délégation importante présidée par Son Altesse royale le Prince Sidi Mohamed et le Maroc a créé un ministère chargé d'oeuvrer dans le cadre d'une stratégie solide visant à préserver l'environnement.
Tout donne à croire qu'il y a une légère amélioration dans la situation alimentaire mondiale. Malheureusement, nous constatons encore un écart entre les pays en voie de développement et les pays développés. Cette situation risque de s'aggraver davantage et il sera impossible de trouver des solutions, notamment dans les régions frappées par les catastrophes naturelles telle que la sécheresse ou par les guerres civiles. Nous savons tous que si l'infrastructure est touchée, il y a recul de la production et détérioration de la situation alimentaire, surtout lorsqu'il s'agit d'une croissance démographique galopante. Nous sommes convaincus que cette organisation jouera un rôle important pour que les objectifs nobles des peuples démunis soient réalisés, pour que ces peuples puissent vivre dans un monde à l'abri de la faim, des problèmes de l'environnement, et pour que l'humanité toute entière puisse bénéficier d'une grande sécurité alimentaire.
Par ailleurs, ma délégation appuie le Programme de travail et budget proposé pour l'exercice 1994-95, cela en vue de préserver le consensus qui s'est dégagé autour des recommandations et décisions émanant de cette Conférence. Mais ma délégation a constaté que ce budget ne permettra pas à l'Organisation de jouer pleinement son rôle en vue de réaliser le développement et d'améliorer la situation alimentaire mondiale, surtout en Afrique où la situation se détériore de plus en plus.
Je voudrais par ailleurs souligner le rôle du Programme de coopération technique créé à l'initiative du Directeur général, M. Edouard Saouma, et je demande que ce programme jouisse d'un intérêt particulier à l'avenir.
Enfin, j'espère que l'Organisation pourra améliorer sa situation pour pouvoir poursuivre sa noble mission. Je vous remercie.
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Ira d'AUVERGNE (Saint Lucia) : Mr Chairman, let me first extend my most sincere congratulations to you on behalf of my delegation on your first appointment as Chairman of the 27th biennial Conference of this august body. This is the first time in the history of this Organization that a member of the Caribbean community has had the great honour of presiding over this assembly. This is no doubt a recognition of your sound and balanced judgement and your overall ability. As Minister of Agriculture and Deputy Prime Minister of your country Jamaica, you are eminently suited to fill this role. The Caribbean community is proud and we are sanguine that you will continue to discharge this responsibility with competence, dignity and impartiality.
I would like also to congratulate Dr Jacques Diouf, the Director-General elect, on his appointment to this most important Organization. He has emerged as the choice of his peers from an intelligent and impressive slate of qualified challengers after a long, intense and strenuous campaign, and the outcome has been rewarding to him and gratifying to his supporters and his country. The fact of his success is eloquent testimony of the esteem in which he is held. He has been charged with a sacred and unique trust at a most crucial time in the history of this Organization, at a time when major decisions are required, at a time when the Organization is perceived by many as abounding in myriad problems which will tax the highest capacity of men to solve.
I am confident that he will fulfil his mandate with his customed vigour and professionalism. Mr Chairman, in welcoming the new Director-General, let us not forget the outstanding contribution made to FAO and its Member Nations by the outgoing Director-General, Dr Edouard Saouma, who, at the helm of this Organization has steered it for the last three terms. Under his leadership FAO has played a major role in the fight to rid the world of poverty and malnutrition. He has been at the forefront in efforts to avert potentially catastrophic situations in many regions of the world. He has resolutely championed the cause of fair trade, and the several developing countries and hunger ravaged regions which have benefited from his policies can attest to this fact.
The outgoing Director-General has left an indelible mark of greatness on the history of the FAO in spite of the immensity of problems of the International Community.
I take this opportunity on behalf of my Government and people to thank him for his support during his term of office and wish him and his family the very best in his future endeavours.
It is my conviction that his experience, his sincerity of purpose and his demonstrated love for mankind will not be placed fully into retirement but will be utilized and given opportunities for expression in other spheres and fora for the benefit of mankind.
These are very challenging times for the international community and this is particularly so for resource-poor countries like St Lucia and other Caribbean states, times which have been characterized with major shifts in geopolitical relations, where emphasis has shifted from political to economic blocs, where a multiplicity of ideological profiles have reduced significantly or disappeared completely, where individual self interest seem increasingly to hold sway in international economic relations even if in the process others are destroyed. Today we see the same developed countries, strong nations and industrial giants, using all their energies,
faculties and genius on issues such as the development of trade blocs and market driven systems or free trade policies in a global context without consideration of their effects on the socio-economic conditions prevailing in the developing countries, notwithstanding the fact that they are fully aware of these conditions. In such a scenario small states like St Lucia and other windward islands were given certain concessions in terms of ensuring access for our fruit. We are indeed grateful to the Government of the United Kingdom and our other friends in the European Community for honouring the provisions of the Lomé Convention.
However, certain member countries of this Organization, with the active support of multilateral corporations, have launched a most vicious and concerted attack on the European Commission proposals within the GATT. They have made it abundantly clear that they would like to boost their share of the E C market from its present level of about 70 percent to 100 percent. Indeed they believe and insist that they have a right to the entire market based on what they term "reasonable expectations"! The only way they can achieve this is by pushing producers like ourselves out of the market altogether. In their quest they are prepared to do anything whether or not it results in adverse consequences to the other producers.
It is important to recognize that all this is taking place against a background where the windward islands supply a mere 2 percent of world production and about 10 percent of the European market compared with their 70 percent of the European market, and incidentally, the entire North American market. Mr Chairman, it is evident therefore that our miniscule share of 2 percent poses no threat whatsoever to these producers and their multinational allies.
Can this by any stretch of imagination be deemed to be International Cooperation?
If it is assumed that these aforementioned policies will achieve world peace, that is, that world peace will come through world trade, then free trade at the expense of developing countries to the detriment of poor states cannot and can never achieve world peace or stability. Instead the inevitable opposite must follow, and this policy must leave in its wake poverty, hunger, and degradation, the very scourges and upheavals which our Organization is committed to eradicate.
Mr Chairman, we accept in principle the concept of the liberalization of markets and the need for competitiveness. This however should be only in a situation where the playing field is level. As it is, the playing field is not level and therefore there cannot be fair play.
For example, our farmers have to strive in very difficult circumstances on small acreages which in the main are less than two hectares on steep slopes, marginal soils and minimum access to water and water resources. Our farmers rely totally on high cost imported inputs which our competitors, by virtue of the fact that they are also industrialized countries, produce the same inputs at lower cost. Yet we are being asked to compete with multinational corporations with almost limitless access to land, capital and a plentiful supply of cheaper labour.
Against this background we have been told by some industrialized countries that we should get out of bananas and grow something else. The question must be asked whether they seriously believe that we can overnight change
to another crop or crops which can provide the same returns both in terms of income and employment for our peoples?
If so, can they suggest the alternatives, and even assuming that this is feasible, is there any guarantee that there will not be serious dilocation of our fragile economies? Even if there are alternatives, do we have the resources to make that instant shift?
We recognize that there must be adjustments to our agricultural programmes if we are to abandon our traditional agricultural base. In pursuit of this St Lucia has embarked on a conscious and serious effort to improve our competitive position by instituting measures aimed at improving productivity at the farm level. We have also embarked upon large-scale programmes of diversification of the agricultural sector and the modernization of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, all aimed at reducing the dependence on bananas only. However, it would be naive to believe that the agricultural transormation can take place overnight. It takes years of very intense effort to get farmers who have become accustomed to a certain crop and particular practices to readily and easily change and to shift to an alternative crop in the short term.
All this must be viewed against a background where the banana industry is by far the greatest area of economic activity in St Lucia, contributing approximately 70 percent of her foreign exchange earnings and employing about 25 percent of the labour force. Our next major area of activity is tourism, and while this industry makes a significant contribution, it is not only fragile, but also lacks the same multiplier effect as bananas.
Therefore, our banana industry must be preserved and, in any event, there must be a transitory period during which the necessary adjustments and restructuring can be made. For this we require financial assistance, time and expertise but, above all, the opportunities for fair trade for our primary products.
FAO must be commended for the assistance given to my country over the years. We are grateful for this, but is has a continuing role to play in this critical situation in providing the necessary support to enable us to sustain the agricultural sector for this and future generations.
There is within the Organization the capacity to guide and assist disadvantaged states to gear their policies and strategies to face the adverse consequences posed by the rapid changes in the global economy, trade liberalization, their inability to compete in external agricultural markets, and to help to access financial resources to replace the shortfall in aid from traditional aid donors.
Priority must be given also to building and strengthening our institutions to enhance our human resources, to accelerate transfer of technology to give support to national capabilities in extension, research and sustained agricultural development.
Women play an important role in every sphere of activity in our development. They excel in every field, for example, farming, social work, banking, medicine, law, and education, among others. Nonetheless, greater emphasis needs to be placed at both the national and regional level to improve their status, and to promote programmes for their continued development in order to equip them to access better employment opportunities, particularly in rural life.
An FAO-sponsored workshop on the network of institutions and agencies in support of women was held in St Lucia from the 11 to 15 October of this year and was attended by representatives from 14 CARICOM countries. This workshop dealt inter alia with the establishment of focal points, the deepening and strengthening of the networking activities of various institutions and agencies, gender training and the planning for future networking activities. The workshop was very successful but there is need for quick follow-up action to ensure that the focus and initiatives are not dissipated.
There are some areas of concern to which FAO must address itself in the short term. First and foremost is the grave threat posed to our livestock industry by the Amblyomma variegatum tick, which came to the island of Guadeloupe from Africa in the mid-19th Century. It has since spread throughout most of our island territories including St Lucia, and its presence has been confirmed as far south as Barbados. St Lucia has been struggling to contain its spread for more than six years but with little success. The presence of this tick has severely reduced the productivity of our relatively small livestock sub-sector. Yet a greater threat has recently been identified, and that is the potential for this tick to spread to the mainland of North and South America by the Cattle egret, which bird is know to host one of the tick's life stages. By means of capture and release studies Cattle egrets tagged in the islands of Antigua and Guadeloupe have been fund to have travelled well over 6 000 miles. The potential danger of this pest to the livestock industry in the United States of America, as well as countries in Latin America such as Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Uruguay, Venezuela, among others, is obvious. We in the Caribbean have been collaborating with FAO, IICA, and USDA, in particular, in an effort to mount a campaign for its eradication, which goal we know is still attainable.
I take this opportunity to call on all FAO Member Nations which are or might be affected by this problem, as well as those with an interest in our well-being, to join us at a meeting at 10.00 am on Friday, 12 November in the German room for a commitment of resources to address the eradication of this tick.
Permit me also to commend the Director-General of the FAO for the introduction and continuation of the Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) initiatives. Through this arrangement the FAO has been able to respond positively and expeditiously to several critical needs of Caribbean States. We would strongly urge the strengthening of the TCP facility.
The FAO in collaboration with the British Development Division (BDD) of the ODA has been assisting St Lucia and other eastern Caribbean countries with the development of our tropical forestry action plans. We recognize that this work is critical to the sustainable utilization of our forestry resources and the preservation of our watershed areas, as well as the maintenance of our fragile ecosystems. Our respective national plans have recently been completed and we are preparing to present them to a round table meeting of donors to be convened in the Caribbean in February of next year. I bring this to the attention of this Conference now in the hope tht upon receipt of your invitation you will actively participate in developing the optimal potential of our forest resources to the benefit of our economy and without harm to our environment.
We recognize that the FAO must be prepared for the 21st Century if it is propertly to fulfil its mandate. This, however, I submit cannot be
achieved, as perceived by some, through violent or radical change but rather through appropriate adaptations to new needs and situations. In that regard, the beneficiaries of aid must honour their obligations and responsibilities in order to give the Organization the resources and the impetus to channel assistance to the many disadvantaged regions of the world.
We know that the new Director-General is equal to the task, that he will build on the outstanding achievements of his predecessor, Dr Edouard Saouma, and will remain resolute and faithful to the charge given him in shaping the Organization. For this we wish him the best, and we wish him the ability, the wisdom and the energy to provide the best provision for the welfare of all mankind.
R.M. Dharmadasa BANDA (Sri Lanka) : Chairman and distinguished delegates, let me at the very outset join the other delegates in congratuating you, Mr Chairman, on your election as Chairman of this important session of the FAO Conference. Needless to say, with your experience you will be able to steer this Conference to achieving definite results which will be welcome by the agrarian community of the world.
This session is indeed important for a special reason. We have just elected the new Director-General of the FAO. Let me congratulate Dr Jacques Diouf for his election to this most prestigious and highest position of the FAO system.
The new Director-General has a special mandate and a special task to perform. The world, particularly the emerging countries, are confronted with a rapid succession of major changes which have set in motion ever-increasing endeavours to allocate resources for alleviation of poverty, hunger and malnutrition. These efforts have not altogether proved successful. Sustainable agriculture with an appropriate ecological acceptance has in fact been a distant goal to be accomplished. Emerging countries still face an uphill task of ensuring food security resulting from ever-depleting resources, loss of productivity and apparent incapacity to mobilize all forces to recognize the productive sectors. These areas undoubtedly will continue to be the areas of concern of the FAO for a long time to come.
The new Director-General is taking over this ship in somewhat different and stormy seas. Whatever the problems may be, Sri Lanka expresses its intention of giving the fullest cooperation and support to the new Director-General and the FAO for the task it will face during the next decade. The outgoing Director-General has been a very able administrator who has been sympathetic towards genuine agrarian problems. He has directed this Organization through one era. We wish him well in his retirement.
The international response to food production, which has been a dominant theme during the last several years, cannot sustain itself or provide the necessary remedies unless there is a dynamic response to agriculture and food production at the national level. Each national government has to decide for itself the speed and manner in which it seeks to change the agricutural situation in the country. We believe that large-scale transformation of the agricutural sector intended to resolve a variety of problems, especially unemployment and food security, cannot be carried through effectively without selective intervention by the state at appropriate levels in critical areas of food production.
I am sure you would agree that basic and fundamental to every effort is the necessity of a strong political will and a commitment to the development of the agricultural sector in any country. My delegation is happy to announce that in our country the political will and the commitment in its highest form has been provided. Steps have already been taken to mobilize the farming community through both informal and formal organizations to equip them to give leadership to the structural changes in the agrarian sector. Together with this, changes are now being contemplated in fiscal and monetary policies aimed at supporting the indigenous agricultural base. It has become a matter of paramount importance to control, manage and develop the resources of the country with the active participation of the beneficiaries. Conscious policies are being followed to redesign the agricultural system to make maximum use of the material and human resources that are available within the country.
Providing the appropriate climate to gain access to resource and inputs to the farming community at affordable prices has been a cardinal policy that has been followed for quite some time by my government. We have successfully harnessed the water resources, both surface and underground, for maximizing productivity. Appropriate technology packages with wide farmer acceptance has been developed and transferred. Wherever necessary, state intervention has been made possible in selected strategic areas of production for achieving higher growth.
Mr Chairman, over the past two decades developing countries have experienced a significant growth in the agricultural sector. Sri Lanka is no exception. Our irrigated paddy extent increased by over 20 percent during this period. Twenty years ago Sri Lanka produced only 1.3 million metric tons of paddy. Today our production is 80 percent more than in 1973. Our rice breeders, in collaboration with international agencies managed to develop high standard rice varieties having very large yield potentials. Our researchers and extensionists developed modern technology packages and trained farmers to obtain high yields. Farmers accepted the new improved varieties and the area cultivated to them has now exceeded 96 percent of the total paddy extent. In spite of this, we are now beginning to witness a stagnation in our rice production. This is not confined to our country alone. We witness this in our neighbouring countries as well. Probably we have reached the peak of the current stage of the green revolution.
Many scientists are now engaged to discover the exact causes for this stagnation. At least one possible reason that is evident is the insufficient application of modern technology. Farmers apply inputs inadequately not due to ignorance, but more due to their inability to mobilize cash at the correct time to purchase inputs. This may be due to the poverty situation of the farmers or the inaccessibility of the resources. That is why I stated that adequate attention has not been focused on the issue concerning rural credit.
In our region paddy is cultivated by a large number of small farmers. In Sri Lanka it is estimated that over 1.8 million people are engaged in farming and over 60 percent of them operate holdings less than one hectare in extent. For them agricultural credit is a vital source of funding to purchase agricultural inputs as well as to pay for hired labour. In recognition of this need Sri Lanka, beginning in 1947, initiated various institutional credit programmes to serve the paddy sector better. However, we should remember that in addition to the institutional credit, there existed always the informal credit arrangements. Proportion of indebtedness to institutional and non-institutional sources varied over time. In the
late 1950s when the schemes were just initiated the institutional credit accounted for only 8 percent and informal sources 92 percent. By the late 1970s the importance of the non-institutional credit decreased to 45 percent due to state banks establishing and promoting various credit schemes. Yet the existence of non-institutional credit even now is an observed fact, and it still plays an important role in the rural sector despite state banks operating for over four decades.
It is time that we take a serious look at both the institutional credit and the informal credit that were existing side by side in our coutries. The institutional credit suffered from high defaulting rates on one hand and high operating costs with low interst rates on the other. Though banks have obtained concessionary interest rates from the Government, yet they need a recovery rate of over 90 percent to ensure a state of no capital loss. The average recovery rate, however, is around 60 percent. When one analyses this situation, it is clear that the defaults are closely linked with the farmer's willingness and more importantly his ability to repay the loans. The ability to repay depends on by how much his crop exceeds the subsistence requirement of his family. In other words, rural agricultural credit is closely linked with the ability of the farmer to produce a surplus, which in turn is governed by his use of modern technology. The use of modern technology demands cash or high cost credit. Thus the farmer is caught in a vicious circle.
These are some of the clues we should take up in designing credit schemes that should be readily available and more acceptable to farmers. In Sri Lanka we have initiated a few schemes on these lines. In 1990 my Ministry started an "Agricultural Trust Fund" with an initial capital of Rs 150 million. This fund caters to the credit needs of the small farmers having less than one hectare of land. The recipients are the farmers who are unable to get credit from formal banking sources, and are farmers who cultivate under uncertain irrigated conditions. In other words, they are considered "high risk farmers" by the formal credit sector. Under our scheme farmers pay the same interest rate of the formal credit scheme. However, the Trust Fund is more close to the farmer than the Banking System. The loans are disbursed by the Agrarian Service Centres, which are grass-roots level organizations with active farmer participation. The collateral are two fellow farmers. The credit is in the form of seeds and fertilizer inputs. In the case of crop failure, the Agricultural Crop Insurance Board pays the loan, relieving the farmer from the burden of repayment. In some places the disbursement and recovery of credit is handled by farmers through their own farmer organizations. In addition to meeting the credit needs in kind with respect to seed and fertilizer, the Trust Fund in the future, that is, starting this year, will also address the credit requirements of small farmers for marketing and processing of agricultural produce. The Trust Fund commenced its activities only in 1990-91 and has recorded a commendable recovery rate of over 85 percent from its inception.
Another scheme we have just initiated is a "Revolving Fund for Agricultural Development." This fund too is operated by the Agrarian Service Centres at grass-roots level for more broad perspective activities. Loans are given to farmers, farmer organizations, young farmers' clubs, and any other agricultural organization for agricultural production, marketing and for value adding activities. The provincial agricultural committee, which administer the scheme, can increase the initial fund by taking part in agricultural commercial activities, and plough back the profits as well as
part of the interest collected on the loan disbursed. The .Revolving Fund also provides for farmer training and agricultural demonstrations.
As I mentioned earlier, what we are now lacking is probably not the availability of technology, but the means to apply the technology. In agriculture, when we deal with farmers, epecially farmers with poor resource endowments, the credit schemes with conventional procedures may not be the most appropriate. A scheme closer to the farmers1 own social environment and to the naturally existing credit systems will be the viable alternative. We have to strive to form such effective schemes to provide the farmers with the much needed credit. If we provide the farmers with means acceptable to them, then with the available technology, the agricultural sector can break away from the present stagnation and move towards further development.
Provision of credit facilities by itself would not fulfil the desired objective of stimulating productivity increases unless the recipient farmers are mobilized and organized to gain access to it with less discomfort. For this purpose my Ministry has launched a two-pronged programme of rallying the farmers round their own organization - the Farmer Organization through which credit will flow and gearing both state and private sector organizations to make available the basic inputs such as fertilizer, seed, agro-chemicals and tillage power at appropriate quantities in locations closest to the farmers. Six months' grace period is being given to them for repayment with a service charge which will be retained at the farmer organization level and the Agrarian Services Centre level in order to build their own funds for future disbursements.
Small farmers in my country have welcomed these moves. I have also taken steps to establish a farmers1 fund by the amalgamation of all specialized credit programmes enumerated above into one single fund with a legal status. A Farmers1 Trust Fund has already been established where credit facilities are provided to the small farmers through their own farmers1 organization.
I am now receiving the response from them. Initial reactions appear to be pointing towards one important step that needs to be taken, namely, the establishment of a Farmers1 Bank. While the commercial banks would principally cater to the provision of large volumes of funding for import-export trading activities and large-scale agricultural projects, the proposed Farmers1 Bank would eventually concentrate principally on servicing the small farmer who is often deprived of this facility due to built-in cumbersome procedures and their inability of providing the required security by way of collateral acceptable to the banking systems.
I am hopeful by this process my government would be able to remove substantially one of the impediments which has hamstrung the productivity increases, namely the difficulties in gaining easy access to credit by small farmers who constitute the bulk of the producers in my country.
My delegation is aware that the FAO, particularly the Regional Office has been concentrating on rural credit for some time. It is indeed time to take a fresh look at thi aspect and take meaningful steps which are practical in nature so that access to resources by the farmers would be facilitated. Thank you, Mr Chairman.
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CHAIRMAN: Thank you, distinguished delegate of Sri Lanka. Distinguished delegates, I am going to request that we suspend the Plenary discussions just for a moment to have the report of the General Committee, which held a meeting this morning. May I ask the Secretary-General to report to Conference.
Third Report of the General Committee
Troisième rapport du Bureau
Tercer Informe del Comité General
SECRETARY-GENERAL: Thank you, Mr Chairman. The first item discussed in General Committee this morning was the Admission of an Observer from Moldava. The Director-General received on 9 November 1993 a communication from the Republic of Moldava, a Member State of the United Nations, expressing the interest of that Government in attending the 27th Session of the Conference. The Committee recommends that the Conference authorize the Director-General to invite Moldava to be represented by an observer at the current Session of the Conference.
CHAIRMAN: Are Members in agreement? Any comments? If not, I take this as being accepted by Conference.
Third Report of the General Committee adopted
Le troisième rapport du Bureau est adopté
El tercer informe del Comité General es aprobado
SECRETARY-GENERAL: The second item was statements in Plenary meetings of the Conference by international non-governmental organizations. Having consultative status, the General Committee was surprised by requests from the International Federation of Agricultural Producers and International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, both international organizations in consultative status with FAO, to address the Plenary of this Conference. Having examined these requests, the Committee, in accordance with Rule 10.2(g) of the General Rules of the Organization, is now reporting to the Conference and recommends that the Conference grants speaking time to the above-mentioned organizations on the understanding that the maximum time limit of ten minutes be observed and that in no case will such organizations be given priority in speaking over delegates of Member Nations.
CHAIRMAN: Any comments? If no comments, I take the Report as adopted.
SECRETARY-GENERAL: Third and last item was Conference timetable. The General Committee was informed of the problems faced by representatives of some developing Member Nations who were unable to remain at the Conference beyond the first week because of economic constraints. The Committee, while recognizing that it would not be advisable to alter the timetable of the present session, recommends, in the future, consideration be given to having key votes of the Conference taken during the first week in order to accommodate those Member Nations that can be present at that time only.
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CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Mr Secretary-General.
Are there any comments? If not, the report of the General Committee is adopted.
GENERAL DISCUSSION (contunued)
DEBAT GENERAL (suite)
DEBATE GENERAL (continuación)
- STATEMENTS BY HEADS OF DELEGATIONS (continued)
- DECLARATIONS DES CHEFS DE DELEGATION (suite)
- MANIFESTACIONES POR LOS JEFES DE LAS DELEGACIONES (continuación)
Waleed A. Elkhereiji, Vice-Chairman of the Conference, took the Chair
Waleed A. Elkhereiji, Vice-Président de la Conférence, assume la présidence
Ocupa la presidencia Waleed A. Elkhereiji, Vicepresidente de la Conferencia
Saeed Mohammed AL RAGABANI (united Arab Emirates) (Original language Arabie): In the name of God, the Merciful and the Compassionate, Mr President, Director-General, your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, may God's peace and blessings be upon you.
It gives me great pleasure to offer my personal congratulations and those of my delegation to the President on his election. We are certain that his confidence and wisdom will ensure the success of our deliberations. I would also like to thank His Excellency the President of Italy for coming to our Conference as well as for his statement, and I would like to thank His Excellency President Hraoui, the President of Lebanon, for his participation and for the lecture he gave here at this international forum.
It gives me great pleasure to congratulate His Excellency Jacques Diouf on his election as Director-General of the FAO. I wish him every success in discharging his heavy responsibilities, and we hope that he will indeed accomplish this Organization's goals. My country will cooperate fully with him and will offer every assistance to make his task easier. We are certain that His Excellency Mr Diouf will exert every effort to preserve the lofty position this Organization enjoys and that he will, at the same time, promote the efforts and services of the Member States in the domain of agricultural development.
We are certain that Mr Diouf will champion the cause of farmers all over the world. We would like to thank our brother Edouard Saouma, the retiring Director-General, for his dedication and ceaseless efforts, which have guided the Organization to its present lofty position. His sincere efforts are reflected in programmes and projects implemented in the past eighteen years under his stewardship and are ample proof of his wisdom and far-sightedness.
Agriculture is man's first and most basic labour. Since the beginning of time and man's creation, his basic preoccupation has been to still the pangs of hunger. We are here for the farmer. Had it not been for the farmer, this Conference would not have taken place nor would delegations have attended this Conference. Let us, therefore, offer thanks to the farmer, who bears such a heavy burden to produce food. We have to help him, offer him what he needs, provide him with the wherewithal necessary to
bring him increased returns and encourage him to keep his .work and provide, in the future, for himself and his family.
Our world today faces the danger of a population explosion. Every day, there are new mouths asking to be fed, all of which led scientists to concentrate on how to achieve maximum yields. They have exploited technical methods of various types; so they used chemical fertilizers, fumigation with pesticides from aeroplanes, until the land suffered from over-production. The result was a threat to the environment, to agriculture, and to man's health. The world has become aware of the danger of such random practices. Countries have once again altered their agricultural policies. They have championed sustainable development and protection of the environment. We are convinced that just as scientists use technology to produce food so can they adopt this technology to protect the environment and increase food production with the smallest side-effects possible.
When we speak about sustainable development and the conservation of natural resources, we must not forget that the developing world needs help to achieve those goals. Natural resources are their major source of revenue. It is a sector where a large percentage of the population live and earn their livelihood. You will all agree with me, I think, when I say that a farmer who cannot provide food for his family will hardly worry about protecting the environment. Therefore, rich countries must help developing countries achieve sustainable agricultural development. They should not be tight-fisted with the technologies they possess.
The United Arab Emirates would reiterate the importance of providing food, quantitatively and qualitatively, the protection of the environment, biodiversity, and a stable and secure life for future generations. It calls for benefiting from the diversity of natural resources which God has blessed us with and improved development rates in order to be rid of misery, poverty, and famine. We have to find a right balance, a right balance of existence, for all people and all nations.
My country has exerted great efforts to preserve wildlife. We have laws and regulations prohibiting the felling of trees and animal and bird hunting. We have imported animals and birds from the four corners of the world and added to our local species in order to protect our environment and save threatened animals. Those have greatly increased in animal type and numbers. It is incumbent upon me to allude to the essential role played by His Highness, Sheikh Zayid Bin Sultan Al Nahyan who richly deserved the title of Man of the Environment and Development for 1993, bestowed on him by the Festival of Arab Youth.
The United Arab Emirates, thanks to his leadership and counsel, was victorious over the desert and changed the arid sands of the desert to the green pastures we see today, and all that by the use of modern techniques to develop agriculture and fisheries. We have promulgated legislation to protect our resources. We would like to recall our country's stand on the environment and development as stated at the UNCED Conference in 1992, where we reiterated the importance of environmental protection through cooperation with all countries.
We have in the United Arab Emirates achieved considerable success in the agricultural sector and in spite of harsh climatic conditions. We live in a desert environment where rainfall does not exceed 120 millimetres per annum, and yet we have been able to produce most of our food needs through
agro-diversity; and, in spite of the harshness of nature, we are exerting every effort to increase the area of cultivatable land and to control desertification. To overcome the paucity of agricultural land, we have used modern techniques such as hot houses and modern irrigation methods which lead to increased production and surplus exports.
We have practised agriculture since days gone by and palm trees were planted in oases. The palm tree was indeed man's fortune. He ate its fruit and built his house from its fronds and trunk. After the discovery of oil and the increase in national revenues, we concentrated especially on palm trees, and today there are more than eighteen million palm trees in the United Arab Emirates.
The United Arab Emirates has played a constructive role in global agricultural development through effective cooperation with developing countries and Arab regional and international specialized agencies and all that by contributing to projects which helped to raise living standards in those countries. The United Arab Emirates is also proud of its record of assistance in times of natural disasters. There is no doubt that those efforts have indeed contributed to the solution of many problems arising from those difficult conditions, and the United Arab Emirates has contributed to alleviating hunger and to helping development.
We expect this Organization to accomplish wonderful achievements; but, at the same time, we have to support it to get there. The Organization must submit programmes and projects to member countries, and member countries must honour their obligations towards the Organization.
As His Excellency the President of Italy said in his speech, there are ugly words, and these are poverty, hunger, and malnutrition. FAO provides the solution to those ugly words. And yet, the Organization can accomplish nothing on its own and, as Mr Diouf said, we have to act as one and tackle the challenges facing humanity.
We support the call made by the President. There must be coordination between this and other organizations to be of benefit to all Member States. Finally, I would say that agriculture has always been linked to culture. "Culture" means "agriculture", and we know that agriculture is the twin brother of stability, for there can be no stability under hunger and wars. It is only under peace that agriculture can flourish, that production can increase, and that man's well-being is fully enjoyable. Therefore, we call for peace, a peace encompassing the whole world, and we mean a just peace giving each his due. We look forward to that day when we will see peace and full stability for all members of the international family, where poor countries will no longer suffer the pain of hunger. We hope there will not be a single person suffering want or hunger on this earth. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN (Original language Arabic): Honourable delegates, good evening to you all. I would like to thank His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al Ragabani, the Minister of Agriculture of the United Arab Emirates, for the statement. I do agree fully with him on the necessity of helping farmers in developing countries in order to preserve and protect the environment, and I indeed salute the experiments in the agriculture field in their country.
Arlindo MARQUES DA CUNHA (Portugal): Allow me, Mr Chairman, in the name of the Portuguese Government, to take this opportunity to congratulate
Mr Jacques Diouf on his recent election to the position of Director-General of the Organization. We trust that he will meet with every success in carrying out his mandate and hope that during his mandate the potential offered by Portugal as a Member Nation will be taken into due consideration at all times.
We must acknowledge that in recent years the international organizations, especially FAO, and indeed some countries, have made a remarkable effort to define a coherent set of policies allowing the imbalances and asymmetries in the production of, access to and consumption of foodstuffs to be overcome.
The world has seen overall progress on the path to improving the security of nutrition and the state of nutrition of the world's population. We have seen an overall increase in the per capita availability of foodstuffs. In this aspect, many developing countries have undergone considerable improvement.
The problem lies in the fact that progress has been slow and, more particularly, uneven. Although there are regions of the world that are confronted with excess production, there are others in which the rate of growth of the production of foodstuffs falls behind the rate of growth of the population, and this not to mention those countries that are practically systematically dependent upon food aid.
It is in this framework of cruel reality, and perhaps of little optimism, that the 1993 Conference will discuss several excellent documents that have been prepared by the Secretariat, and I am quite sure that they will lead to a lively and enriching debate.
We share the views and the position of the Organization in these matters. We embrace with special attention the concerns expressed and express our agreement in principle to the great majority of the strategies set forth. At the proper time in the course of their discussion in the specialized committees, the Portuguese delegation will contribute to the debate with such comments and complementary ideas as may be raised during the discussions.
Mankind today is faced with a vicious trilogy that is hard to solve: hunger and sub-nutrition, the offspring of poverty; the asymmetry between the increase in the production of foodstuffs and the demographic evolution; and the dire need to guarantee the sustainable use of renewable resources.
Although it is certain that pockets of urban poverty are of special concern to the political leaders owing to their proximity to the centres of political decision, the truth is that we cannot ignore the fact that in developing nations some 80 percent of the poor live in rural areas.
It is the poverty of the rural world that must be relieved by sustainable development. We are well aware that in the fight for subsistence, particularly in eco-systems that are of themselves fragile, exaggerated pressure on resources leads to a progressive deterioration of the environment.
Therefore, Mr Chairman, we rejoice in the efforts made by FAO to introduce into its programme of work, particularly so in its plans of action in the field, the guidelines that emerged from the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development, especially with regard to the criteria of
environmental protection and sustainable development, in keeping with Agenda 21.
Likewise, the new guidelines on food security and nutrition that emerged from the International Conference on Nutrition have already been incorporated into the working programme and budget and into the Medium-Term Plan submitted to this Conference; the document, Agriculture: Horizon 2010 also reflects these same guidelines in many of its chapters.
Mr Chairman, over the last 20 years the rate of growth of the production of the world's fisheries has decreased. This fact is a cause for concern, all the more so since a large number of nations, including my own, sees this activity as a very significant instrument in the production of wealth, work and food, thus meeting the basic necessities of their people.
There is today a greater conscience that the sustained development of those coastal regions and communities that are more dependent on fishing cannot be ensured without closer international and regional cooperation. More than merely regulating and rationalizing, we must harmonize the various systems of exploitation while fully respecting the 1982 Convention of the Law of the Sea and, consequently, the rights and duties both of coastal States and of the national fleets that operate in waters under the jurisdiction of such States and on the high seas.
The positions of the Community, as well as those of Portugal, point to a need for a balance of interests and a sharing of responsibilities, and for the development of solutions allowing greater protection for coastal populations, especially those less-favoured communities and regimes that are dependent on fishing.
A meeting was held in Portugal in 1991 on the "Mediterranean Forest". Portugal has always defended the need to develop an integrated vision of the problems of the Mediterranean region, putting into practice a more active cooperation between the countries that border the Mediterranean. My Government therefore reaffirms before this Conference its commitment to the advance of the forestry programme for the Mediterranean.
The 10th Session of the Intergovernmental Citrus Fruit Group was also held in Portugal last October. The chairmanship of this group is currently entrusted to the Chairman of our National FAO Committee. The Portuguese delegation is closely involved in the proposal to set up a Mediterranean cooperation network in the area of citrus fruit, similar to that of the existing inter-American network, and this proposal has received the unanimous approval of the group. We hope that the competent organs within FAO will be able to proceed with this decision of the intergovernmental group, since the problem of Mediterranean citrus fruit has specific aspects and a surrounding of common interest in its production, sales and scientific development.
It may also be opportune to underline Portugal's contribution, in conjunction with that of Finland, towards the organization of the Helsinki Conference on the Protection of European Forests. This conference adopted several important resolutions, among which, I would venture to stress for its importance, was the conservation of the biodiversity of the forests.
Portugal, now joined by Austria, will be responsible for the next European Conference which will be held in Lisbon in the near future.
In this connection, allow me to convey to the Conference the support and the applause of my government for the efforts made by FAO in the programme to conserve plant genetic resources and for its initiative in launching a new programme for the protection of zootechnical resources.
Mr Chairman, our participation in this Organization dates back, practically speaking, to its foundation, and we have maintained at national level a proper structure - the FAO National Commission - that ensures the links with the National Administrations through which these various subjects and themes transit.
Portugal would also like to recall the technical and financial aid that it has received in the past in order to put into practice several specific programmes of interest to our country. It also considers that the aid provided under the form of information, studies, professional training and the participation of our technicians in courses and seminars has been extremely helpful.
For all this, and as we believe in the positive role played by FAO in rural development and in helping to lessen hunger in the world, we would like from this podium to reaffirm our readiness to provide support.
A last word, Mr Chairman, to pay tribute to Mr Edouard Saouma at the moment of his departure from the position of Director-General of FAO for the contribution that he has made during all these years to the higher ideals of this important and absolutely necessary international organization.
Let me congratulate you, Mr Chairman, for your very efficient chairmanship and congratulate you and the Organization for the new incoming members and for the re-admission of the Republic of South Africa.
CHAIRMAN (Original language Arabic): I thank the head of the Portuguese delegation for his statement and his commitments to ensure that the Forestry Group will be able to do its work. I have just learned that the heads of the delegations of Mauritania and Albania are not prsent at the moment so I will now give the floor to the head of the delegation of Poland.
Mrs Marie ZWOLINKSA (Poland): I have the honour to speak on the national holiday of Poland, the 75th anniversary of regaining Polish independence.
The 27th Session of the FAO Conference is taking place at a crucial moment for the world. The collapse of the socialist system, economic transformations - spreading of a market economy in the world and a new stage of integration: the European Union, NAFTA and the GATT Round will have an impact now and in the future on world agriculture and international cooperation.
One has to admit and appreciate the fact that FAO's contribution to these transformations has been a major and a considerable one.
Today FAO faces even bigger challenges. We have to realize the historical importance of present years for world agriculture making decisions on issues which are discussed at the Session. This particularly pertains to FAO's Medium Term-Plan. The role to be played by FAO in a difficult process of transformations in the world depends on the understanding of the
significance of FAO's evolution. Poland is a supporter of the view that this role should be prominent, as in the future the importance of such organizations ought to be greater.
To our satisfaction the analyses submitted to the Session do not only reflect the situation of world agriculture properly but also define the macro-economic situation in the world accurately. They form the basis for appropriate choices of FAO's functions and tasks. One has to admit that the evolution of the Organization Programme can be seen. Poland is in favour of the idea of having greater changes in FAO's long-term programme and in its priorities. Offering to you our congratulations, Mr Jacques Diouf, on your election to hold one of the most important nd honourable positions in the world, we would like to encourage you to introduce these changes and ensure that Poland will support you in these initiatives.
Poland's support for such changes is particularly well justified. The whole region of Central and Eastern Europe is in the process of transition to a market economy. We were the first to embark on these difficult reforms. We are now aware, on the basis of our four-year experience, of the complexity of these reforms and the resultant economic and social problems. We realize the need for determination as well as importance of technical assistance in solving these problems. We have already achieved some success : a balanced market, prices created by the market and internally convertible currency. Over a half of the population is employed by the private sector. The services sector is growing rapidly. Tens of thousands of new firms have been created, including a few thousand joint ventures. Banks and the state-owned sector in agriculture are being privatized. This year the first signs of an end to the economic recession have been seen.
However, we are bearing the great costs of this transformation. We have seen a serious drop in living standards which has lasted for a few years, a fall in food demand and consequently a collapse of agricultural production. High unemployment has been persistent in Poland, including rural areas, which brings about social problems and delays the improvement of the agrarian structure. A great potential of agricultural production has not been used.
Today, however, we know that part of the transformation costs could have been avoided if market economy systems, instruments and institutions, such as banks; credit, trade and investment insurance institutions; commodity exchanges; market information centres; chambers of agriculture and commerce; or private systems and institutions of health and social insurance had been developed more rapidly. This is decisive not only for the effectiveness or the transformation but it is also a condition for an inflow of foreign capital.
We have received considerable assistance from the EC, USA and other countries in creating these institutions. Besides, we were provided assistance from FAO as regards agricultural extension services. We highly appreciate this assistance, but it has not been large enough considering the scale of our needs. I do not touch upon this problem to get more assistance but rather because our path is being followed and will be followed by dozens of countries. They may repeat our mistakes or avoid unnecessary costs.
Poland, creating the foundations of a market economy, is in favour of far-reaching liberalization on the world market. We support this view and participate in the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations. In spite of the fact
that simultaneously we are in the process of associating with the European Union, we admit that liberalization of international trade is in Poland's and other countries' vital economic interest.
Poland fully liberalized its links with the world in 1990 abolishing all subsidies and tariff, tax and quantitative restrictions.
Many countries of our region are acting in a similar way. Poland was opened broadly to imports, including imports from developing countries. For instance within two years we became one of the major importers of bananas and citrus fruits from those countries.
It has turned out, however, that trade liberalization has not been mutual, and Polish exports - similar to those of other countries of the region -have faced numerous limits and restrictions. This has compelled Poland to reintroduce a moderate tariff protection of the domestic market within the scope of rules negotiated in the GATT. Once again the rule, stressed at the beginning of the GATT round, that only common and simultaneous trade liberalization is effective, has been confirmed.
Poland is not only in favour of the quick completion of the Uruguay Round but is also in favour of an increasingly greater role for FAO in the working of a new trade order in the world. We recognize, like FAO's precursors, that economic and trade issues are of greater significance for world agriculture than are technical transformations.
Coming to an end, I would like to emphasize once again our great interest in increasing FAO's role in transforming the agriculture of Central and Eastern Europe, in establishing institutions creating agricultural markets and environment, and in providing experience with regard to the privatization of agriculture. The universal character of FAO may offer greater security - of a neutral character - in advising the solution to these problems. Among other things, the initiative of organizing periodic consultation on the harmonization of agricultural policies, started in Budapest, should be continued. We would like to invite you to the next consultation at Warsaw in 1994. We would also like to provide our experience concerning agriculture privatization or the creation of market analysis and information systems.
Against this background it is evident that the magnitude and complexity of issues confronting Poland, as well as other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, call for more determined and comprehensive responses on the part of FAO.
Indeed, a new coherent FAO sub-regional policy is urgently needed in keeping with the decisions of the 18th FAO Regional Conference for Europe held in Prague, which unanimously acknowledged that assistance to Central and Eastern Europe should be given high priority in FAO regional action programmes. This decision was endorsed by the FAO Council at its 103rd Session, recommending that FAO should be prepared to respond to future requests for assistance coming from these member countries.
My Delegation strongly believes that our common views on the role of FAO in countries of transition in Central and Eastern Europe should be embodied in a resolution of this Conference and asks you for your kind support.
I am convinced that FAO will respond positively to this new request from the region and will thus contribute to overcoming the present difficulties.
Thank you for your attention.
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CHAIRMAN (Original language Arabic): I thank the distinguished representative of Poland for her statement and would like to offer our congratulations to Poland on this 75th Anniversary of Independence.
Charles C. STOLL (Canada): On behalf of the Canadian Governmernt I would like at the very outset to extend warm congratulations to Ambassador Jacques Diouf on his election. We look forward very much to working closely with him in moving FAO forward to meet the challenges of the future.
At the same time I would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks to Mr Edouard Saouma for his lifelong dedication to the cause of alleviating hunger and malnutrition, and in particular for his service as Director-General of FAO for the past 18 years.
I also want to congratulate the nine new countries elected earlier to membership in FAO, as well as South Africa which has returned to our Organization. We welcome them into the FAO family and look forward to cooperating constructively and productively with all of them in advancing the work of this valuable multi-lateral organization.
In recent years agriculture has been a persistent and pressing aspect of international relations. We shall need to continue to concentrate our efforts to resolve agricultural problems in the future. As we approach the December 15th deadline, a successful conclusion to the Uruguay Round is of vital importance in order to re-establish the viability of agriculture sectors in all parts of the world. As long as subsidies distort world trade in agriculture commodities, farmers and processors in both developed and developing countries will suffer. The prolongation of the debate is in nobody's interest and will only delay the inevitable adjustments that must occur. Some have suggested that trade liberalization is not in the interests of developing countries. However, the World Bank estimates that a reduction of 50 percent in the rate of trade protection by the world's three largest traders would result in an increase of US$50 billion in export revenues to developing countries. Mr Chairman, this is roughly equivalent to a total official economic aid from all OECD countries to the developing world.
Trade liberalization is in fact an integral part of structural adjustments and economic reforms in most developing countries at the present time. In many Asian and Latin American nations for example, historical measures of protection are being replaced by trade liberalization with very positive effects on economic growth.
However, the sustainability of trade liberalization in these developing countries is in danger because it is not being matched by trade liberalization in industrialized countries. Mr Chairman, failure to achieve sizeable reductions in agriculture production in OECD countries would make it extremely difficult for these developing countries to continue the elimination of non-tariff barriers and reduction of tariffs.
The result would be reduced economic growth and increased unemployment and poverty.
Although the GATT remains the prime vehicle for trade negotiations, yet the efforts of the FAO in the trade support area are also vitally important and must receive priority. I am referring, of course, to such activities as the CODEX Alimentarious Commission, the International Plant Protection
Convention and the trade and protection statistical programmes such as WAICENT. Many of the of importers and exporters alike should be met by these trade support programmes of the FAO.
Trade expansion, while a spur to economic growth, will not alone relieve poverty and hunger around the world. There are other important areas of development where national capabilities need to be strengthened, particularly in the world's poorest countries. We support the follow-up to the International Conference on Nutrition, which will assist countries to design national plans of action to bring about increased food security and other forms of income security. Through increased involvement of all sectors of the economy, public, private, community and non-government al, we are hopeful that workable programmes can be developed to achieve realistic results.
To facilitate increases in productivity in developing countries there is an urgent need for accelerated investment in human resource development and and agriculture research technology aimed at yield enhancement and protection of natural resources from degradation.
Canada continues to be a lead supporter of international agricultural research and, like many members of this Conference from developed and developing countries, has shared in the benefits from increased food self-reliance and international systems. The impact of international research transcends national boundaries providing economies of scale where technology products are adopted and replicated in numerous developing countries.
Mr Chairman, another important challenge facing agriculture, forestry and fisheries involves the environment. As was seen at the Earth Summit in Rio, there are key roles to be played by managers and custodians of irreplaceable natural resources. We support FAO for the active role it is playing in the follow-up to UNCED and look forward to continued strengthening of initiatives in this area.
There are concerns in many countries about the cost of environmental protection and its potentially negative impact on economic growth. However, we are increasingly realizing that environmental management and economic growth can be compatible. The appropriate conservation and use of plant and animal genetic resources, for example, is good for both the environment and the economy. Canada attaches great importance to FAO programmes in these areas. The future viability and competitiveness of the agricultural sector depends on continuing access to genetic resources.
Technological advances through exchange of animal and plant germ plasm, for example, can help feed populations yet unborn. Through the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources and the FAO1s domestic animal diversity programme the essence of a worldwide system can be seen. Canada supports the renegotiation of international undertaking on plant genetic resources to meet the requirements of the Convention on Biodiversity. We are also supportive of the domestic animal diversity programmes.
Another area of convergence between economic and environmental considerations is international trade and forest products. Green consumerisim is increasing and the market is now sending green signals. The forest community needs to adequately equip itself to face this situation through internationally accepted, scientifically-based criteria, and from these national guidelines on the conservation and sustainable
development of forests. Such criteria for sustainable development of forests relevant to each bioregion would, from an economic point of view, be especially important in creating a clear set of expectations and objectives applicable to all those competing in the forest products market with similar ecosystems.
To define this criteria the forest community urgently needs to take advantage of the FAO's particular confidence and knowledge. Currently, global forest monitoring and intelligence systems are not providing the necessary -information. There is a continuing need for analytical and strategic studies of various technical aspects of forestry and the status and trends of important physical, social and economic parameters of the forest sector. FAO is the main, if not the only, international organization with the global network capable of collecting this information. FAO should use its comparative advantage to assist the world forest community in developing the national capacity, the appropriate technology, the pertinent policy of plan and action to ensure the full and sustainable use of all types of forest. Furthermore, for the FAO to effectively meet the challenge issued by UNCED and adequately assume its forest-related responsibilites, we must address the issue of the grossly inadequate proportion of the FAO budget allocated to forestry. To that effect, Mr Chairman, Canada is tabling a reolution in Commission II under Item 12, Programme of Work and Budget, urging Member States to review the Organization's priorities and to progressively increase the forest budget in the coming bienniun in order to better reflect the importance of forests within its mandate.
A reality being faced by most countries in this room is fiscal restraint and redefining the role of government. In Canada budget reduction is the order of the day. Great ingenuity must be exercised by all participants to keep up the level of service to our clients. Forging new relationships with the private sector and cutting out waste and duplication in government departments has been going on for several years now. Layers of management have been eliminated and we are rationalizing and reducing the delivery of many direct services which can be handled elsewhere. As painful as these changes are, more efficiency in government will bring about new benefits to the Canadian public.
Although some changes along these lines are evident in FAO, Canada looks forward to increased use of ingenuity and striving for excellence. Canadian taxpayers expect that international organizations to which we contribute, such as the FAO, will be subject to the same process of rationalization and increased efficiency as their own domestic programmes.
Given the level and complexity of current programme demands in the areas of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, it is a difficult but necessary task to look further forward. We would be remiss if we do not step back from the immediate concerns and look to the future of FAO into the next century. Many uncertainties will continue to confront us, and studies such as Agriculture Towards 2010 are essential. As we look to the future there are many questions, such as will production trends continue to increase in the next few decades, as they have in the past, or will the combination of forces that led to the fall in the proportion of under-nourished people be sufficient to carry us forward further, or will other influences such as environmental degradation outweigh these forces? The next 20 years will probably bring a far different world than one we now have. FAO must be in the forefront of anticipating those changes and rising to the challenges they create.
Some elements of the future are relatively predictable however. They include increased population, more intensive use of finite land reources, continuing food shortages in particular areas, conflicts over use of particular resources such as fish stocks, plant and animal health problems and further threats to genetic diversities.
All of these issues present challenges to FAO. FAO will need to respond through activities such as the dissemination of technology, statistical and early-warning systems, developing international food and phytosanitary standards, providing advice on food security and environmental preservation strategies, designing training programmes and serving as a forum for governments to negotiate agreements on the best way to manage the finite resources of this planet.
How these activities are to be designed and implemented remains open for discussion. A range of new and innovative alliances with other UN specialized agencies, the World Bank group, the private sector and nongovernmental organizations may be needed. We can only benefit from a vigorous dialogue on the issues. If FAO is to maintain its capacity as a centre for excellence, internal changes may be needed, as well. We would request the new Director-General to constantly review the challenges and ensure that FAO is in a position to meet them.
FAO has a key role to play in the response of the international community to a wide range of crucial world problems. It is of the utmost importance that the Organization be fully able to meet the high expectations which are placed on it. The new Director-General will have to face very difficult challenges. FAO has to find a new dynamism, a new breath, a new youth to be able to play fully its role in the world of profound changes.
Canada invites countries here gathered to help reflect on these changes. It is with particular pleasure that Canada is sponsoring a resolution regarding events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of FAO in October 1995. At the last June Council we were pleased to make a statement on this subject. It was supported by many other countries. At that time the Government of Canada and the Governer of the Province of Quebec offered to host commemorative events which would include a special World Food Day observance on October 16, 1995 at the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City. It is our pleasure to confirm this invitation, and it is our hope that further discussion of the 50th anniversary proposals will take place when a resolution on the subject is brought forward to this Conference.
CHAIRMAN (Original language Arabic): I would like to thank the head of the Canadian delegation for his address. What really drew my attention was Canada's concern about the liberalization of trade in developing countries, which is not going hand in hand with liberalization in developed countries. I think we have all taken note of what he has said and the proposal to adopt a resolution in Commission II to reconsider the priorities of the Organization, and also what he had to say about duplication of efforts and the need for avoidance thereof and to rationalize expenditures. Lastly, the Chair would like to thank him for the invitation extended on the ocassion of the 50th anniversary of this Organization to be arranged in Canada.
Rodney NEAL (Belize): Mr Chairman, may I commence my statement by offering through you my personal congratulations and that of the Belize delegation to the Honourable Seymour Mullings on his election to the esteemed position
of Chairman of this 27th Session of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization. I am fully convinced that his performance in the Chair will continue to bring tremendous credit to him, his country of Jamaica, and the Caribbean as a whole.
To be in the forefront of growth and development, to be in the leadership role that demands the alleviation of rural poverty and the further improvement of food security set FAO and its newly elected Director-General, Dr Jacques Diouf, a gigantic international task.
As the leader of the delegation of Belize to the 27th Session of the FAO Conference, I recognize the services that all Ministers of Agriculture have for their respective peoples and cultures. Political and administrative leaders at fora such as these need to cross-fertilize ideas, policies and programmes which will lead to the development of sound nutritional systems, provide secure food supplies, and ensure full-time employment, especially for women and our young adults.
We are all too well aware of the rapidly unfolding circumstances which are negatively impacting on our terms of trade and to which numerous references have already been made during this Conference, both in small group discussions as well as in the Plenary. Under these circumstances of trade liberalization and formation of large powerful trading blocs when we are receiving less and less from the agricultural commodities that we export while paying more and more for manufactured goods and input supplies, the resolve, independence, economic stability and, indeeed, self-respect and dignity of most developing countries are being put to the test. This is particularly so for small developing countries like Belize and others in Latin America and the Caribbean.
We have been saying for years, Mr Chairman, that we need to have improved marketing conditions for our agricultural exports since failure to do this could seriously undermine the stability of our countries, resulting in considerable economic and social unrest. We have been making these pronouncements for several years now in various fora; and whereas some may have regarded this as idle talk, recent events have served to confirm our analysis of the considerable upheavals which will inevitably result from our loss of markets in vital export crops such as sugar, citrus and bananas. Just a few days ago I shared with my colleague Minister from St Lucia the very unsettling news about the recent strike in his country by banana farmers who were demanding better prices for their bananas in a market which has been depressed for some time. During this period which involved some violence, there was an incident during which both his life and that of the Prime Minister were threatened. This occurrence is particularly unsettling in the circumstances where we expect that as our preferential market access comes under increasing attack prices will continue to deteriorate. What, therefore, can we expect in the future as the very underpinnings of our economies are removed and our export crop industries collapse, creating massive unemployment and deprivation.
The economy of Belize is based on the export of agricultural commodities such as sugar, citrus and bananas, which represent the bulk of our export earnings, ranking first, second and third in that order and all benefitting from special marketing arrangements. As thé same time we are fully self-sufficient in production of our staple food crops, such as corn, rice, beans, beef, chicken and pork.
We, in Belize, have recognized the need to diversify the export earning base of our country and have in consequence adopted a policy to promote eco-tourism as a strong addition to our basket of export goods and services, making use of our world renowned record in the field of environmental protection, our pristine marine resources and the largest barrier reef in the western hemisphere, as well as our largely intact tropical forests.
But to this point these efforts have not developed or matured enough to replace our traditional exports, nor can they substitute for our ability to produce our own basic food. We hold this right and ability to be sacrosanct, Mr Chairman, and particularly so when we are being urged by some sectors of the international community to open our borders to subsidized imports from industrialized countries. You will be acquainted with the saying, I am sure, that he who feeds you, rules you.
So now, Mr Chairman, you may well ask, what relationship does this bear to FAO? Indeed, this does bring me to the singular purpose of this statement which is targeted at our newly elected Director-General, to the major donor countries and to the FAO Directorate and staff members in general. I believe that FAO needs to urgently strengthen its policies and programmes which are geared at ensuring self-reliance and self-sustainability of its member countries and particularly those of the developing world.
This may involve establishment of a special unit or division in the FAO which would have as its major objective offsetting the losses in revenue that are likely to occur as the terms of trade continue to deteriorate for the developing countries. In order then to level the playing field, the efficiency and competitiveness of our countries need to be improved significantly. You will agree, I am sure, Mr Chairman, that small developing countries like Belize cannot hope to easily conduct the basic research and development work required for such a programme. This work could be done, however, either directly by a special division of the FAO or through cooperative programmes with regional research and development institutions such as, in the case of the Caribbean, the University of the West Indies and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute.
As part of this singular message and challenge, then, Mr Chairman, I would like to invite, encourage and exhort the Director-General-Elect to give serious consideration to this proposal for a specific targeted programme approach aimed at ensuring that: FAO's member countries will continue to have the ability to feed themselves, and that this ability be firmly institutionalized; and secondly, member countries are buttressed against significant loss of foreign earnings by implementation of specific programme activities which will improve the competitive position of countries in specific commodities and develop new crops and markets which will adequately compensate for lost revenue.
In concluding, Mr Chairman, may I take this opportunity to offer our best wishes and farewell to Director-General Edouard Saouma as he leaves this Organization after 18 years of dedicated and outstanding service. Among the legacies he has left for us are the Technical Cooperation Programme, the only FAO programme from which Belize has directly benefitted. We hope that the incoming Director-General will preserve this Programme and at the same time we wish to congratulate Dr Jacques Diouf on his election to the post of Director-General of FAO. On behalf of the Government of Belize, may I also wish him every success during his term of office and pledge the full
support and cooperation of Belize to this end. We would also hope that at some early opportunity he will find the time to visit Belize and the region to share our thoughts on ways by which we can secure and improve the sustainability of the agricultural production of our countries.
Eftim ANCEV (The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia): Allow me to express my pleasure and appreciation for the participation of the Republic of Macedonia at the 27th FAO Conference as an equal member. Also allow me, on behalf -of the President of the Republic of Macedonia and myself as the Head of the Macedonian Delegation and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy, to extend my greetings and wish the Conference successful work. Mr Chairman, I am honoured to congratulate you on your election as Chairman. I am particularly pleased to express my congratulations to Mr Jacques Diouf, the newly elected Director-General of FAO. I also express my gratitude to Mr Edouard Saouma for his excellent leadership of FAO for the last 18 years.
I believe that it would be of interest to present to you some basic facts on the Republic of Macedonia and its agriculture so you could get familiarized with the State which I represent at this Conference. The Republic of Macedonia is situated in south Europe and occupies the central part of the Balkan peninsula. It is the cross-road of international traffic and trade communications, leading to the south and the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean and towards central and west Europe to the north. It covers an area of 25 713 sq km, and according to the 1991 census, has 2 034 000 inhabitants. The Republic of Macedonia is characterized by a Mediterranean climate in the south. There is a moderate continental climate in the east, and it is mountainous in the west. Thus, the main features are long, hot, dry summers with temperatures up to 45°C and severe winters with extremely low temperatures in some regions.
Agriculture plays a significant role in the economic life of the Republic of Macedonia, and participates with about 15 percent in the social product. Macedonia is primarily an agricultural country, although in the past it was, to a certain extent, in a subordinated position on account of the development of industry. This was mainly demonstrated through the measures of the economic policy by which a significant portion of the revenue and accumulations were redistributed to the other economic branches. Agriculture in the Republic of Macedonia occupies a total land area of 1 300 000 hectares which represent 51 percent of the total area of the State. The total arable area is 662 000 hectares and 664 000 hectars are pastures. In the total arable area the land under cultivation and gardens participate with 83 percent, the orchards with 4 percent; the vineyards with 4 percent and meadows with 8 percent. In the sowing structure the representation of cereals is the highest with approximately 60 percent, the industrial cultures with 15 percent and vegetable crops with 15 percent. Such a production structure is determined by natural factors, but also by the need for products of vital importance for the nutrition of the population. Wheat production is about 270 000 to 300 000 tonnes, with which approximately 70 percent of the State requirements are satisfied. Corn production is approximately 120 000 tonnes, with which 44 percent of the requirements are satisfied. The tabacco (production of approximately 28 000 tons) is one of the most important export products of our country. The orchards cover a total area of 21 472 hectares, and the most represented
types of fruit are apples, plums and sour cherries. The vineyards cover an area of approximately 35 254 hectares. The averge grape production is about 270 000 tonnes of which 68 percent of grapes were for the production of wine, and 32 percent were table grapes.
The average wine production of the Republic of Macedonia is 130 000 tonnes, of which 70 percent is exported. Livestock breeding is an important field of agriculture in the Republic of Macedonia. The livestock funds consist of280 000 cattle, 2 400 000 sheep, 170 000 pigs, 64 000 horses, 4 000 000-poultry, etc. The average production of meat is about11 000 tonnes of beef, 11 000 tonnes of pork, 5 000 tonnes of mutton, 13 000 tonnes of lambs' meat and 7 000 tonnes of poultry. The Republic of Macedonia has a surplus in the production of mutton, especially of lambs' meat, which is primarily exported to west Europe.
In the Republic of Macedonia, processing plants have been constructed for the processing of agricultural products:-- for processing of fruits and vegetables, with a capacity of 60 000 tonnes; fresh meat - slaughter-houses with the capacity of 87 000; winecellars with a capacity of 196 000 000 million litres. I would like to emphasize that the Republic of Macedonia has slaughter-houses registered in the European Economic Community for the slaughter of livestock for export. The specific climatic conditions and the need of establishing the stable agricultural production in the Republic required the construction of several irrigation systems for irrigation of 114 000 hectares of agricultural land. The existing agricultural production and processing plants are a solid basis for the development of this economic branch; however, the production results in this field strongly depend on different extreme climate factors as well as on internal and external economic measures.
The Republic of Macedonia, especially after its independence, makes great effort to maintain the production and marketing of its agricultural products. For the past two years the Macedonian economy has been strongly affected, directly and indirectly especially its agriculture, by the war in the former Yugoslavia. These limitations have negative impact on the marketing of the agricultural products which are in surplus in the Republic, such as tobacco, wine, rice, lambs' meat, vegetable products, and others.
Under conditions of extremely unfavourable socio-economic and political surroundings, and despite the commitments by the competent authorities to control the situation, great efforts are being made to maintain the agricultural production cycle.
The Republic of Macedonia inherited economically and financially depreciated agriculture, insufficiently flexible to accommodate to the newly created economic conditions. The building of the new socio-economic system under extremely unfavourable economic and political circumstances is especially, for an economic branch, as is agriculture, directly dependent on both natural and economic factors, a challenge which is difficult to resolve even in more developed countries.
We are aware that the development of agriculture should be based on a long-term, consistent agrarian policy. However, due to the existing conditions in the Republic of Macedonia, we were forced to undertake urgent, efficient and short-term measures. Consequently, the Government of the Republic of Macedonia adopted a series of anti-inflatory and stabilization measures that were relevantly applied in agriculture. Thus,
in conditions of an economically and financially exhausted agriculture, the financing of certain stages of the reproduction cycle was made from funds from the primary Emission.
We are quite aware of the inflatory influence of such a system of financing, and because of this, we permanently lead an extremely restrictive monetary credit policy with an orientation to abandon completely this system in 1994.
Regarding the price policy of agricultural products, several products are included in the system of protective prices in the Republic of Macedonia: wheat, sunflower, oil plants, suger beat, raw tobacco, calves and lambs. Milk and bread prices are under direct control. But, the acceptance of a market-oriented economy model, will basically mean that the State will have less influence over this relationship in the market.
This influence has already been felt in the measures of the economic policy which have mainly been intended to give support to the primary production, especially the products in short supply which serve to satisfy the vital needs of the population and the already constructed processing capacities. There is a significant number of scientific and educational institutions operating within the territory of the Republic of Macedonia in the field of agriculture. At the University "St Syrilus and Methodius" there is a Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Forestry. Also of special significance are the Institute of Agriculture, the Institute for Rice, the Institute for Tobacco, the Institute for Veterinary Medicine, etcetera.
The scientific and professional knowledge, especially in the field of genetics selection and reproduction, is directly implemented in agriculture. The scientific discoveries, together with other limited relevant factors, are a strong basis for development of agriculture in the Republic of Macedonia.
I deeply believe that with the membership of the Republic of Macedonia in this important and distinguished United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture, a new field for acquiring knowledge and experience and new horizons in the field of agriculture will be offered to us. I hope that we shall find common interests for all nations in the world in this field. Thank you very much.
POINT OF ORDER
POINT D'ORDRE
PUNTO DE ORDEN
Constantin G. POLITIS (Greece): We all know that repetition is the mother of studies. I am sorry that I have to draw the attention of the Chair and distinguished delegates present for the second and, I hope, for the last time; but, quite recently, we have admitted among us new Member Nations, and one of them is The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. My delegation knows that it was among a concert of many mature political considerations -and the contribution of my country was not among the most important - into accommodating a rather delicate state of affairs in the Balkanic Peninsula. And it is, by general agreement, agreed and sealed in New York and in the whole United Nations system that the state under, I repeat and underline,
the name "The Former Republic of Yugoslav Macedonia," was admitted as a Member Nation of this Organization.
We all know that our Organization is being confronted with a grave problem and a very grave state of affairs. One billion people do sleep every night on empty or half-empty stomachs. Let us concentrate our efforts to fight this form of hunger.
RIGHT OF REPLY
DROIT DE REPONSE
DERECHO DE RESPUESTA
Eftim ANCEV (The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia): Mr Chairman, with reference to the statement of the Greek representative, I would like to point out the fact that the Resolution 817 of the Security Council, regarding the recommendation of the admission of my country to the United Nations, cannot be interpreted as to prohibit the constitutional name of my country. The constitutional name of my country, as is well-known is the "Republic of Macedonia." My delegation strongly believes that, pursuant to the charter of the United Nations, no one has the right to impose the name on a sovereign and independent country. Thank you very much, Mr Chairman.
CHAIRMAN (Original language Arabic): I thank the head of the delegation of The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Heads of Delegations, before adjourning I would like to thank you all and, God willing, we will meet tomorrow at 8.30. The meeting stands adjourned.
The meeting rose at 18.45 hours.
La séance est levée à 18 h 45.
Se levanta la sesión a las 18.45 horas.
