PORTUGAL

His Excellency Fernando Manuel Gomes da Silva, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries of the Portuguese Republic

Let me first congratulate the Director-General of FAO for his initiative of convening the World Food Summit. We are re-taking, in an updated form, the Conference of Paris of 1974 in endeavouring to make aware those responsible - indeed all of us, from governments to citizens - of the problems of hunger and food security.

I wish also to show my appreciation of the care placed in the organization of this Food Summit. The effort to bring these problems to politicians, administrations, NGOs as well as scientific and financial institutions and, in fact, all of civil society is truly deserving of our appreciation.

It is now over 300 years since John Locke first defined food security and declared it a human right under `natural reason'. A few weeks ago at the opening session of the FAO Council we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the publication of the Geopolitics of Hunger, the classic where the Brazilian sociologist Josué de Castro first taught us to look at hunger not as unavoidable destiny, but as a scientifically and politically approachable problem, therefore one with a solution.

Today, we gather here representing all of the United Nations to affirm food security as a fundamental human right to engage our civic and political will to make it a reality of the daily life of every human being on our beloved earth.

Each of us carries here the traditions and history of our peoples but, also, bears their yearnings and their hopes. And it is to these human beings, in particular to the poor, the hungry, the excluded, the disenfranchised, those that enjoy no human rights, those to whom democracy appears as a distant luxury, that we are making a commitment and a simple, but solemn promise: we will free you from hunger.

Is the challenge towards food security not to be met? Are we promising what we cannot deliver? I come here certain that this is not so, to join all of you with my greatest hope and, yes, even optimism. In the last three decades food production has increased by about 65 percent while the world population increased 45 percent. We also know that food insecurity results from inequalities of access brought about to a large measure by gross inequalities in income distribution. Therefore, while there is no doubt of the essential role of improved methods in agriculture, fisheries and forestry, we see food security as a complex and global paradigm of the human condition.

Any cursory look at the newly published Atlas of Human Development will show that the world maps for hunger are in virtual coincidence not only with those of poverty, but also with those of illiteracy, lack of human rights or participation in the mainstream of the modern world.

The concept of food security must be envisaged from a family-oriented perspective. An equilibrated diet is not just a matter of the availability of food: it has much to do with accessibility, a condition that does not necessarily depend on the wealth of countries or of regions, but one that is clearly linked to the existence of functioning markets and, also, with the purchasing power of populations. The recently aggravated phenomenon of urbanization accentuates the existence of pockets of poverty, even in wealthy countries, and leads to situations of extreme concern.

It is, therefore, clear that food security cannot be achieved strictly from technical (i.e. agricultural) approaches, just the same way that nobody was ever able to push a train from inside. Throughout human history no strictly agricultural society has ever been able to sustainably guarantee food security for its people. Never! Thus, it is an illusion, a dangerous illusion, to think that food security problems can be left to the sole care of even our best, most dedicated experts in agriculture, fisheries and forests.

Why are people hungry? Simply because they do not have the means - the money - to buy food. It follows that to achieve food security it is essential to combat poverty. But, to combat poverty acts of generosity are insufficient, bringing only temporary relief. Worse, however, is the humiliation of those forced by circumstances to receive: rather than a hand-out, they would appreciate from our governments and from their governments and institutions, the productive instruments of work and the means for development that would allow them to earn and to pay with good, clean cash, their own food security. Food security for all must be achieved while for all, at all times, respecting human dignity.

So, it is clear that the clue to food security lies in development; and, because we are talking about long-term solutions, sustainable development.

Democracy, human freedoms and human rights have long been considered as philosophical, and ethical imperatives. Today, I wish to submit to you that they are also simple practical needs of any modern society, based on faith in the imagination, intelligence and capacity for hard work of free human beings.

The recent past - very recent past - shows us that whereas the world population is growing at about 2.5 percent a year, the aggregate of human talent is growing at a rate unmatched in the history of Mankind. To give you an example from my country: in the 1950s about 10 000 students attended our universities; today that number exceeds 200 000. Another example, this at the world scale: this year, by December 31, more Science and Technology will have been produced than in all human history, from Democritus to Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Let me also cite two fields that barely existed 30 years ago and whose impact is already huge, this being only the beginning: Computer Science and Molecular Genetics.

It is, therefore, impossible, indeed absurd, not to think that this new, unstoppable avalanche of talent and knowledge will not help us solving our problems: technical, economical, social, political.

But talent, creativity, imagination, intelligence do not thrive where civil societies and established powers lack respect for basic freedoms and human rights, and where institutions are not able or do not wish to provide for a caring environment. Let freedom fly free among people, give them the basic institutional and material tools, and watch societies grow, flourish and prosper.

While democracy and human rights are necessary conditions for sustainable, healthy growth, they are not sufficient. Thus, a State that does not modulate a free-market society with a social conscience is a State that, sooner than later, will have its own people polarized in "haves" and "have nots". It will be a State without a healthy middle class, and one whose underclass will look at democracy as a "charade" played for the benefit of the rich.

If there is a lesson to be learned from the "Cold War" it is not the victory of capitalism, but that social and humanitarian principles must be present throughout all the phases of growth and development of modern democratic societies. Disregarding this is to spread the seeds of despair and of revolution. Social and political regression will be a consequence, one that will likely lead to a consequence, one that will likely lead to authoritarian regimes.

There are many issues that I will not attempt to cover here. I do so because they are clearly stated in the document we are all adopting and committing ourselves to implement. Among others, we all accept these: womens' and children's rights, special protection for the weak, opening of countries to development, multiple functions of agriculture, to name only a few. Thus, before ending, I shall only single one out, the importance of which lies in the irreversible consequences of its disregard: I refer to non-renewable resources and environmental degradation. It is clear to us that here lie problems that have a direct and fateful bearing on food security and that, if unaddressed now, will not have a scientific answer or an economically viable solution: a soil polluted by cadmium is lost forever as is a soil rendered sterile by a continued pattern of over-fertilization. We have the absolute obligation to make sure these situations are not allowed to proliferate.

Before ending, my parting words are of support to, and solidarity with, the African States whose populations have been and are suffering from extreme food insecurity. Portugal follows this problem closely and will actively participate in its solution. In this respect, allow me special reference to African countries whose official language is Portuguese, and to whom we are bound by the past, present and future. To them go our thoughts and our most sincere will to be present and cooperate during this critical period of their existence, one where so much must be achieved in such a short time. We value their efforts in the long and difficult march towards modern, functional democratic societies. In particular, I salute the suffering and oppressed people of East Timor to whom we express the greatest solidarity, as well as the unwavering certainty that their fight for freedom will come to a successful end.

Let me declare, on behalf of our Prime Minister, that our Government has a foremost interest in participating in the execution of the principles inscribed in the Rome Declaration as well as in the implementation of the Plan of Action. In my country, where there are institutions and experts with extensive knowledge in tropical agriculture, there is a strong will to be present, to the limit of our capacity, wherever and whenever our presence may be solicited. We will do our best to contribute to global efforts for the eradication of hunger and to the achievement of food security for all.

Today, all is within our reach: good and bad governance, corrupt or transparent, free or dictatorial. Yet, even looking at the recent past, the overall quality of life has improved substantially in most countries of the world, including some of the poorest. Thus, when we adopt this Resolution and Plan of Action, we should not only do it in good faith, but with a true, joyful and cherished faith in us all - children, women, men - and love and hope for the Earth and its life, that delicately balanced home to all of us.