Twenty-third FAO Regional
Conference for the Near East
Rabat, Morocco, 26-30 March 1996
Mr Chairman,
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In opening the Twenty-third FAO
Regional Conference for the Near East, may I express our
profound gratitude to the Government and people of
Morocco for their fraternal welcome: our Moroccan friends
have received us with great warmth and care as befits
this noble country's time-honoured tradition of
hospitality.
This Conference will be reviewing the
problems of agriculture, food and rural development
within the region. It is unique, however, in that it will
also be defining the regional stance visàvis the
World Food Summit to be held this November in Rome. Your
contribution to the general debate is very important as
this is the first of a series of five preparatory
meetings and will thus serve as an example for the other
regions of the world. At the very dawn of history, your
region was instrumental in the birth and development of
agriculture, harnessing and developing the great river
basins of the Tigris, the Euphrates and the Nile.
Irrigation was invented in the Near East, and up to the
Middle Ages your agronomists had made greater strides
than anyone in production techniques and the rational
utilization and conservation of the resource base.
For many years the vicissitudes of
history and climate shrouded this past splendour, but now
we see a return to a time when government policies and
the decisive action of the new generations of agronomists
(but most of all the skills, ageold wisdom and patient
courage of the region's farmers) have fostered an
impressive renewal. This is manifestly clear from the
sharply rising production and food supplies in the region
in the last 20 or 30 years, which unhappily have been
dogged by a sharp rise in the population.
Progress in food production in the
region is bound to have a strong impact on the work of
the Summit, whose basic goal is to enlist a top level
commitment to eliminate hunger and malnutrition and to
take specific action through combined world, regional and
national efforts to ensure food security for all.
What is the rationale for such a
Summit, when FAO itself, the Freedom from Hunger
Campaign, the two World Food Congresses of 1963 and 1970,
the World Food Conference in 1974, and the more recent
International Conference on Nutrition in 1992 all sprang
from this same underlying concern?
The main answer is that this will be
the first meeting since FAO was founded 50 years ago to
be held at the very top level: Heads of State and
Government. It was unanimously approved by the Conference
of FAO and the United Nations General Assembly because
the world food problem is now considered to be so
serious. And it is FAO's fundamental responsibility to
alert world opinion and world leaders to the
deteriorating world food situation before it attains
catastrophic proportions.
Furthermore, while our mandate has not
changed from that laid down by the founding fathers in
FAO's Constitution, the sheer size and the nature, even,
of the problems we face have evolved at a speed typical
of the century in which we live.
There has undoubtedly been prodigious
progress in the realms of technology and knowhow, as
exemplified by the Green Revolution, and there is no
question that the transformation in plant and animal
production, the knowledge and use of inputs, water
management, and progress in conservation, storage and
processing techniques have revolutionized the rural and
agricultural sector.
And yet at the same time, there are
more than twice as many mouths to feed, and as their
number continues to grow, available per capita
farmland diminishes. Intensive exploitation (particularly
as practised in the most developed countries) degrades
the environment. In the poor countries, forest cover is
shrinking fast while increasingly marginal land is being
brought under the plough, accelerating the pace of
erosion. Fishery resources are overexploited and in this
as in many other domains, nature can no longer regenerate
its resources as fast as people destroy them.
Additionally, even though there is now
enough food to feed everyone in the world, its
distribution remains terribly skewed both within and
between countries, and from one region to another. The
poverty of people, households, social groups and nations
is driving a terrible wedge, a situation further
aggravated by political upheaval, conflict, and the
growing plethora of refugees and displaced persons. In
the developing countries nearly 800 million people suffer
from chronic undernutrition, and nearly 200 million
children under the age of five are affected by severe or
chronic protein calorie deficiency. We are really very
far from the vision of FAO's founding fathers. And more
than 20 years after the 1974 World Food Conference, the
goal of "eradicating hunger, food insecurity and
malnutrition within a decade" remains stubbornly beyond
our grasp.
And yet the right to food is the first
and foremost human right, without which all the others
are empty and without resonance. How can a hungry person
be expected to exercise his or her right to education,
work and culture, and to participate fully in the
political and social life of the community? Food and
water loom prominently among the major world challenges
as we enter the third millennium. The dimensions of the
problem are ethical, political and strategic, and may
well lead to extremely violent and serious conflict
unless we put things right.
FAO is so keenly aware of the need for
strong and immediate action that it has launched a
Special Programme on Food Production in Support of Food
Security in Low Income Food Deficit Countries without
awaiting the worldlevel decisions that will be taken by
the Summit. Ido not need to spell out the details of this
wellknown Programme, but its approach might serve as a
source of inspiration in shaping the Policy Statement and
Plan of Action that wil be submitted for Summit approval.
This Programme addresses the challenge
of food insecurity from different angles:
The main thrust is to work on a
specific and daily basis with farmers, livestock owners,
forest workers, fishing communities and fish farmers to
sustainably increase their productivity and thus combat
poverty. Programme activities include the demonstration
of improved techniques in the farmers' own fields.
Identification, implementation and evaluation are all
done by those most directly involved: the farmers
themselves.
This last point leads into a second
characteristic of the Programme: the strong emphasis on
people's participation, particularly that of women. Women
indeed play a predominant, multifaceted and totally
irreplaceable role in feeding the household and
community: in many regions, women are the main providers
of food which they grow, prepare and store. They are
responsible for the children's education and handing down
cultural values and know-how related to food. Without
broadbased people's participation, particularly of the
feminine population, there would be no momentum or
spillover effect, no continuity, and no universal
adhesion to a joint undertaking: this could easily cost
the Programme its impetus and impact.
A third and parallel aspect of the
Programme is the immense effort of cooperation and
consultation at all levels: the recipient countries, FAO
and donors;the recipient countries and developed
countries offering bilateral aid; and SouthSouth
exchanges in the spirit of economic and technical
cooperation among developing countries. The philosophy
behind the Programme, now in its pilot phase in about 15
countries and showing promising results, will help to
chart the major orientations of the Summit.
The focus will also be on meaningful
sustainable action. In the spirit of UNCED's Agenda 21
Programme, rather than relentlessly pushing out
agricultural boundaries and jeopardizing fragile
ecosystems, efforts will centre on highpotential areas
where productivity can be increased by intensifying
farming practices with, in particular, the conservation,
collection and harnessing of water for better water
management. However, where this is not a feasible option,
as in several countries in your region, marginal lands
will have to be developed sustainably without causing
environmental damage hence this special item on your
agenda. The aim, in both cases, is to increase output
sufficiently to cater for population growth and raise
nutritional levels where serious food deficiencies exist.
However, increasing output is only part of the equation;
we need to ensure that the benefits from national efforts
reach all members of society and particularly its poorest
members. Measures will therefore be needed for more
equitable access to food for all, more efficient
distribution and far fewer food losses.
Public opinion and the media will have
to be mobilized, with world political leaders setting the
guidelines for resolute and vigorous food policies and
solid sustained action. The general debateon food will
also address the problems of investment and trade, and,
in this connection, your agenda includes an item on the
impact of the Uruguay Round agreements on the
agricultural economies of the region.
Beyond the Summit itself, what is
needed is a truly global campaign, with cooperation and
consultation at all levels. Following in the footsteps of
the Freedom from Hunger Campaign, its theme would be
"Food for All", which is the slogan FAO has adopted for
the forthcoming years. This "Food for All Campaign" would
be driven by National Committees with the participation
of the private sector, non governmental organizations,
academic and research institutions, women and youth
groups and civil society in general. It would ensure the
continued support and awareness necessary for an
endeavour requiring longterm commitment and resources in
order to be successful. The mandate and objectives of
this "Food for All Campaign" would be decided by the
Summit, while its structure would be adapted to the
specific situation of each country. This mechanism would
complement the governmental FAO National Committees
existing in member countries. A document on this subject
is before you and you may consider recommending that such
a Campaign be launched by the Summit.
How will this Summit differ from the
many past attempts to combat hunger and malnutrition? Is
this initiative more likely to succeed than all its
predecessors?
One original concept in the
preparation of the Summit is that no costly special
meetings have been required, with all necessary
consultations being held during the course of regular
sessions of the Organization's Statutory Bodies. Thus, at
its Twentyfirst Session a few weeks ago, the Committee on
World Food Security initiated discussion of the multiple
facets of the draft Policy Statement and Plan of Action
that the Summit is to adopt. The text before you is
therefore no longer a first draft and will be further
refined in the light of your comments. The Summit will be
held at FAO Headquarters. Every effort is being made to
involve the private sector, NGOs, parliamentarians,
researchers and academics and young people in its
preparation and to promote all initiatives that will help
ensure its success.
The World Food Summit differs in many
respects from previous events addressing the problem of
world food security.
In contrast to recent highlevel
meetings, the Summit has been convened by a body that was
specifically set up to deal with food and agricultural
development, and which therefore has a solid base and the
human and material resources to implement its programmes.
Furthermore, two key practical initiatives are already in
train to achieve food security for all and the Summit
will be able to take concrete decisions so that these are
effectively and globally implemented.
The challenge before the World Food
Summit is not unprecedented, for much has been done to
overcome hunger and malnutrition, to bolster agricultural
growth and to ensure that food is distributed more
equitably. But past actions have for the most part been
oneoff, uncoordinated efforts, while what are now
required are articulated actions that will target every
country where the need to secure or consolidate food
security is becoming increasingly acute. The many
implications of this huge undertaking will all have to be
squarelyfaced for they are all interlinked: production,
conservation of the resource base, investment and
infrastructure, social and economic policies to guarantee
fair distribution of food, not to mention the thorny
issue of international trade. This is indeed a momentous
challenge: how are we to change everything that needs
changing in the world food situation; how are we to feed
the hundreds of millions of our fellow human beings who
must finally, in one way or another, be assured regular
access to an adequate diet?
FAO has not stood still on the long
journey towards success. It has done - and done well -
everything that it has been asked to do. It has done much
solid work, such as furthering the international
standards in force on pesticides, plant genetic resources
and other matters. But has this really changed life in
the resource poor villages of the Third World? Has
productivity increased in the leastdeveloped countries?
Has the use of fertilizers and other inputs and the
biological control of pests and diseases been enough to
raise production to the required level without harming
the environment? Has definitive progress been made
against hunger, malnutrition and the poverty of
individuals and nations?
Unhappily, the answer is all too
clearly no. There must be a way of doing more and doing
better, of pooling our random efforts and mounting an
all-out attack on hunger from all sides, for the good of
future generations and for the very survival of the human
race.
The huge surpluses in the developed
countries (which were also hard to manage, economically
speaking) were long seen as a global cushion against
serious shortfalls. But, even back in the 1970s, the food
crisis brought home how easily these surpluses could
vanish like snow in the sun, leaving painful shortages.
After a renewed period of bumper surpluses, we are now
back to a situation where the world's grain reserves have
fallen below the level considered necessary to guarantee
global food security. World prices have soared and the
low-income, fooddeficit developing countries will have to
pay out an additional 3 billion dollars this year for
their food imports.
The poet Aragon wrote that man's work
is never done; but it is precisely this state of
uncertainty that inspires human endeavour. Has not
impending disaster always driven people to come up with
the energy and inventive capacity required for their
survival?
Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, we
are all living today in a state of impending disaster.
Paradoxically, however, this could
prove to be the salvation of this and future generations,
if only we can read the signs of the times and rise to
the occasion. Untold clarity of mind, imagination,
courage, patience and tenacity will be required, as will
concerted mobilization on a scale largely unparalleled in
human history. Citizens of all countries and ranks, of
all ages and religions; associations and groups of all
kinds; professionals from all sectors; community leaders
in all walks of life, whether intellectual, social,
economic, political or spiritual; government officials
and representatives of all levels, men and women from the
smallest village to the largest international
organization will all have to marshal their forces and
rally together for an allout joint effort.
Are there sufficient resources for a
such vast undertaking? Will the interdependence of our
global village outweigh the narrow shortterm interests
that divide it? I hope with all my heart that this is so.
The fact that so many nations have come together today at
this meeting, out of solidarity and a desire for justice,
can only reinforce my conviction that the harder and more
serious the situation is, the more we can depend on human
ingenuity.
It is therefore with full confidence
that I wish you every success in your meetings.
Thank you.
