Director-General's speeches

Mr Chairman,
Distinguished Ministers,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is once again a great honour for me to address this august assembly of African States. I should like to begin by expressing my most sincere gratitude to the countries of Africa and the OAU for their outstanding contribution and unflagging support for the World Food Summit which was held last November in Rome, and which was so important for the future of this continent.

The Summit publicly reaffirmed the right of every person to safe and nutritious food, and the 186 participating countries pledged theircommitment towards achieving food security for all and eradicating hunger in all countries. They also reaffirmed that a peaceful, stable and enabling political, social and economic environment was essential if States were to be able give adequate priority to food security and the eradication of poverty.

The Summit mobilized not only governments, but also all partners with a role to play in implementing its commitments: parliamentarians, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and the media.

The massive presence of African Heads of State and Government at the Summit was an undeniable indication of their determination to overcome hunger and achieve food security. While the Summit was of course global in magnitude, the success of its Plan of Action will primarily be measured in Africa.

The state of food and agriculture in Africa is still a cause for concern despite the remarkable growth in staple food production of 4.8% registered in 1996 and the improved economic conditions in many low-income countries. Such however progress came after a fall in production in 1995 and a relatively modest increase in 1994. After a long period of economic difficulties, it will therefore take time to build up the purchasing power of the least privileged population groups in a sustainable manner.

The prospects for 1997 are on the whole encouraging, with satisfactory harvests in West Africa and parts of the Horn of Africa, and favourable projections for southern Africa. The picture though is not uniform. Some Sahelian countries have localized food supply problems and the outlook for East Africa is uncertain. Thus, sixteen countries are still facing exceptional food crises, the most worrying being those in the Great Lakes Region for reasons that are familiar to you.

The World Food Summit Plan of Action covers many areas: production, conservation of the resource base, investment and infrastructure, social and economic policy for a fair distribution of food and income, besides commerce and international trade.

It is now up to each African government, in line with the first commitment of the Plan of Action, to initiate a process of sustainable agricultural and economic development based on cooperation and consultation at all levels and on the full and equal participation of men and women in the design and the implementation of strategies and programmes. In this connection, I welcomed the decision taken at the last ordinary session of the Council of Ministers of the OAU, in February 1997, in follow-up to the World Food Summit. This decision calls on the Member States to give top priority to achieving food security for their respective populations and to implement the commitments of the Rome Declaration and Plan of Action that fall within their competence.

For its part, FAO has already begun work with individual countries in preparing national strategies for agricultural development up to the year 2010, as a means of transposing the Summit's commitments from global to national level. Strategies for 43 African countries have already been drawn up and were discussed last March with representatives of governments and key development partners, and are now awaiting government approval.

However, governments will clearly not achieve the expected results without the active involvement of society at large. They therefore undertook to launch national campaigns under the banner "Food for All". These would involve all of civil society and would aim to mobilize the support of all stakeholders and their resources in the national implemention of the Summit Plan of Action.

The first step in these campaigns would ideally be to set up a national forum of all actors and partners of development, including the private sector, non-governmental organizations, universities, research institutes, parliamentarians, women's and youth groups, the media, and civil societyin general. The appointment of a public figure to head the forum - someone highly respected for his or her independence, integrity and development expertise - could give added impetus to the process.

Such campaigns have already been initiated in both developing and developed countries. I sincerely hope that your governments will actively encourage and support the establishment of these forums, and can confirm here and now that FAO will support all your efforts in this direction.

The Summit charged FAO's Committee on World Food Security with the important task of monitoring implementation of the Summit commitments and reporting on it to the appropriate bodies of FAO and the United Nations. The Committee met in April this year to set up such a monitoring system which will be based on reports from governments and the international organizations that are directly concerned.

The countries also asked FAO to promote the establishment of a "Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping System". The first technical consultation for such a system has already been held and we are counting on the help of the African countries and organizations to develop it further.

Furthermore, an agreement has been reached with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to work closely on defining more clearly the right to food as a basic human right.

However, the most important contribution expected from FAO for implementation of the Plan of Action is of course that of agricultural development. Our action in this area will be spearheaded by the Special Programme for Food Security in low-income food-deficit countries, which I intend to reinforce and substantially broaden.

Most of the 840 million people suffering from chronic undernourishment live in these 87 countries, of which 43 are in Africa. Two years after it was launched, the Special Programme is now operational in 18 of these countries, including 15 in Africa, and is being introduced or under formulation in seven others, including three in Africa. The programme aims to increase food production and availability where need is greatest, and in so doing squares directly with the third commitment in the Summit Plan of Action.

The programme has two phases, a pilot phase and an expansion phase. The first has four components: water management to protect crops from irregular rainfall; the sustainable intensification of plant production systems; the diversification of production, mainly through aquaculture and small animal husbandry; and finally, analysis of the social and economic constraints.

The expansion phase will then deal with reform of agricultural policies and investment.

If food security is to improve tangibly, the programme must rest on people's participation, consideration of the role of women, areas and food with high potential and the protection of the environment. Equally, the programme must be country-led and fully involve the beneficiary communities. This is not FAO's programme - it belongs to your countries and to your farmers.

At this time of budget stringencies for governments everywhere, the mobilization of funds for the implementation of results-oriented programmes in follow-up to the Summit, especially within the framework of the Special Programme, requires a measure of innovation. FAO is therefore doing all it can to encourage donors to prioritize actions that are directed towards food security. By way of example, I should like to mention the Memoranda of Understanding that were recently signed with the World Bank and the African Development Bank, testifying to the importance attached by these financial institutions to rural development and makingsignificant funds available to the Special Programme, upon government request. I should also like to mention the programmes for the extensive transfer of experts between developing countries, within the framework of South/South cooperation.

But, such efforts go beyond the realm of public institutions and extend to the private sector and all individuals wishing to contribute, however modestly, towards achieving our common goal of food security. One of the most innovatory aspects of the Rome Declaration and Summit Plan of Action was the emphasis placed on the need to mobilize all sectors of civil society and all possible human, technical and financial resources so that countries would be able to deliver on their national commitment towards food security.

This is what lies behind the TeleFood operation, in which FAO wishes to appeal to international solidarity to finance concrete and sustainable field projects for food security, particularly through the Special Programme. This worldwide audio-visual event, planned to coincide with World Food Day, is designed to raise funds from civil society in all countries wishing to help eliminate hunger from the world.

Mr Chairman,

Though well pleased with progress made since last November, I must point out that our journey has only begun. The success of the Summit brings even more responsibility in its wake, not only for FAO, but also - and perhaps more so - for the Member States and their governments who made solemn commitments on that occasion. This is all the more true for the African countries, which are the most affected by food insecurity. As I said in the immediate aftermath of the Summit, we will now be judged by our deeds. So let us act accordingly.

Thank you for your kind attention.

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