Country statements and general debate
For the Attention of Governments
The Conference,
1. expressed its grave concern over the recent appearance of the screwworm fly in Libya, which was a potential threat to European and African livestock production unless effective control measures were taken on an emergency basis, and appealed to donor countries to contribute the necessary resources to the trust fund created by FAO for the campaign to eradicate this scourge (paras 23 and 46).
2. congratulated FAO for its role in coordinating the locust control campaign, and in the control of the major livestock diseases (para 23).
3. underscored the need to take new and meaningful debt relief measures (para 25).
4. expressing its satisfaction with the recent improvement in big power political relations and the relinquishing of confrontation in favour of cooperation and a joint effort for development, expressed its concern about a possible retargeting of financial resources to Eastern Europe to the detriment of Africa (paras 26 and 38).
5. stressed the need to improve infrastructures (transport and communication networks, storage facilities), support, credit and marketing services, and intra - African trade (para 29).
6. again urged those member countries which had not yet settled their regular contributions to pay their arrears so that the Programme of FAO approved by the Twenty-fifth Conference of FAO could be implemented fully and without delay (paras 30 and 45).
For the Attention of FAO
The Conference,
7. acclaimed the measures taken by the Director - General of FAO to control the screwworm fly, including the establishment of a Screwworm Emergency Centre for North Africa and of a trust fund, and asked that the efforts coordinated by FAO be pursued with the support of the donor community in collaboration with the other international organizations concerned (paras 23 and 46).
8. supported the efforts of the Director-General for increased FAO participation and involvement in the formulation of structural adjustment strategies (para 27).
9. acknowledged the importance of maintaining and reinforcing FAO's Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP), which allowed FAO to cope with both the needs of Member Nations and emergency situations (para 31).
Report on FAO activities in the region 1988-89
For the Attention of Governments
The Conference,
10. was of the opinion that all changes in the responsibility of the CFA should be accompanied by a more balanced representation within this Committee (para 40).
11. hoped that emergency food aid would continue to be granted without any political strings (para 40).
12. regretted the initiatives taken by certain delegations during the discussions on the Programme of Work and Budget 1990-91 with a view to influencing the use of and reducing TCP resources, to the detriment of the developing countries (para 41).
For the Attention of FAO
The Conference,
13. expressed the hope that in view of decisions on proposed changes in reimbursement of UNDP project-related costs, the existing complementarity between UNDP and FAO would be reinforced (para 39).
14. recommended that the FAO Regional Office in Africa be strengthened and more responsibility delegated to it in order to effectively promote regional and subregional cooperation, in close partnership with the various regional and subregional bodies. It likewise recommended that the FAO country offices be strengthened (para 42).
15. appealed to the Director-General to explore ways and means to increase cooperation with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in the analysis and formulation of future structural adjustment programmes (para 43).
16. recommended that a comprehensive follow-up programme of the various studies, field investigations and recommendations emanating from the various authorities be prepared and that FAO intensify its support to research at the national, regional and international levels (para 44).
Strategies for Combatting Malnutrition in Africa
For the Attention of Governments
The Conference,
17. stressed that the underlying principle of a long-term strategy to improve food and nutrition in the Region should be to make nutrition an integral component of economic development plans in general and agricultural development plans in particular (para 51).
18. recommended that top priority be given to training qualified people to review the food and nutrition situation and to formulate short, medium and long-term strategies (para 52).
19. stressed the urgent need to strengthen African regional and subregional cooperation, particularly in the fields of food technology, marketing and storage, in order to guarantee food quality and stable supplies (para 53).
20. recommended measures to promote greater productivity and higher incomes for women, particularly through access to improved plant and animal species, the right training, and for specific assistance from the specialized home economics and extension services (para 55).
21. underscored the significant role which nutrition education systems tailored to local situations played in improving nutrition through the carefully planned utilization of household resources, and in avoiding the appearance of aberrant dietary behaviour (para 57).
22. stressed the need to develop teaching materials in local languages and to make use of modern media to get across the message about a healthy diet to the mass of the population. Rural radio had proven highly effective in this context, particularly among illiterate populations (para 57).
23. appealed to donors to finance the quality control and staff training infrastructures necessary to allow member countries to meet import standards for their commodities (para 58).
For the Attention of FAO
The Conference,
24. approved the incorporation of a nutritional component into early warning programmes; it also approved the utilization of nutritional indicators as part of a proposed global nutrition surveillance system (para 56).
25. recommended that its conclusions and recommendations on strategies to improve the food and nutrition situation in Africa be duly taken into account in the preparatory work for the International Conference on Nutrition (para 59).
The Conservation and Rehabilitation of African lands: An International Scheme
For the Attention of Governments
The Conference,
26. supported the recommendations of the Scheme and endorsed it as a whole while asking FAO to take the necessary steps to implement it (para 74).
27. emphasized the need for a new approach mobilizing the land users themselves, whose active and involved participation was essential to the success of any land conservation and rehabilitation activity (para 76).
28. invited nations to share the burden of the work and to pool their knowledge and experience of land conservation (para 81).
29. recognized the value of the ongoing technical cooperation between some industrialized countries and FAO on the subject of soil conservation. One example, the recent French initiative "Observatoire du Sahara et du Sahel" might constitute a useful adjunct to the Scheme under discussion (para 84).
For the Attention of FAO
The Conference,
30. endorsed the Scheme as a whole while asking FAO to take the necessary steps to implement it (para 74).
31. hoped that FAO would provide leadership and coordination in the field of land conservation and rehabilitation in Africa, given the fact that the problems of land degradation transcend national boundaries (para 81).
32. expressed the wish for an international conference to provide the opportunity to review these problems and arrive at the necessary solutions (para 82).
Representation of the Region in the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
For the Attention of Governments
The Conference,
33. elected the Kingdom of Morocco (Mr H. Faraj, Director of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique) to represent the Region in the CGIAR from 1991 to 1994 (para 86).
Follow-up on Aid-in-Kind
For the Attention of Governments
The Conference,
34. endorsed the analysis and recommendations of the Study, which were truly relevant to Africa's needs (para 88).
35. appealed to the donor community for greater support to this form of assistance (para 89).
For the Attention of FAO
The Conference,
36. requested that FAO strengthen its efforts to gain donor acceptance for expanded aid-in-kind under the conditions recommended by the Study, and for expansion of the relevant training programmes (para 89).
37. requested that FAO continue to keep the Conference informed of progress and in due course undertake a more detailed evaluation of donor and recipient responses (para 89).
Report on the Locust Control Campaign
For the Attention of Governments
The Conference,
38. stressed that a medium- and long-term strategy capable of checking any upsurge of locusts in the Region had to be based on preventive control of the desert locust in its permanent habitats (para 94).
39. recommended that locust research be granted top priority in order to advance knowledge and understanding of all aspects of locust control (para 95).
40. recommended the pursuit of efforts underway in this area to find acceptable alternatives to the utilization of pesticides to control locusts (para 96).
For the Attention of FAO
The Conference,
41. expressed satisfaction with FAO's various operations and actions in the area of locust control, undertaken in close cooperation with the countries concerned and the international community. It called upon FAO to pursue its collaboration with the countries concerned and with IFAD for the purpose of finalizing the regional project for long-term prevention and control, and coordinating the mobilization of the financial resources necessary to execute the project (para 98).
Implementation of the Programme of Action of the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development
For the Attention of Governments
The Conference,
42. generally approved FAO's proposal that the Seventeenth FAO Regional Conference for Africa have as a major theme the review of progress in agrarian reform and rural development (para 102).
For the Attention of FAO
The Conference,
43. adopted the proposal that agrarian reform be a major theme of the Seventeenth FAO Regional Conference for Africa (para 102).
Date and place of the Seventeenth Regional Conference for Africa For the Attention of FAO
The Conference,
44. took note of Ghana's second invitation and Rwanda's offer to host the Seventeenth FAO Regional Conference for Africa, and asked that the Director-General review these invitations with the member countries concerned and set the date and place of the forthcoming Conference in accordance with the usual procedure (para 103).
