Address by the FAO Director-General
World Food Day Ceremony at FAO Headquarters
FAO, Rome , Italy, 16 October 2001
Your Majesty, Queen Fabiola of the Kingdom of
Belgium,
Your Excellency President Johannes Rau,President of the
Federal Republic of Germany,
Your Excellency, Gianni Alemanno, Minister of
Agricultural and Forestry Policies of the Italian
Republic,
Your Excellency, Monsignor Agostino Marchetto, Apostolic
Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to
FAO,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On the occasion of this World
Food Day ceremony which unfortunately is taking place
in an environment of a world in crisis with public
attention focussed on conflicts and war, I would like to
plead that we do not forget the 800 million people who do
not have adequate access to food and we act to achieve
humanity's paramount quest: a world free from hunger and
poverty.
In the dusk of the second millennium, the world has
witnessed unprecedented growth in incomes and
unparalleled improvements in global standards of living.
Important gains in agricultural productivity brought per
caput food supplies that are today 18 percent above the
level of three decades ago. And yet, today, more than
800 million people of the world remain undernourished.
Thus, abundance and affluence coexist with the most
extreme manifestation of poverty.
Poverty is at the root of hunger and undernourishment,
but hunger is also a basic cause of poverty. The
undernourished are often trapped in a vicious circle of
under-nourishment, low productivity, poor health and
hence continuous poverty. Reduction of food insecurity
must therefore be at the centre of national and
international poverty reduction programmes.
Undernourishment not only debilitates people, it
weakens nations. Mothers, who do not have enough to eat,
give birth to underweight babies, whose health and growth
may be compromised for the rest of their lives. Children
who go to bed hungry cannot fight off disease or
infection, nor can they concentrate properly at school,
losing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to escape the
hunger-poverty trap. Undernourished adults are slower
and less productive at work. A nation of hungry
individuals cannot grow and prosper.
It is precisely because of the intricate connection
between hunger and poverty that the theme, "Fight hunger
to reduce poverty" has been chosen for this year's World
Food Day observance.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Fighting hunger is a moral obligation. The right to
adequate food is a fundamental and inalienable human
right. Without biological integrity of the human being
which requires his daily bread, there can be no real and
lasting progress in the struggle for more justice and
equity in the world.
In the early 1990s, the international community has
adopted a series of targets for the reduction of poverty
in its various forms and dimensions. Goals have been set
for income generation and poverty alleviation, school
enrolment, gender equality, reduction in infant child
mortality and maternal mortality, access to reproductive
health services, and the adoption of national strategies
for sustainable development.
With respect to food insecurity, five years ago world
leaders met in Rome at the World
Food Summit to pledge a solemn commitment to halve
the number of hungry people by the year 2015. In
practical terms, that commitment meant that the number of
the undernourished was to decrease by 20 million each
year in order to meet the target.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I regret to report that experience since the WFS
points, rather, to an alarming situation. During the time
of the Summit in 1996, there were an estimated 792
million undernourished people in the developing world.
FAO's latest estimates indicate that, by 1997-99, the
number had only decreased to 777 million. This is
extremely inadequate, as it means that only 6 million
people now are weaned off the hunger list every year. At
that pace, we will need more than 50 years to reach the
target set in 1996.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
If the Summit goal is still to be reached by 2015, the
world should achieve an annual average reduction in the
number of the hungry of 22 million. It is therefore
crucial that the policymakers of the world take stock of
the situation in 2001 in order to ensure that early
action is taken to step up the pace of change. It is in
this context that the 119th session of the FAO Council in
November 2000 decided that the next FAO Conference in
November 2001 would be used as the forum for "World
Food Summit - five years later", and that Heads of
State and Government would be invited to the meeting in
order to give new impetus and momentum to the process of
implementation of the Summit
Plan of Action. Unfortunatley the present
international circumstances and the loss of so many
innocent lives and the crisis that followed have led us
to seek postponement of such an event.
Some of the dimensions of hunger and malnutrition are
indeed alarming: an estimated 174 million children under
five years were malnourished in 1996-98. It is now
recognized that some 54 percent of young child mortality
in the developing countries, is associated with
malnutrition. This represents some 6.6 million out of
12.2 million deaths among children under five years.
Hunger has also substantial economic costs for
individuals, families and whole societies. Adult
productivity losses from the combined effect of stunting,
iodine and iron deficiencies are equivalent to some 3
percent of GDP every year in some countries.
A recent study found that if developing countries with
a high rate of undernourishment had increased food intake
to an adequate level, their gross domestic product over
the past 30 years would have risen by as much as 45
percent.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The fight against hunger may be difficult, but it is a
battle that can and must be won. Experience of several
countries has shown that hunger can be reduced, and
reduced quickly. We have learnt that hunger reduction can
be swift where there is peace and political stability.
Increased investment for agriculture, in particular in
basic infrastructures of water control, rural roads and
storage facilities, but also a policy environment
favourable to increased farm income including social
safety nets for the poor, are essential conditions for
success.
Removing the scourge of poverty and hunger is a noble
undertaking that is complex and multi-dimensional. The
hungry of this world cannot wait for the essential
conditions to be put in place.
The responsibility for ensuring that everyone is able
to exercise her or his right to adequate food rests in
the first instance with the individuals themselves, and
then with their families, communities and governments.
But the international community has important supporting
roles in this, not least to help governments, especially
those of low-income food deficit and other vulnerable
countries, to meet the costs of the supplementary,
necessary investments unaffordable from their own
resources.
It is thus encouraging to note that leaders at the
last July G-8 Genoa Summit, explicitly indicated that
support to agriculture should be a key element of
Official Development Assistance. They also emphasized
that food security and rural development should be given
emphasis and be at the core of poverty eradication
strategies.
Food for all is not an impossible dream. The target
set in 1996 can still be met. But there is need for
strong political will and for mobilization of the
necessary resources.
On this World Food Day, I call on everyone - world
leaders, governments, civil society organizations, the
scientific community, the private sector, the
international organizations and the general public - to
mobilize their energies to fight hunger to reduce poverty
as wherever there are people who are chronically
undernourished, there can be no hope for a just, peaceful
and prosperous world, which is being pursued by the
United Nations System in general and FAO in
particular.
