Statement by the Director-General to the Twentieth FAO Regional Conference for Africa
Mr Chairman
Distinguished Ministers
Your Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is always with strong emotions that I return to Ethiopia, the cradle of humanity, the cradle of Africa; a country that alone epitomizes all the diversity, wealth and potential of the continent, but also the challenges that are associated with food security and the sustainable utilization of natural resources; a country whose people and government have shown exceptional courage in facing up to these challenges.
Allow me, Mr. Chairman, on behalf of all the participants at this Conference, to thank the highest authorities of Ethiopia for their warm welcome and cordial hospitality.
It is symbolic that this meeting should take place in Addis Ababa, the headquarters of the Organization of African Unity and of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, where we find ourselves today. These two institutions are key partners in our common concern for the social and economic development of the continent, and FAO is keen to reinforce the excellent cooperation it maintains with both.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen
Just three months ago, the Conference of FAO met in Rome where it reviewed the state of food and agriculture in the world and the past and future activities of the Organization.
State of world food and agriculture
While the overall world economy grew by a satisfactory
4.2 percent in 1997, the food and agriculture situation was
one of contrasts. Agricultural production only increased by
an estimated 1.1 percent and cereal stocks are still below
the security threshold. Furthermore, development aid has
hovered in recent years at a nominal US $60 billion and has
therefore fallen in real terms, while the portion of this
aid earmarked for agriculture slumped from US $16 billion in
1988 to some US $10 billion in 1996.
Implementation of the Summit Plan of Action
FAO's activities in the previous biennium were marked by
the World Food Summit held in November 1996 and several
initiatives have now been undertaken to implement the
resulting Plan of Action: 150 national strategies for
agriculture and food security towards the year 2010 have
been drafted with the governments of developing Member
Nations and others in transition, including all the
countries of Africa; the Special Programme for Food Security
is now operational in 29 countries, including 17 in Africa,
and under formulation in 40 others, including 19 in Africa;
the Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and
Plant Pests and Diseases has scored a number of successes,
in particular against rinderpest and the desert locust in
the regions most exposed to these scourges, particularly in
Africa; finally, the Food Insecurity and Vulnerability
Information Mapping System has been put in place.
At the same time, the Organization has continued to help the developing Member Nations to implement the Marrakesh agreements, organizing regional workshops and executing national projects. Its assistance has focused on agricultural policy, the prospects opened up by the "Decision on Measures Concerning the Possible Negative Effects of the Reform Programme on Least-Developed and Net Food-Importing Developing Countries", intellectual property rights, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade and the international standards of the Codex Alimentarius. The Organization will also step up its action to assist in the preparation of future trade negotiations, working closely with the WTO, the World Bank and UNCTAD.
In accordance with the directives adopted by the Summit, FAO has also encouraged the launching of "Food for All" campaigns to mobilize civil society. A number of countries have already initiated a process of national consultation to this effect. The "TeleFood 1997" operation that was broadcast by some one hundred television channels in over 70 countries gave 500 million viewers an added insight into the problems of hunger and malnutrition and laid the foundations of a system for the raising of funds which - already this year - will finance small projects of direct assistance to rural communities in developing countries, helping them boost production. As endorsed by the last Conference of FAO, TeleFood is to be an annual event in celebration of World Food Day. The next edition will be held from 16 to 18 October 1998 and will be larger in scale than last year.
Finally, interagency co-operation for implementing of the Summit Plan of Action has been put in place, with the establishment of a Network on Rural Development and Food Security led by FAO and IFAD. The mechanism for monitoring the Summit Plan of Action has also been set up and the Committee on World Food Security will evaluate progress at its next session, as you will yourselves for the Africa region.
Other achievements
Among the other FAO initiatives with world-wide impact
undertaken during the 1996/97 biennium, I should like to
mention:
- with regard to the sustainable use of natural resources, the adoption of the World Plan of Action of the International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources and the revision of the International Plant Protection Convention;
- as regards forests, programmes focusing on the contribution of forestry to food security, on effective and responsible forest management and on maintaining a balance among the economic, ecological and social benefits of forests; assistance in formulating national forestry programmes; support to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Forests and to the Eleventh World Forestry Congress hosted by Turkey;
- regarding fisheries and aquaculture, and in the framework of the Kyoto Plan of Action on the Sustainable Contribution of Fisheries to Food Security and the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, reinforcement of the regional bodies and the staging of 21 technical consultations on the management of marine fishery resources of different regions. Work on aquatic genetic resources has been stepped up and studies have been carried out on the impact of the "El Niño" phenomenon.
Processing, analysis and dissemination of
information
The annual report State of Food and Agriculture
continues to be the main source of general information in
this area and now includes a section on developments in food
security in follow-up to the Summit. This document is
complemented by The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture
and State of the World's Forests. The Sixth World Food
Survey was published in 1996. As for the long-term world
outlook for agriculture and food security, a study will be
carried out on the likely scenario until 2015, with a more
general evaluation taking us to 2030.
Modern information and telecommunication
techniques
With respect to the dissemination of information, the
introduction of new technologies has rationalized and
modernized systems, while reducing costs. The World
Agricultural Information Centre (WAICENT) now offers ready
access to essential information for food security and
sustainable rural development: FAOSTAT for statistical data,
FAOINFO for textual information and FAOSIS for specialized
information systems, in particular on animal genetic
resources, pesticides and the Global Information and Early
Warning System.
FAO's site on the Internet is posting over 1 million hits each month and is providing information to English-, Arabic-, Spanish- and French-speaking users. At the same time, 2000 CD-ROMs have been distributed in all Member Nations to provide access to WAICENT in areas where the Internet is not yet readily available. These services will be further expanded in 1998-99 to enable Member Nations to take full advantage of the Organization's wealth of documentary information.
Grassroots participation and the role of women
Actions for the advancement of women are given priority
status in the general drive to involve the whole of society
in the common pursuit of "Food for All". FAO's technical
departments have been requested to bear gender parity in
mind when formulating programmes and projects. The Special
Programme for Food Security should improve the access of
rural women to technologies, inputs and credit, which is why
special emphasis has been placed on poultry raising and
market gardening.
Partnerships
The Organization has strengthened coordination and
co-operation with its partners to ensure that all its
programmes can be implemented against a backdrop of
budgetary constraint: with the World Bank and the regional
banks through new agreements, mainly for the implementation
of the Special Programme for Food Security; with the food
and agriculture institutions based in Rome, IFAD and WFP;
with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural
Research, its Technical Advisory Committee and its
institutes; with the other UN agencies under the
Administrative Committee on Co-ordination; and with the
private sector and the community of non-governmental
organizations.
Similarly, co-operation has been stepped up with many Member Nations. Over the past three years, some 1300 experts have been implementing FAO programmes under agreements for co-operation between developing countries and countries in transition and co-operation with academic and research institutions, and by hiring retired experts. In support of the Special Programme for Food Security, a number of South-South co-operation agreements have enabled more advanced developing countries, with FAO assistance, to provide a critical mass of field technicians in the rural communities of other developing countries. Six African countries are - or will soon be - benefiting from such agreements, of which there will be more. Finally, with a view to building national capacities, FAO is looking into training opportunities offered by Member Nations in the areas of its mandate for students and trainees from developing countries and will itself employ young professionals, within the limit of available resources, so that they can add practical experience to their academic training.
Investment
One of FAO's ongoing concerns is to promote investment
in agriculture. In 1995 and 1996, the Investment Centre
prepared 31 investment projects in Africa for a total value
of US $1.25 billion, including US $762 million from external
funds. In 1997, 18 projects were approved for a total of US
$478 million, including US $328 million of loans.
FAO's Technical Co-operation Programme continues to act as a strong catalyst on account of its defining characteristics of rapid approval, limited project duration, low costs and practical orientation. A total of 168 new projects were implemented in Africa in 1996-97.
Restructuring and decentralization
The restructuring of FAO has proceeded under conditions
of severe budgetary limitation, with a focus on identifying
savings and improving efficiency through decentralization.
Besides reducing the number of staff members - posts fell from 4185 in January 1994 to 3599 in January 1998 - annual savings of US $25 million have been made by cuts in travel, translations, publications and meetings. Growing attention is now being given to training staff, to raising the contingent of women professionals and to ensuring equitable representation of Member Nations: the number of countries not represented among the staff dropped from 54 in January 1994 to 29 in January 1998, taking into account ongoing recruitment.
The decentralization process is nearing completion: all the new liaison and subregional offices are open; the regional offices have been reinforced; the last operations teams are on their way; Member Nation coverage by the network of FAO representatives has been extended through multiple accreditation and the use of National Programme Officers and National Correspondents. At present, 39 percent of the staff complement are assigned to decentralized offices. The decentralization of policy assistance and project operations will bring FAO more closely in touch with the needs of its Member Nations.
The restructuring process has been accompanied by a delegation of operational, administrative and financial responsibilities to departments at Headquarters and teams in the field, with the establishment of the Management Support Units and tighter audit control in all regional, subregional and country offices.
The Programme of Work and Budget
I should like to conclude this overview of the
highlights of the last two years by recalling that the
Conference approved a Programme of Work and Budget for
1998/99 with zero nominal growth which, in real terms,
equates to a reduction of 3.7 percent. Despite this,
however, the Organization has an unanimously endorsed
programme which, in contrast to the two previous biennia,
will not need adjustment. I think I can safely say that the
Organization has successfully completed its period of reform
and that it can now look to the future with confidence and
buckle down to its appointed mission of helping achieve
sustainable food security for all.
The situation in Africa
Mr. Chairman,
At the last FAO Regional Conference for Africa, I drew attention to the worsening food security situation in the continent. Unfortunately, matters have not improved; indeed in some countries they have deteriorated. After the good results of 1996, there was a sharp downturn in agricultural production in North Africa in 1997 and only a modest rise of 0.4 percent in the Sub-Saharan region.
The underlying causes of this state of affairs include natural disasters, such as floods, drought and disease, and the armed conflicts that have prompted the massive displacement of rural populations who, in extreme cases, become refugees. Such disasters seriously jeopardize the nutritional situation on the levels of both quantity and quality - and for women and children especially.
At the same time, Africa's annual population growth of almost 3 percent remains one of the highest in the world. Recent United Nations projections indicate that Africa's population will virtually triple by the year 2050 if the current trend prevails, from 758 million people today to about 2 billion. With population growth of this magnitude, food security will continue as an imperative and a challenge: imperative because of the fundamental right of each individual to a wholesome and balanced diet, and challenge because of the need to increase food production in a sustainable manner.
Regrettably, the present picture is one of accelerated degradation of the natural resources upon which agriculture depends. This applies not only to arable land but also to forests which, in Africa more than in any other continent, have paid and continue to pay a high price for poverty, food insecurity and low level of technology. Some 6 million hectares of forest were lost between 1990 and 1995, representing annual deforestation of 0.8 percent, against 0.7 percent for the period from 1980 to 1990.
The frequently cited causes - population growth, overgrazing, inappropriate cropping practices, fuelwood collection and unregulated forest use, together with bush fires and irregular weather - have been added to in recent years by civil wars and their trail of refugees that have devastated large tracts of forest in central Africa.
Absolute priority to food security
This rapid overview of the agricultural situation in
Africa dispels any doubt that food security should remain
the top priority, for this is the world's continent with the
highest percentage of malnourished persons. And unless
corrective measures are taken, Africa could well find itself
with 300 million chronically malnourished by the year 2010.
Furthermore, we need to remember that 43 of the 86 low-income food-deficit countries are in Africa, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa where two out of every five persons do not have access to an adequate diet. That is why the World Food Summit documentation and the initiatives taken by FAO to implement the Summit Plan of Action pay special attention to Africa.
Plan of Action measures of specific relevance to Africa include the enhanced harnessing of water resources, soil improvement and conservation, the safeguarding and rational use of forests, greater recourse to science and technology to raise agricultural production and productivity, improved conditions for harvesting fishery resources, the integrated and participatory development of the rural world and greater recognition of the role of women.
Harnessing water, a key factor for food security
As I have often stated, there can be no food security in
Africa without the controlled utilization and conservation
of water resources and without intensifying production
systems. Irrigation is an important element of security in
the face of widely fluctuating rainfall. It is also an
ingredient of intensification considering that irrigated
land is twice as productive as rainfed land. Yet only 12
million hectares in Africa are under irrigation out of a
potential of more than 40 million, that is 23% of the arable
area. The harnessing of water is therefore a core element in
FAO's Special Programme for Food Security. The improvement
and development of irrigation is a challenge that must be
met if we wish to ensure food security for the people of
Africa. Experience in the Sahel indicates that rainwater
collected from one hectare and used to irrigate another
hectare could triple or quadruple production.
Land resources, the basis of agricultural
production
The African continent is undeniably endowed with immense
expanses of land, but most of these have physical or
chemical limitations that prevent efficient agricultural
production. The improvement and conservation of soil
fertility, preservation of humidity and control of erosion
need therefore to be important components of agricultural
development. It was with this in mind that FAO launched the
International Scheme for Conservation and Rehabilitation of
African Lands in the early 1990s, a programme setting out to
foster rational land use by applying physical and biological
measures to conserve soil and water, thereby restoring
fertility and curbing erosion. Its operating strategy hinges
on helping local populations so that they can participate
actively in the implementation of land conservation,
improvement and sustainable utilization programmes.
The essential role of trees and forests
Millions of Africa's inhabitants depend heavily, for
their daily survival, on tree and forest products, whether
fruits, fats, animal proteins, fuelwood, building materials
or medicines. Hence the importance of such products in FAO's
programmes and the increase of initiatives in this area.
Ongoing actions aim firstly to assess the state of forest resources so that their production potential can be fully tapped and any threats to their future identified. FAO's programme of forest resources assessment for the year 2000 was launched back in 1996, with parallel support given to the countries of the region to build their national capacity to estimate and monitor these resources. A vast study on the forest outlook for Africa will be launched this year, shedding light on the status, trends and prospects of forest development in the Region between now and the year 2030 and thus helping determine measures that will revitalize the sector. The second type of action concerns the sustainable management of existing resources and involves the establishment - with the UNEP and the African Timber Organization - of management criteria and indicators to guide the implementation of field operations. Several pilot projects are also under way to test and demonstrate appropriate methods of forestry and forest use. Finally, FAO is closely implicated through its normative actions and its field projects in the conservation of forest and wildlife resources, and in the rehabilitation - through reforestation - of degraded agricultural, pastoral and forest land, particularly in the context of agro-forestry. All these actions are pursued in partnership with regional and subregional organizations, and with many African NGOs.
Fisheries, an important element of food security
Fisheries is an important element of food security.
Besides improving quality of nutrition, it also contributes
significantly to the economies of several African countries
in the form of employment, income and foreign exchange.
Efforts should therefore be continued to ensure the rational
management of fishery resources and the sustainable
development of fisheries, particularly artisanal fisheries.
In this connection, FAO will continue its work to adapt the
Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, which was adopted
by the Conference of FAO in October 1995, to the context of
Africa, and will help with its application. The development
of aquaculture also needs special attention as this is an
area with strong potential, despite now only accounting for
1.5% of fishery production against 15% world-wide.
Contribution of science and technology to food
security
As I have mentioned, science and technology need to be
better employed if agricultural production is to be
efficient and sustainable. This requires the involvement of
national agricultural research systems in partnership with
the international centres and their Technical Advisory
Committee based at FAO headquarters. FAO will continue to
help the countries of the region in the planning, organizing
and management of agricultural research and in the
evaluation and transfer of technologies.
Integrated and participatory rural development
FAO's rural development action is based on participatory
methods that will reinforce institutional capacity at the
grassroots level and access of the least privileged
population groups to employment, resources and basic
agricultural services. This is a cornerstone of the Special
Programme for Food Security. FAO also supports the local
networking of rural development institutions to help raise
the expertise of individuals, farmer leaders and
institutions.
In this context, recognition of the crucial and unassailable role of women in the pursuit of food security is a central feature of FAO's programmes, particularly in Africa. FAO is also helping national and regional institutions to develop their ability to plan the gradual integration of rural women into development programmes.
Finally, I should like to point out that this Conference will be deliberating on the future of the Centre on Integrated Rural Development of Africa, an intergovernmental institution that was set up in response to a request addressed by the African Nations to FAO at the 10th Regional Conference in 1978.
Mr. Chairman
Your Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen
You will have noted my emphasis on the sustainable utilization and management of natural resources, whether these be water, land, forests or fisheries, for therein lies a major challenge that this continent will have to face if it is to resolve the other challenge of ensuring sustainable food security for all Africans. These two issues are intrinsically linked, in Africa more than elsewhere, and it is in Africa that they feature most prominently. I was therefore very pleased to hear of your representatives' desire to take up these issues at this Conference, thereby endorsing the concerns of the Organization and of the international community as expressed at the World Food Summit and more recently at the first Conference of the Parties to the Convention to Combat Desertification. As you will have seen from the documents before you, it is high time that the governments of the region adopt courageous policies on these two issues and that the international community help them with their implementation. I therefore await the outcome of your deliberations with great interest and wish you every success in your work.
Thank you for your kind attention.
