On behalf of the Director-General of FAO, Dr Jacques Diouf, I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific for the commemoration of World Food Day, to spread this year's message and mobilize the resolve to Fight hunger to reduce poverty.
As we move into the third millennium, the basic truth in this message is more and more evident in the Asia-Pacific region, home to two-thirds of the world's hungry and poor people.
In the last three decades of the 20th century, Asia-Pacific saw an unprecedented agricultural and economic transformation. Between 1969 and 1999, cereal production more than doubled to nearly one billion tonnes. Though the regional population grew by 1.3 billion, food supply increased from an average of about 2 000 kcal/person/day in 1965/66 to over 2 600 kcal/person/day in 1999/2000.
Agricultural growth underpinned the rapid industrial growth and expansion of the non-formal rural economy in many countries. The regional per capita GDP almost tripled during this period and the incidence of poverty declined from about 60 to less than 30 percent.
Yet, FAO's 2001 Food insecurity report clearly shows that during the 1990s there has been a slowdown in the reduction of undernourishment in the world. Asia-Pacific still has nearly 500 million - to be precise 497 million - of the 777 million hungry people in the developing world, who face a daily basic dietary energy deficit ranging from 100 to 400 kilocalories. One person, child, woman or man who goes to bed hungry is just one too many!
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 as their bodies conserve what little strength they have. A nation of hungry individuals cannot grow and prosper.
One 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.
Improved nutrition leads to increased human capital and labour productivity by improving health and education levels, which in turn results in higher incomes for households and nations. Big payoffs come from improving the health of women, which benefits families and communities today and the health and productivity of the next generation.
Above all, let us not forget that access to sufficient and nutritionally adequate and safe food for all people at all times, is internationally recognized as a basic human right. Unfortunately, while the global community has made a serious undertaking to focus on the world's poor, it has so far failed to attach sufficient importance to fighting against hunger. That must change.
Five years ago, more than 180 nations meeting at the World Food Summit at FAO headquarters in Rome, pledged to halve the number of hungry people in the world by the year 2015, as an intermediate target toward the goal of a hunger-free world. In November this year, world leaders will gather again at the World Food Summit: five years later, which was called by FAO member nations when it became clear that the original Summit goal would not be met without additional effort.
In the light of recent global events and their likely negative economic impact, FAO believes the plight of the hungry may grow worse. A major commitment from heads of state and government is required to press forward with renewed efforts to reduce the violence of hunger. Hunger too is a mass killer. Albeit a silent and slow one, but widespread and today it engulfs 815 million people in the world.
We must raise the question once again on this day as to what can be done to reduce hunger?
Three-fourths of the hungry and poor live in rural areas, with most of them depending on agriculture and related industries for a livelihood. It is these people who migrate to the big cities in search of income and form the bulk of the underfed people in the urban areas. Three-fourths of the world's farming households live in Asia-Pacific countries and most of them are small and marginal farmers, and the majority of them are malnourished.
Agricultural and rural development is crucial for alleviating hunger and poverty. This requires increases in agricultural productivity of the small and marginal farmers and ensuring that landless labourers have access to productive resources. It means putting more focus, efforts and resources into agriculture and rural areas. His Majesty the King's Self-sufficiency economy approach and the Thai government's One tambon, one product scheme can serve as light posts to other countries.
Agricultural growth alone will not eradicate hunger and poverty. Although rapid agricultural growth facilitates industrialization and economic development, more equitable access to food is needed. Unfortunately, the experience of the past thirty years shows no significant decline in inequity of access among households in most countries.
Let us therefore summon the political will, commitment and resources to take on this most basic challenge before humankind: food for all. There is no single formula to follow to reduce hunger. What each country actually needs to do will depend on specific national circumstances. However, I appeal to all countries in the region to straight away set their own national targets for halving undernourishment by 2015.
Human resource development is a core investment for equipping rural people to handle increasingly modern knowledge-based agriculture and take advantage of off-farm and non-farm employment opportunities. The vast potential of biotechnology, information and communication technology and other cutting edge technologies must be harnessed judiciously in our fight against hunger and poverty.
The battle against hunger has to begin in the mind and FAO is part of a unique global education initiative involving UNESCO, World Bank, and thousands of non-governmental organizations and teachers across the world. The Feeding minds, fighting hunger project reaches out to students at primary, intermediate and secondary levels, telling them about the what, why and how of global hunger and eliminating it. In this spirit, on His Majesty' suggestion, the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific has worked with the Wang Klaikangwon school in Hua Hin to sensitise young minds to the needs of rural livelihood.
On this solemn occasion, let us resolve to break the unholy alliance between hunger and poverty. While hunger is the consequence of poverty, the opposite is also true: hunger causes poverty.
We are honoured today by the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. We extend our profound gratitude to Your Royal Highness, our Guest of Honour, for providing inspiration in your commitment to, and leadership in, taking actions to fight hunger and malnutrition particularly among women and children.
Thank you
