Statement on the Occasion of
World Food Day
Rome, Italy, 16 October 1996
Mr President of the Republic of
Côte d'Ivoire,
Mr Minister,
Your Excellencies,
Most Reverend Monsignor,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me to begin by thanking you, Mr
President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, for
honouring us with your presence at this celebration and
for having agreed to address this assembly. The purpose
of this ceremony is not only to celebrate the anniversary
of the founding of FAO but also, and above all, to pay
tribute to all the men and women engaged in farming,
fisheries and forestry who work so hard to feed the
world. That is why, Mr President, I see your presence
among us as being doubly symbolic. First, because you
represent a country whose successful agricultural
development is a lesson for all; and I should like you,
in this connection, to convey my praise to the farmers of
Côte d'Ivoire for their many achievements. Second,
because you represent the African continent, which is
undoubtedly the region of the world where the challenge
of food security is most keenly felt. You will
understand, therefore, that we shall be listening most
attentively to your address to this assembly.
The theme of this year's World Food
Day is "Fighting Hunger and Malnutrition", a theme that
is all the more thought-provoking in that we are faced
with the continuing logic-defying paradox of a planet
that produces enough for everyone but at the same time
has over 800 million people who have no guarantee of an
adequate diet. Paradox,too, in that alongside food
insecurity, there are countries with food surpluses they
have no idea what to do with. And a further paradox in
that 2 billion people suffer nutritional deficiencies,
while obesity in some countries is reducing life
expectancy.
How on earth did we reach such a pass
and how can we accept it morally? But, more importantly
even, how can we get out of it?
It is our duty to help those who are
hungry and malnourished today and those who risk not
having enough food tomorrow. I am convinced that, unless
we do something for these people today, the problem will
only get worse tomorrow, when the world will have
millions and soon billions of additional inhabitants,
each with the right to an adequate, healthy and balanced
diet, but many will be denied this right unless we act
now. Hunger only gives the world wasted resources, wasted
human potential, social and politicalunrest, misery and
death. So we have no choice but to react.
What, to my mind, is particularly
unacceptable is that we know how to resolve the problem.
We have the tools and we have the know- how to use them.
Must I therefore conclude that we have lacked the
necessary will?
We have a dual challenge ahead: that
of producing enough food and that of ensuring that each
individual has access to this food and consequently food
security.
The high-yield varieties of wheat and
rice, and then maize, have enabled us to double and even
triple output on fertile land in thirty years. Improved
seeds became available at the same time as irrigation,
fertilizers and the means to control pests and diseases.
We must not lose sight of the increase in productivity
that the Green Revolution made possible, particularly in
Asia. Devastating famine was looming and had to be
checked. And so it was, with the farmers winning the day.
The cost to society and the environment was high, but at
least famine was averted, and we learned a great deal.
The potential of the technology
released by the Green Revolution has not been fully
realized - far from it. There is still a vast difference
between what small farmers can harvest and what
researchers can obtain at their experimental stations,
where output is on average three times higher. A similar
difference exists within countries between the yields
obtained by modern farmers and those obtained by small
peasant farmers. But no breathtaking scientific discovery
is required to curb such disparities; all we need is to
put into practice what we already know.
But we have let matters slide and the
chain of technology transfer has been broken. The farmers
cannot express their needs to the scientists as their
voices are drowned in the clamour of modern life, while
the researchers no longer pass on new discoveries to
farmers in many developing countries. This chain of
know-how is the lifeline of food security, yet we are
unable to communicate to the least privileged farmers,
often the women, the information they need to improve
their methods of production. We need to set this right as
soon as possible and to develop the extension systems.
After all, it would take so little to achieve so much.
We also need to support agricultural
research, both at the international and national levels.
We should encourage the research networks of one country
to work with those of other countries in the same region.
This would give sufficient critical mass to move forward
and avoid duplication of effort and the wastage of
precious resources. Working together beyond national
boundaries in agricultural research means working
together for peace. The Green Revolution showed us what
science can do to grow more food. So we must encourage
scientific research at all times, especially knowing that
it takes ten, even twenty years, for an idea in the
laboratory to reach practical application in the field.
And in twenty years there will be another 2 billion
mouths to feed.
But the instruments of the Green
Revolution need to be tempered, adjusted and supplemented
with other methods. We now know that we need to promote
integrated farming systems within a global framework of
sustainable development. Biotechnology is one of the
tools that we shall have to use wisely. We are now able
to introduce into the genetic code of seeds resistance to
pests that have hitherto been controlled by heavy use of
dangerous chemical products. We can build up cattle
resistance to trypanosomiasis through crossbreeding. We
know how to use genetic improvement in the aquacultural
production of tropical fish such as tilapia and carp. The
first transgenic plants are now being released on the
market. While the scientists, legal experts and public
opinion discuss nature and genetic engineering, we can
only hope that future scientific discoveries will produce
more food in a world without conflict. The Fourth
International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic
Resources held in Leipzig last June paved the way in this
connection, particularly with regard to the intellectual
property rights of bio-organisms. I am convinced that in
a few years' time we shall look back to the Leipzig
Conference and see it as a scientific turning point in a
field so vital to food security.
The Green Revolution called for
greater inputs. Production cannot be increased without
using more means, but the blind, indiscriminate use of
fertilizers and pesticides is a dangerous practice that
can result in pollution, poisoning, salinization and the
drying up of aquifers. We are now aware of the benefits
of good drainage and the integrated management of pests,
nutrients and crops. We also need to learn from
ecological agriculture and recognize the growing success
of organic farming. It is for us to build bridges between
these various schools of thought, making sure that none
are left out. Conflicts of belief or thought are out of
place when over 800 million human beings do not have
enough food. I strongly advocate open dialogue between
all relevant groups in all areas linked to the life and
work of farming communities. Food production is an area
in which we all have a contribution to make.
The Green Revolution increased the
output of the three main cereal crops at a time when
fertile land was widely available. The situation now,
however, is very different, with hardly any unused
fertile land left. We also need to pay greater attention
to the protection of natural habitats, especially
forests, for the safeguarding of biodiversity, the
regulation of climates, soil enrichment and the
conservation of water resources, because, in the final
analysis, we are all dependent on this natural
environment. Agriculture can no longer encroach without
restraint on forest or savannah, but must instead be
intensified where currently practised without endangering
the environment.
In marginal areas, farmers often
spread the risk by engaging in mixed systems that combine
agriculture with other economic activities. We need to
draw upon such ancestral wisdom and encourage combined
activities in their appropriate ecological and
socio-economic setting. They are an expression of
sustainable agricultural development, successfully
merging cropping, stock raising, poultry farming, fish
culture, forestry, hunting and gathering, the sale of
produce on local markets, seasonal migration and all
sorts of activities that mark the rhythm of a farming
household's working year.
However, past and future scientific
advances, the transfer of technology to farmers and the
introduction of environmentally-sound farming practices
will not be enough by themselves to achieve the
production objectives. These measures will have to be
accompanied by a heavy resumption of investment in
agriculture, for some of the constraints can only be
removed through investment. I am thinking in particular
of water management which is essential in many regions
with weather uncertainties. The potential does exist,
particularly in Africa, but it needs to be marshalled by
focusing on low-cost irrigation or water management
schemes that can be built and run by the farmers
themselves. I also have in mind road links, storage
facilities, communications and even schools and other
social amenities that are essential, not only for
production and market supply but also for the well-being
of the rural population who will thus remain in rural
areas.
These are all factors addressed in the
Special Programme on Food Production in Support of Food
Security which was initiated by FAO and its partners in
1994 for the benefit of the low-income, food-deficit
countries.
The other challenge before us is
access to food. While food security for small farmers can
be achieved by raising productivity, cushioning the
impact of irregular weather through water control and
increasing income by setting remunerative prices, we
cannot do the same for the urban poor who lack the means
to buy the food they need to survive. What they require
is an employment policy and appropriate food distribution
programmes.
Our efforts to achieve food security
need to focus primarily on women and the young, who are
the most vulnerable population groups. I am convinced
that in regions with agricultural potential, any increase
in production resulting from the actions I have mentioned
will generate income and employment, and will have a
beneficial impact on all sectors and the whole population
of the area. Other survival strategies, however, will
have to be found for regions where agriculture is
marginal and the environment fragile, and for areas of
urban poverty. Economic policies will have to be
rethought in both cases if we are to provide a setting
that is conducive to higher agricultural production on
the one hand, and to a broader selection of economic
activities on the other.
If universal access to food is to
become permanent, we will have to monitor the food supply
situation constantly at world, regional, national and
even local levels, not only to keep an eye on trends but
also to anticipate emergency situations so that the
international community can be mobilized in good time.
That is the role of FAO's Global Information and Early
Warning System.
Finally, we need to promote a system
of agricultural trade that will protect the consumer,
which is what FAO and its partners set out to do when
they establish internationally-recognized quality
standards and methods of analysis.
We have the human capital, the
theoretical understanding and the know-how to take up
this dual global challenge. And there is no doubt that we
can mobilize the necessary funds. What we lack, perhaps,
is the will to change our priorities, policies and
habits. Farmers will respond if given the necessary
incentives, if they feel they can shape their own
destinies, if they are taught how to enhance their
production, their land, their very lives, and if we place
our trust in them. Policy makers and senior
administrators should therefore restore agriculture to
its rightful priority status. Their first task is to
create a social, economic and policy framework that will
boost food production and encourage
sustainable farming practices. That is
the aspiration of the World Food Summit that will shortly
open its doors in Rome and that brings a ray of hope to
this World Food Day. The Summit will enable the world's
leaders to proclaim publicly their will and commitment to
do their utmost to eliminate hunger and malnutrition and,
in doing so, to involve the whole of civil society.
The science of today and that of
tomorrow offer us an opportunity, but this opportunity
will only produce results if given the right social,
economic and policy environment. What we need to do is to
come up with the will to create this environment. That is
the condition, which I know we are more than ready to
fulfil, if we are to overcome hunger and malnutrition.
That is my message on this World Food Day of 1996.
