regarding fisheries and aquaculture,
the reinforcement of the regional bodies, such as
COPESCAL, and the staging of 21 technical consultations
on the management of marine fishery resources of
different regions, within 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.
Processing, analysis and
dissemination of information
The Organization has, of course,
continued to pursue its function of collecting,
processing, analysing and disseminating information, for
example by publishing the annual report of the State of
Food and Agriculture which now includes a section on
developments in food security as a 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 technology
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: FAO statistical data, FAO textual
information and FAO 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 2 million hits each
month and is providing information to English-, Arabic-,
Spanish- and French-speaking users.
Partnerships
The Organization has also strengthened
coordination and cooperation 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, cooperation 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. So far three
countries are already providing such assistance and
negotiations are ongoing with 18 others. 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 this Region, during
the last two years the activity of the Investment Centre
made possible the preparation of projects for about US$
2.2 billion including external loans for about US$ 1.35
billion, mainly from the World Bank and IFAD. Approved
projects cover most of the agriculture and forestry
sector, with a clear concentration in poverty alleviation
activities in rural communities; natural resource
management including biodiversity conservation; water
resources management; land tenure; and forestry
development and management.
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 122 projects was under implementation in the
Latin American and Caribbean Region in 1996-1997, 16 of
which had a regional coverage.
Restructuring and
decentralization
The restructuring of FAO has proceeded
under conditions of severe budgetary limitations, with a
focus on identifying savings and improving efficiency
through decentralization. The number of posts fell from
4185 in January 1994 to 3599 in January 1998. Growing
attention is now being given to training staff and
raising the contingent of women professionals while
continuing to ensure equitable representation of Member
Nations: the number of countries not represented among
the staff dropped from 54 in January 1994 to 29 in April
1998, taking into account ongoing recruitment.
The decentralization process is
nearing completion: all the new liaison and sub-regional
offices are open and the Regional Office in Santiago,
Chile, has been substantially strengthened. Thanks to
this process, there are now 40 professionals working
there in comparison to 26 in 1996. The Operations and
Policy Assistance Branches have been set up and are now
working as decentralized structures. Member Nations
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 is assigned to
decentralized offices.
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, sub-regional and
country offices.
Programme of Work and Budget
1998/99
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, amounts to a reduction of 3.7
percent. Despite this, however, the Organization has a
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 to achieve sustainable food security for
all.
General Situation in the Latin
America and Caribbean region
Mr. Chairman,
Allow me now to address the situation
of food and agriculture in Latin America and the
Caribbean and briefly refer to issues of major concern to
most countries in the Region.
The Latin American and Caribbean
countries are consolidating a new style of development
according to global economic changes, the new ways of
addressing international relations and the accelerated
technological changes which have given way to the
economic and financial globalization. This process is
taking place in a political context marked by the spread
of democracy in the Region, and in an economic
environment that recognises at the same time the role of
the market in the allocation of resources and the
responsibilities of the State in ensuring sustainable
development and social equity. The old antinomy between
public and private sector is being substituted by a more
complementary role between them. The State is now
expected to favour market development and contribute to
its long-term efficiency within a context which
guarantees adequate distribution of the financial results
of economic growth.
During the biennium 1996-1997 the
level of activity in the Region has recovered, with an
average growth rate of 5.3 percent of the global GDP
during 1997, one of the highest in the last 25 years. In
an unstable world economy, the Region was able to
diminish its vulnerability to external fluctuations,
overcoming the major difficulties derived from problems
in other regions. At the same time, domestic stability
indicators have improved. Inflation continued to decrease
to reach in 1997 a regional average of only 11 percent,
the lowest in many decades. Most countries had inflation
rates of a single digit. Latin American and Caribbean
economies are now much more open, stable and competitive,
while making a rapid progress towards their economic and
commercial integration.
However, in front of these
macroeconomic successes, old challenges persist and have
even increased. A feature of utmost concern of the
present economic set-up is the growing and social
polarisation. Economic growth is not accompanied by a
more equitable income distribution: estimates of the
difference in growth of the per capita income in the
Region between 1991 and 1995 show that the top quintile
grew by 5% while income of the middle and lower groups
grew by only 3%. In several countries, the income
concentration has tended to increase (i.e. Argentina,
Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay and Venezuela). At
the same time, the vicious circle of poverty and
deterioration of the natural resources base continues to
be one of the main problems for the sustainability of
development in the Region. At the beginning of this
decade, the number of poor people reached an
unprecedented level of around 150 million and has not
declined since then. In all the countries of the region,
the incidence of poverty is much higher in rural areas
than in urban ones: more than 50% of the rural population
and around 30% of the urban population live in conditions
of poverty or indigence. This poses a serious threat on
the region´s environment as the rural poor struggle
to survive pushing the agricultural frontier to fragile
lands and overexploitation of existing plots.
Food Security
One of the main contrasting issues in
the Region refers to food security. Overall, the regional
food, agricultural and fisheries production is in
surplus. Nevertheless, six countries of the Region do not
meet the basic nutritional requirements, and the
populations of four others are in a precarious situation,
just above the basic nutritional requirements. Moreover,
all over the Region a significant part of the population
has food access problems due to insufficient income. To a
great extent, this is the case of the rural population.
While poverty affects almost one third of the Region's
population, in rural areas this proportion reaches almost
55 percent.
FAO has initiated or strengthened a
number of important actions as a follow-up to the Rome
Declaration on World Food Security and the Plan of Action
of the World Food Summit, in particular the extension of
its Special Programme for Food Security in low-income,
food-deficit countries. As I have already mentioned, this
programme is aimed at helping these countries to improve
their national food security, through rapid increases in
productivity and food production on an environmentally
and economically sustainable basis. FAO cooperates with
the Governments in the formulation and implementation of
a country programme based on national ownership and a
participatory approach. By favouring small producers and
women, the conditions of access to food are also
improved.
Unfortunately, during this period the
El Niño phenomenon has once more seriously
affected twelve countries in the Region, leaving farmers
and vulnerable groups exposed to food insecurity. Floods
and landslides in Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador, and
droughts and forest fires in Brazil, Honduras and Mexico
have caused extensive damage to the agricultural
infrastructure and losses in the production, as well as
disruptive and distortive effects on the local
markets..
Trade
The integration of national
agricultural sectors in regional and international
markets has been, and continues to be, an issue of
special interest in all the countries of the Region.
Despite the progress achieved, concerns still persist on
the adjustment of certain productions (basic grains in
Central America, poultry in Argentina and Peru, dairy
products in Costa Rica, Peru and Uruguay), the impact on
employment and income for small producers, the State's
ability to soften the negative impacts and promote the
sector's competitiveness, and the convenience of
deepening or reviewing the level and conditions of the
opening of markets. Despite the allocation of public
resources to address these issues, in many countries the
professional staff and financial resources at the
disposal of the Ministries of Agriculture are not
sufficient to cover adequately the preparation and active
participation of the sector in trade negotiations
currently under way, as well as in the implementation of
commitments derived from the Uruguay Round, the
assessment of their possible impacts, andthe design or
strengthening of activities to support the subsequent
sectoral adjustments. This is a field of great importance
in which FAO's technical assistance capacity has special
relevance. FAO intends to support and accompany the
preparation and evaluation efforts towards the new round
of the multilateral agricultural reform process which
will be initiated in 1999 under the framework of the
World Trade Organization.
Natural resource sustainable
management
In the new context of policy and
institutional reforms being pursued by the countries of
the Region, the need to strengthen the approach to
natural resource management must be highlighted. Forests
cover nearly half of the total area of Latin American and
Caribbean and represent around a quarter of the world's
forestry area. They are, therefore, of vital importance
to the economic, social and environmental development of
the countries of the Region but, unfortunately, the
natural forest cover continues to decrease in all
countries with a loss of over five million hectares per
year.
Forestry institutions in the Region
are undergoing legal and institutional changes as a
result of structural adjustment programmes, of increasing
government efforts to address sustainable development,
and of the environmental concerns of civil society
groups. FAO has collaborated with fourteen countries of
the Region in promoting adequate policies and legislation
for the management of forest resources, the improvement
of regional investment in forestry and the establishment
of a regional framework on institutional and policy
issues.
The inhabitants of arid and semiarid
areas of Latin America and the Caribbean are presently
undergoing complex problems regarding the deterioration
of their natural resources. In the Region more than 600
million hectares are undergoing a process of
desertification or land degradation. This situation is to
a great extent due to the improper use of the natural
resources of these fragile ecosystems. FAO, jointly with
the United Nations Environment Programme, has been
assisting countries of the Region in dealing with
problems associated with the management of arid and
semi-arid lands. Three training courses and three
regional consultations have been implemented and National
Action Programmes to Combat Desertification have been
formulated in the six countries with the largest arid,
semiarid and dry sub-humid areas of the Region
(Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and
Peru).
Fisheries resources occupy an
important place in national and international policy
debates in connection with the restructuring of the
economic, institutional and political systems towards a
sustainable development. Fisheries play a vital role in
feeding the world's population, contributing
significantly to the dietary protein intake of hundreds
of millions of people. Although the development of
aquaculture is relatively recent in the Region, its
contribution to economic growth is already significant in
countries such as Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Honduras and
Mexico; and the sub-sector has great potential for
further development. The dynamic role of fisheries in
terms of its potential contribution to food security and
income and employment generation has been frequently
neglected in the past.
An essential tool for the sound and
sustainable development of fisheries to which Governments
should therefore give priority attention is the
management of fisheries through the improvement of
fisheries information and statistical data for resource
appraisals and sound policy decisions. In so doing, the
FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries should be
used widely as a guideline in the formulation and
implementation of fisheries management
systems.
Rural
development
Mr. Chairman,
With respect to rural development and
poverty alleviation, the challenge is to implement
serious reforms to the agrarian policies and institutions
in a way that would ensure its consistency with the new
policy framework and increase its effectiveness in
support of the poor rural population. At the same time,
there is a need to respond to increasing domestic and
external concerns with respect to the sustainable use of
natural resources, not only to preserve the environment,
but also as the main source of income for the rural
population.
Regarding the institutional reforms,
substantial changes are taking place in the operation of
government, market and civil society agents. Most
countries have initiated an important decentralisation of
public decision-making and activities. Likewise, there is
more complementarity between public action and market
mechanisms.
However, this institutional reform
process is not restricted to official and governmental
institutions. It also involves all the other agents and
their inter-relations. It is necessary to promote the
various kinds of linkages between the agents, as well as
the whole set of rules and conventions agreed between
them. It is also essential to reshape the linkage of
agricultural production with other economic activities in
the rural area, with the systems of technological
research and transfer, with the rural financing
mechanisms, and with the marketing approaches. There are
existing needs, in particular with regard to information
on marketing systems, as well as new conditions in the
land and water markets
I am confident that the debates of the
Conference on this point of the agenda will provide a
comprehensive framework for FAO future activities in the
Region.
Mr Chairman,
Overcoming the above challenges calls
for the promotion of a paradigm of agricultural and rural
development with a broad multi-sectoral base and
linkages, and which enhances the opportunities for
individuals to develop their full potential as human
beings. Development strategies need to be oriented in a
manner that will improve the quality of human life, while
living within the carrying capacity of supporting
ecosystems.
For my part, despite the current
difficulties, I remain convinced that the economic
fundamentals for long-term growth and prospects for the
Region are sound. Its leaders have underlined their
resolve to achieve sustainable growth, to preserve the
dynamism and resilience of the Region, and to unlock the
full potential of the people who live here. Without
doubt, the Latin American and Caribbean region will
continue to play a leading role in the global economy in
the years to come.
Thank you for your
attention.
