Director-General's speeches

Mr Chairman,
Excellencies, Honourable Delegates,

The Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro gave a strong jolt to reflection and action to ensure sustainable development and environmental conservation. An irreversible change in outlook was indeed required to address the major challenge of the 21st century, which is to improve the well-being of an ever-growing population, notably by eliminating hunger and poverty, and to safeguard the resources of our planet for the survival of future generations.

With this challenge in mind, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO, restructured and formed a Sustainable Development Department so that the future perspective would be integral to the policies and projects of the sectoral departments of agriculture, forestry, fisheries and economic and social affairs.

It embarked on an ambitious programme of decentralization that would take its experts closer to realities on the ground and the needs of rural communities.

As Task Manager for four chapters of Agenda 21, the Organization, in collaboration with its partners, has refocused its policies, programmes and projects with the Member Nations. As a result:

• the notion of sustainable agricultural and rural development has been conceptualized and defined through dialogue with its partners;
• a new integrated approach to land-use management and land protection has been developed and is gradually being put in place;
• national forestry action programmes have been developed and implemented in many countries;
• finally, special efforts have been made for the management of mountain areas.

However, besides its specific responsibilities for these four chapters of Agenda 21, FAO also has a key role to play in other areas, including:

• the definition and implementation of rational policies for the utilization of water. This is a truly precious resource that will become increasingly scarce. And agriculture, we should note, is by far the largest consumer of water, accounting for 75 percent of total offtake, with irrigated agriculture providing 40 percent of world food production;
• the drafting and adoption of a Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries;
• the development of the renewable forms of energy needed for agricultural production and processing;
• collaboration with its partners of the "Climate Agenda" and the "Framework Convention on Climate Change";
• active support to the "Convention on Biological Diversity" and development, with the Secretariat of the Convention, of a joint programme on agricultural biodiversity;
• support to the "Convention to Combat Desertification" for which the first Conference of the Parties will take place in Rome in early October, upon the joint invitation of the Italian Government and FAO.

Moreover, the Declaration and Plan of Action adopted by the World Food Summit follow on naturally from the Rio Summit.

At their meeting in Rome in November 1996, the Heads of State and Government and high-level representatives of 186 countries pledged to eliminate hunger and malnutrition by providing a stable political environment based on respect of all human rights, by ensuring equality of opportunity for all, particularly women, and by adopting social and economic policies that will encourage public and private initiative while, at the same time, safeguarding the environment. More specifically, they undertook to involve the people and grassroots organizations more closely in the framing and implementation of concrete plans and programmes for the sustainable management of natural resources: water, soil, plant and animal material, oceans, forests and climate.

FAO is convinced that the food requirements of the world’s population can be met, for decades to come, under systems of sustainable development; to this end, appropriate measures will have to be taken, here and now, to build national economic environments that are conducive to investment in the primary sector. International solidarity will also need to act so that the neediest rural populations are given control over water resources and access to effective technologies, modern inputs, credit and markets.

The resounding message from Rome is that sustainability and food security go hand-in-hand, and that agriculture and the rural world must be part of the sustainable development debate.

With this in mind, enforcement of international agreements, such as the "Convention on the Law of the Sea", the "Leipzig Plan of Action on Plant Genetic Resources" and the three Conventions coming directly from Rio, is a matter of urgency. Furthermore, implementation of the recommendations of the "Intergovernmental Panel on Forests", notably through the Inter-Agency Task Force on Forests led by FAO, is a fundamental step towards consolidation of the collective approach to natural resources management.

Mr Chairman,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

FAO continues to endorse the commitments made in Rio five years ago. The full implementation of the decisions taken at the "Earth Summit" and the "World Food Summit" will lead us to a better world and healthier life, with an environment kept intact on a planet given over to peace and justice.

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