General debate on trends and challenges in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and food security in the Latin America and the Caribbean, and FAO actions in the Region
For the attention of Governments
The Conference:
1. Stressed that the international context had a strong bearing on the process of economic and social development of the countries of the Region, and consequently on their food security. An international system based on the principles of justice and equity was needed, as this would facilitate greater, more efficient and more timely bilateral and multilateral cooperation, with renewed opportunity for South-South cooperation. It also called for international undertakings on official development assistance to be honoured and for levels of investment and financial flows to be increased. There was a need to promote access to new technologies and to a fairer trade regime for goods and services, especially agricultural commodities.
2. Reiterated the importance of establishing a more equitable system of international trade and of fulfilling the mandate of the Ministerial Conference in Doha. Trade reform needed to include commitments by developed countries to significantly improve access to agricultural markets, to reduce all forms of export subsidies, with a view to their gradual elimination, and to substantially reduce domestic support which was causing market distortions.
3. Took note of the resumption of multilateral negotiations and urged countries to accelerate implementation of the mandate and spirit of Doha, so that the Multilateral Round could become the "Development Round".
For the attention of FAO
The Conference:
4. Endorsed the initiatives that had been taken to follow up the priorities set at the 25th Regional Conference and the implementation of guidelines from the 26th and 27th Regional Conferences; in particular, the development of productive partnerships, the promotion of trust funds, the implementation of regional projects and the development of methodologies for policy and programme evaluation.
5. Stressed that the Region had specific requirements and conditions of poverty and food insecurity that needed to be investigated and analysed on the basis of tailored criteria, and that FAO support and technical cooperation was required to formulate a regional strategic plan. In this regard, the Conference requested the establishment of an institutional mechanism charged with the following functions: a) monitoring the evolution of FAO technical cooperation in the Region; b) making proposals for refining and modernizing FAO technical cooperation mechanisms; and c) dealing with strategies and resources for implementation and evaluation of FAO cooperation programmes in the Region.
6. Recognized the need to assess the negative impact of the geographical condition of landlocked developing countries on their food security, so that projects and programmes could be devised to mitigate their situation.
7. Recommended systematic consideration of emerging issues for FAO technical cooperation in the Region:
8. Recommended that FAO explore ways of increasing technical cooperation in the Region, using participatory mechanisms and drawing upon existing national capacities. There was also a need to strengthen the complementarity of action of international cooperation agencies.
9. Recommended recognition of the need for differential treatment for the least developed countries and the island states, especially those that were net food importers. In this connection, the "Barbados Programme for Island States" constituted a solid platform for the development of their agricultural, forestry and fishery capacities. FAO should play a strong role in its implementation.
10. Recommended that FAO continue to strengthen the international negotiating capacity of the countries of the Region, given the increasing diversity and complexity of issues and ongoing negotiation in a variety of multilateral contexts (WTO, Codex, OIE and ICPM).
11. Recommended that FAO look into the development of an export-oriented processing industry of raw materials in which the Region was competitive, as a way out of poverty for small producers and farmers of the developing countries. In this regard, FAO should assess the impact of tariff escalation and peaks of the developed countries on the development of a higher value-added export industry in the developing countries.
Follow-up to the World Food Summit and the World Food Summit: five years later. Regional Dimensions
For the attention of Governments
The Conference:
12. Stressed the interdependence that existed between poverty, inequality and the fight against food insecurity. While greater efficiency and competitiveness were needed, there was also a need to temper the current process which was fuelling economic and social inequality in the Region.
13. Recognized that there was strong agricultural diversity in the Region, with the coexistence of a modern competitive sector that was integrated into markets and a very small-scale producer sector that did not have the wherewithal to compete on markets and that required targeted policies reflecting a strategy of gradual development through farm and off-farm activity.
14. Noted that rural development and food security were long-term processes that went beyond one government’s term of office and required policies that would be maintained into the long term.
15. Recognized that a successful food security strategy called for concerted action of the State, the private sector, civil society and international cooperation occurring in a coherent, harmonious and highly participatory framework.
16. Endorsed the concerns expressed by COAG regarding the recommendations in the report of the Joint WHO/FAO Expert Consultation on Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases (No. 916) which could have negative repercussions on the Region's agricultural sector.
17. Urged the governments of the Region to provide political support to the process of negotiation of the Set of Voluntary Guidelines to gradually achieve the Right to Adequate Food. The Conference also recognized the crucial role of international cooperation for the realization of this right.
For the attention of FAO
The Conference:
18. Recommended that FAO support the definition and configuration of new strategic orientations and recognized that current food security trends revealed an inadequacy of previous policies and a need to define new lines of action.
19. Recommended that FAO continue to analyse emerging trends and issues, and called for a greater involvement of countries in preparing related studies.
Initiative to review and update national agricultural, rural development and food security strategies and policies
For the attention of Governments
The Conference:
20. Acknowledged that current development policies implied co-responsibility of governments and private players, and that coordination was therefore vital for their implementation.
21. Emphasized the importance of the territorial approach to development when determining rural development and food security strategies. This approach addressed both farm and off-farm activity and considered the individual characteristics of different player groups, highlighting the role of women in the production and better allocation of resources, and the enhancement of living conditions and food security of rural populations.
22. Recognized that rural development and food security policies needed to reflect the requirements of competitiveness and transformation of production but, also, the priorities of combating poverty. These were multisectoral policies that had to involve different ministries, decentralized government bodies and private players in a highly complex framework that required a web of coordination.
For the attention of FAO
The Conference:
23. Recommended that FAO reinforce and broaden the scope of large-scale training mechanisms for all players in the priorities of rural development and food security, citing the example of the FAO-FODEPAL project, and requested that FAO secure additional funds for this purpose.
24. Recommended that FAO carry out studies on the process of rural outmigration, mainly to developed countries, in order to identify investment programmes based on remittances and develop projects targeting rural households and thus create new sources of employment to reduce this rural exodus.
Food security as rural development strategy
For the attention of Governments
The Conference:
25. Recognized that the concept of food security was broad in scope and impact. It covered availability, access, quality, use and contributing factors; it also played an important role in eradicating poverty, in raising productive capacity for development, in promoting social inclusion and equality of opportunity, and in building a fair society.
26. Underlined the need for food security strategies to go beyond the alleviation of hunger or the search for ad hoc solutions to instances of malnutrition; the central strategic thrust needed to tackle the conditions that allowed undernourishment to exist. This meant addressing the root causes of social exclusion, marginalization and poverty, adopting a broadly participatory and people-centred approach.
27. Stressed that while economic growth was necessary to reduce poverty and eliminate hunger, it was not sufficient in itself. It underlined the importance of the nature of economic growth, in particular its distributive consequences and its impact on equity. It also pointed to the need for political will and for meaningful involvement of society as a whole, in order to direct development towards equity by means of structural reform for social inclusion.
28. Recognized that the causes of food insecurity had historical roots that reflected hitherto prevailing social conditions; this was compounded by the protectionist trade practices and agricultural subsidies of the developed countries. The Conference called for implementation of the three pillars of the Doha Round. It also stressed the need to strengthen international cooperation for development and to optimize opportunities for subregional integration and South-South cooperation.
29. Identified the need for greater involvement of the poor in order to strengthen their effective capacity to participate in the decision-making processes that affected their development.
30. Recognized that food security was strategically integral to rural development and that rural development was a core strategy for food security. Given this interconnection, it emphasized the need to view rural development as a basic territorial strategy and to reconsider agriculture in a perspective that went beyond primary production to include its vertical configuration in the form of production-processing-marketing-consumption chains.
For the attention of FAO
The Conference:
31. Recognized that food security analysis required more than diagnosis and that related strategy should include other than medium- and long-term policy orientations. It recommended that FAO carry out immediate and short-term actions, that it seek mechanisms to assess their impact and replicability, and that it develop new actions on a broad front that extended far beyond the promotion of production to include multisectoral approaches, involving government bodies, the private sector and civil society.
32. Recommended that FAO study the potential and means of broadening intraregional trade in smallholder agricultural products as an instrument of economic and social development.
Economic and social development as the basis for FAO actions in Latin America and the Caribbean
For the attention of Governments
The Conference:
33. Indicated that any analysis of economic and social development needed to heed the interdependence that existed among the economic, social and cultural aspects of development, where the ultimate objective was to enhance the living conditions of the rural population. Development actions needed to centre not only on economic growth, but also on the distribution of resulting benefits and the easing of social inequalities and poverty.
34. Underscored the importance of monitoring and evaluating rural development programmes and projects in order to shape further cooperation actions. It indicated that monitoring and evaluation should not be limited to the administrative aspects of implementing agreed actions or applying assigned budgets, but should permit meaningful examination of the resulting impact. It recommended that such evaluation be carried out at different stages of project implementation in order to adjust programme delivery in real time or to draw lessons from experiences for the design of subsequent phases or projects.
35. Acknowledged that there was scope for improvement in the rural development technical cooperation programmes of international organizations; but it stressed that international assistance channelled through multilateral cooperation was more transparent and more independent of donor priorities, and could thus better reflect the requirements of beneficiary countries.
For the attention of FAO
The Conference:
36. Recognized the importance of the Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS), and recommended that FAO, together with the countries of the Region, establish criteria and mechanisms to assess its impact.
37. Acknowledged its concern over the reduction of technical cooperation resources directed towards the countries of the Region, and referred in particular to the growing regional disparity in this regard. It indicated the need to use these resources in the most efficient manner possible and to set up mechanisms to monitor and evaluate FAO cooperation in the Region and thus sharpen its focus.
38. Reiterated the advantages of continuing to recruit national experts, when appropriate, given their thorough understanding of national situations and their lower cost to technical cooperation projects.
39. Recommended that the organization of FAO technical cooperation missions to individual countries be reviewed in order to safeguard against duplication and lack of coordination. It also called for a new look at relations between the different FAO entities (Headquarters, Regional Offices and Country Offices) in the preparation of technical cooperation projects, taking care that activities dovetailed with national capabilities. In this connection, the FAO Regional Representative briefed the Conference on a mission conducted to evaluate the FAO decentralization process in the Region.
40. Recommended that a standing institutional working group be set up, open to all the countries of the Region. This working group would monitor the evolution of FAO technical cooperation in the Region so that it could refine and modernize FAO technical cooperation mechanisms and devise strategies and means for implementing and evaluating FAO cooperation programmes in the Region. This would unfold in a strategic framework that was coherent with national realities and respected guidelines set periodically by the Regional Conference.
41. Recommended that the conclusions of this working group be presented to subsequent Regional Conferences, which would include a special meeting looking exclusively at technical cooperation.
FAO strategic framework for bridging the rural digital divide
For the attention of Governments
The Conference:
42. Recommended supporting FAO's new strategic “Programme for Bridging the Rural Digital Divide to Reduce Food Insecurity and Poverty”.
For the attention of FAO
The Conference:
43. Recommended that FAO present an assessment of implemented programmes and of ongoing activities to coordinate and unify national institutional efforts to bridge the rural digital divide.
44. Stressed that this new programme should consider the outcome of the World Summit on the Information Society and the initiatives of international organizations in the Region, including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
45. Welcomed the idea of developing South-South cooperation modalities for implementation of this new FAO strategic programme.
46. Recommended that the COAIM be maintained and that it prepare a meeting for 2005.
47. The 28th FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean was held in Guatemala City, Guatemala, from 26 to 30 April 2004. The Technical Committee met on 26 and 27 April. The Conference was attended by delegations from 24 FAO Member Nations in the Region, together with observers from countries of other regions and representatives of United Nations agencies, intergovernmental organizations and international and national non-governmental organizations. The list of participants is given in Appendix C.
48. The Conference was inaugurated by the President of the Republic of Guatemala. The ceremony was attended by the Director-General of FAO, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, the Minister for Agriculture of Guatemala and the FAO Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean.
49. In his opening remarks, the Director-General of FAO thanked the President of the Republic and, through him, the people of Guatemala for hosting the Regional Conference. He welcomed the delegates of the countries of the Region and expressed his hope that the Conference would add further impetus to the Region's contribution to food security in Latin America and the Caribbean and in the world.
50. He remarked that humanity had achieved feats that, at the beginning of the last century, would have seemed inconceivable, such as the conquest of space, but that the fundamental objective of eradicating hunger, which would have seemed more conceivable given existing capacities, remained elusive. More than 842 million hungry people were still waiting for a result. He therefore again urged countries to make every necessary effort to achieve the objectives that they themselves had set at the World Food Summit.
51. The President of the Republic of Guatemala identified the enhancement of child nutrition as a top priority of his Government and stated that current indicators represented a painful reality that needed to be remedied. He hoped that the Conference would put forward ideas to help design effective actions to this end.
52. He stressed that FAO cooperation was now more relevant than ever, given the high priority that was being given to improving food security in the country and especially to combating child undernutrition. He stressed that actions would concentrate not only on welfare assistance but also on addressing the root causes of food insecurity. Among other elements, attention needed to be paid to increasing agricultural productivity and to developing the competitiveness of the national economic system.
53. He ended by wishing the Conference a successful outcome and declaring it open.
54. The Conference unanimously elected the Conference Officers listed in Appendix C.
55. The Conference adopted the agenda and timetable that are given in Appendix B.
56. The Director-General expressed his concern over the slow, irregular and varied progress that countries had made towards achieving food security. During the first half of the 1990s, the number of undernourished people in the world had fallen by 37 million, but had increased by 18 million during the second half. In 1999-2001 there had been 842 million undernourished people in the world. At that pace, the World Food Summit's target of halving the number of hungry people by 2015 would only be reached in 2150.
57. He stated that Latin America and the Caribbean had achieved relatively more encouraging results. The Region's undernourished population had fallen from 13 percent in 1990-1992 to 10 percent in 1999-2001. If actions against hunger were continued, the proportion could fall to 6 percent in 2015. He pointed out that some countries had flagged hunger as a key national concern, mentioning the "Zero Hunger" programme of the Government of Brazil and the "Campaign against Hunger" recently launched by the Government of Guatemala. However, he also noted that five countries of the Region had suffered food crises in 2002, mainly due to adverse climatic events and to the slump in the coffee market.
58. He stressed that the Region also needed to make significant progress in combating poverty. Some countries had failed to break out of economic stagnation or to reduce the inequality of income distribution. The Region had the highest level of inequality in the world and the situation had worsened.
59. He viewed the Conference as an excellent opportunity to reflect on progress made and on further actions needed to correct negative trends or to accelerate progress against food insecurity in the Region.
60. The Conference was briefed by the FAO Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean on the actions that had been taken in follow-up to the recommendations of the 27th Regional Conference held in Havana, Cuba. The Conference was also referred to the documents detailing the state of agricultural and rural development in the countries of the Region, and the work of FAO2 .
61. The Conference endorsed the initiatives that had been taken to follow up the priorities set at the 25th Regional Conference and the implementation of guidelines from the 26th and 27th Regional Conferences; in particular, the development of productive partnerships, the promotion of trust funds, the implementation of regional projects and the development of methodologies for policy and programme evaluation.
62. The Conference stressed that, while the Region was largely made up of middle-ranking countries in terms of per capita income, it nevertheless contained alarming pockets of poverty. Due attention therefore needed to be paid to the perverse tendency of macroeconomic indicators to distort reality. It was also important to avoid adopting imported policy evaluation criteria that did not reflect the reality, operating methods or purpose of each country, such as that of good governance.
63. The Conference stressed that hunger was the most serious consequence of a process of unequal development, in which social exclusion led to absolute poverty. Human rights were not fully observed while hunger and its causes existed. Food security was a vital element for the achievement of a society that was fair, nondiscriminatory and non-exclusive.
64. The Conference stressed that the international context had a strong bearing on the process of economic and social development of the countries of the Region, and consequently on their food security. An international system based on the principles of justice and equity was needed, as this would facilitate greater, more efficient and more timely bilateral and multilateral cooperation, with renewed opportunity for South-South cooperation. International undertakings on official development assistance needed to be honoured and investment and financial flows to be increased. There was a need to promote access to new technologies and to a fairer trade regime for goods and services, especially agricultural commodities.
65. The Conference reiterated the importance of establishing a more equitable system of international trade and of fulfilling the mandate of the Ministerial Conference in Doha. Trade reform needed to include specific commitments by the developed countries to significantly improve access to agricultural markets, to reduce all forms of export subsidies, with a view to their gradual elimination, and to substantially reduce domestic support which was causing market distortions.
66. The Conference took note of the resumption of multilateral negotiations and urged countries to accelerate implementation of the mandate and spirit of Doha, so that the Multilateral Round could become the "Development Round".
67. The Conference stressed that the Region had specific requirements and conditions of poverty and food insecurity that needed to be investigated and analysed on the basis of tailored criteria, and that FAO support and technical cooperation was required to formulate a regional strategic plan. In this regard, the Conference requested the establishment of an institutional mechanism charged with the following functions: a) monitoring the evolution of FAO technical cooperation in the Region; b) making proposals for refining and modernizing FAO technical cooperation instruments; and c) dealing with strategies and resources for implementation and evaluation of FAO cooperation programmes in the Region.
68. The Conference recognized the need to assess the negative impact of the geographical condition of landlocked developing countries on their food security, so that projects and programmes could be devised to mitigate their situation.
The Conference recommended:
69. Systematic consideration of emerging issues for FAO technical cooperation in the Region:
70. That FAO pay special attention to the state of fisheries, forest resources and sustainable mountain development. The Conference expressed its support for application of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and its recognition of FAO activities in support of the International Partnership for Sustainable Development in the Mountain Regions, and requested that funds be directed to these programmes.
71. That FAO explore ways of increasing technical cooperation in the Region, using participatory mechanisms and drawing upon existing national capacities. There was also a need to strengthen the complementarity of action of international cooperation agencies.
72. That there be recognition of the need for differential treatment for the least developed countries and the island states, especially those that were net food importers. In this connection, the "Barbados Programme for Island States" constituted a solid platform for the development of their agricultural, forestry and fishery capacities. FAO should play a strong role in its implementation.
73. That FAO continue to strengthen the international negotiating capacity of the countries of the Region, given the increasing diversity and complexity of issues and ongoing negotiation in a variety of multilateral contexts (WTO, Codex, OIE and ICPM).
74. That FAO look into the development of an export-oriented processing industry of raw materials in which the Region was competitive as a way out of poverty for small producers and farmers of the developing countries. In this regard, FAO should assess the impact of tariff escalation and peaks of the developed countries on the development of a higher value-added export industry in the developing countries.
75. The Conference was briefed by the Assistant Director-General of FAO and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean on the progress made in food security at regional and subregional level. He stressed the interdependence that existed between poverty, inequality and the fight against food insecurity. While greater efficiency and competitiveness were needed, there was also a need to temper the current process which was fuelling economic and social inequality in the Region.
76. The Conference recognized that current food security trends revealed an inadequacy of previous policies and a need to define new lines of action, and recommended that FAO support the definition and configuration of new strategic orientations.
77. The Conference recognized that there was strong agricultural diversity in the Region, with the coexistence of a modern competitive sector that was integrated into markets and a very small-scale producer sector that did not have the wherewithal to compete on markets and that required targeted policies reflecting a strategy of gradual development through farm and off-farm activity.
78. The Conference noted that rural development and food security were long-term processes that went beyond one government’s term of office and required policies that would be maintained into the long term.
79. The Conference recognized that a successful food security strategy called for concerted action of the State, the private sector, civil society and international cooperation occurring in a coherent, harmonious and highly participatory framework.
80. The Conference endorsed the concerns expressed by COAG regarding the recommendations in the report of the Joint WHO/FAO Expert Consultation on Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases (No. 916) which could have negative repercussions on the Region's agricultural sector.
81. The Conference urged the governments of the Region to provide political support to the process of negotiation of the Set of Voluntary Guidelines to gradually achieve the Right to Adequate Food. The Conference also recognized the crucial role of international cooperation for the realization of this right.
82. The Conference suggested that FAO review the figures on undernutrition that had been presented3, paying particular attention to the methodology and sources of information used to calculate the indicators included in the related documents.
83. The Conference recommended that FAO continue to analyse emerging trends and issues, and called for a greater involvement of countries in preparing related studies.
84. The Conference was informed on the updating of rural development and food security policies. In addition to improving the substance, the main thrust of the updating exercise focused on the characteristics and modalities of implementation, given that these were multisectoral policies with a territorial dimension and participatory management.
85. The Conference acknowledged that current development policies implied co- responsibility of governments and private players, and that coordination was therefore vital for their implementation.
86. The Conference emphasized the importance of the territorial approach to development when determining rural development and food security strategies. This approach addressed both farm and off-farm activity and considered the individual characteristics of different player groups, highlighting the role of women in the production and better allocation of resources, and the enhancement of living conditions and food security of rural populations.
87. The Conference recognized that rural development and food security policies needed to reflect the requirements of competitiveness and transformation of production but, also, the priorities of combating poverty. These were multisectoral policies that had to involve different ministries, decentralized government bodies and private players in a highly complex framework that required a web of coordination.
88. The Conference recommended that FAO reinforce and broaden the scope of large-scale training mechanisms for all players in the priorities of rural development and food security, citing the example of the FAO-FODEPAL project, and requested that FAO secure additional funds for this purpose.
89. The Conference recommended that FAO carry out studies on the process of rural outmigration, mainly to developed countries, in order to identify investment programmes based on remittances and develop projects targeting rural households, and thus create new sources of employment to reduce this rural exodus.
90. The Conference was informed of the results and conclusions of the meetings of the Regional Commissions COPESCAL, WECAFC, LACFC and CODEGALAC. The identified trends in each commission were highlighted and their recommendations explained.
91. The Conference expressed its thanks for the preparation and presentation of the respective reports.
92. The Conference expressed its appreciation of the efforts of FAO to support the activities of CODEGALAC, which had been operating under precarious conditions and with insufficient resources. It also highlighted the importance of this commission in the high priority context of animal health and control of transboundary disease. It recommended that FAO prepare regional technical cooperation projects to support the establishment of a technical secretariat that would oversee the activities of CODEGALAC.
93. The Conference stressed that FAO was the specialized body for determining measures for the management of marine species, which needed to be reflected in the documentation on the relationship of FAO with CITES regarding measures for the conservation and use of commercially important marine species.
94. The Conference recommended that FAO prepare regional technical cooperation projects to support training activities in the sustainable management of forest resources. It also requested that funding be mobilized to help all countries participate in the LACFC meetings.
95. The Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative of FAO opened the Technical Committee meeting. He welcomed the delegates and observers, and thanked the Government and people of Guatemala for hosting the event.
96. The Committee unanimously elected the Technical Committee Officers listed in Appendix C.
97. The Committee adopted the agenda and timetable set out in documents LARC/04/1-Rev.1 and LARC/04/INF/2-Rev.2 (see Agenda in Appendix B).
The Committee recommended:
98. Recognizing that food security was a broad concept that involved the building of a society that was fair, nondiscriminatory and non-exclusive. Food security existed with the realization of balanced and integrated economic and social development.
99. Stressing that the concept of economic and social development needed to be analyzed from an integrated perspective. Specific and sectoral analyses served to clarify constituent factors and their key features, but could distort actual understanding of the development process which, by its very nature, needed to encompass all economic and social factors and actions in a global and balanced manner.
100. Recognizing that the concept of food security was broad in scope and impact. It covered availability, access, quality, use and contributing factors; it also played an important role in eradicating poverty, in raising productive capacity for development, in promoting social inclusion and equality of opportunity and in building a fair society.
101. Underlining the need for food security strategies to go beyond the alleviation of hunger or the search for ad hoc solutions to instances of malnutrition; the central strategic thrust needed to tackle the conditions that allowed undernourishment to exist. This meant addressing the root causes of social exclusion, marginalization and poverty, adopting a broadly participatory and people-centred approach.
102. Stressing that while economic growth was necessary to reduce poverty and eliminate hunger, it was not sufficient in itself. The Committee underlined the importance of the nature of economic growth, in particular its distributive consequences and its impact on equity. It also pointed to the need for political will and for meaningful involvement of society as a whole in order to direct development towards equity, by means of structural reform for social inclusion.
103. Recognizing that the causes of food insecurity had historical roots that reflected hitherto prevailing social conditions; this was compounded by the protectionist trade practices and agricultural subsidies of the developed countries. The Committee called for implementation of the three pillars of the Doha Round. It also stressed the need to strengthen international cooperation for development and to optimize opportunities for subregional integration and South-South cooperation.
104. Recognizing that food security analysis required more than diagnosis and that related strategy needed to include other than medium- and long-term policy orientations. It recommended that FAO carry out immediate and short-term actions, that it seek mechanisms to assess their impact and replicability, and that it develop new actions on a broad front that extended far beyond the promotion of production to include multisectoral approaches, involving government bodies, the private sector and civil society.
105. Identifying the need for greater involvement of the poor in order to strengthen their effective capacity to participate in the decision-making processes that affected their development.
106. Recognizing that food security was strategically integral to rural development, and that rural development was a core strategy for food security. Given this interconnection, it emphasized the need to view rural development as a basic territorial strategy and to reconsider agriculture in a perspective that went beyond primary production to include its vertical configuration in the form of production-processing-marketing-consumption chains.
107. That FAO study the potential and means of broadening intraregional trade in smallholder agricultural products as an instrument of economic and social development.
The Committee recommended:
108. Indicating that any analysis of economic and social development needed to heed the interdependence that existed among the economic, social and cultural aspects of development, where the ultimate objective was to enhance the living conditions of the rural population. Development actions needed to centre not only on economic growth, but also on the distribution of resulting benefits and the easing of social inequalities and poverty.
109. Recognizing that the focus of analysis of economic and social development also needed to be broadened to include urban-rural linkages.
110. Underscoring the importance of monitoring and evaluating rural development programmes and projects in order to shape further cooperation actions. It indicated that monitoring and evaluation should not be limited to the administrative aspects of implementing agreed actions or applying assigned budgets, but should permit meaningful examination of the resulting impact. It recommended that such evaluation be carried out at different stages of project implementation in order to adjust programme delivery in real time or to draw lessons from experiences for the design of subsequent phases or projects.
111. Recognizing the importance of the Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS). The Committee recommended that FAO, together with the countries of the Region, establish criteria and mechanisms to assess the impact of this programme.
112. Acknowledging that there was scope for improvement in the technical cooperation programmes for rural development of international organizations; but it stressed that international assistance channelled through multilateral cooperation was more transparent and more independent of donor priorities, and could thus better reflect the requirements of beneficiary countries.
113. Acknowledging its concern over the reduction of technical cooperation resources directed towards the countries of the Region, referring in particular to the growing regional disparity in this regard. It indicated the need to use these resources in the most efficient manner possible and to set up mechanisms to monitor and evaluate FAO cooperation in the Region and thus sharpen its focus.
114. Reiterating the advantages of continuing to recruit national experts, when appropriate, given their thorough understanding of national situations and their lower cost to technical cooperation projects.
115. That the organization of FAO technical cooperation missions to individual countries be reviewed in order to safeguard against duplication and lack of coordination. It also called for a new look at relations between the different FAO entities (Headquarters, Regional Offices and Country Offices) in the preparation of technical cooperation projects, taking care that activities dovetailed with national capabilities. In this connection, the FAO Regional Representative briefed the Committee on the mission conducted to evaluate the FAO decentralization process in the Region.
116. That a standing institutional working group be set up, open to all the countries of the Region. This working group would monitor the evolution of FAO technical cooperation in the Region so that it could refine and modernize FAO technical cooperation mechanisms and devise ways and means of implementing and evaluating FAO cooperation programmes in the Region. This would unfold in a strategic framework that was coherent with national realities and respected guidelines set periodically by the Regional Conference.
117. That the conclusions of this working group be presented to subsequent Regional Conferences, which would include a special meeting looking exclusively at technical cooperation.
The Committee recommended:
118. Welcoming the initiative to designate 2004 as the International Year of Rice (IYR), with FAO as lead agency. It noted the timeliness and importance of this initiative and stressed its potential for overcoming productivity restrictions, reducing the efficiency gap, safeguarding and using genetic resources, and developing policies to protect male and female small rice growers.
119. Endorsing the various IYR initiatives. It requested that FAO facilitate and support exchanges between countries, and that it disseminate successful experiences of integrated management of rice production for small and medium farmers, including the availability of economic support to compensate for the impact of adjustment policies, new varieties, management of water resources and control of pests and diseases that existed in some rice-producing countries of the Region. This would help link the IYR initiatives to the regional rice-related outputs of the centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.
120. That FAO support the dissemination of information on food safety issues, including genetically modified rice, on the basis of agreed Codex standards, and that this information be made available to consumers, farmers and policy-makers.
The Committee recommended:
121. Supporting FAO's new strategic “Programme for Bridging the Rural Digital Divide to Reduce Food Insecurity and Poverty”.
122. That FAO present an assessment of implemented programmes and ongoing activities to coordinate and unify national institutional efforts to bridge the rural digital divide.
123. Stressing that this new programme should consider the outcome of the World Summit on the Information Society and the initiatives of international organizations in the Region, including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
124. Welcoming the idea of developing South-South cooperation modalities for implementation of this new FAO strategic programme.
125. That the COAIM be maintained and that it prepare a meeting for 2005.
126. The Committee generally agreed with the report presented by the Rapporteur and adopted it unanimously after certain amendments and additions had been introduced.
127. The Committee again thanked the Government and people of the Republic of Guatemala for their hospitality.
128. The Chairperson of the Technical Committee thanked the delegates for their participation and brought the Technical Committee meeting to a close.
129. The Conference noted with satisfaction the offer of the Delegation of Venezuela to host the 29th FAO Regional Conference to be held in 2006. The offer was unanimously endorsed by the delegations present. The Conference asked that the Director-General take this endorsement into account when deciding the place and date of the next Regional Conference after consultation with the Government of Venezuela.
130. The Delegation of Venezuela outlined certain features of its Government’s current support programmes for food production and distribution.
131. The Secretary of the Conference explained that the Final Declaration of the Third Regional Consultation of Non-Governmental and Civil Society Organizations for Latin America and the Caribbean was a direct result of the consultation process that FAO had initiated for civil society to express its views on issues such as food security and its own recommendations and conclusions, acting under the principle of complete autonomy.
132. La Conference adopted the report unanimously, including its constituent Technical Committee report.
133. La Conference thanked the Government and people of Guatemala for their warm welcome, for having hosted the event and for having provided all participants with a pleasant stay.
134. The Assistant Director-General of FAO and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean expressed his satisfaction over the relevance of the recommendations to emerge from the Conference, especially policy guidance to take up the fight against hunger in an integrated and participatory manner that pooled the efforts of governments, the private and agrifood sector, civil society and international cooperation, with an emphasis on strategic partnerships, productive chains and regional development. He underscored the establishment of support and evaluation mechanisms for international cooperation programmes, in particular the work of FAO, by the countries of the Region. He concluded by thanking the Government and people of Guatemala for having hosted the Regional Conference.
135. The Acting President of the Republic of Guatemala congratulated the delegations on the outcome of the Conference and expressed his conviction that their efforts represented a significant step forward in the strategy to combat hunger in the Region. He thanked the delegations on behalf of the Government and people of Guatemala.
136. The Chairperson thanked the delegations for their active participation and the high quality of their deliberations and brought the 28th Regional Conference to a close.
1 The full text of the statement (LARC/04/INF/4) is in Appendix A.
2 “Notes on FAO work in LAC. 1994-2004”(LARC/04/INF/5) and “Trends and challenges in agriculture, forestry and fisheries in the Region”.
3 Follow-up to the World Food Summit and World Food Summit: five years later. Regional Dimensions (Document LARC/04/4)
