World Food Prize Symposium on
Food Security
Food Security: An Assessment of the Global Condition and
Review of New Initiatives
Keynote address presented at the World
Food Prize Symposium on Food Security: New Solutions for
the 21st Century
Des Moines, Iowa, United States, 19 October
1996
Mr Chairman
Council of Advisors
Distinguished Laureates
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In an oft-quoted phrase, Tommasi di
Lampedusa reminded us that, "If you want things to stay
as they are, things will have to change". Regrettably
however, the situation that the world now finds itself in
demands that staying the same is not enough, we need to
do much better and in right earnest. Therefore, we not
only need real change, we need major innovation. Our
problems are not local, nor even national or regional.
They are global problems, requiring global changes to
respond to them.
What changes are we referring to? At
the most basic level, humanity must change the way that
it feeds itself. We must develop new and improved mode of
production, distribution and consumption. We must
galvanize the ingenuity and creativity of all sectors of
society to identify new strategies.
Let us look briefly at what we mean by
change. We want change because we want to progress,
because we want to alter and improve an existing
situation. But at the same time, we must recognize that
we do not begin from zero - there is no tabula rasa. As a
result, we should respect the need for continuity. The
historical process provides us with legacies and
structures, it yields starting points and imposes
constraints. Weaving a new fabric for global
societyrequires that we combine threads of change with
threads of continuity. I think that we can say that
today, we are beginning to see the emergence of a new
consensus. We know what is wrong and unacceptable -
starvation, malnutrition, deprivation and inequality. We
also understand that we can get over these problems
through a delicate balance between change and continuity:
change to adapt to new circumstances, scientific and
technological innovations, geopolitical adjustments,
economic and socio-political shifts and redefined roles
and responsibilities for government and civil society.
Continuity on the other hand, to ensure the endurance of
principles that retain a validity through time and to
acknowledge the influence of the past in order to fashion
the present and shape the future.
In advocating change ,therefore, we
should strive for balance. We must find a path shrouded
in a rationality that understands the process of change
fully, appreciating its roots and sensing its direction,
its rhythms and the risks involved. Through this, we can
determine and influence the course of change, rather than
having it imposed on us through the sheer force of
events. And in so doing we can ensure that it becomes
change with a human face.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In seeking to follow these guidelines
I have always sought inspiration from role-models whose
teaching and guidance can help illuminate the path
forward. Many can be called heroes. When we talk of
heroes of course we think of those people who have given
or devoted their lives for the betterment of others. But
we must also think of other heroes: the mothers who walk
20 miles a day, every day, so that their children may
have water, the fathers who toil in parched fields until
they drop from exhaustion so that their families might
have food, the children who work 16 hour days in
sweat-shops, their fingers rubbed raw, so that they might
augment their family's meagre incomes, the pastoralists
who wander barren landscapes in search of water and
sustenance for their famished cattle and the fishers who
venture out onto stormy seas or dangerous inland
waterways to provide income and food for their families.
These are the real heroes of the modern age - millions of
people, unknown to all but their families and friends,
the people whose daily struggles define them as heroes.
And then again, there are others, heroes of more classic
design. These are the people who have dedicated their
lives to ease the suffering of others - there are indeed
several here today. People who have sought to mobilize
scientific research and learning and technological
innovation as tools for increased food production and
food security. Others who have assumed leadership roles
in the field of international development finance and
still others who have devoted themselves to furthering
the appeal and effect of ecotechnologies and other
sustainable natural resource management practices. I
should like however to focus, albeit briefly, on one
man's achievements - they demonstrate to us the real
value and purpose of applied learning and innovation.
Norman Borlaug was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1971, an honour that attests to an
individual's contribution to humankind -this award was
not given for brokering peace nor for ending conflict.
And neither, for that matter, was it in recognition of
scientific endeavour per se. It was given in
recognition of his work directed at
increasing food security, in improving the everyday
existence of millions of people.
And I think that this confirms a very
important point. Peace can only be found through
economic, social and nutritional
security - how many wars and conflicts
and how much discrimination and prejudice have we seen
that have emerged in contexts of
increasing poverty, declining livelihoods and rising
insecurity. It is only through marshalling the energies
of science and devoting them to
the direct improvement of individual and collective
livelihoods that we can hope to ensure
peace at local, national and
international levels. And this is why I think that it is
so very right that the Nobel Peace Prize
was awarded to a person who, perhaps more
than any other individual, has set about the task of
increasing foodproduction, thereby heightening
opportunities for peace and security.
And at this point, I also wish to
highlight the importance of other initiatives such as the
World Food Prize. Since its
inception in 1987, it has celebrated,
without regard to race, religion, nationality or
political beliefs, the achievements of
individuals who have advanced human
development by improving the quality, quantity, or
availability of food in the world.
Mr Ruan and your fellow Councillors, I, as
Director-General of the Food and Agriculture
Organization, applaud your
endeavours.
Ladies and
Gentlemen,
Let me move to the main theme of my
talk. I was asked to speak on food security, the current
global condition and review some
of the more strident new initiatives. I have already
identified two core principles - the need to
balance change and continuity and
the necessity of marshalling science and technology for
the improvement of food security in
an appropriate and sustainable manner The
latter, we know, is of vital importance. This is why
initiatives such as Global 2000,
in which Mr. Borlaug is using his skills and excellence
to produce higher crop yields in selected African
nations through the use of
Production Test Plots (PTPs), and easily available
technology must be both commended and
extended.
But let me move onto the contemporary
global condition. Stated simply, it gives cause for grave
concern. Over 800 million people
currently suffer energy-deficient diets. Demographic
growth rates mean that world population will grow
by about a billion in the next 10 years -
and I call upon you to remember that it took over a
million years for the human
population to reach one billion. It is
true that the growth of food supplies have exceeded
population growth rates, although
there has been some levelling off of this trend in recent
years. Production must continue to increase in the
future in order to ensure that enough
food is available for the growing population and to
absorb the ever larger back-log of
food-deficit households.
What does energy-deficiency mean? It
means constant gnawing hunger, it means
desperation, it means reduced labour
outputs, and it means reduced tolerance to infection, and
ultimately, it means a lingering
death. The World Health Organisation, for example,
reported that 41.5% of deaths in the developing
world result directly from
infectious and parasitic diseases. This means that in the
30 or so minutes that I will speak this
morning, somewhere around nine hundred
people will have died as a result of infectious and
parasitic diseases - many of these
people being simply too weak and undernourished to
withstand infections.
There are 82 Low-Income Food-Deficit
Countries - countries that are unable to produce or
import sufficient food to
guarantee food security for their
populations - indeed, only 7 of them have equivalent per
caput daily food supplies of more
than 2700 calories. In all, there are over 800 million
people who suffer chronic malnutrition and over 200
million children who suffer acute
or chronic protein and calorie deficiency. We are then
very far from the vision of FAO's
founding fathers, and more than 20 years
after the World Food Conference of 1974, 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 of the
human rights, without which the others have no meaning.
How can a hungry person be
expected to exercise his or her right to
education, work and culture, or to participate fully in
the political and social life of
the community? It was Seneca who warned
us that a hungry people are unlikely to respect laws, nor
listens to reason, nor cares for
justice, nor is bent by any prayers.- Let us not forget
this warning.
For so long, we assumed, mistakenly so
it turned out, that global food reserves would provide
security against national
shortfalls. We now know that this is
wrong. For the majority of Low-Income Food-Deficit
Countries, food security must be
derived from within not without. And this is why I, as
Director-General of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, have
recently launched two initiatives. The first is the
Special Programme for Food
Security in Low-Income Food-Deficit
Countries, the second, the forthcoming World Food Summit,
to be held next month at FAO
Headquarters in Rome.
Please allow me to expand briefly on
some of the trends and conditions that characterize the
modern age and prompted these two
initiatives. We have already referred to the burgeoning
crisis of food security. In addition, there are some
clear trends: slower but
continuing population growth rates, improved economic
growth prospects for many developing
countries, deteriorating prospects
however for others, a continued slow-down in agricultural
growth rates and, perhaps most
hearteningly, clear signs of progress in food and
nutrition conditions for a large part of the population.
But importantly, and indeed sadly,
the persistence of totally inadequate food and nutrition
conditions appears to be the future
facing many millions of the world's less
privileged and most vulnerable inhabitants. These, of
course, are only predictions based
on current trends. They could all, and I hope, will, be
modified with the correct application of vision
and will.
Let us now look briefly at some of the
features characterizing modern agriculture. One cannot
really generalize: the
richheterogeneity that defines the
world's peoples, cultures and regions prohibits
standardized descriptif. Nonetheless,
certain trends appear to be emerging.
Agriculture is becoming more feminized. Not since the
so-called Neolithic Revolution
have we seen such a predominant role for women in
agricultural production and decision-making.
Likewise, agriculture is becoming
increasingly urbanized. By this, I do not refer only to
the growth of agricultural production
systems within many of the world's large
and small cities - Sao Paolo and Nairobi spring readily
to mind - but also to the growing
difficulties associated with separating the urban and
rural sectors. We see that agriculture is becoming
increasingly linked, economically,
demographically and socially to urban areas. The once
clear separation is becoming
increasingly indistinct. Likewise, we can
see that the retreat of the state from many aspects of
social, political and economic
life is resulting in reconfigured agricultural policy
environments. I
n many countries one is able to
witness two parallel processes: an
emergent institutional vacuum resulting from the decline
of state involvement, coupled with an
increasing importance being attached to
the participation of the private sector and civil society
in decision and policy-making
processes. This, I believe, is the main hope for the
future - the formation of new partnerships that
combine individuals and groups from
diverse sectors of society, bringing together the most
modern and appropriate scientific
innovations with time-proven indigenous knowledge
systems, in order to confront the policy problems of
the modern age. I do not wish to
sound too optimistic however. The end of the Cold War has
not brought an end to war or
conflict itself. And whilst conflict
abounds, development cowers. Indeed, there can be no
economic development and,
singularly, no improvement in food
security, unless there is peace. There can be no peace
without justice, and no just
relations between individuals and
peoples, unless the inalienable rights of peoples and
nations are respected. One only
has to recall the wise words of
Eisenhower, delivered at the "The Chance for Peace"
address on 16 April 1953: - Every
gun that is made, every warship launched,
every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a
theft from those who hunger and
are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.-
Let me now return to the forthcoming
World Food Summit and FAO's Special Programme for Food
Security in Low-Income
Food-Deficit Countries. The World Food Summit is
conceived as a large-scale operation to enlist a
solemn commitment at the top level
to eliminate hunger and malnutrition and to undertake
concerted action at global, regional
and national level to ensure food
security for all. This has been the underlying aspiration
behind the organization of the
World Food Summit.
Any solution to the terrible problems
of today inevitably entails an unprecedented scale of
changes in policies and measures
that can only be implemented after collective and
profound reflection by all interested parties, including
the public authorities,
universities and researchers, the private sector, NGOs
and, more particularly, farmers' organisations,
women and the young.
Such clarity of purpose will
inevitably be countered by scepticism, here and there,
questioning the need for the Summit.
What, they may well ask, is the point,
after so many initiatives of allkinds? Was not concern to
feed the world the springboard for
the establishment of FAO 50 years ago, followed by the
Freedom from Hunger Campaign, the two
World Food Congresses of 1963 and 1970,
the World Food Conference of 1974 and, more recently, the
International Conference on
Nutrition in 1992? We can answer this on two levels.
Firstly, this will be the first time in the 50
years since FAO was founded that a
meeting on these issues is held at the level of Heads of
State and Government. And the fact
that the proposal was unanimously approved by the
Conference of FAO and the United Nations General
Assembly clearly attests that the
world food problem has now become so serious that it
demands priority consideration at the
highest level. Secondly, while FAO's
mandate has not changed from that laid down by the
founding fathers in its
Constitution, the sheer size and the
nature of the problems have evolved with a speed typical
of this, the short century, as a
well-known historian recently described it. And lastly,
it is FAO's fundamental responsibility to alert world
opinion and world leaders to the
deteriorating food situation before it attains
catastrophic proportions.
The focus of the Summit will be on
meaningful, sustainable action. In the spirit of UNCED's
Agenda 21, rather than
relentlessly pushing out agricultural
boundaries and jeopardising fragile ecosystems, efforts
will centre on high potential
areas where productivity can be increased
by intensifying farming practices with, in particular,
the conservation, collection and
harnessing - and hence better management - of water.
However, where this is not a feasible option,
marginal lands will have to be developed
sustainably without causing environmental damage. 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 by all, more efficient
distribution and far fewer food losses.
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",
whic slogan FAO has adopted for the forthcoming years.
The driving force for this Food for All Campaign would be
National Committees involving all
segments of civil society: the private sector, NGOs,
academic and research institutions,
women's associations, and youth groups.
To muster the support and mobilization necessary to
ensure its success would demand
long-term commitment and sustained resources. The mandate
and objectives of the Food for All Campaign
would be determined by the Summit, and
its structure adapted to the specific situation of each
country. The mechanism established
would supplement the governmental National FAO Committees
already in place.
How will this Summit differ from
the many past attempts to combat hunger and malnutrition?
Is this initiative any more likely
to succeed than all its predecessors? In times of
increasing urgency and growing budgetary restraint
and accountability, FAO would not
have launchedsuch a large-scale initiative without being
confident that the Summit is
worthwhile. In fact I believe that it is
more than this. The World Food Summit is vital. It will
direct global attention at one of
the most pressing problems facing humankind as we enter
the forthcoming millennium. It will identify
concrete actions and strategies.
It will help to foster global responses. It will act as a
catalyst for galvanising all sectors of society
to strive for the goal of food security
and - Food for All -.
The World Food Summit does indeed
differ in many respects from previous events addressing
the problem of world food
security. In contrast to recent high level meetings, the
Summit has been convened by a body that was
specifically set up to deal with
food and agricultural development. This ensures both 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. I am speaking of the Special Programme for Food
Security, and the Emergency Prevention System for
Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and
Diseases (EMPRES).
These two programmes demonstrate FAO's
concern regarding preventative measures as well as
reactive responses to existing
problems. EMPRES is directed at prevention. It was
established in 1994 and has two components: animal
pests and plant pests. The
unifying theme, however, and one that I feel reflects
some of FAO's unique comparative advantages,
is that it is directed at pests that are
both transboundary and fluid in nature. Locusts, the
plant pest element of EMPRES, are
in many ways the stealth terrorists of the animal world -
their ability to shift location rapidly and invisibly is
both remarkable and one of the
causes of their endurance. And locusts, we know, hold
little respect for national boundaries.
Similarly, livestock pests such as
rinderpest, lumpy skin disease and contagious bovine
pleuropneumonia are both fickle in
their disrespect for national boundaries and adept at
escaping emergency responses.
The underlying theme of the Special
Programme on Food Production in Low-Income Food-Deficit
Countries is similar: a proactive
strategy directed at food production increases. If you
will allow me, I should like to explore the
Special Programme in more detail.
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 could lead to
extremely violent and serious
conflicts unless we put things right. FAO is so keenly
aware of the need for strong, immediate action that it
has launched this special
programme. This Programme is directed, as the name
implies, towards low-income food-deficit
countries. It is now being implemented in
its pilot phase in about 15 countries.
The main thrust of the Programme is to
work on a specific, day-to-day basis with farmers,
livestock owners, forest workers,
fishing communities and fish farmers, so that they can
sustainably increase their productivity and thus
combat poverty. The Programme's
activitiesinclude demonstration of improved techniques in
the farmers' own fields.
Identification, implementation and
evaluation are all done by those most directly involved:
the farmers themselves.
Additionally, the Programme strongly
emphasizes the absolute necessity for 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 of the world, women are the main providers
of food, which they grow, prepare and store.
They are responsible for children's
education and for handing down cultural values and
know-how related to food. Without
broad-based people's participation, particularly of the
feminine population, there would be no momentum or
spill-over effect, no continuity, and no
universal adhesion to a joint undertaking.
We are in a crisis. We require new
solutions. We need new innovative strategies and methods.
Eight hundred and forty million
malnourished people is a poor testament to the supposed
achievements of Modernity. As we move into the
third millennium, it is these
voices, and the millions more of those as yet unborn, who
demand change. But in seeking to
confront these problems, I do believe
that we can draw hope from the words of Nehru, the first
leader of post-Colonial India: -
Crises and deadlocks when they occur have at least this
advantage, that they force us to think.-
Finally, Ladies and gentlemen, before
I close, allow me to emphasize one important point. Our
efforts at the Food and
Agriculture Organization are not the
fruit of our labour alone. They embody the efforts of our
Member Nations, governments, the
private sector, farmers' organizations, community groups,
civil society and, of course, our sister
international agencies. Whatever we do
and whatever we propose is enriched with their vision and
their will. Our actions are a
synthesis of their attempts to decipher the symptoms of
the contemporary malaise, and their endeavours to
identify the pace and rhythm of
necessary change and transformation. It is only when we
succeed in the construction and
amplification of partnerships and
broad-based coalitions, when we move away from words and
embrace deeds, that we will really
be in a position to claim that we are fighting these
problems. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am appealing for a
new Covenant for rural
development, a New Deal for the Countryside, in short,
Food for All.
