(Item 1 of the Agenda)
1. The Workshop on reducing food insecurity associated with natural disasters in Asia and the Pacific was held at the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) in Bangkok, Thailand, from 27 to 28 January 2005. It was attended by 37 participants comprising representatives from Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal and Thailand, and experts from the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, Asian Disaster Reduction Center, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, International Research Institute for Climate Prediction, International Rice Research Institute, National Climate Centre (Australia), Pacific Disaster Center and Delegation of the European Commission in Thailand. (The list of participants is found in Annex 3.)
2. HE Changchui, Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, welcomed the participants to the Regional Office on behalf of the FAO Director-General, Jacques DIOUF, and expressed his appreciation for their participation in the workshop. Mr He noted the apparent increasing frequency of natural disasters, the higher relative vulnerability of developing countries, and the impact of disasters upon food and nutritional security. Mr He referred to the tragic impact of recent tsunamis on the lives and livelihoods in South and South East Asian countries and how FAO had reacted swiftly, taking actions both for addressing immediate emergency needs as well as recommending longer-term measures to reduce the risk of similar catastrophes, and providing advice drawn from its collective experience and expertise.
3. Mr He expected that FAO along with other sister agencies of the United Nations family, non-governmental organizations, civil society and national governments would continue to respond collectively to such disasters, aiming among other objectives at reducing the vulnerability of farmers by optimizing their responses to climate variability, extreme weather events and geological hazards.
4. Mr He pointed out that the impact of natural hazards in the agricultural sector was usually localized and that losses were minor in proportion to gross domestic product, in contrast to the case of natural disasters that struck subsistence farming, nomadic herding and shifting cultivation communities in developing and least developed countries. In the latter case, Mr He said that the consequences were frequently long-term, deadly, and large in relation to gross domestic product and that it was critical to mainstream sustainable agriculture practice into national development and disaster management programmes.
5. Mr He pointed to the value of the Global Information and Early Warning System, GIEWS, and the Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping System, FIVIMS, and their approach to integrate socio-economic data with food availability and crop condition statistics, climate data, pest information and weather conditions as a basis for systematic and geographically widespread advanced warning of food insecurity and famine as a result of disasters.
6. When Mr He pointed out that ensuring access to food for the hungry and poor will persist as a major challenge in achieving UN Millennium Development Goals and the World Food Summit Plan of Action, he indicated that the workshop aimed at bringing focus to the contextual themes reflecting the unique character, needs and trends of Asia and the Pacific region, especially with regard to natural disasters. The themes, as he outlined, included: (i) reducing vulnerability through sustainable agriculture; (ii) developing guidelines, enforcing laws and regulations; (iii) strengthening early warning, vulnerability information and forecasting systems; (iv) collaborative partnerships and institutional arrangements; and (v) quantitative risk and impact assessment. To trigger the well-focused deliberations in the workshop, he suggested a set of key questions covering the wide-ranging thematic issues, and requested the experts to address these questions during the deliberations of the workshop.
7. Taking note of the outcomes of the second World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR), held in Kobe 18-22 January 2005, Mr He hoped that the workshop would take cognizance of such international events as well as variety of strategies and successful practices being carried out by the national governments and specialist agencies. Mr He expressed confidence that the workshop would help in developing the region’s response to and engagement with the conclusions and recommendations arising from WCDR. He expressed hope that such efforts would strengthen the resolve of the countries in creating disaster resilient food security systems. The opening speech is found in Annex 4.
