Twentieth FAO Regional
Conference for Africa
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,16-20 February
1998
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.
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.
- 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 directassistance 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.
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 Sustainabl 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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 agriculturalservices. 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.
