Statement to the 10th Meeting of Group of 77
inter-governmental follow-up and co-ordination
Committee on Economic co-operation among developing
countries (IFCC-X)
Teheran, Iran, 19 August 2001
Your Excellency, the Chairman
Your Excellency, Chairman of the Group of 77
Your Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen
I wish thank you, Mr. Chairman, for allowing me the
privilege of being among you today to address your
important meeting.
FAO appreciates this opportunity as it is actively
promoting cooperation among developing countries as a
fundamental and integrated component of its programmes.
Indeed such cooperation is an essential element in the
Organization's strategy to achieve the main goal of
eradicating hunger and achieving food security for
all.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Five years ago the World
Food Summit was in Rome. One hundred and eighty-five
countries of which 112 were represented at the level of
Heads of State and Government and the European Union
pledged to do what it would take to reduce, by half, the
number of undernourished by 2015. I wish I could say
today that we were on track to achieving that goal. I
wish I could say that substantial progress in combating
hunger and food insecurity was being made. I wish I could
bring to you numbers and trends showing that the pledges
made during the 1996 Summit signalled an important break
with the slow progress of the past in fighting hunger. I
wish I could say that the dream of achieving the
substantial and yet morally modest goal of halving hunger
by 2015 was a visible reality. Unfortunately, I cannot.
At best, I bring a "mixed" message.
During the period 1995-1997, about 790 million people
in the developing world were undernourished. The global
figure represents a reduction of about 40 to 50 million
from the number estimated for the period 1990-1992, the
benchmark period for the World Food Summit. While no
doubt some progress has been made, the reduction
corresponds to an annual decline in the number of hungry
persons of only about 8 million people, whereas an annual
reduction of at least 20 million people a year was
required if the WFS target was to be met.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
This gloomy picture does not, of course mean that
significant strides have not been made in alleviating
poverty, and food insecurity. During the past 30 years,
the lives of millions have been improved and the poor
have indeed begun a great "ascent" to lives spent in
dignity. And, the majority of the countries we have
studied in FAO have managed to reduce the share of the
food insecure in the population.
In the last 10 years, there has been an impressive
convergence throughout the international community
towards recognising poverty eradication as an overarching
goal in the development effort. In this context, the
Millenium General Assembly has adopted a series of
targets for the reduction of poverty in its various forms
and dimensions, including the WFS target.
And yet, despite the pronouncements and declarations,
I am afraid that the cause of the hungry, the poorest of
the poor has not received the attention it deserves in
development assistance. No poverty alleviation programme
can be effective if it does not focus on the
undernourished people. The effectiveness of education is
bound to be compromised when with hungry children. Hunger
has also deleterious effects on work productivity, on
health and overall economic growth. Yet there is still
some way to go in order to translate these facts into
consistent strategies and priorities. Unless hunger is
fought decisively and sustainably, there will be no
significant inroads into poverty alleviation.
Seventy percent of the poor and the hungry live in
rural areas and derive their livelihoods directly or
indirectly from agriculture. Development of agriculture
is thus an indispensable element of income growth and
employment generation. And yet, this basic lesson seems
to escape policy makers. The strong negative trends in
the 1990s of both Official Development Assistance and
development lending going to agriculture testify to this
fact.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Mobilizing the political will to fight hunger is a
necessary condition to achieve the goal of the World Food
Summit. This implies making hunger eradication a priority
and an integral part of development policy. Yet in many
countries, the hungry have little political voice and
influence on the political process. Thus, they find
themselves marginalized in their own countries as well as
in their claim for the attention of the international
community. Recognising the seriousness and urgency of the
hunger situation is an essential first step towards
finding solutions for it.
But programmes and policies require resources for
their implementation. More resources are therefore needed
if the agricultural sectors of developing countries are
to compete in a more open, more competitive international
regime.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
An important part of development concerns cooperation
and exchange among developing countries themselves.
Sharing of experiences and best practices related to
agricultural development and food security is actively
and assiduously promoted by FAO.
The World Food Summit provided clear guidance to FAO's
programmes and activities regarding Technical Cooperation
among Developing Countries. The Summit encouraged the
Organisation to effectively promote and harness
South-South Co-operation as a major instrument and
modality of support to the Low Income Food Deficit
Countries.
South-South Cooperation is also a fundamental and
integral part of the Organisation's Special
Programme for Food Security (SPFS). The SPFS is FAO's
concrete action at the level of rural poor, to assist
them produce their own food as "give a fish to a person,
he will eat for a day, teach him to fish he will eat
everyday." The SPFS, targeted mainly at low-income
food-deficit countries (LIFDCs), aims at improving
household and national food security through rapid
increases in production and productivity, on an
economically and environmentally sustainable basis, and
by improving people's access to food. The Programme is
currently operational in 64 countries.
In support of the SPFS, FAO also launched a new form
of South-South Cooperation. Under this initiative,
developing countries with advanced agricultural
experience are providing, under shared costs, technical
assistance to countries where the SPFS is operational, to
work directly in the field with rural farming
communities. The monthly costs of each expert is around
US$700 instead of more than $10,000 for consultants
recruited on the world market. To-date South-South
Cooperation provides a new impetus to solidarity among
developing countries and enhances their historical and
cultural synergies. Similarly, the new FAO Partnership
Programme for Technical Cooperation among Developing
Countries for high level short-term expertise has
received enthusiastic response from FAO member countries.
Since its launch in 1994, 128 countries have participated
in a range of collaborative activities within the broad
field of agricultural, economic and social sciences.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen
Achieving the WFS target is still possible although
things would have to change drastically. For this reason,
the FAO Council at its Hundred
and Nineteenth Session in November 2000 endorsed my
proposal to use the regular session of the FAO Conference
in November 2001 as a forum to review the current
situation.
The World
Food Summit: five years later to be held at the level
of Heads of State and Government will address the issues
of political will and resources for achieving the goal
set in 1996.
It is in this context that a US$ 500 million Trust
Fund for Food Security and Emergency prevention of
Transboundary Pests and Diseases of Animals and
Plants was established. Financed by voluntary
contributions from governments, intergovernmental and
non-governmental organizations, and the private sector,
it will serve as a catalyst to accelerate food production
and improve access to food in Least Developed Countries,
LIFDCs and Small Island Developing States and for
prevention, control and eradication of transboundary
pests and diseases of plants and animals.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen
I know that I can count on the political support of
the G77 in our common endeavour to ensure that the dream
of eradicating hunger in the world will become very soon
a reality.
I thank you for your kind attention.
