Nikolai MICHAILOV (Bulgarie): Monsieur le Président, je vous félicite à mon tour à l'occasion de votre élection au poste responsable de président de cette Commission. Je souhaite que les travaux de celle-ci soient couronnés de succès et je n'en doute pas, étant donné votre expérience et votre grande compétence.
Le matériel présenté par le Secrétariat mérite toute notre appréciation vu les faits, les chiffres et les analyses qu'il contient. Nous remercions spécialement le Secrétariat pour la présentation faite, aux paragraphes 462 à 496, de la situation de l'agriculture en Bulgarie. Cette présentation est juste, mais la vie est très dynamique.
Le processus de restitution de la propriété des terres agricoles continue avec de grandes difficultés (financement insuffisant, manque de cadastre approprié, problèmes de remembrement des terres). Néanmoins, nous avons déjà quelques milliers de fermes privées et environ 1 500 coopératives de propriétaires terriens privés. D'ici à la fin de cette année, nous pourrions avoir, estime-t-on, entre 55 et 60 pour cent des terres privatisées.
Il est très difficile pour les producteurs d'obtenir des crédits et ceux-ci sont octroyés à un taux d'intérêt très élevé (plus de 55 pour cent) étant donné l'inflation, ce qui entrave gravement la production normale.
A cela s'ajoute le problème provoqué par le marché intérieur restreint, le faible accès aux marchés internationaux et les pertes importantes dues à l'embargo imposé par les Nations Unies à la Serbie, ainsi qu'à la dure sécheresse de cette année.
La Bulgarie est un pays déjà associé à la Communauté européenne mais, malheureusement, la convention signée en mars dernier n'est pas encore ratifiée par l'Union européenne, ce qui aggrave la situation dans le secteur.
Nous appuyons les constatations faites par certaines délégations: la Suède, quant à la nécessité d'avoir plus d'investissements parallèlement à la restructuration; la France, de stimuler et de maintenir la production agricole nationale; et la Hongrie, à propos de la création d'un système correct concernant les marchés des produits agricoles en Europe, vu les
efforts faits par les pays d'Europe centrale et orientale pour avoir une agriculture non subventionnée.
Nous apprécions beaucoup les travaux effectués dans le domaine des ressources génétiques, et plus particulièrement les ressources phytogénétiques. A cet égard, au mois d'août dernier, un atelier de travail a eu lieu dans mon pays, organisé avec la participation de 27 pays.
Pour terminer, je me permettrai de faire quelques petites recommandations: premièrement, à l'issue des discussions et conclusions de la Commission, de compléter le programme de travail 1994-95 avec des études et des travaux ayant pour but d'obtenir des solutions possibles pour améliorer la situation de l'agriculture dans les pays et dans les régions; deuxièmement, de procéder à une révision des projets de développement menés par la FAO et par d'autres organisations afin d'augmenter leur efficacité; troisièmement, dans le domaine de la biotechnologie, d'envisager, parallèlement aux autres mesures prévues, l'exécution de nouveaux projets appropriés afin d'améliorer le rendement et le niveau de la production dans les pays et les régions respectifs.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL First, I want to express appreciation on behalf of the staff in particular and the Organization in general for the many compliments that have been extended on the documents. This is a very strong incentive to keep these people working in a quality fashion.
Secondly, I wish to assure you that the errors of fact or interpretation that have been brought to our attention, and in particular those mentioned by Colombia and Bangladesh, but also any others, will be taken fully into consideration.
With respect to the comment concerning Colombia's National Coffee Fund, it would seem to me that we could take care of that matter with a relatively small amendment saying words to the effect "support" instead of "subsidy", and add to the sentence that it is "a highly effective price stabilisation measure."
We do appreciate having the additional information that was provided on the purposes and role of that fund.
I simply want to note the comments that were made, several comments, about biotechnology but I do not recall any item that requires any response on the part of the Secretariat. Also, we have taken note certainly of the comments made with respect to the banana issue. There have been a couple of references to the locusts issue. That matter will be taken up in a moment.
With respect to the intervention on the part of the representative from Japan, we note the offer of Japan to host an International Conference on Sustainable Contributions of Fisheries to Food Security. This offer was placed before the Council last week and was very well received by Council, I might add.
As far as the question that came from the Representative of Japan about FAO's contribution to the Population and Development Conference, that will be forthcoming, I would appreciate that we postpone the discussion on that until we take up the matter that involves the implementation of the Plan of Action on Women in Development because it is that unit which is busy
already in making preparations for our contribution to the Population and Development Conference.
In response to a comment about the decline in investment in agriculture, here again is a topic that we will have an opportunity to revert to in a short period when we consider the document Agriculture: Towards 2010 but I would like to note that the World Bank itself has come to the conclusion that the case for an increase in agricultural investment is persuasive. I would also, of course, remind the members that FAO is very active in helping Member Nations prepare agricultural investment projects not only for the World Bank but also for the main regional banks as well as IFAD.
I wish now to comment upon the substantive comments and information that was provided by several delegations on policy and structural change taking place within their own countries and also the comments about FAO's policy advisory role vis-à-vis the World Bank and others and in general the threat to policy reform from external sources.
In a good number of statements it appears to be implicit in what was being said that this threat to internal policy by external sources would be removed, should the GATT come to a successful conclusion. Please be aware that, as presently formulated, the proposition with respect to subsidization of agricultural products in international markets is to be phased out gradually over the next decade. That is, if there is an agreement, you will not immediately see a significant reduction in this threat from external sources; the international markets will continue to be distorted, perhaps not to the same degree and as time goes on supposedly to a lesser degree, but, nevertheless, there will continue to be in the initial instance considerable distortion in international markets. Therefore, your task, as far as national policy is concerned, is to ensure that you protect your agriculture from these distorted markets in the international sphere.
There was the wish and hope that in addition to free trade we would have fair trade. Certainly, that, I am sure, is a wish to which all concerned can subscribe. The fact of the matter is we do not have fair trade at the present time and we are not likely to see it for some time in the future. All of this, of course, was related to another common theme that came through and that is concern over the level and the decline in the prices for agricultural commodities generally and particularly those important to developing countries.
There was a plea for assistance in helping to identify markets, I believe most vividly expressed on the part of the delegation from Dominica. Perhaps we should be considering more seriously than at present, as part of FAO's role and because of its perspective in looking across situations from country to country and region to region, as a part of our policy advisory function, at the market opportunities based upon the comparative advantages of the different countries. I put this forward mainly as a thought.
Finally, with respect to the policy advisory role of the Organization, please be assured that we will respond to the limits of our ability and resources to your requests for assistance on policy matters. I personally believe that advice on agricultural policy can better be obtained from this Organization, given its depth of knowledge on agricultural matters, than from others.
The World Bank was mentioned as having become a major policy adviser. That is so. There is no doubt about it. The World Bank has an important role with respect to macro-economic policy, structural adjustment activities and so forth. We do not pretend or intend to become a competitor of the World Bank on macro-economic policy. However, to fulfil our responsibilities to you, the members, we must have a clear enough understanding of the impact of macro-economic policies to be able to help you see the impact on food and agricultural policies and how best the latter can be structured and fine-tuned to facilitate the attainment of the national objectives that have been approved for your agricultural sectors.
I believe that covers the main points. If there were any other specific matters, my colleagues or myself will be prepared to respond to you.
CHAIRMAN (Original language German): You will all recall Mauritania's statement made yesterday. We agreed, as a result of that, it is essential that right after discussion of Point 1 we deal with the desert locust situation in west and northwest Africa.
May I refer you to document C 93/INF/18. I ask the Assistant Director-General to be good enough to introduce this document.
-The Desert Locust Situation in West and Northwest Africa
-Situation du criquet pèlerin en Afrique de l'Ouest et du Nord-Ouest
-Situación de la langosta del desierto en Africa occidental y nordoccidental
H. De HAEN (Assistant Director-General, Agriculture Department) :I have to report to the Conference on another issue which has given rise to considerable concern during the last twelve months, which is another aspect of the situation of food and agriculture, the item under discussion, and which is of great concern to a large number of countries. This relates to the age-old menace of the desert locust. Widespread heavy rains at suitably timed intervals led to a recrudescence of locust populations in the countries around the Red Sea in late 1992 and in early 1993, and of course the need to relaunch anti-locust campaigns.
The Director-General of FAO has reactivated the Emergency Centre for Locust Operations, ECLO, to coordinate the campaigns and facilitate the procurement of the assistance needed. Although large-scale campaigns were conducted in the Red Sea trench area, in particular in Saudi Arabia, some swarms did form and these started to move off the coastal plains into the interior in early March 1993. Further breeding occurred during the spring and early summer, and further swarms were produced which moved eastwards as far as Pakistan and India and westwards as far as Mauritania.
As in the 1986-1989 plague, which many of you will remember, the international donor response to appeals for assistance has been prompt and purposeful. The latest information from the field which we now have indicates that the situation which appeared to be deteriorating during the summer has now markedly improved in India and in Pakistan, but is still serious in other parts and other countries, in particular in Mauritania and Senegal. Further assistance is therefore still needed and is still being provided.
As you will see from the information contained in document C 93/INF/18, FAO has been actively assisting, I would say, all affected countries at times when it was needed, and is still doing so, through a large number of projects funded both through bilateral and multilateral funds, as well as through TCP.
If the campaign can be pursued with vigour in the next few weeks, I believe we should be able to eliminate the remaining hopper bands and swarms, and we are pleased to be able to report to you that so far, of course with exceptions, damage to crops has been light. Most of the swarms were feeding in deserts and only a few have affected on a large scale, in some countries, crops per se.
That is my introduction and we will attentively listen to the debate and then answer any questions you may have.
Ramdane KELLOU (Algérie): Permettez-moi d'abord de remercier le Secrétariat de la Conférence pour avoir inscrit ce point à notre ordre du jour. Permettez-moi aussi, si cela est possible et nécessaire, de rappeler un certain nombre de points.
Nous avons vécu et nous continuons de vivre depuis quelques mois, dans la région de l'Ouest et du Nord-Ouest de l'Afrique, et probablement dans la région centrale et de l'Asie du Sud-Ouest, la menace acridienne, qui rappelle malheureusement par l'ampleur qu'elle connaît déjà dans certaines régions, et surtout celle que nous attendons prochainement en hiver et au printemps, celle des années 86-87, comme vient de le dire M. le Sous-Directeur général de la FAO. A cette époque, plus de 100 millions de dollars ont été dépensés dans ces pays. A l'heure actuelle, près de trois millions d'hectares ont déjà été traités, ce qui correspond globalement à une dépense de 50 millions de dollars. Les risques sont très grands pour tous les pays de l'aire d'invasion, y compris le mien.
Je voudrais ici, tout particulièrement, remercier très sincèrement la Communauté internationale et notre organisation la FAO pour la réponse très sensible et diligente qu'elle a apportée dès le premier mois, lorsque le début des invasions acridiennes s'est signalé. Malheureusement, cette réponse bien qu'étant sensible et rapide reste à notre avis très insuffisante au regard de ce qui nous attend.
Nous lançons encore un appel à la Communauté pour renforcer son aide, afin de mettre en oeuvre les programmes d'urgence que nous avons arrêtés, notamment à Tunis, à Alger et à Agadir, pour ce qui concerne notre région, et notamment la mise en place de façon progressive de réseaux de prévention ou de lutte dans toutes les régions concernées, y compris la région de l'Afrique centrale et de l'Asie du Sud-Ouest. Ce réseau, à l'instar de celui qui a été établi pour la région de l'Ouest et du Nord-Ouest de l'Afrique, devrait intégrer non seulement la disponibilité de moyens matériels, mais surtout la formation, la recherche, la collecte et le traitement de l'information météorologique qui constitue un facteur primordial dans la prévention acridienne.
Nous pensons proposer au Secrétariat ou au Comité de rédaction de la Conférence, un projet de résolution dans ce sens.
A.W. KAZI (Pakistan) : We are very grateful that you have given us a chance to speak on a subject which has been of very great concern to us during the last four months. We have seen the FAO report, C 93/INF/18, which gives very detailed information about the desert locust situation, but, as you will kindly note, this report is mainly concerned with the situation of locusts in Africa. May I submit for the information of the delegates to this Commission that since last July Pakistan and our neighbouring country, India, have lived through the most major locust attack since 1985. It was one of the worst locust attacks in our history. As you will kindly appreciate, both India's and Pakistan's combined population is almost one billion people. This attack posed a very potential threat to the standing summer crops in both the countries, which posed great and grave danger to the overall food security, not only of the region but of the entire world.
The locust swarm first hit the southern part of Pakistan on 11 July and two days later the northern part, in the Punjab. From then until the end of last month we have been in a condition of war in combatting the locusts and trying to contain them within the desert areas. It has been through very intensive efforts on our part, and with the active assistance of FAO and donor countries, that we have been able to contain the threat within the desert areas so that the locusts did not spill over to the irrigated areas just at the edges of the desert.
We would like to add that the FAO both in Islamabad and Rome were kept fully informed of the operations. In fact, the local UN and FAO authorities were actively associated with our operations. In this connection, we gratefully acknowledge the active role played by the Head of the UN Mission in Islamabad, and the FAO representative in Islamabad. We are also grateful to other donors who agreed to provide financial and material aid through FAO for fighting the locust scourge.
We consider it most fortunate that our country and neighbouring India escaped a major disaster at this time. This may not be so next time unless we take some concrete steps to ensure our preparedness and availability of resources. For this, we would like to propose certain measures for the consideration of this Commission. First, we should establish immediately at least one, if not two, task forces - one for Africa and one for Middle and Eastern Asia - to review all aspects of the recent upsurge in Africa, the Middle East and the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent. This task force would produce results on the upsurge and what steps should be taken to avoid a repetition. We are suggesting this for one main reason It was in April 1993 that we, for the first time, approached the FAO authorities expressing our grave doubts about the locust upsurge in Africa and its possible implications for the Middle East and the sub-continent. Until the end of July the thinking was that the locusts would not travel eastwards and would not hit the sub-continent.
It was only at the beginning of July that we received a report that there was grave danger of the locusts travelling eastwards. We would like to avoid a repetition, and would like more reaction time because once the locusts hit the deserts in India and Pakistan we have little reaction time because we have vast areas under cultivation through barrages and canals. They are just on the edge of that.
In Pakistan alone, over 21 million hectares are under crops, and almost 17 million hectares are irrigated through canals and coverts, so the stakes are too great. We would hope that something can be done so that the situation will not be repeated.
Secondly, like the world food security arrangements, there should be some standing arrangement under which the availability of the essential inputs such as pesticides may be made. These are direly needed at the time and should be made available at very short notice. This time we did receive a good response through the aegis of FAO and the United Nations authorities in Islamabad, and we are very grateful to them.
The main point about arranging a commodity like pesticides is that it takes time. We have very good standing arrangements with the Plant Protection Department, but at times pesticides become a problem because we cannot import enough and keep a store because they have a limited shelf life. Therefore, we suggest that there should be a standing arrangement whereby the basic requirements of emergency essential pesticides for locust control and spares are made available at short notice. This will go a very long way towards controlling the locust threat wherever it raises its head.
The best thing of all, of course, is that it should not be allowed to raise its head, but when it does we must have a fall-back position. That is as I have suggested.
Those are the basic suggestions and submissions I wanted to make. Once again, I request the Commission that as in the case of Africa where a detailed report has been given, it would be much appreciated if a similar report could be prepared and circulated especially for India and Pakistan, for which the material has already been furnished to the FAO authorities.
Gamal Mohamed AHMED (Sudan) (Original language Arabic): First of all, Mr Chairman, may we congratulate you and the two Vice-Chairmen on your election in order to preside over this important Commission. We should like to express to the Secretariat our sincere gratitude for its concern with the question of desert locusts on the agenda of this Conference. We thank the Secretariat for their comprehensive document submitted so ably through Mr de Haen.
The danger of desert locusts in Africa exceeds the danger of desertification and drought which is hitting the African continent, because locusts attack everything that is green - forests, pastures and plantations, wherein poor farmers have put everything they own. Regretfully, locust waves usually come with a good rainy season and thus the old proverb holds which says that what is not taken by drought is taken by locusts.
We were happy to have the Emergency Centre for Locusts Operations reopened and to have Mr Papasolomontos reappointed as Director of the Centre, which has given the Organization an important step forward with regard to earlier warning operations, data collection, dissemination and publication. Meetings have been held and goals have been addressed. The donor community of countries has responded to the appeals addressed to them by FAO. Yet the menace is still there and threatens considerable regions. The matter has to be dealt with by various means, because our regions will be exposed to the menace unless a control strategy is applied as well as a prevention strategy in order to prevent the menace which will continue to exist.
Locusts know no boundaries. The question has to be dealt with on a regional basis, and steps have to be taken in order to conduct regional control operations and preventive procedures. Herein lies the role of regional locust control organizations such as the Organization for Desert Control in
East Africa, which should be provided with sufficient support and subsidies to enable it to play its role in the control of locusts in the countries of East Africa.
National mechanisms for control should be consolidated by strengthening the communication and reporting systems and developing other land control systems. Mechanisms should be consolidated to continue operations in the stagnant season in order to conduct efficient control systems. It is essential to reactivate the pesticide bank and to propagate its service to cover all the affected countries.
In considering the attached list of assistance we express gratitude to the donor countries for the assistance extended to our countries in terms of locust control, yet we are certain that current requirements call for further assistance and support. That is why we call on the international community to consolidate their current efforts for desert control and to elaborate a support strategy on a continuing basis in order to eradicate this serious menace by supporting and consolidating research, developing other technicalities of control and advising on effective pesticides which are environmentally friendly.
My government has recently played its part on a full basis in control operations, despite our limited resources and our fragile economic situation. We are committed to playing this role in order to protect our plantations, and agriculture in neighbouring countries. My delegation wishes to support the proposal of the delegate of Algeria that this Commission adopt a draft Resolution on desert locusts in various affected regions. We hope that such a draft Resolution will be submitted to the Conference.
OuId Mohamed Ahid TOURAD (Mauritanie): Merci M. le Président. Je vous remercie de me donner encore une fois la parole. Je ne tiens pas à me répéter. L'essentiel a été dit hier dans mon intervention qui reflète la situation grave du criquet pèlerin dans mon pays. Je joins ma parole à celle du délégué algérien pour que l'on tienne compte du projet de résolution qui a été rédigé à cette intention.
Abdelkader EL MAZHOR (Maroc): Merci M. le Président. Comme je l'ai dit ce matin, le Maroc a été confronté en 1992 et 1993 à deux campagnes consécutives de sécheresse. Pour la campagne en cours, les conditions climatiques sont jusqu'à présent jugées favorables. Mais les observations d'essaims de criquets pèlerins sont signalées dans le sud du pays en provenance de la Mauritanie. Et, compte tenu des conditions favorables, l'invasion du pays par les criquets devient imminente. Aussi, le Maroc se joint à tous les pays menacés par l'invasion pour lancer un appel solennel et pressant à tous les pays représentés ici, à la FAO, aux pays donateurs et aux autres organismes internationaux pour agir rapidement, afin d'aider les pays touchés par ce fléau à stopper d'abord l'invasion, et à mettre en oeuvre par la suite un programme de lutte préventive pour l'ensemble de l'aire d'invasion du criquet pèlerin.
Je remercie le Secrétariat d'avoir bien voulu retenir ce thème parmi les discussions de notre Commission aujourd'hui. Et je vous signale que nous soutenons le projet de résolution qui vous sera présenté par l'Algérie à ce sujet.
Ahmed Bin Mohamed AL-HINAJ (Oman) (Original language Arabic) : At the outset may I express to you, Mr Chairman, on behalf of my country sincere congratulations on your election and that of the two Vice-chairmen for this important task. I should like to speak before this august commission not as the delegate of Oman but as the Head of the Regional Organization for Desert Locust Control in the Middle East.
This year, countries of the region have been exposed to violent attacks by desert locusts, and extensive efforts by member countries have been exerted in order to face this scourge. I avail myself of the opportunity to express sincere gratitude on behalf of the countries of the region to FAO and the donor countries for the kind assistance received by the countries concerned.
I should also like to confirm the necessity of cooperation between the various countries and organizations concerned in terms of control. I associate myself with the preceding speakers in underlining the necessity for establishing a global strategy for locust control, particularly a preventive strategy, in order to overcome this serious menace threatening basic crops in the world.
Parviz KARBASI (Iran, Islamic Republic of): In the name of God. To be brief, I would bring to your attention that the locust does not know a border; it flies anywhere the wind would like to move it, and destroys food, thereby creating more poverty. In this regard, my delegation wishes to associate with all the people who have supported the draft Resolution. We appeal to the community to set up this task force, and move in this direction as an international issue.
Idi MAMAN (Niger): Merci, Monsieur le Président. Le Niger, comme vous le savez M. le Président, fait partie des zones menacées par le criquet pèlerin. C'est donc consciente de ces dangers que la délégation du Niger soutient sans réserve la proposition du projet de résolution présentée par l'Algérie.
Alhajl MAI M. JIR (Nigeria): I wish to associate myself with, and support, the draft Resolution proposed by Algeria. Nigeria, especially the northern part, is very close to Chad, Niger and northern parts of Cameroon and Ghana. Therefore, we support this draft Resolution.
CHAIRMAN (Original language German) : It appears that no-one else wishes to speak. Before I give the floor to Mr de Haen, I would ask the delegate of Algeria to hand the draft text of the Resolution to the Secretariat as soon as possible so that the Secretariat can send it without delay to the Resolutions Committee.
POINT OF ORDER
POINT D'ORDRE
PUNTO DE ORDEN
A.W. KAZI (Pakistan): This is an international problem affecting Africa, the Middle East and the sub-continent of India and Pakistan. Algeria's
draft is perfectly all right, but I would ask if a draft could be prepared by two or three member countries so that a unanimous draft can be put to the Commission.
CHAIRMAN (Original language German): It appears to me that the Algerian proposal received very broad support from a whole series of delegations and I would therefore assume that the text which will be given to the Secretariat is one which has previously been agreed upon by the delegations which have supported it. The delegate of Algeria is nodding, so I take it that that is the case. We will therefore wait for the agreed-upon resolution to be presented to us.
Parviz KARBASI (Iran, Islamic Republic of ): In the name of God. If you agree, Mr Chairman, I think it would be a good idea for the resolution to be read because some of the other delegations do not know its terms.
H. DE HAEN (Assistant Director-General, Agriculture Department): I should like to thank all those who have spoken for the many expressions of compliment and for the support of the programmes by which we try to assist countries affected by the locust upsurge. You have unanimously supported not only the need to engage in action to fight the locust but also in prevention programmes. You have also emphasized the need for timely alerts. Let me assure you that we, at FAO and at ECLO, do everything possible to inform everyone about new observations and forecasts as far as we can. For that purpose we use the Desert Locust Bulletin, which all countries should receive, and we send telexes if we have interim information. The Locust Bulletin is updated monthly, but we do not wait for the next issue; we inform you as soon as we have information, and we also try to be as timely as possible in the case of the eastward movement affecting Pakistan later on.
The delegate of Pakistan made a proposal with two specific items in it, one being a task force to analyse the experience of the current campaign in order to come up with better indicators of the menace and of possibilities of future upsurges. We will study this proposal, but let me assure you that the team which we have on board here, in collaboration with the national teams, is already very much engaged in collecting information and in trying to draw conclusions, which we shall then make available to all of you in forthcoming issues of the Locust Bulletin, and I am sure that at a later session of the Desert Locust Control Commission we will give you a comprehensive report about experiences of this campaign, which hopefully will be over as soon as possible.
The second item in the proposal made by Pakistan concerned the old idea of a pesticide bank. This bank, if we may call it that, does exist, and it takes the form of contractual arrangements which we have made with a number of producers who, through these arrangements, can now provide any quantity required within two days. Some of your countries have already benefited from the arrangement in the current campaign. This also applies to equipment. Therefore I can gladly reply to the distinguished delegate from Pakistan that this idea is already in practice in the current situation.
Concerning reports for the Asian Region, I can assure you that whatever we know is being documented, and has been documented in the Desert Locust Bulletin. The report before you in the conference document admittedly
concentrates more on Africa, although Pakistan is mentioned there. This may be due to the fact that the proposal to put this on our agenda under this item was originally made at a meeting of African Ministers. However, full information on the rest of the world is available to everyone.
I think we all agree that prevention is the most important task, especially in periods between upsurges when attention and interest in continued surveillance tend to be superseded by other priorities. I can only confirm what has been said by several of you: continuing surveillance is important, as is improvement of forecasting methodologies using meteorological information and also physiological information. The better we understand the causes of the behaviour of locusts, the better we can predict their future behaviour and outbreaks. Therefore we support, and try to find, donors and countries which are interested in research. There is a research agenda and there are research projects being carried out, although some think that much more could be done to invest in research in order to improve our understanding of the behaviour of locusts and of forecasting possibilities. In this context, and in particular in relation to the current campaign, which is costing a lot of money, I should like to take this opportunity to thank all donors who are involved through FAO and, on behalf of all countries affected, perhaps I could extend that appreciation to donors supporting whatever programme it may be, be it bilateral, be it multilateral, to combat the locust. Without that support, we should not be where we are now, and therefore I thank them.
I cannot comment on the resolution. We will study it with attention when we receive the draft text, which we await.
I hope I have answered all your questions. If I have not, please let me know.
CHAIRMAN (Original language German) : Thank you for your statement, Dr De Haen. I should like to support the last part, in particular, of what you said, and I appeal to the delegate of Algeria to be kind enough to send us as quickly as possible the text of the coordinated draft Resolution.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL: Mr Chairman, distinguished delegates, despite considerable progress in recent decades, the world still falls far short of the goal of adequate nutrition for all. Approximately 780 million people, mainly in Africa, south Asia and Latin America, do not have enough food to meet their basic daily needs for energy and protein. More than two billion people subsist on diets that lack the essential vitamins and minerals required for normal growth and development.
We have already considered the food supply situation as well as the near-term prospects for population and incomes growth, key factors in the demand for agricultural product. The situation with respect to international market prices has also been reviewed.
Although availability and stability of food supplies at the national and global levels are important dimensions of better nutrition and food
security, they do not necessarily ensure physical and economic access to adequate food on the part of all individuals, and there is no guarantee that this food is of sufficient variety, quality and safety to ensure the nutritional well-being of the population. This was the main concern expressed during the International Conference on Nutrition which took place in Rome last December.
Over the last years FAO has made considerable efforts to provide assistance to member countries to ensure food security and nutritional well-being on the part of all individuals.
FAO has been providing support and technical assistance for many years on nutrition assessment, evaluation, food quality and safety, control of food contamination, improved and more nutritious food supplies and nutrition education. At present, our Food Policy and Nutrition Division has more than 80 ongoing projects in these areas, and this Division is actively involved in providing support to many member countries which have committed themselves to strengthening ongoing programmes and activities related to nutritional improvement by endorsing the World Declaration and Plan of Action for Nutrition adopted by the International Conference.on Nutrition.
Under the expanded mandate of the Food Security Assistance Scheme FAO has also been providing assistance since 1989 for the formulation of comprehensive food security programmes which address many of the objectives subsequently endorsed by the ICN. Thus far such assistance has been provided in 23 countries and four sub-regions and pipeline activities are under preparation in several more countries. This assistance has built on the preparatory work for the ICN at country and regional level, in particular as regards utilization of the in-country working groups and food security and nutrition assessments.
As a first step in ICN follow-up many countries have already undertaken the preparation of a national plan of action, many with assistance from the international community and the United Nations. As the lead agencies mandated to work in the areas of food, health and nutrition, FAO and WHO have been working closely together to coordinate assistance to those countries that have requested it and to promote balanced and appropriate attention to food, agriculture and health for improving nutrition.
FAO has made particular efforts for promoting ICN follow-up activities and providing technical support to countries. FAO Country Representatives have been requested to promote the preparation of a national plan of action for nutrition and project activities within such plans by establishing and maintaining contact with the government ministries, NGOs and other public and private institutions. FAO Country Representatives have also been requested to promote ICN coordinating groups of international agencies involved in areas related to nutrition improvement.
FAO has also distributed guidelines for developing national plans of action for nutrition. The Guidelines suggest steps to follow in preparing these plans and encourage member countries to establish mechanisms for securing the intersectoral and interagency collaboration required for effective ICN follow-up.
Over 40 countries have requested FAO assistance in preparing or revising their national plans of action. Technical assistance from staff members and international consultants has been provided to a number of countries. In
other countries, the Organization is working vigorously to identify the nature of the assistance required, and to meet each request.
FAO is also working to follow-up the ICN at the regional level. For example, FAO, in collaboration with WHO, has begun holding a series of inter-country meetings to promote regional collaboration and exchange of information on national plans of action. Meetings have been held in 1993 in Thailand for the Asia and Pacific Food and Nutrition Network, and in Honduras for the Central American Countries. These will be continued in other regions in 1994.
At the international level, FAO fully endorses the need for continued and expanded collaboration among a wide range of multilateral and bilateral organizations. The Administrative Committee on Coordination chaired by the Secretary-General, and its Sub-Committee on Nutrition has an important role to play in this regard by providing a forum for agencies to discuss and agree on mechanisms for coordinating their nutrition-related activities and/or a means for preparing consolidated reports on progress made.
I should also draw delegates' attention to the fact that implementation of the ICN Plan of Action was a main item on the agenda of the informal meeting of INGO representatives attending the Twenty-seventh Session of the FAO Conference which took place on Tuesday. The report of this meeting will be available but not until next week. Briefly, many of the organizations represented had participated in the ICN and reiterated their commitment to support the implementation of the Plan of Action particularly at national level. INGO representatives stressed a number of points including the importance of encouraging the production of traditional food crops, the critical role of women in ensuring household food security and the need for nutrition education, with special attention to rural men and women.
In order to ensure the vigorous and coordinated implementation of activities recommended in the World Declaration and Plan of Action for Nutrition, each UN agency and other concerned international organizations were requested by the ICN to consider the ways and means of giving appropriate priority to nutrition-related programmes and activities. I am pleased to report that FAO has made a particular effort in this sense by incorporating in the design of two special action programmes activities to strengthen the Organization's capacity to assist member countries to develop, implement and monitor food security and nutrition plans and programmes as mandated by the ICN and by the FAO Committee on World Food Security, the Council and the Conference in 1983.
The Special Action Programmes to which I have just referred are presented in paragraphs 54 to 64 of the document before you, so I need not go into detail at this point.
We are confident that the Special Action Programmes will allow the expertise available in FAO to be channelled more effectively than up to now into specific field actions aimed at improving access to food and nutritional well-being. We hope that they are designed in a manner which our donor governments will find sufficiently attractive to commit extra-budgetary resources, because it is only with extra-budgetary resources that the goals and aspirations in the ICN Plan of Action can be implemented.
Finally, I would like to indicate that FAO and WHO are mandated, as part of the ICN recommendations, to prepare a consolidated report on the efforts of
the UN agencies in their implementation of the ICN Plan of Action and on its implementation by member countries. This document will be submitted to the FAO Conference in 1995.
In closing, Mr Chairman, I would like to acknowledge with thanks the extra-budgetary contributions made by Belgium, Canada, the EEC, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States to support the preparations for and holding of the ICN. This direct support to FAO and WHO, as well as considerable bilateral support between developed and developing countries and from other international agencies enabled the ICN to achieve its original objectives. This support has been complemented by important financial contributions from donors participating in the Food Security Assistance Scheme. With the momentum provided by the ICN to improve food security and nutrition in all countries, we are hopeful that the many programme and project formulation requests for improving food security and nutrition under the new FAO Special Action Programmes concerned with food security and the continuing ICN implementation process will also receive strong support from donor countries and international funding programmes.
Jean Paul ADRIANSENS (Belgique): Je voudrais d'abord remercier le Secrétariat pour la présentation du document et M. Hjort pour son introduction. Je ferai cette déclaration au nom de la Communauté européenne et ses Etats Membres.
C'est avec intérêt que nous avons analysé le document C 93/22 qui donne les grandes lignes de la situation des pays en développement en matière de sécurité alimentaire et de nutrition et traite de la suite à donner à la Conférence internationale sur la nutrition. Une première réaction au document est que la Communauté européenne et ses Etats Membres partagent, dans une très large mesure, avec la FAO, un vif intérêt à travailler sur des programmes et approches qui contribuent à réduire l'insécurité alimentaire tant au niveau des ménages qu'à celui des pays. En conséquence, comme déjà indiqué dans notre déclaration sur le point de l'ordre du jour consacré à l'état de l'alimentation et de l'agriculture, nous tenons à souligner l'importance de l'aboutissement de la Conférence internationale sur la nutrition et l'élan qui en découle.
A cet égard, quoique la Conférence internationale sur la nutrition ait unanimement été considérée comme un succès, il serait trop optimiste de croire qu'elle a déjà permis d'aboutir à une sensibilisation accrue sur la situation nutritionnelle mondiale. Beaucoup de travail nous attend dans ce domaine: ce qui nous reste à faire pour la mise en oeuvre du plan d'action est très largement supérieur à ce que nous avons déjà accompli dans le cadre de la préparation de la Conférence. La participation concertée des institutions multilatérales, des organismes bilatéraux et des organisations non gouvernementales est une condition de notre réussite. Souhaitons que ces programmes soient dotés de moyens appropriés. Depuis la dernière Conférence générale, la Communauté a poursuivi ses principaux programmes relatifs à la sécurité alimentaire, orientés tant vers les ruptures à court terme dans l'approvisionnement et les situations d'urgence, que vers une vision à plus long terme en ce domaine. J'aimerais donner quelques indications sur ce que cela signifie en termes pratiques.
L'aide alimentaire concernant les situations d'urgence et de non-urgence considérées ensemble a de nouveau atteint environ 20 pour cent de l'aide publique au développement de la communauté.
En 1992, en termes de volume, 3,8 millions de tonnes de produits alimentaires ont été mis à disposition avec de substantielles liquidités destinées à couvrir les transports. Ces données incluaient le Programme spécial d'aide alimentaire en faveur de 18 Etats africains et autres les plus touchés par la sécheresse et les conflits armés en 1992.
L'Office humanitaire de la Communauté européenne (ECHO) a été créé en avril dernier. Il s'est vu confier la tâche importante d'oeuvrer dans toutes les actions d'urgence, dans le domaine alimentaire et non alimentaire, de la Communauté européenne, de manière à répondre rapidement aux situations d'urgence à travers le monde entier.
Des systèmes d'alerte rapide sont appuyés: mis à part le DIAPER (suivi permanent pour le Sahel), la Communauté contribue également volontiers aux systèmes d'information globale et d'alerte rapide (GIEWS) mis en place par la FAO. De la sorte, divers systèmes nationaux de contrôle sont actuellement financés.
La Convention sur l'aide alimentaire donne lieu à l'utilisation la plus large possible. Ceci inclut, entre autres, le recours par la Communauté et ses Etats Membres, lorsque cela est approprié, à l'aide alimentaire triangulaire, avec pour objectif de promouvoir le commerce entre les pays en développement et à l'intérieur de ceux-ci. Ces achats, en plus d'une mobilisation des excédents de production locale, donnent aussi la possibilité de procurer aux bénéficiaires les produits alimentaires appropriés, souvent à meilleur marché et plus rapidement. La Convention sur l'aide alimentaire a incontestablement le mérite d'avoir contribué à la sécurité alimentaire en insistant sur les engagements pluriannuels en matière d'aide.
A notre avis, un problème continue d'appeler une attention particulière dans les activités de sécurité alimentaire: l'accent mis de plus en plus sur le traitement des perturbations à court terme au détriment des orientations à long terme susceptibles d'encourager ce type de sécurité; en d'autres termes, le lien entre secours et développement. La pratique quotidienne en cette matière prouve que le court terme est l'ennemi du long terme. Ce dernier ne peut connaître de progrès que si l'on fait de la sécurité alimentaire l'un des principes directeurs de toute politique et programme pertinents de développement et si l'on assure des conditions de stabilité et un engagement politique permettant de les mettre fructueusement en oeuvre.
Le Conseil des ministres du développement de la Communauté a décidé au printemps dernier de mettre un nouvel accent sur la sécurité alimentaire parmi ses politiques et programmes et d'étudier les méthodes de nature à améliorer la coordination. Comme premier pas vers la formulation d'une politique en ce domaine, une réunion d'experts en matière de sécurité alimentaire de la Communauté et de ses Etats Membres a été organisée le mois dernier. Le lien entre secours et développement évoqué ci-dessus a figuré parmi les points clés de la discussion. Améliorer la coordination ne signifie pas mettre sur pied de vastes programmes nouveaux. Au contraire, une fois les grandes lignes définies au niveau des politiques, la part du lion dans la coordination doit revenir au niveau opérationnel, donc à celui des pays bénéficiaires, mais seulement d'une manière très légère. A ce point, des choix quant aux questions "où, comment, quand, qui" demeurent encore tous sujets à discussion.
Permettez-moi d'évoquer brièvement un exemple intéressant combinant avec succès orientations de sécurité alimentaire à court terme et à long terme, coordination entre donneurs et constance de la ligne politique du gouvernement. Il s'agit du Programme de restructuration du marché des céréales (PRMC), au Mali, lancé il y a douze ans lorsque le marché malien des céréales était entièrement contrôlé et réglementé et la production nationale largement insuffisante pour répondre à la demande.
Le pays n'appartenait pas encore à l'Union monétaire de l'Afrique de l'Ouest. L'objectif du PRMC était de libéraliser et de stabiliser le marché des céréales. Son instrument principal était un engagement pluriannuel des donneurs pouvant s'élever jusqu'à 58 000 tonnes de céréales (dont une partie minime en monnaie), gérées comme un stock régulateur modeste destiné à la stabilisation des prix et à la sécurité alimentaire. Donneurs et pouvoirs publics assuraient la gestion conjointe de ce stock, avec, en particulier, la mise en commun de recettes dans un même fonds de contrepartie. Celui-ci était utilisé à diverses fins, toujours liées cependant à la commercialisation et au stockage des céréales (crédit d'avances sur récolte, entreposage, conditionnement, etc.). Il servait également à la gestion et la distribution de toute l'aide alimentaire en céréales.
A présent, l'accent se déplace vers la modernisation du marché des céréales et de leur stockage, qui sont maintenant intégralement libéralisés, à l'exception d'un petit stock régulateur. Au cours des 12 dernières années, la production totale de céréales au Mali s'est accrue beaucoup plus que la population: le pays est aujourd'hui presque autosuffisant dans cette denrée (sans que l'on puisse prétendre que ceci soit entièrement dû au PRMC: des pluies appropriées ont été vitales).
On tirera de cet exemple la conclusion que secours et développement peuvent aller de concert. J'espère que beaucoup d'autres cas seront cités au cours de cette conférence.
Dans ce contexte, la récente initiative du Conseil "Développement" de lancer un programme de réhabilitation à l'intention particulière des pays subsahariens doit être également mentionnée. Cette initiative envisage le passage de l'aide d'urgence à la réhabilitation et s'avère ainsi en cohérence avec un souhait de rétablir la sécurité alimentaire dans ces pays qui ont été gravement affectés par la sécheresse et la guerre.
Monsieur le Président, j'espère que vous conviendrez avec moi que la question des orientations que nécessite sérieusement à plus long terme la sécurité alimentaire mérite d'être soulevée dans toutes les conférences et enceintes internationales appropriées. Entre autres, on peut songer au Programme alimentaire mondial, au Conseil alimentaire mondial, au Comité de la sécurité alimentaire mondiale, à la CNUCED.
Ibrahim HASAN (Indonesia): I would first like to join other delegations in congratulating you on your election as Chairman of this Commission. Allow me also to extend our deep appreciation to the Secretariat which has provided very good preparation with the documents. May I thank the Deputy Director-General for his very informative introductory remarks on food security and nutritional status.
My delegation shares the view that food security and nutritional status are both very essential and therefore should be responded to seriously. Food
security is a fundamental goal of nations around the globe, for very basic considerations and reasons. There is widely accepted truism that national resilience and freedom without adequate food security is an illusion.
In developing countries where there is a large population related to available agricultural land, economic and political stability can be provided only by a government that has solved its domestic problems of food security. Food security for individual households in rural areas and stable food markets in urban areas are essential to begin and maintain the process of economic growth, stability and equity.
The decades of the 1970s and 1980s have presented us with a disturbing picture of most regions having suffered from stagnation, malnutrition and declining economic growth and development, not only in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union but also in several countries across Africa and South America. Even the United States and some European countries are still trying to cope with a prolonged recession. Several countries in Asia and Southeast Asia have to learn how to maintain a steady pace of rapid economic growth and keep successfully their food security.
Indonesian has now almost completed the first 25 year phase of its long-term development plan. During that period it has not only succeeded in changing its position as a traditional major rice importing country into one of being self-sufficient in 1984 but has also made enormous strides in providing food security for its large and diverse population of more than 185 million at present.
The Indonesian model of development of basic policies, strategies and programmes, as adapted by the country in pursuing its fundamental goals of food security, growth, stability and equity in an integrated fashion is a useful model to share with other developing countries facing similar problems.
The Government of Indonesian has adopted a dual strategy to implement its food security policy, namely a production strategy and food price stabilization policy. This dual strategy contributes to promoting growth of the national economy with special emphasis on raising farm incomes and achieving self-sufficiency in food, mainly rice. Having achieved self-sufficiency or adequacy of supply does of course, to some extent guarantee food security. As defined by FAO at its 22nd Session in 1983, the concept of food security encompasses three components: (1) adequacy of supply throughout the country; (2) stability of supply throughout the year and (3) access to food, physical and economic, on the part of those who need it.
Under the dual strategy, fulfilment of the FAO concept of food security is being pursued under the government's food price stabilization policy, the aim of which is to maximize stability in the flow of the rice supply throughout the country and throughout the year.
Strengthening food security also involves the need for greater cooperation in regional levels as well as broader levels among developing countries. In this regard, my delegation would like to draw your attention to the concerns expressed by the Head of State or Government of the non-aligned member Countries on the importance of food security.
Following the International Conference on Nutrition (ICN), Indonesia has formulated strategies and policies in food and nutritional development. The
national food strategy is directed towards producing sufficient food at national level through food diversification and income-generating activities. On the other hand, the national improvement strategies and policies are directed to meeting food sufficiency at household level, to alleviate micronutrient problems, especially in the poor areas, and to prevent the imbalance in nutrition due to changes in lifestyle and higher income, as well as to protect consumers through improved food quality and safety.
In the coming five-year development plan, food policy implementation is based on the national capability to increase food production, to maintain food security and price stability, to develop quality and safety of food, and to promote diversification in food consumption.
Facing the future challenges, as well as anticipating the rising problems, a Ministry of Affairs has been set up by our government. The Ministry has four main functions related to food problems: coordinating food policy formulation, planning for food programmes, coordinating related institutions on food-related matters as well as encouraging people's participation in both household and rural food security.
Several weeks ago our nation celebrated the Thirtieth World Food Day under the title of "Harvesting Nature's Diversity". We in Indonesia stressed food diversification with special attention to the effort of developing our local ethnic food. This special attention is given as we realize that ethnic food is based on local food material and is nutritionally sound, while on the other hand we need to develop our local food in response to the globalization of the market economy.
Finally, my delegation welcomes FAO support and activities in improving nutritional well-being through community development, enhanced household food security and improving food quality and safety.
Mrs S.L. BASSETT (United Kingdom): May I begin by expressing thanks for the introduction to this report and to the Secretariat for its production. It was received by us with interest.
The overall food situation is less parlous than last year but there is still a large continuing food need in many parts of the world.
The United Kingdom therefore supports the World Declaration and Plan of Action for Nutrition which calls for vigorous and concerted effort at all levels to reduce global hunger and malnutrition. We must, however, recognize that poverty, social inequality and the lack of education are the root causes of hunger and food insecurity and that greater effort should be made to direct resources to those most in need to raise their productive capacity. It is essential that these people receive adequate quantities of nutritionally-balanced food.
It must be recognized that adequate supplies of food at the national level, although necessary, do not guarantee food security: what is important is that households should have physical access and adequate purchasing power for food.
It is now a year since the ICN and it is reasonable to consider what progress has been made and, in particular, how far FAO divisions have identified areas for the reallocation of resources so as to maximize their
contribution to relevant action, that is what changes have been made to the priorities in programmes of work to ensure proper follow-up to the ICN.
We welcome the ICN Plan of Action focus on the strategies and actions necessary to reach the overall objective of ensuring proper access by all to the food necessary for safe and adequate diets. In particular, we strongly support the view that food security should not be treated as a specific policy issue but framed within the context of a comprehensive macro-economic policy programme. With this in mind, it is our view that it is right that individual countries should set their own nutrition goals, and national plans to achieve them.
We are pleased that FAO link policy advice and projects to country programme strategy and development framework but believe it will not be sufficient for FAO simply to provide guidelines to Member Governments. If these plans are prepared through dialogue and partnership there will be a real opportunity for countries to identify needs and help them prioritize their resource allocations and improve programme management.
We also support FAO's initiative to provide policy analysis and advice (in line with its comparative advantage) to assist member countries to implement the ICN Plan of Action. We agree that this strategy should attempt to incorporate nutritional objectives into development programmes and the need to provide care to the socio-economically deprived and nutritionally vulnerable.
We support the need for greater FAO collaboration with other donor agencies and congratulate FAO on the way in which the ICN process secured the participation of UN, bi-lateral and non-governmental organizations with their collective wide range of expertise.
If Special Action Plans are to be effective they should be supported by thorough economic and social analysis. The need to identify the different socio-economic groups of the rural poor and the causes of their poverty is crucial both to achieve improved targeting of beneficiaries and to identify options to eradicate poverty.
We welcome technical support for the development and maintenance of management information systems for policy analysis, programme formulation and monitoring, and particularly support initiatives to monitor the nutritional impact of development policies and programmes for the poor.
We support FAO's role in four important areas: as a global advisory body on agriculture and food issues; in promoting and fostering marketing systems, especially for the benefit of the nutritionally vulnerable; in developing national food and nutrition information systems to identify and monitor the at-risk population groups; on improving consumer awareness and nutritional education programmes.
We welcome FAO's efforts to advise member countries in identifying priority problems, reviewing and preparing National Plans of Action for Nutrition, but suggest that the capacity of FAO to support the areas listed under section 5.2 paras 60-64 is limited. FAO's advantage is greatest in those areas where it provides global advice and alerts donors and national governments to agricultural and food issue problems, for example the excellent work of GIEWS. The design and implementation of specific projects must be in collaboration with other UN agencies or left to other donors with greater expertise and the collaboration monitored and evaluated at
project, country and regional levels with ultimate evaluation responsibility with the UNACC Subcommittee on Nutrition, as identified in the ICN Plan of Action.
We cannot accept the view expressed in the paper of structural adjustment programmes and their alleged damaging impact on food security. Food subsidies have declined in many adjusting countries because they were financially unsustainable and often failed to reach the most vulnerable groups. Also as subsidies are paid for through general taxation, without supportive analysis, it would be unwise to support the view expressed as the cost of a subsidy (that is the tax bill) can often fall disproportionately on low-income groups, reducing their economic access to food.
The United Kingdom has been active in the past year towards fulfilling our commitments under the ICN Plan of Action. The "Health of the Nation" United Kingdom Government paper sets out the nutritional aspects of its health strategy. It focuses on the particular needs and circumstances of the United Kingdom and is consistent with the approach adopted in the ICN Plan of Action. The key priority areas are coronary heart disease and stroke, cancers, mental illness, HIV/AIDS and sexual health, and the prevention of accidents. We are pleased to report that the United Kingdom is now well advanced in the development of a National Plan of Action to meet the goals and objectives of the World Declaration for Nutrition.
Finally, we look forward to reading the FAO/WHO report on the implementation of the World Declaration and Plan of Action for Nutrition, due to come before us at the Conference in 1995.
Ms Guri GRONOLEN (Norway): Mr Chairman, I would first like to congratulate the Secretariat for an interesting document prepared for the Conference. I also appreciated the introductory statement on this agenda item.
It is positive to see that FAO considers the world nutrition situation in view of the outcome of the ICN. Obviously priorities have to be made because of the very broad spectrum of problems and suggested actions, and priorities will always be subject to discussion. As the document C 93/22 stands, certain assumptions seem to be embedded in it. One is that liberalization of market policies has mainly positive effects on the nutrition situation in developing countries. This assumption has over and over again been shown to be incorrect. In fact, one could say that extra attention is needed during liberalization because it easily leads to widening of the gap between rich and poor and marginalization of vulnerable groups, which will increase the potential for serious repercussions on their nutrition situation.
The Norwegian delegation is happy to note that improvements were recorded in the global food security situation in 1992. In particular, we are pleased to note that improvements were recorded for many developing countries.
However, still nearly 800 million people regularly do not have enough to eat. This situation is not acceptable and it is therefore with deep concern we note that in many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean the food security status has not improved. On the contrary, compared with 1991-92, per caput production in 1992-93 has fallen in 70 percent of the low-income, food-deficit countries.
It is my delegation's view that FAO has a major role to play in the international response to this situation. Therefore, we support that FAO in the Programme of Work and Budget for the next biennium gives priority to the follow-up of the ICN.
The Norwegian delegation took an active interest in the ICN, which we consider to be a success. The main responsibility for the follow-up of the Conference rests with the national governments. The FAO and WHO, in collaboration with other UN organizations, have a responsibility in providing assistance to governments in the follow-up process.
However, ICN recommended that ACC/SCN should play an active coordinating role in the follow-up of the Conference. SCN is not mentioned in paragraph 38 or in other parts of the document. In my delegation's opinion this Committee functions well and has an important role to play.
Chapter 4.3 outlines specific FAO support and activities for the follow-up of the ICN. Five of the eight themes discussed at the ICN are included on the priority-list in paragraph 43. The most concrete and clearly specified activity is "Improving food quality and safety".
This is surprising, considering that the poor countries probably would prioritize differently when faced with serious nutrition problems. Nutrition problems are often caused by poverty and not necessarily by food quality and safety. The theme "Caring for the socio-economically deprived and nutritionally vulnerable" is not part of the prioritized areas of FAO mentioned in paragraph 43. Neither is theme 8 "Incorporating nutrition objectives into development policies and programmes" on the priority list. Norway considers they are objectives essential in any nutrition undertaking whether a comprehensive nutrition policy, strategies, programmes, projects or a single activity.
During the process towards IC and at the ICN itself, Norway was very concerned that breast-feeding was not mentioned in the background documents. Breast-feeding is nevertheless reflected in the recommendations of the ICN. The Norwegian delegation is disappointed to note that the importance of breast-feeding is not mentioned in the document before us. The linkages between the situation of poor rural women as agricultural producers and caretakers and young-child malnutrition are obvious and call for increased and sustained attention.
My delegation notes with satisfaction that each division in FAO is to review its programme of work, in the light of the outcome of the ICN, and that support from different divisions within FAO will be coordinated through special action programmes on food security and nutrition. We think it is important that the entire Organization works together in the same direction.
In the FAO Special Action Programmes we note again that food quality has a prominent part. It is stated that FAO will assist countries "within the framework of sound macro-economic policies" providing services to member countries. Sound macro-economic policies will vary, e.g. according to country, context and political ideology. What FAO means here is therefore unclear. It is probably in this context that FAO has prepared the guideline "Developing National Plans for Nutrition". The Norwegian delegation finds it disturbing that capacity-building in the countries concerned is absent from document C 93/22 and the guideline. Without a strong focus on capacity-building which should enable the countries to do the job
themselves, the dependency on expert help from outside is maintained. We hope that FAO has not forgotten this very important aspect.
The document before us reflects a top-down approach, and so does the Guideline mentioned. This is worrying for the future work and follow-up of the ICN Plan of Action. What is important in the present global nutrition situation is to create a sustainable process where the overall goal is that the countries themselves manage to solve their problems on their own. Here, capacity-building plays a major role. Unfortunately Norway cannot see that FAO is trying to create the necessary processes to enhance capacity building; rather the approach chosen may create more dependency.
Quintiliano PEREZ BONILLA (España): En primer lugar, señor Presidente, queremos felicitar a la Secretaría de la FAO por la magnífica labor a la hora de redactar el documento C 93/22 que enmarca de una forma objetiva el alcance del problema. Entendemos que el tema es suficientemente importante para abordarlo con la profundidad y el detenimiento que merece, con el fin de sacar las conclusiones que permitan mejorar la calidad de vida de la población humana.
Se ha recordado aquí la Conferencia Internacional sobre Nutrición resaltando la capacidad y la necesidad de que las familias puedan proporcionar a todos sus miembros alimentos suficientes que aseguren una ingestión adecuada. También queremos recordar lo incluido en la Declaración de Barcelona sobre los derechos alimentarios del hombre, en marzo de 1992, señalando también que todo ser humano tiene derecho a una alimentación suficiente y saludable, y la comunidad internacional, los organismos internacionales, los gobiernos y los poderes públicos deben reconocer este derecho de actuar en consecuencia contribuyendo a hecerlo efectivo. Sin embargo, en la actualidad, si realizamos un estudio global sobre la situación de la población humana dentro del marco de la seguridad alimentaria, comprobamos cómo esta situación es contradictoria en sí misma. Efectivamente, existen en el mundo hoy dos situaciones contrapuestas y negativas para proporcionar a la población una capacidad alimentaria adecuada. Por una parte - y lo ha señalado recientemente el señor Hjort -existe un conjunto de países aún no desarrollados donde viven cerca de 780 millones de seres humanos que no pueden satisfacer sus necesidades básicas, junto con otros 2 000 millones que padecen insuficiencias nutricionales.
Por otra parte, y en los países industrializados, el nivel de desarrollo ha llevado a su población al empleo de un conjunto de dietas alimenticias desequilibradas, que originan problemas de gran importancia, incidiendo negativamente sobre la salud.
Es, pues, necesario considerar estas dos situaciones con el fin de corregir los desajustes nutricionales que se producen en la actualidad en los países más avanzados, evitando que los mismos problemas puedan repetirse en el futuro en aquellos otros países que ya están alcanzando, o van a alcanzar próximamente el llamado estado del bienestar.
A medida que los países alcanzan una situación de mayor desarrollo, aparecen en su población un conjunto de cambios y modificaciones que inciden de forma muy directa en los hábitos alimenticios destacando entre ellos: modificaciones económico y sociales por el aumento del nivel de vida; incorporación de la mujer al trabajo extradornestico; mayor consumo de alimentos fuera del hogar; aumento de la restauración colectiva en guarderías, comedores escolares y laborales; movilidad social, éxodo rural;
problemas originados por la propia modificación de la situación familiar con una tendencia progresiva a la diminuición en el número de hijos; problemas en la modificación de las características demográficas, fundamentalmente por un avanzado estado en la edad de las personas; problemas en modificaciones originadas por avances industrializados; aumento de la tecnología alimentaria; aumento en el consumo de platos precocinados, etc.
Todo lo anterior ha dado lugar a cambios en los hábitos alimenticios observándose, fundamentalmente, en estos países desarrollados, aumentos en el consumo de alimentos de origen animal ricos en proteínas y en grasas. Estos hechos pueden reptirse en el futuro en aquellos otros países que se incorporan paulatinamente al grupo de los países industrializados, siendo necesario tenerlos en cuenta con el fin de evitar la aparición en los mismos de un conjunto de nuevas patologías como consecuencia de la evolución de las propias civilizaciones.
Aparecen un conjunto de nuevas patologías entre las que cabrían destacar las cardiopatías, problemas cancerígenos, obesidad, caries dental y anemia ferropénica en la infancia, anorexia nerviosa, diabetes, y demás.
En consecuencia los poderes públicos deben considerar los problemas planteados anteriormente, educando a la población para que realice un consumo racional de los alimentos, promoviendo la mejora de la nutrición mediante el establecimiento de hábitos alimenticios saludables y cambios en la elaboración de los alimentos para elevar su calidad nutricional y prevenir las enfermedades relacionadas con la dieta.
En este sentido se ha podido comprobar a nivel científico, en España por ejemplo, que el desarrollo y la extensión de la denominada dieta mediterránea es un factor favorable para el descenso de la incidencia de algunas de las patologías señaladas anteriormente.
Esta dieta, formada fundamentalmente a base de frutas y hortalizas, pescados, aceite de oliva, vino, legumbres y cereales, permite, por una parte, la utilización de los recursos propios, contribuyendo, por otra, a un mayor equilibrio nutricional de la ingesta de la población.
Por todo lo anterior, y en esta línea, España ofrece su más absoluta colaboración a todos aquellos países que se encuentren en esta situación para abordar conjuntamente el estudio de los puntos críticos que inciden de forma negativa en un desarrollo armónico de la cadena agroalimentaria en todos sus eslabones: producción, transformación y consumo, con el fin de evitar que cometan aquellos errores dietéticos y nutricionales que ya se han observado anteriormente en otros países desarrollados.
Ofrece, asimismo, su colaboración para abordar conjuntamente cuantos estudios sean precisos, con el fin de profundizar en el campo de las ciencias de la nutrición y en el binomio dieta-salud, en la línea ya apuntada anteriormente, de potenciación y utilización de los recursos propios y adecuación de las dietas autóctonas a los principios de seguridad, mantenimiento de la salud, satisfacción de las necesidades nutricionales y servicio del alimento en cuanto a la utilización práctica del mismo.
Por último, Señor Presidente, ofrece también su colaboración como plataforma de acercamiento y apertura de nuevas situaciones de mercado y posibilidades de nuevos intercambios de productos afines, que permitan un
desarrollo armónico de dietas tradicionales fomentando el consumo de los recursos disponibles, y evitando el abandono de los regímenes alimenticios autóctonos y la sustitución de los mismos por tendencias y modas alimenticias extrañas, a los hábitos y a las culturas de los pueblos.
Arnaldo BADILLO ROJAS (Venezuela): Nuestra Delegación, Señor Presidente, se une al reconocimiento que otras delegaciones han expresado a la Secretaría por la realización de este informe C 93/22 sobre el estado de la seguridad alimentaria y la nutrición.
Deseamos solamente llamar la atención de la Secretaría sobre una frase contenida en este informe que, por la forma en que está redactada, al menos en la versión española, pudiese llevarnos a aceptar una interpretación con respecto a la cual no estaríamos de acuerdo. El punto al cual hago referencia corresponde al párrafo 4 del documento en español, y más concretamente a la frase contenida en las dos últimas líneas de este párrafo, donde se dice textualmente: "Lo importante es que las familias tengan acceso físico a los alimentos y disfruten del poder adquisitivo suficiente que les dé "derecho" a ellos".
Creemos, señor Presidente, que esta idea de que el derecho a los alimentos viene dado por el poder adquisitivo de las familias, aun cuando en el documento en español venga indicado entre comillas, debe constituir un error de traducción o interpretación que debe corregirse, ya que esta afirmación estaría en marcada contradicción con el contenido de la Declaración Mundial sobre la Nutrición suscrita por los Estados Miembros de la FAO en la Conferencia Internacional de Nutrición de 1992; por no mencionar la propia Declaración de los Derechos Humanos donde se reconoce que el acceso a una alimentación nutricionalmente adecuada y sana es un derecho de cada persona sin condicionamiento alguno, y reconoce también que el problema principal a atender por los gobiernos reside más bien en cómo corregir o compensar el acceso desigual de la población a los alimentos, a fin de garantizar ese derecho.
Creemos que si la frase en cuestión se redactara colocando la expresión: "para acceder a ellos", en lugar de la expresión: "que les dé derecho a ellos", quedaría enmendado este error.
Debo reiterar que nuestra observación se refiere al texto en español del informe 93/22.
Christian BONAPARTE (Haiti): Ma délégation estime que le document C 93/22 dont nous sommes saisis est relativement complet et explicite sur la situation nutritionnelle dans le monde. Encore faut-il se rappeler que plusieurs milliers de pages pourraient être consacrées à un sujet aussi vaste. Aussi avons-nous l'intention de ne donner ici qu'un bref aperçu du tableau complet et je compresserai donc les quelque 25 pages de remarques que j'avais préparées.
Tout d'abord, ma délégation avait suggéré que soient préparés des tableaux par région puisqu'il s'agit d'une situation qui concerne entre 40 et 60 pour cent de la population mondiale. Il faudrait donc avoir des tableaux un peu plus explicites. Notamment, des tableaux comparatifs par région auraient pu être fournis outre ceux de la production et de la consommation qui figurent en annexe. Cela pourra bien sûr se faire lors d'une prochaine occasion.
Le Secrétariat a compilé une masse énorme d'éléments, d'une façon régulière, comme en témoignent les paragraphes 2 et 3 ainsi que les paragraphes 6 à 10 du document.
Haïti, pays des Caraïbes, est l'un des pays les plus touchés par la malnutrition dans le monde. C'est un pays où les pauvres ne sont pas seulement pauvres mais miséreux. Aussi ma délégation comprend-t-elle peut-être mieux les données qui nous sont fournies et porte-t-elle une attention plus particulière aux propositions des programmes d'action de la FAO.
Cependant, comme c'est le cas pour d'autres pays membres qui souffrent de la même situation que celle qui prévaut en Haïti, ma délégation reste quelque peu perplexe quant au suivi de la CIN tel que présenté dans le rapport mentionné dans le document, notamment au chapitre V. En fait, la CIN fournit certes un cadre technique pour les plans nationaux et souscrit aux grands principes. Mais où va-t-on? Cela n'est pas très clair. Comment les engagements de cette Conférence, repris dans les paragraphes 37 et 38 du document, pourront-ils être réalisés de façon distincte? Il ne s'agit pas de complémentarité mais d'objectifs qui requièrent des actions plus amples de soutien de la FAO pour l'analyse des politiques et la planification des programmes. Telles que présentées, ce sont des actions essentielles d'accord mais sans fonds additionnels et sans engagements des pays donateurs qui ont avalisé la déclaration de la CIN. Sans possibilité rapide de coopération technique entre les pays en développment, comment allons-nous dire à nos 7 millions d'Haïtiens, nos 7 millions de compatriotes, qu'il faudra encore attendre deux ans avant que nos autorités puissent au moins les rassurer quant à une sécurité alimentaire probable ou proche?
En Haïti, 10 pour cent de la population reçoit une seule ration alimentaire par jour, 100 000 personnes sont dans un état désespéré de dénutrition. Ne confondons pas ici seuil nutritionnel et bien-être nutritionnel, comme on le fait dans le rapport. Il y a en Haïti 4 000 enfants de moins de trois ans qui meurent chaque année.
Il apparaît à ma délégation qu'il faille nous investir davantage - comme cela est mentionné au paragraphe 44 - dans le développement agricole et communautaire, mais de façon prioritaire et en pleine réconciliation avec l'objectif du plan à moyen terme préparé par le Secrétariat de la FAO qui est en discussion à la Commission 2.
Cette délégation a toujours apprécié les efforts du Secrétariat pour présenter et argumenter les programmes envisagés. Nous ne voulons pas remettre en question la validité des remarques qui nous sont présentées ici. Mais nous commençons à entrevoir, après la lecture du paragraphe 45, que les vrais moyens sont effectivement donnés pour le prochain biennium pour établir un centre de références, de formation et de recherche en matière de qualité des aliments et des pesticides. Selon ma délégation, cette Commission devrait travailler pour fournir une réponse et indiquer aux pays membres les moyens avec lesquels la FAO pourrait aller au devant des besoins des Etats Membres dans ce domaine, en particulier pour favoriser le commerce international des denrées, grâce à l'harmonisation des contrôles.
Il est question de plusieurs programmes et notamment des trois grandes priorités des programmes à moyen terme. Nous pensons également à la biodiversité. Pourquoi? Parce qu'on constate que pour certains pays comme c'est le cas en Haïti, avec la dégradation des sols et la pression
démographique, les écotypes locaux sont détruits, ce qui provoque une importation exagérée et inutile d'autres éléments.
Les programmes présentés viennent à temps pour permettre aux pays de conserver les pesticides et de conserver leur patrimoine phytogénétique, parce qu'en conservant cette richesse pour les générations futures, c'est aussi conserver l'économie des pays concernés.
Dans le document que nous avons longuement parcouru, il est indiqué que la FAO participera avec l'OMS à la réalisation des objectifs et du suivi de la CIN. Mais quel est le chronogramme commun? Quelles sont les actions déjà entreprises par l'OMS en collaboration avec la FAO? Cela a été mentionné mais ce n'est pas clairement défini.
De la même manière, le paragraphe 51 mentionne les consultations avec d'autres organisations concernées en la matière, mais lesquelles? Et dans quels temps? Comment cela a-t-il été fait? Quels en sont les résultats? Nous ne voulons pas être critiques, nous voulons être positifs.
Les pays membres doivent être reconnaissants à la FAO qui a déjà prouvé son efficacité et combien elle est indispensable pour les pays en voie de développement, notamment en ce qui concerne son concours en matière technique. Mais Haïti se pose la question comme d'autres pays membres: quelles sont les autres organisations concernées dans le rapport.
Un rôle accru de coordination s'impose pour atteindre au plus tôt l'objectif de notre travail à tous qui est le recul de la misère, l'option de l'accès au minimum indispensable de façon régulière et l'amélioration des conditions de vie de 60 pour cent de la population mondiale et de 100 pour cent de la génération future.
Pour terminer, cette délégation appuie le rapport, avec nos remarques que nous voulons positives et non pas critiques, et demande l'appui de tous les pays membres au Programme d'action spécial d'aide en matière de politiques et de programmation pour la sécurité alimentaire et le développement agricole et rural durables dont il est question aux paragraphes 56 à 59.
La délégation d'Haïti appuie également les autres programmes identifiés et souhaite avoir un tableau budgétaire particulier concernant ces questions.
TANG ZHENGPING (China) (Original language Chinese): Firstly, may I thank Mr Hjort for his presentation? We have read this document on food security and nutritional status with great interest. The document deals with the main problems of this subject in great detail and contains a clear analysis, and an in-depth one, of the situation.
Having looked at the changes that have come about in food security in developing countries' households and the parameters that affect this situation, the document points out a very worrying fact. In spite of sufficient food availability in the world, 20 percent of the developing world's total population is chronically undernourished. I would not like to go into detail about the geographical distribution because the document has done so in a detailed manner.
However, may I point out some things, because it is the poor and the vulnerable who are not able to produce or to purchase sufficient food. My delegation would like to support the analysis prepared by the Secretariat
referring to the main problems regarding food security, as well as the very detailed conclusions in that report.
The final objective of food security must be to ensure physical and economic access to food in sufficient quantities to everybody. At world level, although there are sufficient stocks, it is of great importance that low-income countries and food-deficit countries are able to import food products.
On the other hand, adequate food availability at a national level does not mean that it is adequate at household level.
In view of all this, may I make some proposals? First of all, food-deficit countries should undertake structural adjustment, and give more importance to food production, in order to improve the level of self-sufficiency. We believe this is a priority which might ensure food security at a national level.
Secondly, it is necessary to prepare projects or special programmes on food security in order to ensure for the poor and the vulnerable real access to food essential for survival.
On education and human resources, efforts should be made in order to increase their capacity for self-sufficiency. Furthermore, the international community should increase its aid to food-deficit countries. Aside from humanitarian aid, this assistance should be closely linked with development projects so that these countries can improve their production capacity.
Fourthly, we are satisfied to note that, since the ICN held last year, FAO has undertaken quite a number of activities in this sector and obtained encouraging results. We hope FAO will make renewed efforts in order to mobilize even more resources, including extrabudgetary funding, and that it will take sufficient measures in order to guarantee a good follow-up of ICN.
Sra. Grafila SOTO CARRERO (Cuba): Permítame, señor Presidente, agradecer a la Secretaría por la preparación del documento C 93/22 y al señor Hjort por la excelente presentación del mismo.
Este tema referente a la nutrición y a la seguridad alimentaria es un tema de gran interés para la delegación de Cuba. El Sr. Hjort nos ha recordado que la alimentación y la nutrición forman parte de los derechos fundamentales del hombre, así como también nos ha mencionado los esfuerzos que realiza esta Organización para ayudar al logro de este noble propósito.
Nuestro país concedió gran importancia a la celebración de la Conferencia Internacional sobre Nutrición y por consiguiente estamos muy interesados en dar continuidad a los acuerdos tomados en la misma, o sea a su Plan de Acción. En tal sentido, en Cuba ha continuado funcionando muy activamente el Comité Multidisciplinario e Intersectorial que se creó para los preparativos de la CIN con el objetivo de actualizar nuestro Plan de Acción Nacional para la Nutrición, a la luz de los resultados de la mencionada Conferencia y de la situación específica de nuestro país, siendo el principal objetivo continuar garantizando nuestra seguridad alimentaria; teniendo en cuenta además el reforzamiento de todas las medidas encaminadas a mantener la garantía de la calidad e inocuidad de los alimentos y la
educación en materia de nutrición, así como la lucha contra las enfermedades causadas por carencia de micronutrientes; poniéndose en marcha recientemente un programa mediante el cual todas las personas reciben de manera gratuita un complemento de vitaminas del complejo B, que formó parte de un grupo de medidas que el país puso en práctica para enfrentar de manera integral la epidemia de neuritis óptica que nos afectó recientemente.
También se están logrando grandes progresos en el incremento de la lactancia materna, por considerar que es de suma importancia tanto para los niños como para las madres.
Como expresamos anteriormente, ya estamos trabajando en la actualización de nuestro Programa Nacional. Sin embargo, Cuba está interesada en recibir la asistencia de la FAO para finalizar el Plan de Acción Nacional para la Nutrición. Cuba también ha participado activamente en las actividades organizadas por la FAO para dar seguimiento a este Plan de Acción de la CIN, especialmente en la reunión organizada para nuestra área y que se celebró recientemente en Honduras.
Finalmente, quisiéramos agradecer a todos los países e instituciones que contribuyeron con la FAO y la OMS para la celebración exitosa de la CIN, así como su contribución actual al cumplimiento de su importante Programa de Acción.
Mme Evelyne SENGSUWAN (France): La délégation française s'est déjà exprimée au cours de l'examen du point précédent sur l'évolution de la situation mondiale de l'alimentation et de l'agriculture. Mon propos se limitera, par conséquent, à quelques observations sur trois aspects particuliers du document C 93/22, observations qui complètent l'intervention faite par la Belgique au nom des Etats Membres de la Communauté européenne.
Il s'agit, en premier lieu, de la mise en oeuvre de nouvelles politiques économiques dans le cadre de programmes d'ajustement, et de leurs effets sur la sécurité alimentaire des pays en développement.
Comme le souligne le rapport, certains essais de libéralisation trop rapides, en imposant des sacrifices trop lourds, se sont révélés inapplicables. Cela a conduit les gouvernements de ces pays à adopter des mesures pour protéger les conditions de production et de commercialisation des produits locaux.
La libéralisation, certes nécessaire, des économies des pays en développement structurel ne doit pas se faire au détriment de leur stabilité. Elle ne doit pas non plus entraîner une diminution de la production intérieure, trop durement concurrencée dans un marché plus libre, ni une réduction de l'accès des ménages aux produits alimentaires.
En conséquence, les productions locales d'aliments de base doivent être encouragées et, le cas échéant, protégées, afin de permettre leur maintien et leur développement.
Comme on peut le constater, de nombreux pays sont conscients de cette nécessité et des mesures d'organisation intérieure des marchés sont prévues dans la politique de l'Etat pour protéger la production locale.
Ces politiques permettent également de limiter l'exode rural vers les villes.
Le deuxième point que je souhaiterais aborder est celui du suivi de la Conférence internationale sur la nutrition.
Il convient d'insister sur l'importance de l'évaluation et du suivi de la situation nutritionnelle des pays, préalable indispensable à la mise en oeuvre des plans d'action opérationnels prévus par cette Conférence.
A cet égard, l'amélioration de la capacité des pays en développement pour la collecte et le traitement des données est une priorité. De manière générale, les programmes de formation des cadres nationaux et de sensibilisation des décideurs pour une meilleure prise en considération des problèmes nutritionnels doivent être soutenus.
Nous approuvons les activités de l'OAA dans le domaine de l'éducation nutritionnelle, tout particulièrement en faveur des groupes vulnérables. Le suivi de l'état nutritionnel des ménages ainsi que l'amélioration de la qualité des aliments en micronutriments constituent également des axes prioritaires de l'action de l'OAA.
Je ferai en dernier lieu quelques commentaires sur le programme de l'Organisation en matière de sécurité alimentaire.
L'approche multidisciplinaire adoptée dans ce domaine reçoit notre appui. Mais cet effort semble encore trop modeste et devrait donc être intensifié.
Nous approuvons la méthodologie définie pour l'élaboration de programmes complets de sécurité alimentaire. Nous souhaiterions cependant avoir une vision synthétique des résultats de son applicaion. Il nous serait également utile de mieux cerner les obstacles à l'extension générale de ce programme. Enfin, l'approche régionale devrait, de notre point de vue, être développée.
Sans remettre en cause l'intérêt des activités décrites dans la partie V du document, la délégation française estime que les programmes proposés restent sur bien des aspects trop généraux et devraient être centrés sur des priorités essentielles, compte tenu des moyens financiers limités de l'OAA.
Avant de terminer, je formulerai une remarque à propos du thème de la lutte contre la pauvreté évoqué dans le document. Il s'agit d'une question importante et l'Organisation ne doit pas agir isolément. La concertation et la coordination de l'ensemble des partenaires concernés nous semblent indispensable.
Eberhard SCHMAUZ (Germany) (Original language German): This document, C 93/22, on food security and the food situation, for which we would like to thank the Secretariat and Mr Hjort for his introduction, is closely linked to document C 93/2. This has already been discussed in great detail in this Commission. Furthermore, we see there are a number of cross references to the topics of Agriculture: Towards 2010, environment and sustainable growth and integration of women in rural development, which is something that we will be discussing in our deliberations in this Commission over the next few days.
Would you allow me to make a few general comments? I would also like to refer to a number of specific points in this document. Food security is an elementary and fundamental human right. It is the central concern of FAO. In the preamble to the FAO Statutes it is embodied as one of the main targets of the Organization.
In this document reference is made to the decisive factors which play a role in food security. This makes it clear that we need to have a differentiated perception to be able to assess to what extent food security at national and regional and also at family-household level could be achieved. Full food security will only be in place if every person within a family has access to adequate and balanced diet.
In Chapter 1 of the document it is very clearly shown - and here a number of delegations have referred to this matter already - that 20 percent of the population in developing countries is chronically undernourished; that means about 800 million people. In other words, the target set ten years ago in the bodies of FAO, including the Conference of FAO, that people at any time should have physical and economic access to food could not yet be achieved for many millions of people. Against this background we are very pleased to note that in a series of developing countries the economic situation, measured against GDP and per caput income, has improved. Paragraph 6 however shows quite clearly that this positive development, is not true particularly for many African countries but also for countries in other regions, as we have heard already this morning.
Paragraphs 11-18 which discuss the pros and cons of state price controls, at the problem of the removal of state market intervention and the effects of liberal trade practices in developing countries. This shows quite clearly that the causal connections and links are extremely complex. It shows that under the conditions prevailing, there are problems in allowing free rein to the principles of the free market. It is, therefore, even more important that the GATT negotiations be brought to a successful conclusion quickly so that we can get a fairer world trade system which in the future would take more account of the interests of developing countries.
Sustainable food security presupposes the interaction of a number of factors. There are three important pillars to this. The first is agricultural production, the second environment and the third the development of the population. This means that the basic preconditions for sustainable food security include the necessary economic, environmental, trade, social and political environment in the respective countries. In this connection the action plan of the International Conference on Nutrition is of particular importance. We are very pleased that FAO assists developing countries in implementing these plans. Here the very specific action programme of FAO on food security and sustainable development of agriculture and the programme on nutrition and food quality can also make their contribution. We support the measures taken within those programmes which are referred to in paragraphs 55-63 in greater detail.
Food security can only in the long term become something that we can achieve if it is part of an integrated, comprehensive approach. Here we need targeted help and support as part of development cooperation of industrialized countries. We also need greater cooperation amongst developing countries. Against this background, we support the setting up of an expert panel as part of the Special Action Programme of FAO.
We particularly welcome the fact that the programme described in paragraph 64 is being constructed as a concerted action which will involve other United Nations organizations and non-governmental organizations.
Ms Piera MARIN (Italy): The general picture of the world's food and nutrition situation shows small but significant progress on lessening the proportion of the undernourished population in the Third World. The improvement, however, is quite uneven with entire regions lagging behind and showing, sadly, constant figures of a high prevalence of malnutrition. We are thinking of Africa, where per caput cereal production has fallen in most of CIFD countries.
We also need to exert some caution in our satisfaction at the decrease in the percentage of malnutrition elsewhere in the Third World because these populations have much increased in numbers, thus increasing the absolute figures of people without sufficient food and decreasing the first impression of a very satisfactory trend.
Thus, food aid and other actions directed at improving household and food security will remain a necessity in the coming years, making the constant monitoring of the situation and the early warning of emergencies a pressing need.
The action of FAO and other international bodies in this area is highly appreciated.
In this context we would like to emphasize that Italy places her highest expectations on the follow-up activities of the International Conference on Nutrition where the countries and the UN agencies pledged to defeat world hunger and malnutrition in the near future.
As the country that has hosted the ICN works, we are particularly interested to see that action is taken and impact is monitored. We also wish that the vigilance on the phenomenon of malnutrition in the developing countries be maintained and that monitoring of the implementation of the Plan of Action for Nutrition should continue.
Italy wishes also to remind you that within the context of the resolutions of ICN, the worrying problems of diet-related, chronic diseases have been indicated as current in many developed countries and as emerging problems in the developing countries.
Italy feels that FAO has a very important role to play in this context and that the framing of agricultural policies should, in this modern era, be made bearing in mind the unhealthy outcome of an unbalanced diet.
Tae-Jin KWON (Korea, Republic of): On this occasion, I would like to express appreciation for your report on Food Security and Nutrition.
I would also like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to the members who participated in the follow-up action on the ICN in SOFA and in the FAO's Special Action Programmes on food security. It is my hope that in this session we shall have a meaningful discussion on the report which will bring forth fruitful results to the satisfaction of the many countries concerned.
It was reported that the price of food will gradually increase in most countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa. As regards production, the prospect for the coarse grain production in the year 1993 was favourable in most regions of Africa, excluding North Africa and eastern Africa. The overall outlook for Asian coarse grain production in 1993-94 was favourable. We believe these situations will contribute towards improving the supply of food and nutrition in these regions.
However, the rice harvest for 1993 in the countries of Far East Asia, including Korea, is unfavourable due to the overall cold weather in this region. In addition, cereal stocks in 1992-93 were not up in the developing countries. We should note that these conditions will cause a price increase in food grains in the world market and affect the food supply in the developing countries.
I would like to point out that government expenditure for food subsidies and support for farmers have shown a trend towards reducing. This trend has been, in most cases, caused by the insufficient budget for the agricultural sector and the structural adjustment programmes. In this connection, it should be emphasized that most governments will give special consideration to agricultural producers, particularly small farmers in the developing countries, for their food security.
In order to ensure world food security and to improve the situation of malnutrition in developing countries, it will be necessary to help the developing countries to overcome their economic backwardness. International programmes should be set up to provide adequate opportunities to promote development in the field of agriculture such as sustainable agriculture, family farms, rural communities, and agricultural infrastructure.
It is my belief that developing countries which have suffered from food-deficiency should be allowed to regulate the imports of agricultural products from developed countries within a certain framework. Such regulation of diversified programmes for the development of sustainable agriculture should be accelerated in these countries. On the other hand, the level of regulation for food production in developed countries should be reduced for the purpose of providing better market access for developing countries and of contributing to the improvement of agricultural trade.
On behalf of the Korean delegation, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation for the great efforts made by FAO for the improvement of nutritional well-being, the assurance of food quality and safety, the combatting of micronutrient deficiency diseases, and the promotion of nutrient education. In relation to these FAO activities, I hope that all action programmes should be continuously implemented at the national, regional, and global levels through close cooperation among nations and the international organizations concerned.
On the occasion of this session, my delegation hopes that ongoing Uruguay Round negotiations will be concluded with fair consideration for all participating countries. However, we believe the existing text on the agricultural negotiations of the Uruguay Round does not reflect the special interests of food importing countries and exporting countries or developing and developed countries in a balanced and equitable manner.
With a view to assuring the stabilized supply of food and the development of agriculture in developing countries, the agricultural negotiations should give special consideration to coordinating the interests of all
countries. In particular, some exceptions must be made for the security of food, the extra economic effects of agriculture, and the conservation of national land in food importing countries.
Ms Thakane ADORO (Lesotho): Allow me to congratulate the Secretariat on the highly informative document before us.
As regards food security, we would ally ourselves fully with the contents of paragraph 3 which stipulates that ensuring household food security is a necessary condition for improving nutrition, but by itself is not sufficient. Indeed the food secured should always be nutritious enough to combat malnutrition and other diseases.
Lesotho supports fully the liberalization of agricultural marketing policies, and plans are already under way to privatize our main marketing agency. We are, however, concerned that too rapid a process of liberalization in the developing countries can lead to a decrease in domestic production as local producers find themselves unable to adapt to more open markets, as paragraph 16 clearly states.
Overall, food production in Africa is unsatisfactory, especially in the southern African sub-region, due to man-made and natural calamities. We in Lesotho have been unable to recover fully from the effects of the 1992 drought due to late rains, and as a result our production was below average despite estimates for 1993. We are, therefore, still faced with food supply difficulties.
We wish to reiterate our support for the World Declaration and Plan of Action on Nutrition. At this juncture, we wish to urge FAO to continue to assist countries to prepare their plans of action. We also support fully the contents of paragraphs 41, 42 and 43.
We are happy to learn that FAO will continue to assist member countries in implementing standards and codes prepared by the FAO and WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission to maintain and improve food quality.
We would also call for the strengthening of this important sector in FAO in order to enable it to assist Member States in a more balanced manner.
C.B. HOÜTOAN (Netherlands): First of all, I would like to thank Mr Hjort for his introduction and the supplementary information to the document.
The Netherlands delegation is of the opinion that the document is rather descriptive. Of course, this is useful but we would rather have had this document come to conclusions. To mention one, what effect would the various government measures have on the food security situations of especially vulnerable groups?
The Netherlands are of the opinion that food security is predominantly an objective rather than an organizational principle. The proposed Special Action Programme for Country Policy and Programming Assistance for Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development - PSF/SARD -underline this opinion. They mean an increased cooperation between the various divisions and services within the Economic and Social Department, and we appreciate that.
Moreover, we would have had more appreciation had mention not only been made of increased cooperation between the various departments and their divisions and services, which in our opinion is a must, but had this also been more elaborated. The Netherlands has always favoured such a broad approach to food security.
The new SAP nutrition/food quality is based on technical merit, but an overlap with the SAP which was discussed earlier is not imaginary. We request the Secretariat to watch this carefully to prevent possible overlapping.
I have a last remark on food security. Paragraph 44 underlines a bottom-up approach with food in secure households as a point of departure for an item in programmes and projects. However, we are missing the complementing activities on a macro and sectorial level. We are somewhat concerned at this isolated approach.
I will proceed now with some remarks on the follow-up of the International Conference on Nutrition. As you may be aware, the Netherlands delegation to the ICN placed much emphasis on the follow-up at the Conference. We made a large intervention on this issue during COAG, and as a follow-up to that we would like to know how the situation is at present. We are interested in the following.
At local level, the follow-up situation in the various countries: what activities are under way? How many countries have asked for assistance? To what extent was FAO able to respond? What is the situation regarding the financing of the various activities?
At the regional level, we already have the question: is there any progress with regional initiatives? How many networks are being developed or are being supported? We already have information from Mr Hjort on this on the Thailand and Honduras network and we are looking forward now to the more extensive reporting of that.
Regarding the FAO itself, what are the developments inside the FAO Secretariat? How many junior professional officers have been recruited so far to assist at national level in drawing up a national action plan? What has been done within the FAO Secretariat to sensitize FAO staff for inclusion of more nutritional aspects in the various programmes?
We are in the process of preparing a resolution that takes care of the questions I have just posed and that relate to the follow-up of ICN. More specifically, such a resolution should concentrate on elements of regional cooperation and should stimulate nutrition awareness in the programmes and projects of FAO.
We will proceed to the Resolutions Committee with a properly considered resolution. We will take care of the distribution of this resolution to this Commission so that, if required, it can be discussed in the normal way.
CHAIRMAN (Original language German) s I would like to thank the delegate from the Netherlands for that contribution, but I would ask that the text of this resolution be submitted to the Secretariat, or to the Resolutions Committee as soon as possible.
Carlos BASCO (Argentina): La Delegación de Argentina expresa su profunda preocupación acerca del hecho de que todavía el 20 por ciento de la población del mundo en desarrollo sufría desnutrición crónica en 1988/90, y que su consumo de alimentos era insuficiente para cubrir ni siquiera las necesidades energéticas mínimas. A pesar de los avances observados, la situación es especialmente preocupante al comparar con el mundo industrializado, e incluso podría decirse obscena, por la sofisticación y exigencias en materia de consumo de alimentos que llevan a producir hasta problemas de salud causados por excesos de comida, cuando en estos años de globalización de mercados e información, otras partes de la población sufren problemas de desnutrición como los que se conocen.
Se observa también con interés y agrado lo indicado en el documento acerca de que la liberalización de las políticas comerciales nacionales en algunos países han permitido mejorar la disponibilidad material de los alimentos donde han sido aplicadas.
A largo plazo estas políticas permitirán mejorar la situación observada. Sin embargo, se deberán asegurar mecanismos de ayuda en aquellos casos que lo ameriten, especialmente en situaciones de emergencia.
Arrow Solomon OBURÜ (Kenya) : As this is the first time my delegation is speaking in this Commission, Mr Chairman, allow me to congratulate you on your election to the chair. We believe that your successful guidance will facilitate fruitful deliberations, and that the conclusions of the Commission will give hope to the millions of starving and malnourished people in the developing countries.
We commend the Secretariat for their exposition of the status of food security prevailing currently, as stated in the introduction of document C 93/2 and its supplement on the State of Food and Agriculture. We subscribe to the concept that food security is inseparably linked to physical and economic access by all people at all times to a balanced diet. However, while the document indicates a disparity situation in which the developing countries, especially those in Africa, are locked, it does prove that poverty is the parent for both stagnation and declining growth in food and agricultural output, and therefore is the fundamental catalyst in food insecurity, especially access to quality food.
The economies of sub-Saharan Africa are heavily dependent on earnings from trade in agricultural commodities. Persistently falling prices of agricultural products set against consistent rises in the cost of inputs, most of which are imported, condemn farmers to infinite poverty, consequently inhibiting their capacity to produce sufficient food.
The Kenya delegation therefore considers economic improvement, with its enhanced purchasing power, is a necessary ingredient in guaranteeing food and nutrition security. In this regard the international community must see that improvement of agricultural commodity prices is essential to ensure food and nutritional security.
Amorim CRUZ (Portugal): La délégation portugaise, après avoir analysé les excellents documents préparés par le Secrétariat, manifeste sa préoccupation face à l'évolution de la situation alimentaire et nutritionnelle dans plusieurs pays en développement, particulièrement en Afrique, où s'est vérifiée ces vingt dernières années une croissance
dramatique du nombre de personnes souffrant de malnutrition, contrairement à ce qui s'est passé dans d'autres régions du monde.
La situation est particulièrement dramatique dans quelques pays d'Afrique, au sud du Sahara, auxquels le Portugal est profondément lié depuis plus de cinq siècles. Dans ces pays, à cause de la sécheresse, de la guerre civile, de l'instabilité politique, du déplacement des populations et d'autres facteurs, on a constaté une dégradation accentuée de l'état nutritionnel et de la santé des populations; on a relevé, dans certains de ces pays, une prévalence très élevée de malnutrition protéino-énergétique aiguë, d'anémies dues à la déficience en fer et de maladies dues aux carences en iode, vitamine A, etc.
Le Portugal renforce l'opinion exprimée par le Représentant de la Communauté européenne au sujet de la nécessité de donner la priorité aux mesures visant à appuyer le développement à long terme plutôt qu'à court terme.
Cependant, étant donné la grave situation dans laquelle se trouvent les pays dont nous avons parlé, le Portugal en appelle à la communauté internationale pour que soient accordés à ces pays tout l'appui possible afin qu'ils connaissent la stabilité politique, et l'aide nécessaire pour réduire le plus rapidement possible les graves problèmes nutritionnels et sanitaires qui affligent leur population.
Parviz KARBASI (Iran, Islamic Republic of): In the name of God. It is my pleasure to thank FAO for its activities on world food security, and for the excellent document C 93/62. I would also like to thank -Mr Hjort for his excellent introduction.
The delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran is pleased to welcome the joint cooperation of WHO and FAO in the implementation of ICN, but we believe it is not sufficient. Without food security, biodiversity will suffer and will be degraded; oceans will be even more polluted, forests will be destroyed, the ozone layer maybe will disappear, refugees from poverty and hunger will increase, and the rich will watch the poor and hungry die. It is already late for stopping this catastrophe easily. Many delegates have talked about the need for some coordination, and this is a point I would like to comment more upon.
The objective of world food security is to ensure all people at all times have both physical and economic access to the basic food they need. This is the minimum human right. We have just heard that two billion people are suffering from some kind of insufficient food supply, or food security, malnutrition and so on. We believe world food security needs much more attention from the world community. This is a most critical issue and it is essential that we respond seriously to it, and take a coordinated approach. We believe that strong policy coordination on food security by the Member Nations of the United Nations - but not ACC of the United Nations - is one of the first and most important steps, and may be a good mechanism.
We believe the policy of coordination of world food security could be discussed in a high-level forum composed of the ministers with competence for food security from developing countries, and the ministers of cooperation or development or agriculture of the developed countries and the chairmen of all UN agencies. This kind of coordination with a system of expertise on food security would be able to coordinate and harmonize a
world food policy. This high-level world food coordination would call for harmonised national action on food security in each country. We believe that food security is a prerequisite for the implementation of UNCED and sustainable development. Without food security sustainable development and environmental protection is just a lot of talk by the international media - nice to hear and read about.
My delegation believes that FAO should seek for a new policy coordination to cover all the objectives of world food security with the assistance of the UN agencies. We recommend the World Food Security Council to coordinate the food security policy coordination instead of the World Food Council whose Secretariat in Rome was unfortunately closed by the Secretary-General .
Ma Carol KRAMER (United States of America): My delegation would like to express its appreciation to Mr Hjort and the Secretariat for their efforts in supporting food security and improved nutrition.
The Food Security and Nutrition Status Report, document C 93/22, provides a useful overview of the current food and nutrition situation and future outlook in developing countries. As the document points out, food security is more than the availability and access to food. In addition to food entitlements, it encompasses improved utilization of food at the household and individual level.
In this context nutrition and food safety education and communication can make important contributions in supporting sustainable solutions to food security problems. The capacity to monitor and assess food insecurity situations is also essential if those countries most in need are effectively to utilize scarce resources, and provide adequate nutrition to their people, as the ICN Declaration states.
We suggest that, if this report is to be produced on a continuing basis, it should go beyond the issue of food supplies and report on other important nutritional problems, such as the incidence of diet-related diseases and measures to deal with them, since they are a growing problem in developed and developing countries alike. In addition to relating developments in ICN follow-up, the report could perhaps address one major nutritional issue in some detail.
FAO has an extremely important role to play in carrying out the mandates of the International Conference on Nutrition. As one of the co-sponsors, FAO has special responsibilities in seeing real results generated from the commitments made in Rome. FAO's decision to introduce a more integrated approach to its provision of policy advice and programming assistance is a positive step and one which must be translated into action. FAO programmes in nutrition education, agricultural production and technology and food quality and safety should take into account and incorporate the food security and nutritional concerns outlined in the ICN final documents.
At this point I should like to comment that the US supports the excellent intervention made by the delegate of the United Kingdom. In particular we echo their support of FAO's role in the four important areas mentioned previously: as a global advisory body on agriculture and food issues; in promoting and fostering marketing systems for the benefit of the nutritionally vulnerable; in developing national food and nutrition
information systems to identify and monitor the at-risk population groups; and in improving consumer awareness and nutritional education programmes.
We also agree with the UK that, if special action plans are to be effective, they should be supported by the thorough economic and social analysis previously called for, supporting the need to identify the different socio-economic groups of the real poor and the causes of their poverty.
I should now like to comment on some specific efforts in which the United States is involved in this area. In those countries where food availability and access continue to be insufficient, the United States provides emergency assistance and development support under PL-480, our Food for Peace legislation, Food for Progress and Section 416b donations of government-owned commodities. In fiscal year 1993 these programmes reached an historic high. Total USAID food donations climbed to roughly 3 billion dollars, providing 13 million metric tons of commodity assistance. I might add that this was roughly US$2.5 billion worth of commodities plus transportation. Of that US$2.5 billion, roughly US$900 million went to the newly independent states: that is, of the 13 million metric tons, about 7 million were allocated to the newly independent states.
The US$50 million OMNI (Opportunities for Micronutrient Interventions) project which was announced at the ICN by the United States has now begun. Through OMNI, assistance will be given to host countries to help them develop sustainable programmes aimed at increasing and improving the availability, the access and the consumption of micronutrients by vulnerable individuals. It will be the largest single global effort to address micronutrient deficiency.
USAID also funds a collaborative effort with IFPRI (the International Food Policy Research Institute), which is one of the research groups comprising the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Activities focus on the development of improved crop varieties, which can increase food supplies and lower prices, raising farm profits and rural employment. Special emphasis is placed on adopting micronutrient rich food production technologies through plant breeding and better agronomic practices and food processing.
Finally, the United States has already begun work on its National Plan of Action on Nutrition. Public hearings have been held to solicit suggestions for new initiatives, legislation and changes in existing government regulations. Consumer, food industry and private voluntary groups have all submitted recommendations for the US National Plan of Action, which will cover both domestic nutrition activities and US Government programmes to assist other nations in building their food security, solving their food safety problems and improving nutrition among their people. A first draft of the US Plan will be available for public comment in the spring of 1994 and we anticipate that congressional hearings will be held on the Plan before it is finalized.
Iain C. MacGILLIVRAY (Canada) : Allow me, like others, to thank Dr Hjort for his succinct update on the contents of the document before us.
Canada strongly supports the aims and purposes of the community of international nutrition, their agencies, partners and collaborators. We are encouraged that increasing attention and action are now being focused, by
donor and developing countries alike, upon improvement of nutritional well-being globally, We extend our support to this worldwide effort to the achievement of ICN goals.
With reference to document C 93/22, the section on food production and outlook in the developing countries is important and addresses squarely one of FAO's basic concerns.
The section on access to food is also essential and worthy of further examination. However, the Committee on World Food Security examined some promising work of the Secretariat on food security indicators, and a fuller exposure in this area would be welcome. Although the indicators chosen are important, the country coverage is only partial and one is left to guess at overall trends. The Canadian delegation would like to see more comprehensive coverage in terms of countries, as analysis of future access indicators possibly developed for future committees on world food security.
We feel that the section on follow-up to the ICN could usefully be given greater precision. As an example of how more specific information could be provided, I would like to refer to a few initiatives taken by my own country; I am sure that other countries could provide other examples. Canada has been actively involved in furthering programming aimed at the virtual elimination of micronutrient malnutrition in developing countries. The Canadian International Development Agency, CIDA, is a founding member and donor to the newly created Micronutrient Initiative, located at the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa. The Micronutrient Initiative aims to facilitate action at the country level by putting in place sustainable national control programmes to address vitamin A deficiency, iron deficiency, anaemia and iodine deficiency disorders. Even though this is a relatively new undertaking, results have already become apparent: for example, in the funding of key priority projects including small-scale operations, research projects aimed at solving critical programming questions and issues. Further, with CIDA financial support, the Micronutrient Initiative Programme, in July of this year in Ottawa, hosted a vitamin A policy consultation. This meeting brought together some 50 Vitamin A experts and programme managers from developing countries. The discussion on vitamin A policy resulted in a state-of-the-art Guideline that will assist in the design and implementation of viable programmes. The Guideline critically examines the role of the high-dose capsule in endemic areas, which to date is a controversial issue in vitamin A programming.
Similarly, Canada, over the past year, has funded workshops in a series of developing countries aimed specifically at mobilizing the private sector to become involved in the fortification of food supplies to ensure adequate micronutrient intake of at-risk populations. Working with UNICEF in Central America just two weeks ago, one such workshop resulted in a six-country federation of salt producers which has endorsed universal salt iodization by the end of 1995, this being a mid-decade ICN goal, a necessary step towards the elimination of iodine deficiency disorders by the year 2000.
Relatively speaking, neither of these initiatives required large amounts of funds, rather the reallocation of existing funds and priorities. Further, both of these initiatives specifically address known gaps in existing programmes. The lesson to be learned here, we would suggest, is that it is possible, even during times of resource constraint, to move at a quickened pace, utilizing existing mechanisms to address known needs and to achieve early results. To achieve the ICN goals, we should identify new and innovative approaches, fund them adequately and implement them without
delay. Mechanisms for the global monitoring and evaluation of such approaches need to be in place and utilized to the maximum extent so that information is widely available, consistently up-dated and acted upon.
In addition, there has, we believe, been too little coverage of the actions of other United Nations organizations such as the Administrative Committee on Coordination's Sub-Committee on Nutrition and the World Health Organization. Both are vigorous partners in the ICN follow-up and their collaborative work deserves much more coverage.
Canada would like to support the comments which have been made by the delegate of the United Kingdom, supported also by the delegate of the United States, with regard to the role of FAO in the four areas mentioned, specifically with regard to a global advisory body for improving consumer awareness and education programmes.
The Canadian delegation believes that to date there has been too much repetition between the documents, which contain few hard facts and much generality. We subscribe to the comments made by the delegate of the Netherlands specifically on these points. Achieving the ICN goals will call for considerably more vision as well as concerted and demonstrated willingness on FAO's part to report in a very open fashion on results of programmes rather than upon structure and future intent of programmes. FAO Conference documents need not repeat what is available elsewhere, rather they should take maximum advantage of their large leadership, to motivate, to share experience and to report results.
Winston RUDDER (Trinidad and Tobago): Mr Chairman, with your permission and that of the delegates, the delegation of Trinidad and Tobago will submit for inclusion in the final verbatim report its comments and contributions to the debate on this item.
CHAIRMAN (Original language German): Thank you. Your statement in its entirety will be put into the verbatim report.
Antonio CABRALES (El Salvador): He querido intervenir, tal vez, para dar un poco de experiencia que hemos tenido en nuestro país y que me gustaría compartir con todos los delegados. Comenzaré por decir que la seguridad alimentaria sin lugar a dudas es una aspiración, una aspiración de todo el mundo en desarrollo. Los países industrializados lograron esa aspiración después de su experiencia de la primera y segunda guerras mundiales. Fue luego cuando ellos decidieron una política de producir alimentos a cualquier costo. Así fue como nacieron precisamente los subsidios europeos y así también fue que tenemos tantos excedentes de parte del mundo desarrollado en cuanto a alimentos; y creo que no podemos culparlos después de haber vivido dos guerras mundiales. Ahora vemos que precisamente esa política, que fue exitosa, nos da tantos problemas al mundo en desarrollo. Pero bueno, eso es nada más que un poco de historia, la pregunta realmente que me gustaría llegar a fondo esta tarde es cómo hacer una realidad esa aspiración de todos nosotros de experimentar la seguridad alimentaria. Nuestra experiencia en los últimos cuatro años y medio es que se requiere realmente de la elaboración de una política integral de producción de alimentos, política que debe de tener como base principal incentivos al productor, quizás yo respondo mucho a esto porque fui agricultor por más de treinta años y creo que muchos aquí también, y sabemos muy bien que al
mejor incentivo que responde el productor es con los precios, y los precios deben de ser rentables, de lo contrario nadie produce para perder dinero. Esto sólo se logra con una política muy integral, vuelvo a repetir, y quiero aquí compartir un poquito la experiencia de los últimos cuatro años y medio en nuestro país y lo hago, señor Presidente, no por destacarnos en ninguna forma, sino más bien por compartir estas experiencias.
Yo, como Ministro de Agricultura, puedo decirle que le he dedicado el 80 por ciento de mi tiempo a esta problemática, quizás mucho tiempo a ello, pero era porque teníamos doce años de guerra y el señor Presidente Cristiani me dijo: Señor Ministro quiero que exista suficiente maíz, frijol y arroz en nuestro país. No sabía como elaborar una política alimentaria para lograr la seguridad alimentaria. Pedí ayuda al Banco Mundial, a buenos economistas, así que lo que yo relato no es de mi propio pensamiento, sino de buenos asesores. Lo que hemos hecho es poner en práctica lo que a nosotros se nos dijo que deberíamos hacer. Primero, se necesita una política muy coherente en la parte macroeconómica y aquí sólo quiero relatar muy brevemente una experiencia propia en cuanto a lo que es el tipo de cambio. Mi sufrimiento era que íbamos a poner a flotar nuestra moneda y que el tipo de cambio se iba a elevar; yo comprendía, como Ministro, que eso iba a incentivar mucho las exportaciones de café, azúcar, algodón, etcétera; pero lo único que sabía era que me iban a costar más todos los insumos, fertilizantes, semillas, insecticidas, etcétera, y mi miedo era subir los costos de producción a los productos básicos de alimentación y que me iba a poner en problemas más grandes.
El Dr. Harburger, conocido economista mundial de la Universidad de Chicago, me decía: Antonio, no se preocupe, la agricultura es muy transable, es muy "tradeable". Yo no sabía lo que quería decir transable, era agricultor y estaba aprendiendo a ser Ministro, pero tenía un buen economista que me estaba asesorando y decía: bueno aquí hay que persignarse nada más y esperar a que el Dr. Harburger tenga razón en lo que me decía. Lo que les puedo decir es que aprendí que la agricultura es muy transable, y que el tipo de cambio es una de las cosas más importantes para producir alimentos en cualquier país del mundo, y aquí se ha producido mucha hambre en el mundo y mucha pobreza en el mundo en los últimos treinta años, porque los políticos han manipulado el tipo de cambio. El tipo de cambio es sagrado y hay que dejarlo que sea un precio sin ninguna distorsión. Puedo decirles, señores, que cuando hay un tipo de cambio real todo comienza a cambiar en un país, y una de las primeras cosas son los precios a los granos básicos que comienzan a verse mejorados.
Menciono esto para que ustedes nada más comprendan lo que es una buena política de tipo macroeconómico. Luego debe de tener uno una política también muy coherente y acorde. Se deben eliminar los controles de precios; se deben eliminar los precios de garantía; se tiene que tener fe o no en el mercado. Yo voy por muchos países y veo que dicen sí estamos viendo economía de mercado, pero no quitan las distorsiones porque no tienen fe en el mercado, y yo les digo tírense a la piscina de una sola vez, quiten toda clase de distorsión porque no pueden estar peor de como están. Lo más probable es que van a estar mejor al quitar todas esas distorsiones, hay que aprender a tener fe en el mercado. Luego hay que tener una política sectorial también bien elaborada. Aquí las bandas de precio juegan una parte muy importante; como decía el señor Hjort esta mañana temprano. Otra aspiración nuestra es que debería de existir libre mercado y justo mercado. El dijo que la realidad es que no existe un justo mercado, y por eso dijo una cosa muy importante; debemos proteger nuestros mercados, y una forma de protegerlo y causar la mínima distorsión es la banda de precios que son
legales en el GATT. Hay muchas clases de bandas de precios, pero hay una legal en el GATT que conlleva muy poca distorsión y es la forma de protegerse contra los granos básicos de otros países, pues donde los subsidian se tienen que controlar las donaciones. Aquí también siento, señor Presidente, que muchos países quieren la seguridad alimentaria, pero por otro lado piden donaciones enormes de alimentos. En mi país, que es muy pequeño, un barco de arroz puede distorsionar todos los precios de la cosecha de arroz en El Salvador; un barco que llegue al puerto, de eso estamos hablando muchas veces en nuestros países, en otros países se requieren diez barcos, cinco barcos, no sé, pero son economías pequeñas en donde la distorsión de precios es muy fácil lograrla, como vuelvo a repetir, en el caso de El Salvador, con un barco que llegue lleno de arroz. Luego, la forma en que se administran estas donaciones en mi país, iban a dar a todos lados menos donde debían de dar; no llegaban a los damnificados, no llegaban a los grupos vulnerables, sino a las panaderías, al comercio, etcétera, etcétera. Eso hay que eliminarlo, si no no va a haber nunca seguridad alimentaria. Hay que tener cuidado con las importaciones y en muchos países se importa cuando está saliendo la cosecha, y si está uno en una economía de mercado, esas son señales nefastas para los productores; no hay cosa que más pueda frustrar a un productor, que ver que de repente sale anunciado en el diario que llega maíz o frijol al país, donados en momentos en que la cosecha está por salir.
Se necesita crédito, pero lo que yo he aprendido es que no es sólo crédito para producir, sino crédito para comercializar. El año pasado tuvimos nosotros en El Salvador la cosecha más grande de maíz en la historia, tuvimos que sacar crédito para que los ganaderos, los avicultores, las fábricas de concentrados, tuvieran crédito para comprar esa gran cosecha. Sacamos más de 250 millones de colones para crédito, y eso hizo que los precios no bajaran de la noche a la mañana, antes no había crédito para comercializar. Parecen cosas muy sencillas, pero no se hacían antes, hoy se hacen y las cosas cambian.
Luego, se necesita, lógicamente, pero son las cosas a más largo plazo, tener investigación adecuada, extensión adecuada, educación agrícola y también reservas de grano, reservas estratégicas para cualquier eventualidad de un desastre de tipo natural. Nosotros mantenemos un mes de reserva estratégica, porque un mes es lo que dura importar grano de cualquier parte del mundo, así es que mantenemos un mes, no para estar influyendo en el mercado, sino por cualquier desastre.
Quiero decirles que también no todo es de color de rosa en nuestro país, porque estamos produciendo ahora mucho maíz, mucho frijol, mucho arroz, pero el costo de la parte de la erosión no la hemos podido medir todavía, y sabemos que tenemos, por estudios que hemos hecho, apenas unos veinticinco años más de suelo para producir, por eso es que también hay que tener cuidado con la parte de la sostenibilidad. A través de la FAO, estamos elaborando ahora en El Salvador una política nacional de agricultura sostenible, porque de lo contrario en veinticinco años no va a haber tierra para seguir produciendo el maíz, el frijol; porque casi todo ello se produce en terrenos muy inclinados donde hay mucha erosión.
Como pueden ver, este éxito, siento yo, que se debe al mucho trabajo, a políticas bien elaboradas y quiero hacer énfasis en lo siguiente: no puede haber éxito si se hacen dos cosas bien hechas, tiene que hacerse todo bien hecho, si falta un factor se viene para abajo la seguridad alimentaria; si no hay el crédito suficiente para la comercialización se van los precios
para abajo, y ya nadie quiere sembrar el próximo año, o sea, la experiencia nos ha demostrado que si son diez los pasos que hay que hacer, hay que hacer diez, y bien hechos, no se pueden hacer ocho ni nueve, tienen que ser diez, y entonces se logra la seguridad alimentaria. Yo siento que la FAO nos puede ayudar en la transferencia de tecnologías, siento que nos puede ayudar a combatir el locus, o el chapulín, que decimos nosotros. Nosotros tuvimos hace cuatro años una plaga muy fuerte, nos mandaron al famoso Dr. Scarfe y hemos estado luchando duro, tanto Honduras, Nicaragua y El Salvador. Hemos logrado disminuir enormemente la población de locus y ya no es un peligro, siento que la FAO puede ayudar mucho ahí. Creo que la FAO nos puede ayudar en la parte de hacer conciencia en cuanto a lograr un comercio libre y justo, pero somos nosotros los países, y su política integral, tanto macro, micro, y sectorial, los únicos que pueden resolver el problema de la seguridad alimentaria.
A. VESTEN PEDERSEN (Denmark): We wish to thank the Secretariat on the excellent document. The report provides a mixture of the actual position and the development in the food security and nutrition situation in developing countries.
The report notes that food supplies are adequate on the global level and also that the number of chronically undernourished people in developing countries has been declining over the past twenty years to an estimated twenty percent in 1988-90.
The report also notes - and we agree - that people primarily affected by malnutrition are the poor and disadvantaged who live in marginal environments and are poorly educated.
It is therefore encouraging to note the figures in the report on growth of GNP in developing countries showing a growth in 1992 of 4.8 percent and thus a better performance than that of the developed countries. The GNP per caput in the developing countries is also increasing, but not at the same rate as the overall growth in GNP, reflecting also the steady growth in population in some of these countries.
It will on this background take an immense effort to assure the future supply of carbohydrates, proteins and other essential nutrients and this will put further strain on the production resources and the environment.
It is stated in the report in paragraph 14 that the trend towards reducing government participation in agricultural marketing is continuing and in paragraph 16 that the policy changes involving more liberal trading systems can be expected to improve the availability of food in countries adopting such policies.
We very much welcome this development and more countries should be invited to adopt such policies. At the same time governments should be prepared to deal with problems that might arise for the domestic production and local producers when markets are opened up.
On the question of the World Declaration and Plan for Nutrition and Plan of Action for Nutrition we note that FAO and WHO will prepare a report on the implementation to be considered by the governing bodies in 1995 and we look forward to receiving this report.
FAO's support for the programme includes community development and enhanced household food security. Farming is the major activity and means of livelihood for many of the world's poor and it is therefore essential to improve the incomes of farmers and living conditions in the rural areas. On this we agree with the report.
Another area of FAO support is improvement of food quality and safety. Farmers are fully aware of their fundamental responsibility to provide the consumers with safe high quality food products. Perhaps it is often overlooked that farmers themselves are consumers and as such equally concerned with providing their families with safe nutritious food.
We find it interesting that FAO is considering action to establish effective working relations with the food industry to assure compliance with food legislation and regulations, promote food import/export inspection systems etc. and in particular we find the cooperation with GATT in relation to sanitary measures and technical barriers to trade to be of interest, in particular when the present GATT trade negotiations are concluded.
Finally, inter-agency cooperation in ICN follow-up activities is important. In particular, we would support FAO cooperation with NGOs. We find it essential to establish and expand this cooperation.
Winston RUDDER (Trinidad and Tobago): The delegation of Trinidad and Tobago thanks the Secretariat on this further exposition which effectively extends on the information provided in the SOFA 1993 Report.
Our own experience suggests that the current household food security and nutrition status in many developing countries may be seriously compromised as governments struggle to curb budget deficits and grapple with the policy prescriptions related to structural adjustment programmes. The pace and degree of the adjustment process often wreak social havoc in our countries, with the most vulnerable groups bearing the brunt of the impact. The social security and safety net measures are often too limited in scope and not timely in application to sufficiently cushion these adverse effects.
Reduced employment opportunities in the state, parastatal and private sectors, reduced food subsidies and a general reining in of government spending, all take their toll in reducing economic access to food by many. And while the effective impact on the nutritional well being of our populations has not being measured, it is clear that it is significant.
This is further exacerbated when trade reform impacts adversely, at least in the short term, on our vulnerable agricultural sectors resulting in a decline in rural self-employment opportunities and contributing to the rural-urban drift.
Accordingly Mr. Chairman, we caution not so much the nature of these policy changes that are being followed at the macro and sectoral levels, but the pace and degree with which they are being implemented.
These are significant changes impacting on people's lives and welfare. Sufficient time should be allowed for adjustment and transition without
undermining the effectiveness of these needed policy changes on their credibility, in light of the experiences of the intended beneficiaries.1
Ermond HARTMANS (Observer for Caritas International): I take the floor in my capacity as the elected chairman of the Informal Meeting of International Non-Governmental Organizations which took place here in FAO on Tuesday, 9 November. At this meeting, there were 38 participant members, of whom 36 came from International Non-Governmental Organizations having formal relations with FAO.
As I am speaking for the first time at this Conference, I should like to take this opportunity in the name of all the participants at the NGO meeting to express warm, wholehearted congratulations to Mr Jacques Diouf on his election as future Director-General of FAO. As I have known Mr Jacques Diouf personally for many years, I know he has great sympathy and appreciation for the work of NGOs. I have no doubt that he, coming from a continent where so many NGOs have major activities, will further strengthen and intensify the already existing collaboration between FAO and NGOs.
At the same time I wish to thank Mr Saouma for his personal interest and endeavours to make NGOs a real part of the work of the Organization. This came to a culmination during the ICN where some 150 NGOs were present here in Rome. As was mentioned by the Deputy Director-General in his introductory statement, and in the Journal of 10 November, the participants at the INGO meeting discussed sustainable development and participatory approach, with special reference to the implementation of the ICN Plan of Action, and also the UNCED Agenda 21 and the FAO Plan of Action for Women in Development - three topics which, to a great extent, are interlinked, as was clearly evidenced by the discussions at the NGO meeting. A report on the deliberations of the NGOs, with observations and suggestions, is presently being processed and should be available next week, as was mentioned by Mr Hjort.
Unfortunately, this report could not be ready before this meeting on World Food Security and Nutritional Status. It should, however, be in your hands before the other two topics come up for discussion next week on Tuesday and Thursday.
Allow me to make a few comments relating to the present topic under discussion. The NGOs expressed satisfaction that the ICN Plan of Action emphasizes the basic need to increase food production, especially for the really poor and undernourished, and the vital role women play in this respect. It is also noted that the NGO involvement at national and local level in partnership with government is emphasized in several sections of the Plan of Action. Here only a few delegates during this meeting have mentioned the role of NGOs in food assistance and rehabilitation for permanent food security. NGOs are of the opinion that our participatory approach must include various groups of society involved in all activities related to the ICN Plan of Action. This would ensure that the decision-making process takes into account the real needs of the people and especially the needs of the rural poor and the voiceless who are the special concern of the NGO Organizations.
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1 Statement inserted in the verbatim records on request
The following matters received special attention at the meeting. I mention a few.
First, the importance of encouraging the production of traditional food crops such as roots, tubers and pulses as they are the staple food of many continents in the humid and sub-humid tropics, in Africa, the Caribbean and elsewhere. In particular it was stressed that planting material and seeds of the best available variations be readily available to small farmers in the rural areas. As a personal observation, I wish to draw attention to the potential use of cassava kept in the ground as a food resource for food security purposes rather than only relying on cereal supplies which may not be the traditional crops for either production or consumption.
Second, the need for producers to receive remunerative prices for food crops and the importance of having access to the necessary inputs and credits at reasonable costs. This was emphasized a few minutes ago by the delegate from Kenya.
Third, the potential negative effect of food aid and especially dumping on local food production and markets.
Fourth, the potential decrease of local production with a too rapid process of liberalization of trading systems and the consequential detrimental effect on small farmers.
It was stressed that the role of NGOs is important in improving levels of education generally but also in providing correct nutrition education and information at all levels. Special attention in this connection should be given to the rural sector, including both men and women.
Finally, it was stressed that the guidelines for the Plan of Action at the country levels should be simple and pragmatic so that ordinary rural people with little or no education can understand them.
I am aware that several delegates in their statements have mentioned one or more of these issues which reinforce the views of the NGO participants.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL: First, a general comment; there were times this afternoon when I thought that in preparing the statements perhaps some people had forgotten to refer to the ICN Plan of Action that was adopted last December. Since it has rather clear guidelines for us, for you and for everybody else in the United Nations system and the non-governmental community - in other words everybody and anybody who is concerned about this matter - it specifies what you should be doing, what we should be doing and what they should be doing in the nature of follow-up coordination, collaboration and cooperation.
A specific point in this regard that was mentioned was the ACC/SCN. This was mentioned a couple of times. You will note that the ACC/SCN is mentioned in para. 47.1 of the approved Plan of Action. It says that the ACC/SCN "should facilitate coordination of these efforts and in close collaboration with its participating agency prepare periodic reports".
One should be reminded that the SCN is not a body that operates at the country level.
In one of the remarks expressed the point was made that action is at the national level. The SCN itself is not going to be doing anything at the national level. If we are going to implement the Plan of Action, it will have to be done by the member agencies of the SCN. The SCN is a body to talk about problems, like so many other things we have, such as IFPRI and others. It is not empowered to do anything about the problems. We do have that task. We have the task of working with our member countries in very close collaboration with WHO in this particular matter and also with UNICEF as it tries to implement its summit goals and objectives which were adopted and incorporated into the Plan of Action.
May I remind again on the word "coordination"? This is an important matter to our member countries. We do respect national sovereignty and coordination at the national level is a national responsibility. We do not try to coordinate governments. We exist to provide services to the best of our ability in response to requests from governments. Governments on this particular matter do have a difficult task of bringing people together because health ministries, agricultural ministries and other ministries have to work together to bring about and accomplish the nutritional objectives of their country.
A specific point on capacity-building was mentioned. I fail to understand that because I have always thought our guidelines, when using the terms "strengthening institutions", "strengthening training" and so forth, meant that they were essential parts of capacity-building. Perhaps there is a different definition of capacity-building that was referred to. Certainly fundamental to our Charter is our task of helping our member countries strengthen their capacity to implement programmes and to perform functions and in this particular case implement nutritional enhancement and food security programmes.
In reference to cooperation, I wish to inform you that I have written to the World Bank to encourage them to provide financial support to our Member Nations who are preparing and attempting to implement their national Plans of Action that have been prepared in collaboration with and with the assistance of FAO, WHO or UNICEF.
As far as the Special Actions Programmes are concerned, I suspect that there may be a little bit of a misunderstanding as to what these are all about. I have worked for the better part of a year now with the Assistant Director-Generals, to come up with 12 Special Action Programmes. These are not comprehensive; they do not include by any means all of the work of the Organization or even all of the fieldwork of the Organization. What they are designed to be is a mechanism to coordinate our activities, our regular programmes, our field programmes, in the high priority areas coming out of UNCED and the ICN. If somebody reads into the Special Action Programmes on policy that it is some mechanism for the ES Department, then we have to go back to the drawing board because these are mechanisms to bring everybody into it. I assume my Fishery colleagues would be very disturbed to find that there is something in the public arena that makes it sound as if they are not involved in this kind of Special Action Programme. The SAPs are organization-wide. In the write-ups and in the background documents we have spent a great deal of time and effort trying to identify the other organizations and agencies in the United Nations system, regional organizations, regional financing organizations, etc. As you know, we work with regional financing mechanisms not only with global ones. All are important to the implementation of the Special Action Programmes.
As I said in the introductory remarks, what we are hoping for is to attract extra-budgetary resources. We are in a situation where our member governments are not going to give us any money over and above what we have for the Regular Programme - a zero real growth, maximum absorption of costs increases philosophy seems to be implanted very deeply. Then we and you have to implement the Plan of Action for nutrition, and the UNCED follow-up. The UNCED follow-up will cost US$120 billion. What is our budget? There is no way that the Regular Programme that you are going to approve can provide any significant share of this amount.
The United States today did not mention a figure, but I believe that the Plan of Action that they are working on is judged to cost something of the order of US$54 billion. We are talking about that many millions, which would make us happy !
There is the need to package things, hopefully that are in line with the priorities of the Organization that you have specified, and that these are packaged in a way and are attractive enough to you that you will come forward with extra budgetary resources to help the Member Nations implement these high priority activities. That includes the follow-up to UNCED.
As far as the specific members are concerned, there were questions about specific numbers. I had some in my introductory remarks. There were questions about the number of countries that have requested assistance, and so on, but I would appreciate my colleagues being given the opportunity to respond to those specific points.
I would say that I agree entirely with what the distinguished delegate from Norway said with respect to liberalization or privatization. Certainly in the short-term, as we have been hearing in the last two days, and especially as far as Eastern Europe is concerned, the initial short-term impact is rather devastating as far as nutritional status is concerned. When you tear apart social safety nets and let people fall through those nets and do for themselves, there has to be a reduction in nutritional status.
The paragraph which was referred to on this tried to make the distinction between the long-term and the short-term. We have to have hope, if we are to survive, that in the long-term things will improve.
The final point that I will make concerns integrating nutritional considerations into the national planning process. That phraseology is common to us, usually used in connection with the environment. In certain respects it is somewhat different in the case of the nutritional status. National governments have objectives with respect to nutritional status. They also, in the context that we are talking about, have a high desire and an increased desire to use their natural resources in a sustainable manner.
What the whole process is about in essence is using policies to induce mainly private agents - in our case there are very few farmers who are not private agents - to use their natural resources in a sustainable manner to accomplish the nutritional objectives of tomorrow, or the next day and the year following. Yes, integrating nutritional concerns is important, but one almost comes to the point where it is much more important than that. Your nutritional objectives specify a very large share of the demand that will come upon your agriculture sector. What you are hoping to do is use policy to see to it that your resources, natural but also human, are used in a way
to accomplish, in the most efficient and effective way you can, your nutritional objectives.
I have gone on longer than I thought I was going to. I think Mr Lupien has to answer some specific questions.
J.R. LUPIEN (Director, Food Policy and Nutrition Division): First, I would like to thank delegates for the many comments and suggestions they have made, and for the general support to the ICN follow-up that we have received. Preparing for and holding the ICN was a rather difficult but very rewarding process, and our discussion today shows that the follow-up will be equally difficult but even more rewarding if we can, in fact, reach the goals that are set in the ICN Declaration and Plan of Action.
The report before you is one of a series of progress reports we have made this year first to COAG, then to Council and then to Conference. I think that the suggestions that we have had today about a much more detailed report and what should go into it for the report in 1995 will be taken, and I can assure you that we will do our best to have a thorough report at that time.
A few specific questions were asked that have not been covered by Mr Hjort. The United Kingdom asked about the reallocation of resources. Certainly in the proposed Programme of Work and Budget, to the extent that it was humanly possible with a zero-growth budget, there was a reallocation of Regular Programme Resources towards the nutrition ICN follow-up. I am pleased about that.
The delegate also mentioned that guidelines were not enough and that dialogue and partnership were needed. That is the exact purpose of these guidelines, to promote dialogue and partnership at the country level. We have sent these guidelines out to all member countries and have asked our FAO representatives to ferment a most widespread dialogue and partnership, both between government agencies and between United Nations agencies and the NGOs at the country level. Therefore, we hope there will be very wide dialogue and partnership preparing national Plans of Action for nutrition. They are guidelines because, in fact, they are not meant to be top-down; they are meant to be considered at the country level with each country selecting what they feel are their major priorities and then preparing activities that will meet those priorities, whether in the form of government programmes or programmes that have project assistance, hopefully from all the various organizations that work at the country level either bilaterally or through the United Nations agencies.
With regard to the FAO and the WHO, our collaboration and cooperation continues in a very strong way. We have regular meetings with our colleagues in WHO. Some of the comments about priorities and themes that are selected by FAO show those that we feel we must cover and concentrate the most, whereas the WHO colleagues will be taking some of the other activities into account.
Therefore, I think by working together at the global, regional, and country levels we will do our very best to meet those points.
The delegate of Norway mentioned breastfeeding. This is, we think, one of the major aspects that we must concentrate on, particularly in our nutrition education activities, as we move forward. This has to be done
jointly with WHO, UNICEF and many other organizations that give this a very high priority. FAO is strongly in favour of breastfeeding for infants and it is certainly the best way of assuring good nutrition for infants.
Questions were asked about how many countries have requested assistance. More than 40 at the present time have asked for assistance. We have already had missions to about 20 of the countries that have asked for assistance in the form of visits by either staff members or consultants to try and identify more what needs to be done. We are already beginning to look for extra-budgetary resources to strengthen that activity with regard to developing national plans of action as a framework for real action in the future, meaning more project assistance. There, of course, we are going to be coming back to you again asking for assistance to implement those projects. It is only the beginning of what we hope will be a fruitful process for us all.
The delegation from the Netherlands mentioned possible overlapping between the Special Action Programmes. That will not be a problem. As a matter of fact, the people who are involved in the two different Special Action Programmes mentioned in this document are sitting on each other's Management Committees, so any particular duplication of effort that begins will be nipped in the bud. That is not a real problem. We certainly will do our best to make sure that does not happen.
Information was also requested on regional networks. We have had some preliminary meetings which Mr Hjort has mentioned. We hope to have more. During 1994 we will plan on some other sub-regional meetings to try to get the countries of various regions to decide how they can best approach a planning process for improving nutrition.
The meeting that we had in Central America was very useful in that regard. We heard from the Minister of El Salvador about some of the activities that are going on, as a result of that meeting and as other parts of the ICN follow-up. That will continue. Again, these might need some extra budgetary support. We will be making proposals about that too, although some can be financed out of our own resources. The one in Honduras was a joint FAO-Pan American Health Organization activity.
There was a question as to how do we sensitize FAO. I think they are sensitized. The Special Action Programmes will make that sensitization even more acute if necessary.
CHAIRMAN (Original language German): That brings us to the end of this afternoon's sitting. I would like to thank you for your constructive cooperation. We will start our deliberations tomorrow morning as scheduled at 9.30 a.m.
The meeting rose at 19.15 hours.
La séance est levée à 19 h 15.
Se levanta la sesión a las 19.15 horas.
