SPEAKING to the FAO Headquarters staff in May, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, recalled the League of Nations meeting in 1935 which first formally recognized the objectives from which FAO subsequently derived. He quoted the telegram which the small band of sponsors of the resolution sent to Lord Boyd Orr later to become FAO's first Director-General -and which paraphrased an earlier famous saying: "Brother Orr, we have this day lighted such a candle by God's grace in Geneva as we trust shall never be put out."
Prince Philip went on to say that today most thinking people realize, if only vaguely, that a great fraction of the world's population is both underfed and badly fed. Few, however, really appreciate the grim facts and understand how desperately close is the race between the growth of population and the provision of adequate food resources.
"It is relatively easy to assemble and marshal impressive facts and figures to demonstrate the lopsided world food situation," he said, "but it is quite another matter to distil the underlying causes of this depressing and dangerous situation. Nevertheless, it is essential to establish the causes if the cure is to be really effective. Hunger is obviously due to lack of food but this lack of food may be due to any number of reasons, some purely technical and some very human."
"Technical know-how can achieve wonders but only if it is tactfully and thoughtfully integrated with the prevailing local conditions. Change of any kind cannot be entirely painless but at least care should be taken to prevent it causing disruption or disintegration. This means that the expert must combine a sound technical knowledge with a lively and practical understanding of human nature, if he is to ease the oppression of stagnant tradition. It is a fundamental truth that, while people of all races and cultures can agree about the practical and technical things in life, they most emphatically do not agree about customs and prejudices."
Prince Philip was speaking of the FAO Freedom from Hunger Campaign and the chance it offered to people of good will all over the world to convert their concern for their less fortunate fellows into a well directed action. His words above, however, are equally pertinent to the activities which are now growing under the United Nations Special Fund for Economic Development.
This new avenue for technical assistance was created in 1958 and operations began in January 1959. During its first year and a half, the United Nations Special Fund has granted nearly $60 million for projects in developing countries. FAO has been named as executing agency for a large proportion of these projects - at the moment 25 projects which are in operation and 45 projects which have been approved and await the start of operations. Many more projects in FAO's fields have been submitted by governments for consideration at future sessions of the Governing Council of the Special Fund.
FAO's Forestry and Forest Products Division has now direct responsibility for 9 approved projects and has a high interest in 20 other projects operated by other Divisions. These projects may be broadly divided into four categories. The first is preinvestment surveys, at present those arising out of FAO's Mediterranean Development Project - in the Antalya region of Turkey, the western Rif in Morocco, the western Peloponnesus in Greece, and in central Tunisia. The second category relates to the direct development of forest resources and industries, with projects in Chile, Honduras and Mexico. The third embraces land-use and settlement surveys - in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Peru, the Sudan and Venezuela. The final category embodies education, training and research and already includes the creation of new institutions in Argentina, Brazil, Pakistan and the Sudan.
All this, it is hoped, is only a beginning. It means an accelerated shift in emphasis in the nature of the work of FAO, although there will be no abandonment of the basic services for world forestry development built up under the Organization's so-called Regular Program.
