19. The Council decided to consider these items jointly. It noted that the Director-General had been reluctant to give an indicative figure for the budget level for 1976–77 to the Sixty-Fourth Session of the Council, since that session began only a few days after the close of the World Food Conference and there had not been time to consider the effect of the recommendations of the Conference on the future work of FAO.
20. In response, however, to the wishes of the Council, the Director-General had produced a document2 containing a preliminary outline and a tentative estimate of the budget level for 1976–77. This document, together with a considerable amount of “raw material” supplied by Departments and Divisions was carefully examined by the Programme and Finance Committees in January 1975. The joint recommendations of these Committees formed the basis of the Director-General's proposals for 1976–77 contained in CL 65/3.
21. The proposed budget level of $185 million represented an increase of about $81 million over 1974–75 - $41 million for cost increases and $40.6 million for programme increases. In recent biennia, the programme increases proposed by the Director-General had been relatively small, owing largely to heavy cost increases beyond the Director-General's control. The Director-General felt that the smallness of recent programme increases made a really large increase imperative in current circumstances. There was an obvious relationship between much of the proposed increase and the outcome of the World Food Conference, and according to the Director-General the world food situation required a considerable strengthening of FAO.
22. On the question of decentralization, the Director-General had met the Regional Representatives during the week preceding the Council session, and a consensus had been reached for submission to the next sessions of the Programme and Finance Committees. The Director-General fully supported the concept of a substantial decentralization, within the unified programme, not only of resources but also of authority to the Regional Representatives.
1 CL 65/2, CL 65/3, CL 65/4, CL 65/PV/4, CL 65/PV/5,
CL 65/PV/6, CL 65/PV/7, CL 65/PV/8, CL 65/PV/9.
2 CL 64/LIM/8.
23. The Council noted that the Programme and Finance Committees, in accordance with the authority delegated to them by the Sixty-Fourth Session of the Council, had reviewed proposals submitted by the Director-General in the amount of $914,000. Following a detailed review of these proposals, the Committees had decided to authorize expenditures totalling $837,000 covering work on the World Food Council Secretariat, Consultative Group on Food Production and Investment, Global Information and Early Warning System, International Agricultural Adjustment, an ad hoc consultation on food aid policy,3 fertilizers, pesticides, and trypanosomiasis.
3 This consultation was not likely to be convened in 1975.
24. The Council expressed appreciation for the through and detailed review which the Programme and Finance Committees had made of the preliminary proposals submitted to their joint session and agreed that the results had been extremely useful. It agreed generally with the priority recommendations made by the two Committees and also with their remarks concerning activities which had not been specifically mentioned in World Food Conference recommendations and endorsed the conclusions detailed in paragraphs 1.65 to 1.67 of the report of the joint session. The Council also noted that the Director-General's present proposals did not entirely coincide with the recommendations of the Committees. For instance, the Director-General had proposed increases for such programmes as water law, remote sensing and CARIS, which the Committees felt were of relatively lower priority than proposed. As regards the new African Animal Trypanosomiasis Programme, the Programme and Finance Committees felt that it was of high priority but that the applied research and training activities therein should be financed from extrabudgetary funds. The Council shared this point of view. The overall difference between the Committees' recommendations and the Director-General's proposals in this regard probably came to some $3 million. Also, the Council noted that approximately $5 million of proposed increases for the Office of General Affairs and Information and the Administration and Finance Department had not been considered by the two Committees.
25. The Council expressed some doubts about the size of the programme increases proposed in relation to the capacity of the Organization to absorb all these additional activities within the space of one biennium. It suggested that the Programme and Finance Committees should carefully scrutinize the proposals contained in the Summary Programme of Work and Budget 1976–77 with a view to determining whether the absorptive capacity of the Organization was adequate to handle these additional programme activities, giving particular attention to proposals for very steep increases in individual items.
26. The Council was somewhat concerned as to duplication or overlapping, in particular in the information-gathering activities of the Organization, e.g. agricultural adjustment, PSWAD, Global Information and Early Warning System, SOFA, World Food Security, etc. It recommended that the Director-General and the Programme and Finance Committees should examine this question with a view to eliminating any possible overlaps and adjusting the phasing. It also recommended that the relationship between programmes which together were long-term undertakings should be clarified in the programme of work.
27. The Council felt that more account should be taken of the possibilities of utilizing existing national institutions especially those in developing countries to carry out some of FAO's programmes. It felt that such utilization could in many instances be more useful to developing countries and perhaps even more economic in its demands on the Regular Programme than would be execution by Regular Programme staff. In this connexion, it was suggested that such work as that on education and training in crop development, small farmer credit development and remote sensing, might be better performed by suitable national institutions.
28. The Council also felt that FAO, in attempting to alleviate the world food situation, should give greatest emphasis to substantive action which could be of direct benefit to developing countries. It also felt that less emphasis should be placed on theoretical studies which did not directly contribute to immediate development, particularly food production.
29. The Council was also concerned about a tendency to undertake activities which implied substantial long-term commitments. This applied particularly to activities which initially were financed largely or partly from extra-budgetary funds. Some members expressed concern about the proposals for AGRIS (especially Level Two) and CARIS. It was also felt that, notwithstanding the priority which some countries attached to remote sensing, 1 care should be taken to avoid committing the Organization to large long-term expenditures under the Regular Programme until a medium or long-term objective in the relevant field was firmly established by FAO.
30. The Council noted the report of the Programme and Finance Committees that the subject of decentralization was complex and involved a number of questions of organizational structure, administrative and management arrangements, policy questions of a substantive nature, and budgetary and financial considerations, and that no firm recommendations could be made at the present session. It agreed in principle, however, that further decentralization of activities, functions, responsibilities and resources was necessary. The Council hoped that the process of decentralization would be accelerated. In this connexion it welcomed the intention of the Programme and Finance Committees to undertake further studies of the question of decentralization in consultation with the Director-General. Furthermore it endorsed the statement of the Director-General that he had decided to proceed on those lines in the light of the meeting with the Regional Representatives in the previous week, and would incorporate the results in the 1976–77 Programme of Work and Budget to be presented in due course.
31. The Council requested that, while examining the additions to the budget at regions, the Director-General and the Programme and Finance Committees should pay special attention to the need for reducing related expenditures at Headquarters.
32. The Council endorsed the view of the Programme and Finance Committees that the priorities in the Programme of Work and Budget should take into consideration the recommendations of the World Food Conference and the views of FAO's Governing Bodies, Regional Conferences, and Council committees as to the needs of food and agricultural development, particularly in the developing countries.
33. The Council emphasized the need for evaluation of the Regular Programme on a selective basis and requested that the Director-General adopt urgent measures in this connexion.
34. The Council agreed that high priority should be given to setting into full operation the Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture as envisaged by the World Food Conference. One member noted that, in so far as the operation of such a System would have implications for the sovereignty of States, his government reserved its position.
35. The Council felt that the Global Information System was a necessary prerequisite for a successful tackling of the world food security issues and stressed the desirability of an active participation by all member countries of FAO and the United Nations for the system to be fully effective. Though supporting the operation of the System, it was expressly warned against over-expectations as to its results, since amongst other factors the unpredictability of the weather would remain a severely limiting factor on the reliability of forecasts, and thus on the ability of the System to provide a firm basis for action to maintain world food security against crop failures and food shortages. It was emphasized that the limitations of specific forecasts and the margins of error attached should be clearly indicated, in order to avoid the danger that early forecasts would be misinterpreted and adversely affect the situation, by either creating artificial scarcity or giving rise to undue complacency. This was particularly important when novel and unproved techniques were employed in the forecasting of crops. The Council welcomed the statement of the representative of the World Meteorological Organization, who outlined the WMO agrometeorological programme in aid of food production which enabled that organization to contribute inter alia to the Global Information and Early Warning System periodical reports on weather and climatic conditions as well as crop yield predictions on the basis of weather data.
36. The Council agreed in principle with the working arrangements as proposed in CL 65/4, although it recognized that some of the technical details of the collection, processing and dissemination of the information would require further clarification and elaboration in setting up the System. The Council stressed that data supplied by governments and not available from other sources should be treated confidentially and compiled in such a way that its release would not result in national or international action detrimental either to the common interest or to the country concerned. The Council noted with appreciation the statement of the delegate of Japan that his Government planned to contribute $150 000 towards the early establishment of the System and was also prepared to send experts to assist FAO in setting it up.
37. The Council requested the Director-General to transmit the working arrangements for the Global Information and Early Warning System to all member countries of FAO and of the United Nations, and to interested international organization, drawing attention to the recommendations of the World Food Conference in this regard; to invite all concerned to participate in the System in accordance with the proposed arrangements and procedures, and communicate to him any observations they may wish to make on them by 30 June 1975; and, on the basis of the replies received, to put the System into full operation as soon as possible.
38. The different delegations that took part in the debates mentioned a number of activities which they would like to see given adequate attention in the next programme of work. The Council noted the reservations expressed by some members with regard to several other activities. As the Council was unable to establish an order of priorities, it requested the Director-General to submit to the Programme and Finance Committees, and the next Council session, a programme based on the discussions at this session and on the resolutions of the World Food Conference.
39. In this review of the specific proposals of the Director-General for 1976–77, members also identified several activities which they felt merited less attention during 1976–77 than proposed. These included: water law work in the Legal Office; AGRIS (Level Two); Freedom-from-Hunger Campaign, any increases in which should be deferred until the Committees and the Council had further considered the question at their 1975 sessions; atomic energy work; and remote sensing. Although there was a feeling that remote sensing should be included among relatively low priority activities, a number of members emphasized that their governments considered remote sensing techniques as greatly superior to conventional methods in assessing the productive potential of developing countries, and that they therefore attached high priority to remote sensing programmes in the interest of accelerating agriculture development. 1
40. The Council noted that a number of units were dealing with fertilizers and requested that attention be given to this by the Director-General and the Programme and Finance Committees.
41. The Council noted the proposals to absorb within the Regular Programme the cost of a number of posts presently funded under Agency Costs. It felt that this was a complex matter which required further detailed review by the Director-General and the Programme and Finance Committees, and it noted that this would be done at the next sessions in connexion with the review of the Summary Programme of Work and Budget 1976–77.
42. The Council recognized that the Regular Programme and the various field programmes of FAO were closely connected, but that the latter had not received as much attention from the Governing Bodies as they merited. It suggested that, in future, in addition to the Conference biennial review of field programmes on past activities, the Conference should also give attention to FAO's field programmes for the forthcoming biennium and that the Governing Bodies should give attention annually to future trends in field programmes. In this connexion, the importance of a programme for technical activities of the Organization and of devising new methods of implementation, thus reducing Regular Programme commitments, was underlined.
43. In view of the critical world food situation, as highlighted at the World Food Conference, there was general recognition of the need for a substantial programme increase over 1974–75, taking into account the need for more concentration of effort using existing resources, in order to keep the budget within an acceptable level.
44. The great majority of Council Members was not in a position to give an indicative budget figure. The hope was expressed that the further review, taking account of indications given by members of items which could be reduced without damaging the activities of the Organization, would result in the submission of proposals appreciably lower than $185 million.
45. Concern was, however, also expressed regarding the number of new posts and upgradings which might be proposed for 1976–77 and the location of these, whether at Headquarters or in the regions. The Council requested that the Programme and Finance Committees carefully review these matters at their next sessions.
46. The Council requested that the Finance Committee should look carefully into the extent of the estimated cost increases for 1976–77 on the basis of full and detailed information and explanations from the Director-General.
47. The Council invited its Chairman to explore the possibility of improvements in the method it used to examine the Programme of Work and Budget.
48. At its Sixty-Fourth Session the Council had decided that it would consider at its Sixty-Fifth Session “the effect on FAO of the institutional recommendations of the World Food Conference and the decisions that would by then have been taken on them by the Economic and Social Council and the UN General Assembly”.3 The Council had indicated at its Sixty-Fourth Session that this item might receive only preliminary consideration at its Sixty-Fifth Session, and had requested the Director-General to submit to it a paper bearing on all aspects of the question.
49. The Council had before it two documents circulated by the Director-General in response to its request referred to above. In one document4 the Director-General had identified a number of institutional questions which might be considered by the Council at this stage. In the other document5 the Director-General had made available to the Council a Summary of the Report of the Inter-Agency Planning Session held by the World Bank, FAO and the United Nations Development Programme, with a view to organizing a Consultative Group on Food Production and Investment (CGFPI) in accordance with paragraphs 14 and 15 of World Food Conference Resolution XXII.
50. The Council considered that the institutional recommendations of the World Food Conference would have a considerable impact on FAO's work and emphasized the importance of coordination of its work with those of the bodies which had been, or were in the process of being, established to give effect to the resolution adopted by the World Food Conference and endorsed by the UN General Assembly. The Council was of the opinion that it should adopt a practical and flexible approach. In this way procedures could be evolved in the light of experience to ensure effective action with respect to the wide range of matters covered by the resolutions of the World Food Conference.
51. The Council decided that it would consider the effects of the institutional recommendations of the World Food Conference further at its Sixty-Sixth Session in June 1975 and also at its Sixty-Seventh Session in November 1975, since by that time the World Food Council would have held its First Session. In this connexion some members felt that it might be appropriate for the Council to establish an Ad Hoc Committee to study this matter in depth and bring it to the attention of the CCLM.
52. The Council also recalled that at its Sixty-Fourth Session it had deferred its consideration of its own role, functions and composition until its. Sixty-Fifth Session, by which time it was expected that the full implications of the World Food Conference resolutions on the work of FAO and the FAO Council would be clarified. It decided that it was still premature to consider this question and that it would revert to it after the World Food Council had held its First Session.
1 CL 65/2, CL 65/3, CL 65/5, CL 65/7, CL 65/INF/5, CL 65/INF/7,
CL 65/PV/3, CL 65/PV/4, CL 65/PV/8, CL 65/PV/9.
2 One member expressed reservations on this subject as he considered
that the effects on FAO of the institutional recommendations of
the World Food Conference alone had been examined, and that no
consideration had been given to the decisions taken thereon by
ECOSOC and the UN General Assembly.
3 CL 64/REP, para. 42.
4 CL 65/5.
5 CL 65/7.
53. The Council cordially welcomed the Executive Director of the World Food Council, Dr.J. Hannah, and wished him success in his new post. The Council expressed its appreciation to Dr. Hannah for his statement, which in its opinion reflected a constructive approach to future cooperation between FAO and the World Food Council. The Council also noted with satisfaction that arrangements were underway to convene in Geneva from 5 May 1975 a meeting of all interested countries, as requested in UN General Assembly Resolution 3348 (XXIX), to work out the details of an International Fund for Agricultural Development.
54. The Council agreed that it was important that duplication between the activities of the Conference, the Council and its subsidiary bodies, and those of the World Food Council, should be avoided. Thus the work of FAO and that of the World Food Council should be complementary. Several members stated that the legal relationship between the World Food Council and FAO should be carefully examined to avoid situations which might adversely affect a unified international approach to the world food problem.
55. The Council noted, in particular, that the World Food Council was to serve as a coordinating mechanism concerning food production, nutrition, food security, food trade and food aid, and related matters, for all agencies of the United Nations system. In this connexion the Council considered that policy matters which required a coordinated approach by agencies of the United Nations system should be referred to the World Food Council, and that it would be appropriate for the FAO Conference to delegate to the Council authority to refer such matters to the World Food Council whenever they arose.
56. In order to facilitate the coordination of the functions of the FAO Council and the World Food Council, the Council endorsed the suggestion made by the Programme and Finance Committees that the Chairman of the FAO Council be invited to participate as an observer at sessions of the World Food Council, and that the President of the World Food Council be invited to participate as an observer at sessions of the FAO Council.
57. The World Food Council would, at its First Session, determine its procedures, methods of work and the priority that it would give to the various matters falling within its field of competence. It was in the light of these decisions that it would be possible for FAO to determine in what manner it could make a contribution to the World Food Council's work.
58. The Council considered the contribution it could make to the work of the First Session of the World Food Council, and decided to make available the following documents: (a) the World Food Situation - February 19751 and its comments thereon; (b) the report of the Ad Hoc Government Consultation on Pesticides in Agriculture and Public Health to be held from 7 to 11 April 1975; (c) the report of the Ad Hoc Consultation on World Food Security to be held from 19 to 23 May 1975; and (d) the report of the Second Session of the Commission on Fertilizers to be held from 3 to 7 June 1975. The latter three documents would be considered first by the Council at its Sixty-Sixth Session.
59. With respect to the manner in which the views of the Council would be conveyed to the World Food Council, the Council agreed that it was too early to lay down any set procedures. The Council considered, however, that as a general principle reports of FAO bodies should be transmitted to the World Food Council through the Conference, or through the Council acting upon authority from the Conference. The reports of subsidiary bodies of the Council should first be submitted to the Council for consideration. In cases where the Conference or Council did not meet in time before the following session of the World Food Council, the Director-General should make documents available to the World Food Council and report such action to the Conference or Council. The view was expressed that, to the extent possible, documents prepared for the World Food Council as well as for CGFPI should be the same as those on the same subject submitted to FAO bodies.
60. With respect to the Secretariat of the World Food Council, the Council noted that the appointment of the Executive Director had already been confirmed. Some members regretted that arrangements regarding the Secretariat of the World Food Council had been made without fuller consultation with governments. Some members expressed the opinion that the title “Executive Director” was inappropriate for the head of a small secretariat and that a title such as “Secretary General” would have been preferable.
61. The Council noted the Director-General's proposal that Mr. S. Aziz, who had been appointed Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Council, should be given the rank of Assistant Director-General. While some members supported this proposal, the majority considered that no decision on the matter should be taken at this stage since the rank of the Executive Director was still under consideration by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ). A decision with respect to the rank of the Deputy Executive Director would therefore tend to influence the decision relating to the Executive Director. The Council therefore agreed that it would not take a decision on this matter until ACABQ had dealt with the recommendations of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and that the Director-General should make a recommendation thereon to the Finance Committee taking into account the views of ACABQ. A decision on the rank of the Deputy Executive Director would then be taken by the Council at its Sixty-Sixth Session. The effective date of the implemention of any such decision would be the same as the effective date of appointment of the Executive Director. Some members, while expressing their full confidence in Mr. Aziz' capacities, expressed concern at his assuming, at the same time, the duties of Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Council and those of Director of the Commodities and Trade Division of FAO.
62. Subject to the decision on the rank of the Deputy Executive Director, the Council approved the use of the total authorized expenditure for the Secretariat of the World Food Council for 1975 as proposed by the Director-General in Appendix C to CL 65/5.
63. The Council recalled that, at its Sixty-Fourth Session, it had authorized the Director-General, pending the establishment of the Committee on World Food Security, to convene one or more ad hoc consultations on world food security. The Council noted with satisfaction that one such ad hoc consultation was scheduled to meet from 19 to 23 May 1975 and that the Director-General proposed to invite the chairman of the CCP to it. The Council therefore considered that it would be appropriate to examine the proposed functions and method of work of this committee at its Sixty-Sixth Session in the light of the ad hoc consultation's recommendations. The view was expressed that the committee's relationship with the CCP required close examination by the Council.
64. The Council recalled that, at its Sixty-Fourth Session, it had recommended that the Secretary General of the United Nations and the Director-General of FAO convene an ad hoc consultation to consider a report on the reconstitution of the IGC as a Committee on Food Aid Policies and Programmes to be prepared by the Executive Director of WFP in consultation with the Secretary General and the Director-General.1
65. The Council noted that it had not proved practicable to convene such an ad hoc consultation, but that following inter-secretariat discussions, proposals would be submitted to the Economic and Social Council and to the Sixty-Sixth Council Session. The IGC would be in a position to consider the matter at its Twenty-Seventh Session, beginning on 17 March 1975.
66. The Council appreciated that the proposal to establish the Consultative Group on Food Production and Investment (CGFPI), as recommended by World Food Conference Resolution XXII, paragraph 14, had been endorsed by ECOSOC and the UN General Assembly. It agreed that CGFPI could play an important role in fostering greater attention to and larger resources for food production drives in developing countries.
67. The Council agreed that the Organization should carry its share of one third of the costs of the joint Secretariat of the three sponsoring agencies. During a first planning meeting of the sponsoring agencies, budget estimates had been made for the joint Secretariat which resulted in a share for the Organization of $ 136,000 for 1975 and $ 375,000 for 1976–77. The Director-General would, in his programme and budget proposals for 1976–77, include provision for such contributions from the Organization. The Council noted that the Director-General would not make further requests for additional budgetary provisions in connexion with the Group.
68. During this planning meeting, the sponsoring agencies had also prepared proposals for a work programme for CGFPI. These proposals were tentative and were expected to be refined or amended by CGFPI itself, which in doing this would be expected to take into consideration the comments and views expressed during the Council session. 2
69. The Council noted that the intention was to keep the joint Secretariat small and to rely fully on the contribution of the sponsoring agencies and other existing institutions for studies and documents to be prepared for CGFPI. This would ensure the coordinating nature of the Group and also that its work would be complementary to that of existing organizations and institutions and would not result in duplication. The Council attached great importance to this last point and felt that the total knowledge and expertise of FAO should be brought to bear on CGFPI activities, not only through its staff work, but also in drawing upon the views of FAO's various technical and policy-making bodies.
70. The Council realised that, by its very nature, it would be difficult to place the CGFPI within a hierarchical framework. However, some sort of communication channel would have to be established between the Group and FAO. Consultative groups are by definition informal gatherings of an advisory character, without voting procedures, but the Group could have great influence in the channelling of greater resources for food and agricultural development. Within this informal framework, arrangements would however be made for CGFPI reports to be submitted on a regular basis to the World Food Council and to the governing bodies of the sponsoring agencies. Time would be needed to measure the success of the Group's activities. Its achievements would be assessed from the global volume of investment in food production stimulated by its endeavours. The Council felt it should keep the work of CGFPI under regular review.
71. With respect to the arrangements for follow-up of World Food Conference Resolution XXII, paragraph 14, as outlined in CL 65/7, the representatives of developed countries expressed appreciation for the quick action taken and noted the proposals for representation at, and participation in, CGFPI by developing countries. They felt, however, that this was a matter for the developing countries themselves to decide upon.
72. The representatives of developing countries considered that the contents of CL 65/7 regarding the establishment of the Consultative Group on Food Production and Investment in Developing Countries, due to constraint of time and lack of essential consultations, could not be examined in detail in all aspects and implications. A number of members stated that their respective governments had not been informed in due time to examine the proposals and consequently had not been in a position to give necessary instructions.
73. The representatives of developing countries welcomed the action taken by the World Bank, FAO and UNDP in organizing CGFPI in pursuance of World Food Conference Resolution XXII endorsed by the UN General Assembly. They were of the considered view that the Group would promote the objective of increasing, coordinating and improving the efficiency of financial and technical assistance to agricultural production in developing countries.
74. The representatives of developing countries noted with satisfaction the proposal made by the Director-General with regard to the FAO contribution towards the budget and staffing of the Secretariat for CGFPI. They expressed the hope that the servicing of the Group would be effective and purposeful.
75. The developing countries also gave considerable thought to the question of the timing of the convening of the first session of the Group. In their view it was necessary to make adequate preparation, through consultation, for CGFPI to decide on important questions relating to its rules of business, the programme of work, and the scope of operations which would have to be settled at its first session. Therefore, the representatives of the developing countries felt that the month of May 1975 was too early for convening the Group's first session. The Director-General of FAO was therefore requested to convey this view to the President of the World Bank and the Administrator of UNDP so that the first session could be postponed until after the June 1975 Session of the FAO Council.
76. The representatives of developing countries felt that, in addition to preparation of necessary documents and studies, the intervening period should be utilized for refining the terms of reference, the programme of work, and scope of activities of the Group in the light of the views and comments which had been expressed during the Council Session and through consultations with Member Governments. Further, a clear picture should be framed of the status of the Group and its precise position in relation to different agencies. More significantly, by the time the June 1975 Session of the FAO Council was held, it should be possible to receive a report on the progress of implementation of World Food Conference Resolution XXII regarding the establishment of the International Agricultural Development Fund. The Director-General was requested to bring this consideration to the attention of the UN Secretary-General.
77. The postponement of the first session of the Group would enable the FAO Council to indicate at its next session the representation of the developing countries to the Group, as prescribed in Resolution XXII of the World Food Conference.
78. The Council agreed that the Director-General should convey these views to the other sponsoring agencies and to the Chairman of the Group. The Council also requested the Director-General to transmit the verbatim records of its discussion on this item to the Chairman of the Group for him to bring to the attention of the members of the Group.
1 CL 65/7.
2 The representatives of Gabon and Guinea did not agree with the
wording of this paragraph.
