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III. ACTIVITIES OF FAO AND WFP (continued)
III. ACTIVITES DE LA FAO ET DU PAM (suite)
III. ACTIVIDADES DE LA FAO Y DEL PMA (continuación)

10. Follow-up of WCARRD (continued)
10. Suite donnée à la CMRADR (suite)
10. Actividades complementarias de la CMRADR (continuación)

CHAIRMAN: We will now start the meeting. We have a very long list of speakers before us. The list runs to 37 speakers, out of which only 18 have taken the floor so far. The need of the hour there­fore is to be brief and concise and I would fervently appeal to delegates to be kind to us as well as to themselves. In the interests of having the business disposed of as early as possible I would request them to be brief and concise and to avoid repetition as far as possible.

M.H. PAIMAN (Afghanistan): First, I am privileged to extend the warm appreciation of the Afghan delegation to you, Mr. Chairman, and our congratulations to the .three new Vice-Chairmen on their election. My delegation is fully confident that under your able guidance and with the active parti­cipation of the delegates the tasks of this Council will be successfully carried out. I am pleased to convey our thanks to Dr. Edouard Saouma, the Director-General, and his staff for providing this opportunity for us to exchange experiences and views regarding the state of food and agriculture., throughout the world.

As far as document CL 82/18, Follow-up of WCARRD, is concerned, this is a great activity undertaken by FAO. I thank FAO for this document which it has prepared. It is the background for the develop­ment of agriculture and it is appreciated by my delegation. These programmes are concerned with the development of agriculture and especially agricultural products and rural development. Afghanistan is always concerned about this with the help of FAO. They have started these programmes, especially home economics, and the programme is going on in Afghanistan and there are many efforts on the contribution of women to agricultural development and there is the training of farmers. Also the extension programme is going on here at village level, especially introducing agro-techniques to the farmers to help them develop a better life and economy. So this is a very good document which has been prepared by FAO. Especially important for us is the WCARRD development programme. The land reform programme is going on in Afghanistan. This makes a basic change to the life of the people and the peasants here, and that will be directly concerned with agriculture and agricultural products, because agrarian reform and land reform will be studied together. First there is the land distribu­tion, and after the land distribution the farmers' needs for seeds, for fertilizers and for land settlement, especially concerning the nomads, and there are 2.5 million nomads in Afghanistan. Moreover, the economy of these farmers is weak, so they need help in agro-techniques and machines and other help.

In this document one item should be included, the land reform programme, because most of the devel-oping countries are going to have the land programme in the future, some of them have it now and some in the past. So when we distribute the land to farmers we need help from the government. The government can only distribute the land. It cannot give other necessities for the farmers. So of course WFP and FAO will give attention to that. So if necessary a separate item should be included in this document of land reform programme, because agrarian reform and land reform are different from each other. After the land reform the agrarian reform will be studied.

In Afghanistan the feudals owned the majority of the land, which they themselves could not cultivate efficiently, but poor farmers and landless peasants worked as share croppers on the land as tenants of the feudals. After the revolution the government realised that no effective agricultural devel­opment could be achieved without eliminating social injustice. Therefore according to Decree No. 8 of the Revolutionary Council land reforms were introduced with the following objectives: the removal of feudalistic relations from the national socio-economic system and strengthening and expanding the unity between the workers and the peasants; and increasing the production and diversification of food, fibre, fruits and industrial raw material, not only for local consumption but also for export; to organize the agricultural farmers' services cooperatives; to remove the exploitation, poverty, sickness, malnutrition and unjust social relations; to democratise the socio-economic life of the people. So the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reform distributed a total of 739 343 hectares of land to about 295 980 farmers, state farms and municipalities and other government organizations.

Operational programmes were made this year for the completion of land reforms. Under these programmes many activities have been initiated all over the country. Some of these are mentioned below:

First, distribution of water to a particular farm holding in accordance with their determined water rights.

Second, distribution of land ownership documents to the new recipients of land.

Third, the replacement of the old land ownership documents of the land owners whose surplus land is going to be distributed under this land reform programme with the new legal titles to the recipients.

Fourth, organizing the agricultural cooperatives of those farmers who are the recipients of new lands and providing them with technical and financial assistance to concerned departments, and

Fifth, improvement in the existing irrigation system and creation of infrastructural institutions and rural areas of the country.

It is necessary to say that according to the amendment to the Decree No. 8 lands which belonged to the holy places, such as mosques, religious institutions and churches, are not to be distributed under the land reform programme. With this the organizing of the cooperative is concerned. So the Rural Development Department has the very good role of applying these democratic programmes in the country. Especially the construction part of the land reform programme has been given to the Rural Development Department, which will be at village level, through the Department. This construction will be the mosques, schools, and some bridges, roads and houses, maybe libraries, baths, and so many other constructions which are needed at the village level for the farmers. This has been done by the Rural Development Department under the land reform programme. So if it is necessary that one item should be included in this document it is the land reform programmes for the developing countries.

CHAIRMAN: We note your interest and support to the WCARRD Programme of Action with particular emphasis on land reform programmes. We have noted that you have made a suggestion for the inclusion of land reform as a separate sub-item. I am sure that the Secretariat will consider the feasibility of doing this. We also note the distinction which you draw between agrarian reforms and land reforms.

Miss N. RAYEL (Ireland): I have the pleasure of speaking on behalf of the European Community on this item particularly with regard to the role of women in rural development.

The European Community attaches great importance to the role and to the place of women in agriculture and rural development. It is in this way that, in the framework of the new Programme of Action of the Community for equality of opportunity 1982/85 which has been the subject of a resolution of the Council of 12 July 1982, that specific action is envisaged for the implementation of the principle of equality of treatment for women entrepreneurs, agricultural producers and workers.

This action has as its object the improvement of the professional status of women entrepreneurs, agricultural producers and workers and the realization of equal access to employment, promotion and professional training. The Community has committed itself in this context, while basing itself on the conclusions of an analysis of the specific problems of these women, to proposing a legal instru­ment. This latter is being prepared within the services of the European Community.

Insofar as the problem of women in the rural development of developing countries is concerned, it must be seen in the framework of the definition of community actions 'Women and Development Policy' in the context of the resolution adopted by the Council of Development of Ministers on 8 November last. In adopting its conclusions, the Council, anxious that its action of cooperation make a contribution in the aided countries to the harmonious development of the overall population, declared itself ready to take full account of the role of women in development as well as of the specific problems of women. The Community is conscious that development aid projects or actions in favour of women must be realised in conformity with the objectives of beneficiary countries in matters of development.

Moreover these conclusions contain guidelines both for the evaluation of the aid programme of the Community, as well as for the participation in international organizations where the question of the position of women in developing countries is taken up.

CHAIRMAN: All I can do is thank you for your very beautiful intervention and particularly your remarks concerning the role of women. We are all convinced they have a great role to play in the development process.

KHANDKER ASADUZZAMAN (Bangladesh): My delegation would like to inform the Council that Bangladesh attaches great importance to the recommendations and action programme of WCARRD from the very begin-ning. The objectives and strategies of rural development in Bangladesh have been progressively oriented in direction with WCARRD. Economic planning in Bangladesh today is based on a strategy that identifies the rural side as the centre of all economic activities. My delegation would therefore like to make a brief presentation on the extent to which Bangladesh has followed up the recommendations and action programme of WCARRD and subsequent inter-country consultations. The specific issues that will be dealt with in the presentation are: land reform measures, access to inputs, credits and markets, people's participation and integration of women in rural development, role of NGOs.

In view of the gradual pauperization of rural households and the inadequacies of the existing tenurial system, the need for a comprehensive agrarian and land reform have become imperative from objective considerations. Since 1979, a debate and process were initiated for popularizing and formulating land reform measures which will promote productivity as well as ensure social justice. In view of complex socio-economic factors involved in land reforms, the government has gradually prepared the ground for altering the tenurial system. With the setting up of the Land Reforms Committee headed by the Agriculture Minister about 3 months back which is going to submit its report by 30 November, the stage is set for taking some concrete steps on land reforms in the near future.

To ensure access of marginal and small farmers to inputs, credits and markets, the government has cho-sen the cooperatives as the main instrument for rural development. In order to galvanize the cooperative movement, the government has decided to step up a statutory public authority. This authority, which will be known as Bangladesh Rural Development Board, will provide leadership to cooperatives for both peasants and landless rural poor and will be headed by the Minister of Local Government. At the moment, there are more than 100 000 primary cooperative societies in the country, which means there is one or more than one cooperative society in every village of Bangladesh. An ambitious plan has been drawn up to consolidate and strengthen the agricultural cooperatives. Projects have also been undertaken to market agricultural produce through the cooperative system to ensure a fair price to the growers. The cooperatives are also playing an important role in seeing that credit reaches the rural population,

The share of institutional credit in the rural sector has increased from 17 percent to about 34 per-cent during the last 5 years as a result of policy measures adopted by the government. Yet a large number of people in the rural areas have no access to inputs, credits, etc., because they have no assets, do not own any means of production like land, etc. Moreover, during the last two decades, the number of landless people has increased at an alarming rate. The government is keenly aware of the poignance and the destructive potentialities of increasing landlessness in the rural areas. The government, through the Rural Development Board, is going to take up an ambitious programme to organize 25 000 cooperative societies exclusively for the landless in the next five years, There are already 6 000 landless cooperatives organized under the Integrated Rural Development Programme.

Another major programme in this area has been undertaken by the Bangladesh Bank. This programme is known as the Grameen Bank Project or Village Bank Project. This programme provides credit to landless groups for income-generating activities. This project has already received IFAD assistance. Another action research project - Small Farmers' Development Programme - was undertaken by the government in 1976 in collaboration with FAO. In the pilot phase, the project organized 2,500 families in 8 villages, and in the second phase, the targets have been expanded to organize 30,000 small and marginal farmer families in 200 villages.

The Bangladesh Government is also of the view that people's participation is the key to rural development. Two steps have already been taken in this direction. First, the government has decided to decentralize the decision-making process. The concrete steps taken so far include the strengthening of the local administrative level in the rural areas, the decision for gradual abolition of administrative tiers to bring the government nearer to people, and the posting of senior officials in the rural areas. Second, the government has formally announced the decision for enhancing the powers of the local government substantially. It has been decided that officials of local level administrative units will be made accountable to elected representatives at those levels. It is hoped that as a consequence of these measures, administration will become more democratic and accessible to the people.

Women in Bangladesh villages have been performing important and valuable tasks in rural life since time immemorial. Yet that had been by-passed by new development programmes largely on account of sex discrimination. The Government of Bangladesh has taken firm steps to involve the womenfolk of Bangladesh in the development process. A Division of Women's Affairs has been established by the government to provide equal opportunities to women in all walks of life. Two types of programmes have been designed to integrate women in rural development. One category relates to self-employment projects based on supplying credit and the other to training and wage employment. A large number of women's cooperatives has been organized trough various developmental programmes launched by both governmental agencies and non-governmental agencies.

The necessity of actively involving NGOs in the rural development process is now well-recognized in Bangladesh since, given their flexibility, they can and have proved to be innovative and forward-looking. Thus, at present there are more than 100 NGOs in Bangladesh working in the rural sector. Many of them have shifted from a "community" to "target group" and from "relief" to "development" approach over the years. However, resources of most of these NGOs are very limited, as compared to the magnitude of the problems in Bangladesh. It is also felt that there should be closer coordination of the activities of NGOs so that no overlap takes place between the government and the NGOs and between the NGOs themselves. This will ensure more effective utilisation of the meagre resources of NGOs for productive purposes.

It is, however becoming increasingly difficult for a developing country like Bangladesh to accelerate the pace of rural development, because there is a great shortage of capital for undertaking any major scheme in the rural area. My delegation is therefore of the view that the present situation can be improved only if all the Member Countries accept the recommendations of WCARRD wholeheartedly and commit themselves to support and assist in the implementation of its action plan.

My delegation notes with great satisfaction the initiative and measures taken by FAO to implement the action programme so far. My delegation however feels that FAO should further intensify its effort to remove the constraints and impediments which are presently impeding the flow of aid resources from the developed to the developing countries so that a New Economic Order is put in-to operation by design in the not too distant future.

In this connexion, my delegation would like to make the following four proposals for the kind consideration of the Member Countries. First, there must be closer cooperation among the countries of the south for designing suitable strategies, for improving the lot of the landless rural poor. Secondly, multilateral agencies like FAO should pay more attention to the development of networks for marketing of off and on-farm enterprises in both domestic and international markets. Thirdly, emphasis should be laid on the development of appropriate technology and adequate funds should be provided for research institutions of the south for this purpose. Finally, regional institutes on rural development should he further strengthened. In this connexion, CIRDAP deserves special attention. This institution has not as yet received adequate assistance from the UN system.

In conclusion, my delegation would like to express its deep gratitude to Japan and other donor countries for the donation they have made to CIRDAP and my delegation would like to congratulate the distinguished delegation of Japan for the announcement they made this morning concerning further donations.

CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Bangladesh, for giving us the benefit of Bangladesh's experience in land reform measures, in ensuring equitable access to inputs and credits on the part of the disadvantaged, in having people's participation in the developing process and also establishing women's role in the productive process in its due glory, through such measures as the establishment of the Land Reform Committee, the Rural Development Board, measures, to strengthen cooperatives and also the establishment and setting up of cooperative societies for the landless.

We also note that there have been actions taken by the government for administrative decentralization to ensure people's participation in the development process. The experiences that you have narrated I am sure will enrich the mutual experience of the Member Nations of FAO. We also note your comments on NGOs who are doing a good job, but as you seem to think, the resources are limited, and they also need some coordination amongst themselves.

We have noted your 4 suggestions regarding closer cooperation among the countries of the south and for multilateral agencies like FAO for undertaking activities for development of marketing networks, for development of appropriate technology and for strengthening of regional institutes like CIRDAP and CIRDAFRICA and so on. Thank you, Bangladesh.

T. SADAKA (Liban) (langue original arabe): Tout d'abord, je voudrais, au nom de la délégation du Liban, féliciter M. le Directeur général, le Dr. Edouard Saouma, pour l'innovation qu'il a intro-duite dans l'Organisation pour assumer la tâche qui lui a été confiée par la Conférence mondiale de la réforme agraire et du développement rural qui s'était tenue à Rome en 1979.

Cette Conférence a confié à l'OAA la tâche de mettre en oeuvre ses résolutions et son programme d'action, lequel peut être considéré comme un document historique et qui est un tournant radical dans la vie de la majorité écrasante de la population mondiale. Depuis cette date l'Organisation, sous l'orientation' de son Directeur général, a adopté les méthodes les plus efficaces pour traduire dans la réalité et dans la pratique le programme d'action en question et pour aider les pays membres à entreprendre des activités de développement appropriées à leur condition. Je suis fier de constater que notre Organisation a franchi une étape importante en introduisant les princi-pales lignes contenues dans le programme d'action, dans la plupart des projets et des programmes importants qui sont planifiés et exécutés par elle. C'est là une étape gigantesque qui a été bien réussie malgré les obstacles et les entraves, tout cela grâce aux efforts déployés par le Directeur général et ses collaborateurs et nous les en remercions.

La délégation du Liban souhaite qu'ils poursuivent leurs efforts avec la même détermination et le même enthousiasme car ce qu'ils font ne se limite pas à des principes d'action et à 1 application des programmes, mais contient aussi des idées nouvelles concernant la vie des populations mondiales et tout particulièrement de la population rurale. Cette orientation nouvelle, l’Organisation s'efforce de l’enraciner dans l'esprit des responsables dans les pays membres, et les aide pour l'adopter comme base de l'élaboration et d'exécution de leurs programmes et projets nationaux qui vont nécessairement entraîner l'atténuation de la pauvreté de leurs populations actives.

Mon pays a participé à la Conférence régionale du Proche-Orient, Conférence qui s'était tenue à Nicosie du 25 au 30 octobre 1982. La délégation de mon pays a examiné le document de travail CL 82/8 qui résume les recommandations et les résolutions des conférences régionales qui se sont tenues auparavant. Ce que le document de travail en question contient n'est qu'une preuve évidente et une confirmation de l'intérêt très grand accordé par les pays membres aux problèmes du développement rural dans toutes les parties du monde. Il contient aussi un soutien catégorique à tous les projets et à tous les programmes exécutés par l'OAA dans le domaine du développement rural. La délégation du Liban appuie fermement le document de travail CL 82/18 dont nous discutons à l'heure actuelle. Nous remercions et félicitons le Dr. Islam pour l'exposé complet qu'il nous a donné des activités importantes entreprises par l'OAA en vue d'exécuter le programme d'action établi par la Conférence mondiale de la réforme agraire et du développement rural que j'ai cité précédemment. Je cite plus-particulièrement les activités suivantes:

1) Les missions de haut niveau qui effectuent des visites dans les pays intéressés au développement rural pour les aider à examiner leur politique sur la réforme agraire et le développement et pour élaborer leurs projets d'aide immédiate dans ce domaines.

La délégation du Liban soutient fermement ces missions et espère que l'Organisation enverra de nom­breuses missions pour répondre aux besoins des pays membres.

2) Je voudrais rendre hommage aux efforts rendus par l'OAA dans le domaine des activités spéciales relatives au développement rural, entre autres:

a) la participation populaire pour planifier et mettre à exécution les projets relatifs aux popu-lations rurales, leur donner l'occasion d'émettre leur opinion et de prendre les décisions rémunéra­trices pour leur vie et leur travail;

b) l'intérêt particulier apporté par l'Organisation à la femme en matière de développement rural et agricole; l'aide apportée à la femme pour avoir un rôle efficace et son droit à jouer un rôle égal à celui de l'homme dans la majorité des activités auxquelles elle participe dans de nombreuses régions du monde;

c) la formation des cadres qui travaillent dans le domaine du développement rural. La délégation du Liban appuie la priorité accordée par l'Organisation pour développer et améliorer le facteur humain dont le développement technique et scientifique est à la base même du développement et de l'amélioration des ressources naturelles et financières. C'est la raison pour laquelle nous estimons que les programmes de l'Organisation doivent se concentrer sur la formation des agriculteurs notamment les petits exploitants, hommes et femmes. C'est là une tendance judicieuse qu'il faut encourager et appuyer et à laquelle il faut garantir tous les moyens financiers nécessaires;

d) nous appuyons la coopération établie par l'OAA avec les autres organisations affiliées aux Nations Unies et qui oeuvrent dans le domaine du développement rural, à titre particulier, je cite la coopération qui a eu lieu entré l'OAA et un certain nombre d'organisations internationales en vue d'élaborer le programme des indicateurs socio-économiques pour surveiller et évaluer les programmes de la réforme agraire et du développement rural.

Nous saluons et encourageons l'échange des expériences dans ce domaine entre les pays eux-mêmes et c'est la raison pour laquelle nous demandons au Directeur général de poursuivre les séminaires de consultation entre les pays afin qu'ils puissent profiter de leurs expériences réciproques. La délégation du Liban voudrait réitérer son appui à la création du bureau régional pour le dévelop-pement rural au Proche-Orient et espère que l'OAA fournira les efforts nécessaires pour la création de ce centre et pour l'aider à commencer son activité, étant donné son importance dans le renfor­cement des activités de la Région du Proche-Orient dans le domaine du développement rural.

En conclusion, je voudrais tout d'abord souligner un point important, à savoir que le succès de toutes les activités de l'OAA et le succès des autres organisations internationales, en matière d'aide apportée au développement rural, dépendent essentiellement de nous-mêmes, nous les pays concernés par cette question, dépendent de l'efficacité! de notre réponse et dépendent du soutien national que nous donnons aux projets de développement national.

A titre d'exemple, je cite le rapport qui sera préparé par l'OAA sur les réalisations de ce Programme et qui sera présenté à la Conférence générale en 1983; l'aide apportée par les pays concernés dans la préparation de ce rapport sera considérée comme une contribution efficace au succès de ce Programme. Ensuite, je voudrais m'adresser à tous les pays, et particulièrement les nantis d'entre eux, pour qu'ils appuient ce programme par leurs contributions et leurs dons financiers lesquels n'ont pas atteint jusqu'à présent la moitié de la somme qui a été fixée par la Conférence mondiale en 1979. Ce qui est dépensé dans ce domaine, bien que modeste, sèmera les graines valables pour des programmes plus grands qui seront précieux et qui seront accomplis par les pays eux-mêmes. En conclusion, je voudrais réitérer l'appréciation de mon pays pour les activités entreprises par l'OAA en vue d'exécuter le programme d'action élaboré par la Conférence mondiale de la réforme agraire et du développement rural. Je voudrais réitérer mes félicitations au Directeur général et à ses collaborateurs pour l'effort gigantesque qu'ils déploient.

CHAIRMAN: Thank you, delegate of Lebanon, for your general expression of appreciation for the FAO-sponsored activities in the field of the WCARRD follow-up, and for your support of the points made generally in the document issued by the Secretariat on this issue, underlining the importance of high-level missions which have been visiting countries in the preparation of plans, strategies and programmes, and also underlining the importance of human factors in the rural development process, particularly in the form of training. We note your approval of the co-operation between the FAO and other agencies in the setting up of the Centre for Regional Development of Agrarian Reform and Rural Development in the Near East.

MS. M. PIOTROWSKA (Poland): On reading the document Follow-Up of WCARRD, it states it does not provide a full survey of the FAO activities in this field. Most, if not all, of the FAO's activities in developing countries, including the food programmes, directly or indirectly influence the implementation of WCARRD objectives. On the other hand, while studying the document, you may arrive at the conclusion that FAO focuses too many of its activities on inter-agency co-operation and co-operation with non-governmental organizations.

The fear arises that all those works in fact hardly exercise any influence on agricultural development as on the implementation of the Programme of Agrarian Reform in single countries. The action at the country level also is to a large extent of the nature of general consultancy and training. It concerns even such matters as promoting people's participation and the role of women in rural development.

Thus it seems that in the past all adequate proposals were maintained at the root level and national and regional levels. In our opinion those proposals should be resolved in further work.

CHAIRMAN: Thank you very much, for your valuable intervention. I must add here that I am going to cut down on my summing-up in view of the shortage of time which we are faced with. We still have quite a number of speakers who want to take the floor, and I would again repeat my appeal to the Members Nations here to be brief and concise.

H.H. CARABAÑO (Venezuela): En mi país estamos persuadidos de que el desarrollo rural integrado es condición esencial para salir del subdesarrollo y para que podamos alcanzar un grado razonable de autosuficiencia alimentaria.

Igualmente creemos que la reforma agraria es un prerrequisito para llevar justicia y paz al campo.

Desde hace 23 años Venezuela adelanta un proceso de reforma agraria que, pese a sus dificultades e imperfecciones, ha logrado llevar justicia social al sector campesino. Mi gobierno, inspiración demócrata cristiana, ha puesto esencial empeño en otorgar títulos de propiedad sobre las parcelas a los beneficiarios de la reforma agraria. Estamos convencidos de que nada puede contribuir tanto a la estabilidad social ni existe un mejor estímulo para la producción como el hacer que sea el dueño de la tierra quien la trabaja.

Ya se cuenta por decenas de miles las familias campesinas que han recibido su título de propiedad; por ello, señor Presidente, no podríamos dejar de reconocer a la FAO la forma eficiente como viene ejerciendo el liderazgo que la Conferencia de Reforma Agraria y Desarrollo Rural le confió en este campo.

Por ello mi delegación desearía que se le recomendara un plan concreto de acción en el escenario más manejable como podía serlo el de la subregión. Se trata no sólo de obtener la ayuda y asistencia de FAO para promover esta cooperación de países en desarrollo, sino que bajo su coordinación se logre integrar los esfuerzos de otros entes como podría ser la Unesco o la OIT, así como el de los entes regionales como en el caso particular de América Latina donde funciona el Instituto Internacional de Cooperación Agrícola.

En este punto, nos reconforta saber que está entre los planes del Director General, este tipo de ac-ciones tal como nos los hizo saber en la Conferencia Regional de Nicaragua. En beneficio de la brevedad, no vamos a repetir lo que aquí se ha dicho con tanta elocuencia, pero sí nos sentimos obligados a subrayar lo relativo al papel de la mujer en el desarrollo, la promoción de la partici-pación popular, la importancia de los indicadores socioeconómicos sencillos, flexibles y aplicables, como aquí se ha dicho. Todas estas son áreas del programa que interesan de modo particular a mi país.

Queremos solidarizarnos con lo que dijo el distinguido representante de Noruega en el sentido de que las estrategias alimentarias que está promoviendo el Consejo Mundial, deben ser fortalecidas, ponde­radas y dinamizadas, si se quiere, por la propia FAO. Ya mi delegación se refirió a la necesidad de esta coordinación cuando aquí se habló de la seguridad alimentaria.

Permítame enfatizar en el aspecto que se refiere a la educación rural, incluyendo en ella la capacita­ción y la extensión, que no sólo es prioritaria sino que debe tener la primera posición en cuanto a las prelaciones. Confío en que el Consejo, al considerar todas las recomendaciones del Artículo 37, incluya ese acápite donde se formule la necesidad de la cooperación dentro de los países en desarro­llo, y de éstos con los organismos internacionales.

CHAIRMAN: Thank you for your very stimulating experience you have in your country by which tens of thousands of landless people have become owners of land. We note that you would like to see more concrete action plans from FAO and also your stress on a food security-based approach and on rural education in regard to training and extension work.

M. NAANANI (Maroc): Ma delegation remercie le Secrétariat d'avoir préparé un document aussi concis et aussi lucide. Nous remercions également le Prof. Islam pour l'avoir si bien résumé.

Le Maroc, qui place le secteur agricole en tête de toutes les priorités, ne cesse de multiplier les efforts pour développer et promouvoir le monde rural. En plus des actions classiques de dévelop­pement agricole, mon pays a entamé depuis le début des années 60 un programme de réforme agraire basé sur la distribution des terres aux petits agriculteurs et la constitution de coopératives agricoles. Actuellement, plus de 340 000 hectares ont été distribués, et nous comptons plusieurs centaines de coopératives qui bénéficient d'avantages sociaux dans le cadre du code marocain des investissements agricoles, et qui participent de manière efficace a la production agricole nationale.

Notre programme de réforme agraire s'inscrit dans un programme de réforme foncière puisque à travers la distribution des terres nous cherchons également à étendre les micro-exploitations qui caracté-risent notre structure foncière et à les rendre plus viables.

Par ailleurs, mon pays a lancé il y a quelques années un programme de réalisation de projets de développement intégré. Ces projets ont l'avantage de tenir compte de toutes les composantes sociales et de l'infrastructure qui permettent de construire dans la campagne un environnement adéquat pour l'établissement de la population rurale. C'est ainsi que dans un même projet agricole nous réalisons, en même temps que les actions visant le développement agricole, les dispensaires, les écoles, l'êlectrification, l'adduction d'eau potable, les routes, etc., tout cela dans un cadre intégré.

En bref, le développement intégré et harmonieux du monde rural est le pivot autour duquel s'articule toute notre stratégie agricole.

M. le Président, permettez-moi d'exprimer la satisfaction de ma délégation quant aux résultats enre­gistrés par la FAO dans le cadre du développement agricole et de la réforme agraire. Nous nous félicitons du niveau du support fourni par la FAO à un grand nombre de pays pour les aider à élaborer des stratégies et des programmes nationaux dans ce cadre. Ma délégation se réjouit des efforts positifs fournis par la FAO pour promouvoir et rendre efficace la participation de la popu-lation à la conception et à l'exécution des projets.

Nous aimerions insister sur l'aspect de la participation de la population, que nous considérons comme l'un des moyens les plus sûrs pour la réussite de la planification et de l'exécution des projets, et pour le rattachement de la population à la terre.

Concernant le suivi et l'évaluation de la réforme agraire et du développement rural, ma délégation voudrait solliciter de la FAO une diffusion la plus large possible des indicateurs socio-économiques qu'elle a mis au point à cet effet, en collaboration avec les autres institutions des Nations Unies.

Enfin, ma délégation appuie pleinement l'ensemble du programme d'action de la FAO qui fait suite aux recommandations de la Conférence mondiale sur la réforme agraire et le développement rural, et lance un appel aux pays donateurs potentiels pour soutenir ce programme en lui fournissant les ressources budgétaires nécessaires à sa réalisation.

CHAIRMAN: We are glad to note your emphasis on agricultural production and to learn about land reform measures and other measures you have undertaken to promote integrated and harmonious rural development. We also note your appeal to potential donor countries for allocation of additional resources towards WCARRD follow-up support.

J. TCHICAYA (Congo): La délégation de mon pays voudrait s'associer aux félicitations qui ont été adressées au Secrétariat pour toutes les initiatives que ne cesse de prendre la FAO dans le cadre des activités sur le suivi de la Conférence mondiale sur la réforme agraire et le développement rural et pour les résultats déjà atteints.

Le programme d'action qui découle de la Conférence mondiale sur la réforme agraire et le dévelop­pement rural revêt pour nous une grande importance. En effet, cette conférence avait suscité beau­coup d'espoir, non seulement auprès des gouvernements, mais aussi et surtout auprès des masses rurales pauvres.

Mon pays, qui adhère entièrement aux recommandations de la Conférence mondiale sur la réforme agraire et le développement rural, s'emploie depuis à promouvoir la participation populaire dans l'organisation du développement dans les campagnes et met un accent particulier pour accroître le rôle de la femme dans le développement rural, rôle longtemps limité à la seule production vivrière.

Nous nous félicitons donc que ce point de notre ordre du jour ait été longuement discuté à la Conférence régionale de la FAO pour l'Afrique, qui a relevé, entre autres freins susceptibles de retarder la mise en oeuvre de ces programmes prioritaires de la Conférence mondiale sur la réforme agraire et le développement rural, l'insuffisance des cadres. C'est pourquoi nous apportons notre appui total à l'action de notre Organisation dans les domaines de l'éducation, de la formation et de la vulgarisation et de la vulgarisation au service du développement rural.

A cet égard, nous exprimons l'espoir de voir la résolution sur la formation des cadres de haut niveau, adoptée à la dernière Conférence régionale de la FAO pour l'Afrique, trouver rapidement une application.

De même, ma délégation est heureuse d'apprendre que la FAO prévoit une équipe opérationnelle mobile sous-régionale chargée de promouvoir des projets visant à favoriser la participation populaire en Afrique au niveau du CPA.

A cet égard, nous exhortons la FAO à continuer à apporter son assistance à notre jeune centre de développement rural intégré. De même, ma délégation lance un appel aux pays donateurs pour qu'ils aident ce centre à bien fonctionner. Ce concours est d'autant plus précieux en ce moment précis qu'il éprouve quelques difficultés d'ordre financier. J'invite par la même occasion les pays africains qui ne l'ont pas encore fait à ratifier l'accord portant création de ce centre et à favoriser ainsi le développement de son action.

M. le Président, dans mon pays, le problème de la réforme agraire ne se pose pas comme dans d'autres pays puisque la terre appartient à ceux qui la travaillent. Malheureusement, tout le monde - et c'est la grande majorité - ne possède pas les moyens de l'exploiter convenablement. L'appui que nous sollicitons de la FAO et des pays donateurs consiste à mettre à la disposition des petits exploi-tants les intrants nécessaires et la technologie appropriée pour une exploitation rationnelle des ressources naturelles, et contribuer ainsi à extirper la pauvreté et enrayer la misère dans nos campagnes.

Nous appuyons les efforts faits par certains pays donateurs, notamment ceux du nord de l'Europe, et invitons les autres pays industrialisés à suivre leur exemple pour faire aboutir les activités développés dans le cadre de la Conférence mondiale sur la réforme agraire et le développement rural.

CHAIRMAN: Thank you for your general endorsement of WCARRD's Programme of Action, laying emphasis on people's participation and women's role in the productive process. You emphasized the importance of education and extension oriented work and of training of high-level workers. You have requested assistance from FAO and also Member Governments of the Region for the development of a regional centre on agrarian and rural development in Africa. You have also requested other donor countries to follow the example of the Nordic countries in awarding financial assistance to FAO for WCARRD follow-up related work.

A. PRINDLE (United States of America): The United States delegation has reviewed the documents related to follow-up of WCARRD for this Council Session. The United States supports the action programme of the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development as adopted. As indicated in the Peasants' Charter resulting from the 1979 Conference, each government should formulate its rural development strategies in the context of its own situation and its human, physical and financial constraints. We are glad that this theme has been repeated in earlier statements of Council Members in this Session and note especially the call for additional training and extension education.

Achievement of equitable rural development and economic growth requires appropriate national policies that stimulate increased production and improved distribution of food and agricultural products. In our view such a policy should facilitate the role of both the private and public sectors in ways which complement each other. The success of this programme is critical, especially in the areas of marketing and financing of small farmers. Broader private sector involvement will provide the additional investment and technology that is needed to modernize farm production, food distribution and marketing. We encourage national actions to meet country-specific needs before regional efforts are initiated.

The U.S. delegation supports FAO's interests in advancing the role of individuals and non-governmental organizations in the national decision-making process and in inter-agency monitoring and evaluation.

With respect to interest we all share in better coordination between international organizations, our delegation urges close coordination between international organizations. Our delegation urges close cooperation with institutions currently active in matters of agrarian reform and rural development in specific regions such as IICA in Latin America, as well as ILO. We would wish to avoid overlap and duplication of the agencies' work.

CHAIRMAN: We note your general support and endorsement of the action programme of WCARRD, laying particular emphasis on the importance of national policies facilitating the complementary roles of the private and public sector in rural development and you also urge close cooperation of the various agencies operating in particular regions to avoid duplication of efforts.

M. ZJALIĆ (Yugoslavia): In many countries, particularly in Europe, a growing importance has been attached to a relatively specific aspect of rural development which is the creation of alternative or optional non-agrarian job opportunities for farmer families in rural areas. The analysis and the exchange of information on the diversification of income sources in rural areas, so-called pluri-activity, has been included in the programme of European cooperation at the Twelfth Regional Conference for Europe.

The role of women in rural development is well recognized, particularly in my country in the situation with cases of small farms, mixed families and part-time farmers. The role of women in pluri-activity will be examined at the European Workshop organized by FAO and the Yugoslav government next June in Lubljana, Yugoslavia.

As in many other European cooperative activities representatives of the developing countries will also participate. Our experience, as well as the other European countries, should be critically examined so that relevant models and patterns in rural development attuned to local conditions could be successfully applied in other countries, particularly in developing countries.

CHAIRMAN: Thank you, representative of Yugoslavia, throwing light on your experience and also envisaging the need to examine critically the experience you have gained so far in determining the efforts that should be put in in specific situations with rural development.

A. RODRIGUES PIRES (Cap-Vert): Ma délégation s' associe aux autres délégations pour féliciter le Secrétariat de la qualité du document CL 82/18.

En effet, pour mon pays, la République du Cap-Vert, la réforme agraire constitue la clé du problème, c'est-à-dire que l'on ne peut pas parler de développement rural et du monde rural sans une réforme agraire bien conçue et adaptée à notre condition spécifique.

Nous voulons porter à la connaissance de la 82ème session du Conseil l'importance que notre gouver­nement donne au programme et aux suites de la CMRADR, et nous sommes heureux d'affirmer ici que l'aide efficace et constructive que la FAO nous a apportée dans le cadre de ce programme a commencé à porter ses fruits sur le terrain.

En réalité, la mission de haut niveau qui a visité mon pays, conduite par M. Rafael Moreno, avait élaboré en collaboration avec les responsables nationaux toute une série d'actions concrètes, et quelques-unes de ces recommandations sont en cours d'exécution, grâce surtout à l'intervention du PCT et de l'aide du Gouvernement de la Norvège.

Notre delegation ne manquera pas de saisir cette occasion pour demander aux autres pays donateurs ici présents de suivre l'exemple des pays donateurs de l'Europe du Nord, notamment de la Norvège. Nous demandons aux représentants des pays donateurs d'appuyer les programmes dans le cadre de la CMRADR pour que les recommandations qui ont été faites ne restent pas lettre morte, comme cela a été dit par le représentant du Lesotho.

Ma délégation saisit cette occasion pour appuyer les activités du centre régional, la CIRDAFRICA, soit au niveau régional, soit au niveau national. Par ailleurs, nous espérons beaucoup que ce centre joue son rôle dans le cadre de la coopération entre les pays en voie de développement, notamment entre les pays africains, dans le secteur agricole.

Pour terminer M. le Président, nous voulons affirmer l’importance et la nécessité de la participation populaire et celle des femmes à tous les niveaux. La formation des cadres à tous les niveaux pour assurer la planification et le suivi des programmes de développement rural doit figurer parmi les grandes priorités.

CHAIRMAN: Thank you for the useful intervention you have made, particularly noting the point that you request the potential donors to be a little more generous in helping FAO, following the example

of the Nordic countries, to carry out the WCARRD-related activities.

AMIDJONO MARTOSUWIRYO (Indonesia): Allow me to start with complimenting the Secretariat for having prepared the documents which are concise, to present a clear picture of what it is doing, what is being done in the framework of agrarian reform and rural development as a follow-up of the relevant conference held in 1979.

My delegation is aware, while conditions differ very widely from country to country in terms of physical and climatic characteristics, problems relating to rural reform and agrarian development have many things in common. The approach and emphasis may be subject to an adjustment dependent on the specific conditions of the countries, the customs and the level of instructions of the people concerned. One thing is certain, however, the result of the development programmes in the field, no matter how elaborate these are, and the pace with which rural development takes place are to a very large extent dependent upon the participation of rural people who actually do the work in the fields, who exercise the profession of farmers or farm labourers with the physical help of their families and relatives. In the light of the foregoing my delegation takes note with interest that in the documents several paragraphs are devoted to education, training and the role of women and of use of rural development. This being the case it can be said that in countries with large population in rural areas like Indonesia, women and rural youth can play a much more important role in development provided we are better organized, well informed and well prepared to do the work on a continuing basis. This is obviously a matter of education which should gradually emerge from education framing and extension. The magnitude of such undertaking should by no means be undervalued since it deals with millions of people. Hence the training of extension works at all levels of organization should be given generous attention. After all, it is a matter of developing strong will and determination among the masses to obtain tangible results.

As regards the regional and sub-regional level, there would be advantages if various countries in the region or sub-region would benefit from the exchange of experience in the implementation of agrarian reform and rural development. Such a change may give rise to new and sound ideas which contribute to accelerating the pace of progress which has been slow and, in many cases, stagnant. Activities at this level should also give opportunity to the key farmers or progressive gentlemen farmers. My delegation invites FAO to give more emphasis on this issue.

My delegation is satisfied with the ideas contained in the last part of the document, particularly in paragraph 37. Additional resources will be indispensable to support WCARRD follow-up programmes in developing countries. Many developing countries, may be all of them, need external assistance in implementing programmes for follow-up to WCARRD. They need both funds and expertise. For this reason my delegation expresses concern that the target of US$ 20 million has not been achieved so far. Agrarian reform and rural development should be regarded as inseparable. In the cause of progress those should go hand-in-hand. Much has been said on this subject. Guidance and suggestions have been made at country level and regional as well. Now the time has come to start to accelerate the work without further delay.

CHAIRMAN: We are happy to note your adherence to the principle and programme of action of WCARRD, laying particular emphasis on education, training, role of women and youth in development. Your point on additional resources required for the purpose by FAO has been noted and those of us who attended the last regional conference in Asia and the Pacific in Djakarta, would like to say your principles of equity and stability, the equity part must be another expression of your adherence to the principles of WCARRD.

P. PONGPAET (Thailand): In considering document CL 82/18, the Thai delegation would like to express our gratitude to FAO in helping the Member countries, including Thailand, in the follow-up and implementation of WCARRD.

In this connexion the Thai delegation would like to inform the Council of the development in our country. The Government has already set up a National Coordinating Committee for agrarian reform and rural development policies and programmes. This Committee has already started working with full cooperation from FAO's experts in the Regional Office in Bangkok.

In response to the last Conference's recommendation, the Thai Government is preparing the first report on integrated rural development in order to submit to the Twenty-second Session of the Conference in 1983.

During the Sixteenth FAO Regional Conference in Djakarta FAO made a proposal to assist member countries with country reports. We consider this proposal of great help to assist member countries in this respect.

The Thai Government has launched her Fifth National Economic and Social Development Plan since 1982. Its aim is to eradicate poverty in the remote rural areas. To meet that end various activities have been taken by the Government, such as harvest processing and storage build-up and improving nutritional intake for the people in rural areas. More activities of this kind will be carried out.

As a Member of CIRDAP, Thailand has recently held a training course on integrated rural development in Bangkok and is now preparing a workshop on this subject in the North East.

For the full benefit of the Members of CIRDAP, the Thai delegation would like to request that FAO give more support to the activities of this Regional Development Centre.

In the field of people's participation in the Regional Development Programme, it is gratifying to note that FAO has continued its assistance to this kind of activity, as indicated in paragraph 8. But it is with regret that we find that the fund to this programme is so limited that only a few countries get benefit from this programme.

It is the hope of my delegation that all potential donors will contribute additional extra-budgetary resources to support this programme.

CHAIRMAN: We are happy to note the progress in Thailand on the WCARRD Follow-up actions. We also note your request to potential donors to be more generous in their contributions to FAO.

A.G. NGONGI NAMANGA (Cameroon): I would like to associate my delegation with those, especially Panama and India, which strongly stressed that the whole programme of the following-up to WCARRD is actually the foundation of all rural development and agricultural production. I think if we are going to make any real meaningful progress in the field of agriculture it is for us to give the maximum efforts on WCARRD follow-up.

We know that all forms of development depend on people who are capable and competent to carry out the development efforts, to plan them, to identify the problems and to be able to execute throughout development programmes. It is therefore in this light that my delegation support the appeal made by the delegation of Nigeria, which has been supported by Lesotho, Kenya, Zambia, Congo and other delegations, that FAO gives maximum possible support to the resolution which was supported by the Regional Thai Conference on Africa on the training of high level manpower. As has been said by the delegate of Lesotho, it is not just training at the highest levels but also to have a balanced programme which will take into consideration all levels of manpower required, so that they can effectively plan and carry out development programmes which will to some extent meet the objectives and recommendations of WCARRD.

FAO's present efforts aimed at assisting governments in developing appropriate institutional structures is well appreciated. My country is presently involved in thinking out the whole process and trying to develop the whole concept of rural development, to redefine it, and try to implement or bring out the institutional framework under which it can be organized. Currently we are thinking of having appropriate village communities through which all sorts of inputs and training can go in reaching the rural masses. So far it is still being discussed, and we hope in the near future to come out with a well-defined and appropriate structure.

My delegation is happy to note that a workshop on shifting cultivation was organized recently. We hope that concrete programmes will emerge from the results of this Conference leading to programmes aimed at developing improved and alternative systems of farming which will replace the shifting cultivation. In many fora we have already heard shifting cultivation being blamed for degradation of the environment, especially in removing forest cover.

The development of socio-economic indicators is well appreciated. It is an excellent approach aimed at providing a solid base from which from time to time governments can measure their own inputs, their own efforts, their own achievements in carrying out all the recommendations of the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development. As can be noted in the document, my country participated in the pilot studies which are conducted by FAO aimed at developing the socio-economic indicators, and I think the delegation of China clearly brought out that they should be simple, they should be those kind of indicators which can be handled easily by the governments concerned.

My government strongly supports the establishment of regional centres for integrated rural develop­ment. We note with pleasure that the centre for integrated rural development for Africa is now operational and already has 16 members. My country is following with great interest the activities of the centre and hopes to ratify in the not too distant future the agreement of the establishment of the centre. My government appeals to the Director-General to continue giving strong support to the centre and to make all possible efforts to appeal to donors to contribute to its activities.

Turning to Part VI of this document under (b) my delegation strongly urges all donors who are in a position to do so to increase their support to the programme on the Follow-up of WCARRD. We also invite Member Governments concerned to join regional centres and we also hope to follow the example of others to do so in the near future.

Concerning the national coordinating committees, I think this is an area which could to a very great extent try to solve the problems caused by inter-agency cooperation. With regard to paragraph 32, I find it a little difficult to say that each agency will be evaluating or monitoring its own activities. As I understand it, FAO is a lead agency for rural development in the ACC. Therefore I would expect that at least at the international level FAO would be the coordinating agency for international organizations. But at the country level it remains the prerogative of each recipient country to coordinate activities. But I think there should be a clear definition somewhere so that all agencies which are involved in assisting developing countries should be able to find a mechanism through which their efforts could be coordinated so that they are not at cross purposes.

In (e) we invite all Member Governments to participate fully in the programme for monitoring and evaluating agrarian reform and rural development and to prepare national reports and conduct in-depth studies. I hope that my own country will be able to do so.

CHAIRMAN: We note your general support for FAO sponsored activities in the Follow-up to WCARRD and your endorsement of the issues listed on page 7 of document CL 82/18. You have particularly emphasized that FAO should be the lead agency for coordinating rural development activities, which I believe we all support. You have also emphasized in line with what has been stated by other countries of Africa the need of training, particularly training at the higher level as well as training at the operational level. We are happy to note the steps that your country has been taking to promote rural development.

H. CARANDANG (Philippines): The Philippines is committed to the objective of agrarian reform and rural development. In the year 1972 the President of the Philippines declared all lands dedicated to the cultivation of rice and corn under land reform. Since 1972 several million hectares of land have been transferred from land owners to the farmers who till the land. These land transfers have been effected without any drop in productivity as had been predicted by agricultural economists and scientists. This has been made possible because the land reform programme was not really just a land transfer programme but it was accompanied by a package of services implemented under the Ministry of Agriculture, and under this programme the productivity of these lands not only not diminished but increased substantially. In fact it was during this period from 1972 onwards that the Philippines achieved substantial increases in rice production, and the Philippines from being a traditional rice importer became marginally an exporter of this grain.

With regard to the Programme of National Strategies, Plans and Programmes indicated in document CL 82/18 FAO has taken an active role in helping countries in the preparation of these programmes. We would like also to indicate that the Philppines has already prepared a national food sector strategy. We also note that several missions have been mounted with the purpose of helping finalize or prepare programmes of this kind for several countries. We want to know how this would jive with existing plans and and how some sort of coordination would be effected.

This delegation would also be pleased to know how many countries have been selected for this high level mission and what criteria have been used for the selection of these countries. Likewise we would appreciate some information on the source of funding and the amount of funding that will be required for each of these missions. We would appreciate having this kind of information.

CHAIRMAN: We are happy to know about your commitment to the WCARRD declarations and programme of action particularly about your integrated land reform programme which apparently led to the trans­formation of the Philippines from an importing country to a rice exporter. You had wanted to have some more information about the high level missions that have been sent out about the composition source for funding and so on, and I believe the Secretariat should be able to provide you with that information in due course.

F. BREWSTER (Barbados): The follow-up work of FAO in the area of agrarian reform and rural develop­ment presented in document CL 82/18 shows this subject has been accorded high priority in the work of FAO. My delegation wishes to give support to the efforts of FAO in this area.

With reference to promoting people's participation, my delegation welcomes the assistance which FAO is giving, as set out in paragraph 8, and wishes to support the approach in paragraph 11 where it speaks of improvement of institutional and organizational arrangements for delivery systems of inputs and services to small farmers by way of decentralization of government services and participation of local farmers' organizations. The area of education, training and extension is also indispensable to significant progress in agrarian reform and rural development. My delegation therefore supports the emphasis which has been placed on this activity. We feel that rural people who now operate at marginal and submarginal levels can with training and education be enabled to raise their production and living standards, at least in a small way, but with cumulative benefits of some magnitude for the community as a whole.

My delegation hopes that the FAO will be successful in raising the necessary contributions to deepen this and other aspects of this work. In this regard, I wish to commend the Nordic countries for the initiatives they have taken in making contributions to this important work and would wish to encourage other donors to be forthcoming with the much needed financial assistance.

The area of monitoring and evaluation is considered by my delegation to be a very vital component in the implementation of the programme. In this regard, Barbados is pleased to participate in the pilot studies relating to the process of setting up benchmarks and targets for monitoring and evaluation.

Before closing let me mention that Barbados is implementing two programmes in land reform. One programme makes land of varying acreages available to young new farmers on a long lease basis. The second programme is aimed at reforming the old plantation tenantry system by legally permitting plantation tenants to purchase at a minimum price determined by statute the land which they have

been working as tenants on the plantations for a number of years. All the necessary inputs, such as irrigation, credit and extension services are included in both programmes.

My delegation believes that developing countries must take measures appropriate to the country's circumstances in the area of land reform to give landless workers in agriculture adequate land so that they will have a real stake in the total national development of their country. Moreover, the opportunity given to them for land ownership will improve their social and economic status and remove their feeling that their position in society is compromised because of the work they are doing.

Finally, my delegation wishes to give its full support to the proposals and issues set out in paragraph 37 of the document.

CHAIRMAN: We note your support and endorsement for paragraph 37 of the document, and we are happy to learn about your country's experience particularly in regard to the land reforms and tenancy projects, and we also note particularly that you are urging potential donors to follow the example of Norway and other Nordic countries to contribute more generously to the FAO for WCARRD follow-up activities.

M. TATIETA (Haute-Volta) : La délégation de la Haute-Volta félicite elle aussi le Secrétariat de l'OAA pour la qualité du document que nous examinons présentement. Au sujet des indicateurs socio-économiques, la Haute-Volta est confrontée à une série de difficultés dont principalement la fiabilité des données. Effectivement, nos différents services disposent de statistiques mais malheu­reusement celles-ci sont basées sur des estimations qui le plus souvent ne correspondent pas à la réalité. La délégation de la Haute-Volta demande à l'OAA d'apporter un soutien à notre pays afin de lui permettre d'améliorer cette statistique. Ce soutien pourrait concerner l'expertise, le matériel technique et logistique. A propos de la participation de la femme au développement, de l'accès des agriculteurs les plus pauvres aux facteurs de production, la délégation de la Haute-Volta n'ignore pas l'importance de cette catégorie de personnes du milieu rural. Malheureusement, il faut reconnaître que les conditions auxquelles les prêts sont faits dans nos pays ne permettent pas de favoriser toujours une promotion globale et intégrée de nos populations.

La délégation de la Haute-Volta souhaite voir la FAO jouer un rôle auprès des organismes donateurs pour que ceux-ci apportent une assistance financière plus active à des conditions abordables pour la plus grande partie de nos populations rurales.

En ce qui concerne la participation populaire au développement, la Haute-Volta a adopté depuis 1974 le développement communautaire comme principe d'intervention, principe grâce auquel existent actuellement des groupements au niveau de la plupart des villages. Ces associations qui s'orientent vers la forme coopérative sont actuellement responsables des activités d'octroi et de récupération du crédit. Elles assurent pour au moins 30 pour cent la collecte des produits commercialisés.

Le seul handicap sérieux à l'évolution de ces groupements concerne les problèmes de gestion. Pour y remédier, un programme d'alphabétisation en langue nationale est en exécution. Il s'agit là d'un problème de formation dont la nécessité est ressentie à tous les niveaux, aussi bien au niveau agri­culteurs qu'au niveau des agents chargés de l'encadrement des paysans.

Nous encourageons fortement l'OAA à accorder une priorité spéciale aux problèmes de formation de nos pays, formation qui garantirait de façon certaine le succès des projets au profit des populations rurales.

CHAIRMAN : Thank you, Upper Volta, and we note that you have run into difficulties in regards to collecting quantitative information on the socio-economic indicators, indicators against which the monitory and evaluation progress is going to be made, and you have requested support, perhaps technical assistance type support from FAO. I think FAO-UNDP funds may be available should FAO try.

We have also learned about your community cooperatives as a key to rural development, and we have noted your emphasis on special priority to be accorded to the problem of training in line with the request that has been made by other African countries.

T. AHMAD (Pakistan) : First of all, on behalf of my delegation, I wish to convey congratulations to Professor Islam and Mr. Moreno not only for the introduction this morning but for all the work that they have been doing in line with WCARRD follow-up because we in Pakistan recognize that rural development is perhaps the most important aspect of development in developing countries per se. In Pakistan, like in most developing countries, the social fabric is for all practical purposes divided into two different segments. There is the urban segment, which is comparatively more rational, more modernized and more industrialized, and consequently it is more articulate and can put its demands on the system and can get away with whatever limited resources the developing countries do possess. As compared to that, the rural sector, which as the massive population is thinly spread out, inarticulate, comparatively illiterate, traditional and agricultural. The consequences are that in the race for development, the urban sector keeps getting all the plums and the rural sector remains behind, and we recognize that unless both these sectors can be completely integrated in the march for development, there can be no development as such.

It is under these circumstances that we view with caution the advice that there should be free market play and free economic play into these sectors, because we recognize that unless a developing country makes a conscious effort to ensure that the limited resources of the country are spread out into the rural areas, there would be no development in the rural areas if you go purely on the question of economic return and the market economy. We say this because we have been making attempts at different approaches to rural development in our country. We started off way back 20 years ago on what we call the trickle down method. We presumed that pumping of lots of resources into the rural areas for building the economic and social infrastructure would bring both the rural and the urban sector at the same level. Unfortunately, we discovered that the trickle down method does not work unless the social and economic structure of the rural areas is modified, perhaps drastically, because we discovered that whatever limited resources were channelized into the rural areas, those were siphoned off at the top by people within the rural sector who had the political and economic clout. It was only after these experiments that we discovered that what is needed is not only pumping of resources into the rural areas but also modifying and changing the socio-economic structure by conscious efforts, and consequently we discovered that it is very important to have agrarian reforms; not only agrarian reforms but also to build up institutions for ensuring the active participation of people into the decision-making of the rural areas. After a number of experiments, we feel that now we have arrived at a position where we can perhaps look with hope for the future of our rural sector, because now we have achieved and are attempting what we call the rural integrated development programme, recognizing that rural development is a multisectorial programme and a multisectorial discipline where none of these factors can be ignored at the cost of others.

We also recognized that the services which we have to give to the small farmer have to be decentral­ized and taken to his doorstep and we have therefore established institutions, local government institutions as well as cooperative institutions, all of them going into what we call a focal point. We are attempting to bring down to this grassroots level all the inputs and services, participation of people and all the services that we can think of.

In the last three to four years that we have been making these attemps we have discovered that this has borne fruit and we have achieved some success, but there is a lot left to achieve. We are making the attempt, and we hope that FAO will give us support, and we will also get financial resources.

Speaking of people's participation we also recognize that unless women in the rural areas are inte­grated into this system there can be no substantial achievement. We have, therefore, been making concise and systematic efforts to integrate the women in the rural areas into the whole process. In the local institutions at the grass-roots level we welcome the election of women to the councils, and at times we demand special seats for these women at these councils to ensure that women are participating and are represented in them. In the same manner, at a different level we have set up a women's ministry or division to make sure that not only in the rural areas but in all sectors of society women's role and importance is highlighted, and legislation to ensure that is also keeping pace with this.

Talking of only one more issue, which is the social and economic indicators for monitoring and evaluation we are in cooperation with and with the help of FAO attempting to develop some of our own indicators, because we feel it is the place and the time, and the conditions prevailing in the country at the time, which are important before you can use any of these indicators.

We are aware of the fact that in doing this, measuring the social and the economic progress in rural areas is not an easy task, particularly the poverty, because the employment in the rural area is usually seasonal and spread out and the employment of the women in the sector is not easily calculated. Recognizing this, we hope with the help of the FAO that we will be able to come up with some more tangible socio-economic indicators.

Before I conclude, I would like to come to paragraph37 of the document and indicate that we are in agreement with most of the recommendations of this document. Particularly, we wish to urge the potential donors to contribute an extra-budgetary contribution, as we feel that it is a very, very important sector.

CHAIRMAN: Thank you, distinguished delegate of Pakistan. We recognize you consider rural develop­ment is the most important aspect of development, and we are particularly happy to hear your analy­sis of the complex relationship between urban and rural development. In the context of overall development you have cautioned us against free play on one mechanism. In your opinion, governments have to make conscious efforts to promote and stimulate rural development, at least in the initial stages. I think most of us agree with this.

You have also emphasized the need, not merely to pump funds into the rural areas, but also to have a change of the socio-economic infra-structure. We are particularly happy to hear from you about your country's experience; you have been talking of administrative de-centralization, giving women due importance in the productive process, and development of your own socio-economic indicators, but we have no doubt there will be many who would like to know more about that experience and maybe there will be something there for others to emulate.

We also noticed your support and endorsement for paragraph 37 of the document which made the points which are for the consideration of the Council, and we particularly note you have asked the donor countries to be more generous in their contributions to FAO for the WCARRD follow-up activities.

We have now completed the list of speakers as far as Member Countries are concerned unless anyone else would at this stage like to indicate they wish to take the floor.

J. BELGRAVE (New Zealand): Being the last cab on the rank I will be brief, but I would like to place on record my country's support for the follow-up of the work of the WCARRD Conference.

We certainly see the Programme as a significant achievement in a range of sensitive issues in the field of agricultural development. New Zealand, since the WCARRD Conference, has been looking to increase the proportion of its bilateral assistance allocated to agriculture and rural development, and it has grown from 17 percent in 1979 to almost 30 percent in 1981.

Two particular areas in particular we are giving attention to - one is agricultural research and development, particularly the production of our neighbours in the South Pacific; and two, on the question of agricultural training where we are trying to make available provision for a wider range of students from developing countries to come to New Zealand to study in the various agricultural colleges there in areas of particular concern. Thirdly, under this heading, we have been able to provide support to the School of Agriculture in the South Pacific, which is a regional institution where students throughout the Pacific train in agriculture.

Other delegations have expressed their support for the follow-up to the WCARRD Conference, a support which New Zealand would like to echo.

CHAIRMAN: Thank you, distinguished delegate for New Zealand. We are pleased to note your endorse­ment of the WCARRD principles in general, which have been expressed through the mounting assistance you have been giving to rural development in the adjoining areas.

I have now two Observers on my list, and unless there are any other Member Countries wishing to speak I will give the floor to the Observer from the Economic Commission for Western Asia.

A.S. ALWAN (UN Economic Commission for Western Asia): On behalf of the UN Economic Commission for Western Asia I wish to congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, and your colleagues, for being chosen to preside over this important body. I would also like to congratulate Professor Nurul Islam for his clear interpretation of the document under discussion.

Agricultural and rural development is one of the major concerns of the United Nations Economic Com­mission for Western Asia. Though the importance of agriculture has declined during the recent past, it continues to play an important role in the overall socio-economic development of the region. Agriculture, besides being a major source of income, after petroleum, to the majority of the popu­lation, provides the non-agricultural sectors with food, raw materials and labour. It should be noted, however, that agricultural development of the region has not been up to expectations. The rate of growth in food and agriculture production has been quite low in most of the countries of the region; the gap between the domestic production and consumption'has become larger. Consequently the self-suffiency ratio for the major food commodities has sharply declined during the recent years.

The UN Economic Commission for Western Asia has observed these developments in the agricultural sector in the region with concern. In its Programme of Action, the problems of food and agriculture and rural development rank amongst the highest priorities. In the relatively short period of time since its inception in 1974, the Commission has played a significant role in support of agricultural development and cooperation. This has been made possible by the exemplary cooperation and the joint efforts with the Food and Agriculture Organization, through the joint ECWA/FAO Agriculture Division which has been able to tackle these problems on three major fronts, namely: agricultural planning and adjustment, agricultural and rural institutions, and regional cooperation.

In follow-up to the World Conference on Rural Reform and Rural Development, the Economic Commission for Western Asia participated in the inter-agency efforts conducted under the leadership of FAO to achieve programme development, promote policy action and increase investment activities towards the benefit and well-being of the rural population of Yemen Arab Republic and Jordan. A report was prepared covering socio-economic development strategies and policies and rural development; food security in rural areas; and farm price policies and agricultural development. The mission identified a number of high priority projects for immediate implementation, namely planning and coordination of rural development, strengthening community development services, review and evaluation of farm organization and farming systems; and study of delivery systems of agricultural services in rural areas.

A report was completed on the review of selected rural development projects in the Republic of Iraq, including an assessment of their objectives and their performance against WCARRD objectives. An in-depth case study on rural poverty alleviation in Egypt is expected to be completed by the end of 1982. The study examines questions on why and how the incidence of rural poverty has been brought about and to what extent the national development strategy has the elements of anti-poverty as laid down in the WCARRD Programmes of Action. Causal factors are defined and the impact of policy actions on the alle­viation of rural poverty assessed.

The Commission at its Ninth Session and the ECWA Committee for the Programme at its First Meeting, held in Baghdad - the permanent headquarters of ECWA - in May of this year stressed the vital impor­tance of food, agriculture and rural development in the region and accordingly ranked those ECWA programmes as of the highest priority and importance. With the rather modest resources at its dis­posal, it can be safely vouched that ECWA will continue its efforts judiciously and efficiently to use these resources with a view to clarifying some of the major issues of, and in promoting action towards, agricultural and rural development.

It is hoped that, in future years, EWCA will meet the challenges of its mandate and will continue to assume its catalytic role also in the field of food and agriculture and in promoting national devel­opment through regional action.

CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Director from the Economic Commission for Western Asia, for giving us a useful, account of the steps that ECWA has taken to alleviate poverty in Western Asia. We wish you further success in the future.

M.P. CRACKNELL (Observer for International Federation of Agricultural Producers): At this very late hour I have reduced my notes by half, so in any case I will not be so long as I intended to be.

IFAP appreciates the opportunity of addressing a few words to the FAO Council. IFAP is all about rural development; we have had a more or less intensive relationship and partnership with FAO ever since 1946, and we are very glad this is continuing in 1982.

We participated actively in the World Conference back in 1979, and IFAP was a prime mover of the people's participation resolution follow-up to WCARRD at the Twentieth Conference of FAO. IFAP is convinced that change will only come about if rural people can organize for self-help, but also organize in order to have spokesmen. People in rural areas generally, while they have mouths to eat, have no mouths to speak with, and we believe this is one of the reasons for the imbalance between rural and urban developments which the Pakistani delegate mentioned a few minutes ago.

For this reason, IFAP's objectives in the field of programmes and objectives, which are modest, are to assist in strengthening farmers' organizations, the services which they provide to their members.

In London last June we organized a seminar where 30 developing countries' farmer representatives took part on the subject of food and agricultural policies from the farmers' point of view and as a result of that seminar, we are publishing right now some detailed guidelines in order to help farmers' orga­nizations to take responsible action vis-a-vis their governments; for instance, the last collection of data and presentation of the case of their farmer members requesting certain programmes and policies from governments.

We believe that FAO would do well to look to existing spontaneously created international non-govern­mental organizations for feasibility studies for identification of the right partners in their pro­grammes in rural areas to assist them in running projects, etc. We would view with some suspicion international groupings of NGOs which are supported by FAO, just as we view with some suspicion coope­ratives in developing countries which are sponsored by governments. IFAP is read, and certainly able to collaborate with FAO in this area, as it does in other areas, in the future as we have done in the past. The Director-General - I am flattered that he should be here while I am speaking - confirmed FAO's willingness to strengthen FAO's relationship with IFAP and with its members, of course, in the speech he made to our General Conference in June this year; but despite several precise efforts on our part with regard to WCARRD, we find very little echo from the Secretariat of FAO. For example, we were not invited to the consultation in November in Nairobi, although a colleague of mine farmed in Nairobi for fourteen years and could perhaps have contributed something to that meeting.

Therefore we hope we will be associated with the regional meetings mentioned in paragraph 35. We do not believe that institutions need to be created but more frequent consultations, we believe, would be very good between FAO and international non-governmental organizations who do represent the rural people about whom you are speaking, be these NGOs, trade unions or cooperatives or womens' organizations or, of course, IFAP itself. If you would bear with me for a couple of minutes, I have one or two comments on the documentations; they will be very brief. First of all, I would like to say that we support the emphasis on the need for understanding of trainers with respect to extension in rural areas, which is mentioned in paragraph 16. We also support the concept of monitoring of programmes which is mentioned in paragraphs 19 - 25. We encourage our own members to contact the country representatives of FAO but of course also of the Worid Bank and of the EEC, for example, in their own countries; and we are writing to them with updated lists of names and addresses of those people presently. However, I must say that our members sometimes have a little difficulty in seeing the relationship, and this has been mentioned already, between various international organizations' initiatives. If I may take a single example, for instance our members in Gambia are seeing initiatives of the World Food Council or at least inspired by the World Food Council, of FAO, and of the EEC Commission, and they sometimes find it difficult to see where they fit and where those various initiatives fit together.

Finally, we were looking at paragraph 37. We are very happy with all the points made but we would be very glad to see a final addition which would be a sub-paragraph (f). I do not think it is normal for observers to present proposals of this type but perhaps one government on the drafting committee might like to take it up. It would read as follows: "Encourage governments to associate people's organi­zations with the conception and implementation of rural development programmes" because we feel that if you do not do this, you will be doing development for the people and not with the people, and it was our understanding that the whole point of WCARRD was to get a little bit more with the people.

Although I have several pages more of notes, I will stop here. Thank you very much for your attention.

CHAIRMAN: Thank you for briefing this Council on the cooperation that your Organization had with the FAO and for generally undertaking activities in making things a little easier for the agricultural producers.

Now we have come to the end of our list as far as speakers are concerned and, for your benefit, I might as well tell you that between this morning and now there have been 39 speakers who have taken the floor, 36 of them Council members and three observers. This is just one list of the members that have taken part in the discussion on the state of food and agriculture. This shows the interest we all have in WCARRD and we probably now know a little more about the state of development of WCARRD follow-up than we did when starting the deliberations this morning. I think some of the delegates during their interventions have raised points which may be needing clarification and Professor Islam also may have noted certain points on which he would like to make some observations. So I would now request him to give us the benefit of his appreciation and also clarifications as they have been revealed in the interventions by delegates here.

N. ISLAM (Assistant Director-General, Economic and Social Policy Department): We are very happy to note and are indeed thankful for the general support of the Council for the follow-up activities which FAO has undertaken in cooperation with Member countries. I would confine myself to answering a few of the questions which have been raised during the debate. A number of questions have been raised about the WCARRD follow-up missions.

One was: which are the countries to which WCARRD follow-up missions have been sent? Nine countries have already received them: Sri Lanka, the Democratic Republic of Yemen, Oman, Jordan, Benin, Cape Verde, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somalia. Three others for which preparations are under way, are Lesotho, Philippines, Mozambique. At the last regional conference for the Near East we had requests from Libya and Syria for follow-up missions. We have been asked: what is the criterion on the basis of which WCARRD missions are launched? The criterion is a very straight-forward one: we do so at the explicit request of the government of the country concerned.

About the cost of each of the missions, it depends on the country concerned, the size of the nation, the duration of the stay of the members of the mission, we would estimate roughly about US$20,000 for each WCARRD follow-up mission. So far as the sources of financing for these missions are concerned, these have been received from SIDA and Norway. Of course staff members, when they join the missions, are paid by FAO itself. The coverage of the missions' exercise in terms of depth of analysis and extent of dialogue between the missions and governments vary from country to country. We constantly try to improve the content of the exercise through more systematic preparation at the Headquarters in the countries with the cooperation of the Member Governments as well as through inter-agency discussions, before we visit the countries.

Questions have been asked as to how many countries have already adopted strategies and programmes as specified in the WCARRD Programme of Action. We expect a systematic answer to this question from the Member countries who send their reports of the WCARRD implementation to the next FAO Conference. We have already sent to the Member countries preliminary guidelines for socio-economic indicators as well as a format for the preparation of the report for the Conference. The Secretariat was asked whether the country reports which have to be submitted for the ACC conference would be avail­able for distribution to the Member countries. In order to keep down the cost and amount of documentation, we have not provided for their distribution. We will produce a comprehensive synthetic analysis based on the country reports which will be both quantitative and analytical. This will of course be published and discussed at the FAO Conference. The country reports in the original language will, however, be available with the Secretariat if any particular delegate would like to have access to the individual country reports.

We have been asked to indicate which of the countries, where we have sent WCARRD follow-up missions, have also adopted food strategies. As far as we are aware from the published figures, four of the countries have prepared or are preparing some form or other of food strategy or food policy documents. FAO has offered to assist at the request of the country concerned in the formulation of food stratégies. We have, for example, already been involved in assisting Tanzania in the preparation of their food strategy with extra-budgetary resources from DANIDA. We agree with the delegate of Norway that WCARRD's Programme of Action does indeed provide the foundation of food strategies and since the principal components of such strategies for agricultural and rural development are in fact stated and spelt out very clearly in the first part of the Programme of Action of WCARRD, it integrates consumption, production, distribution, employment and poverty alleviation in an integrated, comprehensive manner.

Questions have been raised about the coordination of the United Nations agencies and organizations, both at the international, regional and national levels. As we have already stated, at the inter­national level coordination takes place through the activities of inter-agency ACC task force, and rural development - of which FAO is the lead agency - we have established various panels on specific subjects on which other agencies act as convenor. For example, or people’s participation that acts as convenor, on monetary and evaluation the World Bank has up to now been acting as convenor.

At the regional level we have inter-agency meetings for coordinating our activities at the regional level and at the country level we rely most importantly on the foundation of national coordinating committees, which is believed to be the most effective method of coordination not only between the various administrative agencies at the national level but also between the United Nations agencies.

Furthermore, in terms of the WCARRD follow-up missions, we have achieved a significant amount of coordination, since our follow-up missions are participated in on many occasions by representatives of other agencies. We have been asked to report on the progress of work on the preparation of guidelines for monitoring and evaluation of agrarian reform and rural development at the country level. We have already prepared a first draft on these guidelines which we are preparing in collaboration with the other UN agencies under the auspices of the ACC task force on rural develop­ment. We have analysed different sets of guidelines and I am attempting to arrive at a uniform sort of guideline for use by governments as well as agencies. We have been advised to keep our socio-economic indicators programme simple, reliable and flexible; and we indeed believe this is the only way this programme can be effective. We have supplied to the member countries a list of code indicators which we believe can be used already on the basis of available data. Of course we are planning to refine them as we are going along and are holding next month an expert consultation on the ways in which such indicators can be refined.

As many delegates have already pointed out, this exercise is a long-term one and has to be integrated with the improvement of statistical systems in each of the member countries. We are very happy to note the delegate of Japan has announced a contribution of $160 000 to CIRDAP in Bangladesh for 1982. We hope very much that other member countries will effectively contribute to CIRDAP as well as to CIRDAFRICA located in Tanzania.

As far as the preparation, the progress on the establishment of the Regional Centre for Integrated Agrarian Reform and Rural Development of Latin America and the Caribbean is concerned, the delegate of Ecuador has already informed the Council that steps are being taken to expedite the ratification of the agreement.

On the question of shifting cultivation in Africa I would like to inform the Council that we have undertaken already a number of steps in this respect. One is a study on the technical and agronomic aspect of shifting cultivation entitled "Ways to Improve the Technical Production Aspect of Shifting Cultivation". Secondly, we have also completed a study on the subject of the socio-economic and institutional aspects, with recommendations for action. This draft is under review and will be distributed to Member Governments.

We have also organized this year in Nigeria in the University of Ibadan a workshop which discussed the environmental, economic and social aspects of shifting cultivation with a view to improving the curriculum of keeping this subject at university level.

Questions are asked as to what we are doing about the increasing participation of women in follow-up WCARRD action. Such participation can be in two ways, either as members of the mission or as nationals who are consulted by the mission when they visit the country themselves. We have attempted to promote women's participation along these lines. A large number of delegations have emphasized the importance of high-level training of manpower in Africa. FAO has already undertaken an analysis of its experience in training manpower for rural development and agrarian reform in Africa. ICARD has already undertaken an analysis of its experiences in training manpower for rural development and agrarian reform in Africa. Studies of training and extension services in Africa have been conducted in 10 countries in Africa to identify training needs and to conduct training activities. It is planned to conduct a continent-wide assessment of training and prepare an action plan. An inventory of training institutions in Africa is under preparation for use by the African countries and for the promotion of TCPC activities. The Director-General has under consideration the recommendations of the African regional conference relating to the training of high-level manpower in Africa. We also hope the CIRDAFRICA will play an important role in the training of trainers. That is all I have to say at this stage.

CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Professor Islam, for the excellent clarifications and the appreciation of the facts you have given us.

H. CARANDANG (Philippines): I think in our previous intervention we requested four pieces of information, first the amount and the funding available for the high-level missions for the follow-up of WCARRD and then the number of countries for these missions and what countries have been chosen. We have heard some answer to the last two, but I think we have not heard answers to the first two questions. I would appreciate if we could receive some information on this.

N. ISLAM (Assistant Director-General, Economic and Social Policy Department): I thought I gave answers to both the questions about the list of countries as well as the amount of money spent on each of the missions and the criteria of the selection of the countries. Shall I repeat the answers, Mr. Chairman? I have indicated the nine countries to which missions will be sent; Sri Lanka, Democratic Republic of Yemen, Oman, Jordan, Benin, Cape Verde, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somalia and preparations are underway for three other missions, Lesotho, Philippines and Mozambique, and at the Near East Conference we have been requested also for follow-up missions from Libya and Syria. About the criteria of selections, I stated the selection is at the request of the countries concerned. About the expenditure, I stated it depends on the size of donation, on the country concerned, the duration of the stay, etc. and on average we estimate about US$ 20,000. I also stated the source of funds in the past had been from the extra-budgetary resources from SIDA and Norway; and as far as the FAO members who take part in the mission, of course, we bear the expenses,

CHAIRMAN: I think we have had adequate clarification on the points that were raised by the delegates. If there is no further clarification being asked, I think I can get on.

H. CARANDANG (Philippines): I do not know whether I have not been clear, but the question I was asking was regarding the amounts and the source of the funds available for these high-level missions for WCARRD. This was all the information I wanted.

DIRECTOR-GENERAL: This is the best answer we can give the delegate of the Philippines. You can keep on asking a third time, a fourth time, but the answer is the same; $ 20,000 from the Nordic countries, with the name of the nine countries. But I'm sorry we have taken too much time on this debate.

CHAIRMAN: It is customary for the Chairman of the meeting to add his bit by way of summing up the discussions at the end of the discussions; but in this instance, the subject of follow-up of WCARRD has been so widely, adequately and pointedly covered that very little has been left for me to say, particularly after hearing Professor Islam's clarification and the appreciation he has given of the facts connected with WCARRD follow-up. I was cautioned in view of the time constraint that has been caused because of a series of engagements that we have this evening, not to re-sum up the summing up that I have already done. I have decided to refrain from doing my bit which I earlier thought I might have to do; but before I declare this agenda item as closed, I would like to take this opportunity to offer my heartiest thanks to the delegates, to the Council first for lending their support to my election as one of the three Vice-Chairmen and basically for the cooperation they have extended to me this afternoon and this morning for carrying out the task that was before us successfully. Thank you once again, delegates.

Another thing I would like to mention in this connection is that we have noticed that we have had 39 speakers on this agenda item 10 concerning WCARRD follow-up which only shows the measure of interest which Member countries take in this subject. Now in generating this awareness and this interest among the opinions, particularly of the Third World, I think we would all agree that FAO has made significant contribution over the last few years, I think the follow-up has been relatively better than in many other fields which are even conceptually older. Quick actions have followed each other and FAO has responded promptly and enthusiastically to the Member governments' requests for technical assistance and that type of project. I think sincerity is discernible behind the steps FAO has undertaken. It has the capability and the intention to help. What it may be short of is funds; I am sure as the efficacy and usefulness become self-evident the funds will actually be coming in greater measure. I would only like to take this opportunity of recognizing this fact by offering my congratulations to the Director-General of FAO for the endeavour and efforts this Organization has been making in the WCARRD follow-up activities.

I would like to thank you for hearing me and giving me your valuable time. With these words I declare the discussion on this agenda item closed, and I would request the delegate from the. Philippines to discuss his issue directly with Professor Islam. I am sure he can satisfy him with all the replies to all the enquiries he may wish to make.

H. CARANDANG (Philippines): I asked a very simple question and I think I got a partial answer but not the answer to the entire question that I asked. The question that I was asking was the amount of resource available for these high-level missions and the sources of these resources. Now I got a partial answer saying that some of these amounts came from the Nordic countries, but I did not receive any information as to the amount available for these resources and that was precisely what I was asking.

DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL: It is very difficult to understand the question other than what has already been answered. One possible interpretation is how much money has been allocated by the extra-budgetary resources for this activity, but no straightforward answer can be given to that because the extra-budgetary resources have not been allocated specifically and only for this activity. They have been allocated for a variety of purposes in follow-up so that I would suggest that we follow the Chairman's ruling and have a private discussion on this so that we can isolate the precise question which is being asked and then, if necessary, isolate the precise answer if it is available.

M.S. Swaminathan, Independent Chairman of the Council, took the chair.
M.S. Swaminathan, Président indépendant du Conseil, assume la présidence.
Ocupa la presidencia M.S. Swaminathan, Presidente independiente del Consejo.

CHAIRMAN: We are grateful to the Vice-Chairraan for chairing this session.

11. Progress Report on World Food Day Activities
11. Rapport intérimaire sur les activités de la Journée mondiale de l'alimentation
11. Informe provisional sobre las actividades del Día Mundial de la Alimentación

R. MORENO ROJAS (Director, Dirección de Recursos Humanos, Instituciones y Reforma Agraria): Me corresponde a continuación presentar a ustedes la evaluación de los resultados de la conmemoración del Segundo Día Mundial de la Alimentación y referirme brevemente a sus perspectivas futuras.

En el documento CL 82/19 que tienen ustedes al frente se presenta un resumen general sobre los resul­tados de la celebración del Primer Día de la Alimentación en 1981 y se entrega información sobre el estado de preparación para el Día de este año con los datos que hasta junio se tenían a disposición. Basado en este documento como información de base entregare a ustedes antecedentes adicionales a par­tir de los informes que estamos recibiendo, y hemos recibido hasta el día de hoy de parte de todos los países en los cuales se desarrollaron actividades relacionadas con el Día Mundial de la Alimen­tación.

Múltiples fueron los eventos que este año se llevaron a efecto, tanto a nivel internacional, regional y nacional.

A nivel internacional aquí en Roma, en la sede de la FAO, se desarrolló durante los días 14 y 15 de octubre un coloquio de alto nivel que por iniciativa del señor Director General congregó a un selecto grupo de 25 eminentes personalidades independientes provenientes de todas las regiones del mundo y portadoras de las mas amplias y variadas experiencias tanto en sus propios países como en su larga trayectoria internacional.

Estas personalidades, aceptando la invitación del Director General, realizaron un profundo debate so­bre las orientaciones y prioridades que el problema de la alimentación debe tener en nuestro tiempo contemporáneo. Los participantes en el coloquio eligieron para presidir sus trabajos a un respetable y eminente hombre internacional el doctor Raoul Prebisch, un latinoamericano de larga trayectoria.

Después de un arduo y fecundo trabajo, que incluso se prolongó hasta la medianoche del viernes día 15 de octubre, este grupo de personalidades eminentes aprobaron un documento titulado "La declaración de Roma sobre el hambre", en el que se analizan los distintos caminos posibles a seguir en el contex^-to económico y político para enfrentar los graves problemas del hambre y de la desnutrición en el mundo.

Es necesario recalcar el carácter de esta declaración que,expresando las opiniones individuales de los participantes en el coloquio, quienes sin portar representación oficial de gobiernos, organismos a los que ellos pudieran estar vinculados, reforzaron las directrices y orientaciones que tanto la Conferencia de la FAO como este mismo Consejo han venido formulando en el curso del último tiempo pa­ra poner fin a la dramática situación del hambre y de la pobreza que en la actualidad enfrentan tan­tos millones de seres humanos en todo el mundo.

El día 16 de octubre se desarrolló en la sala plenaria de la FAO un acto solemne en el cual el doctor Prebisch dio a conocer la antes mencionada declaración de Roma sobre el hambre, y en esta solemne ce­remonia, junto con el Director General de la FAO hicieron uso de la palabra también otras dos distin­guidas personalidades, su Alteza Real el Príncipe Talai bin Abdulaziz al Saud, de Arabia Saudita y el senador Amintore Fanfani, Presidente del Senado de la República Italiana. Todos los oradores desde los más diversos puntos de vista analizaron los problemas mundiales del hambre y de la desnutrición y lanzaron un vigoroso llamado a la Comunidad Internacional y Nacional para acelerar el crecimiento en los países en desarrollo y para dar prioridad tanto al aumento de la producción de alimentos como a la distribución más equitativa de los mismos y de los beneficios que se obtengan entre todos los pueblos y todas las naciones.

Por otra parte, en la sede de las Naciones Unidas en Nueva York se realizo otro acto solemne que con­tó con la participación de todas las delegaciones que están atendiendo los trabajos de la actual Asam­blea General; de particular significación fue la intervención central realizada por el Secretario Ge­neral de las Naciones Unidas, Javier Perez de Cuéllar. En dicha ocasión también hicieron uso de la palabra el señor Kamanda wa Kamanda de Zaire, Vicepresidente del Consejo Económico y Social, el se­ñor Gabriel Saab, representante de la FAO ante las Naciones Unidas y los representantes de todos los grupos regionales presentes en la Asamblea General.

A nivel regional se celebraron ceremonias conmemorativas en todas las sedes regionales de la FAO. En Africa, la ceremonia principal se realizó el 16 de octubre en la Estación Agrícola de Abokobi en las cercanías de Accra, donde participaron cerca de 1 000 campesinos que habitan en las 22 aldeas que reciben servicios de la Estación y que se dedican principalmente al cultivo del maíz , casava y hor­talizas. Otra ceremonia similar en la misma región contó con la presencia de los miembros del Cuerpo Diplomático, funcionarios del Ministerio de Agricultura y una buena cantidad de niños en edad escolar.

Cabe destacar que la Oficina Regional de la FAO para Africa recogió y seleccionó como tema central para este año el tema de la energía y la producción de alimentos, para lo cual fue preparado y distri­buido masivamente un documento técnico sobre el tema.

En América Latina y el Caribe se llevó a cabo una ceremonia en la ciudad de Santiago de Chile, en la cual el orador principal fue el conocido actor mexicano Mario Moreno, "Cantinflas". El representante de la FAO, a nombre del Director General, le hizo entrega de un reconocimiento publico por su desta­cada y prolongada labor de profundo contenido humanitario en apoyo de los sectores más desvalidos. Las palabras sencillas, pero de gran carga humana que esta persona pronunciara tuvieron una gran re­percusión en todo el continente, como lo acredita la gran cobertura de prensa que recibieran sus pa­labras, así como también la carta del Director General de la FAO que fue presentada a él en dicho día.

La Oficina Regional seleccionó como tema técnico de discusión la situación alimentaria y nutricional en América Latina, todo un documento que fue preparado y vastamente distribuido.

En la Oficina Regional para Asia y el Pacífico se realizó también una significativa ceremonia que contó con la presencia de Su Excelencia el Primer Ministro de Thailandia y otras personalidades regionales y nacionales. Esta ceremonia, en conjunto con el simposio regional sobre la Alimentación: Derecho Prioritario, que se realizó con la Universidad de Kasetsart, constituyeron los puntos culminantes de diversas actividades desarrolladas a nivel regional.

La extensa cobertura de prensa, radio y televisión que le fue otorgada a todas estas actividades son prueba clara y testimonio de la relevancia e impacto que ellas adquirieron en el mundo.

A nivel nacional, es prácticamente imposible dar cuenta de la totalidad de las iniciativas que se desarrollaron en todos los países.

Habría que comenzar diciendo que con ocasión del Cía Mundial de la Alimentación el Director General de la FAO recibió más de 55 mensajes de Jefes de Estado y Gobiernos, de Ministros de Agricultura o Relaciones Exteriores y de dirigentes de organizaciones internacionales y regionales reiterando su apoyo a la iniciativa del Día Mundial y también su compromiso por esforzarse a fondo en la solución de los graves problemas del hambre y la desnutrición que la FAO enfrenta en su propio trabajo.

Particular impacto tuvo en muchos países la alocución y mensaje que enviara a la FAO y al Director General Su Santidad el Papa Juan Pablo II, quien igualmente formuló un llamado desde su "Angelus" el domingo a todas las personas de buena voluntad para que ejercieran a través de la solidaridad activa todos los esfuerzos para eliminar el flagelo del hambre en la tierra.

A juzgar por las informaciones recibidas hasta ahora formalmente de los países podemos decir que en más de 138 países en todo el mundo se desarrollaron actividades importantes con motivo del Día Mundial de la Alimentación. Entre ellas podemos destacar las reuniones de agricultores y trabajado­res rurales, los días de campo, las visitas públicas a los proyectos del terreno de la FAO, las muestras y exposiciones especiales, seminarios y debates sobre las causas del hambre y las solu­ciones propuestas y el trabajo de la FAO en el país, artículos y reportajes en periódicos, progra­mas de radio y televisión, concursos literarios, artísticos y educativos, especialmente destinados muchos de ellos a escolares, la concesión de premios a los agricultores más destacados y la edición de sellos, monedas y medallas conmemorativas.

Destacada mención merecen las actividades que la República de Italia, país que hospeda la sede central de la FAO, organizo este año para celebrar el Día Mundial de la Alimentación. Especial relevancia tuvieron las actividades programadas por el Comune di Roma que incluyeron, entre otras una ceremonia especial en el Campidoglio con la presencia del Alcalde de Roma, señor Ugo Vetere, y el Director General de la FAO; un concurso periodístico que se encuentra abierto en este momento y culminará en abril de 1983 premiando las mejores contribuciones que los periodistas italianos rea­licen sobre el tema del hambre y que se publiquen en diarios, revistas, prensa especializada en agricultura, agencias de prensa, radio y televisión; igualmente se realizaron exposiciones espe­ciales en el Museo della Civiltà Romana, en el Museo del Folclore e dei Poeti Romaneschi, y en el Museo Ostiense; una visita en barco a lo largo del rio Tiber a los lugares históricos de la Roma antigua a través de todos los siglos que han tenido significación en el problema del hambre. Estas actividades fueron difundidas en Roma y en Italia a través de un hermoso afiche diseñado por el propio Comune di Roma. Por último, cabe mencionar que por iniciativa de la señora María Pía Fanfani, esposa del Presidente del Senado de la República Italiana, se realizó una primera exclusiva para la ciudad de Roma de la película Alejandro Magno.

A la luz de las informaciones antes recogidas resulta claro que recientemente la celebración del Día Mundial de la Alimentación está adquiriendo una dimensión de vastas proporciones. En 1982 se recogieron los frutos del trabajo iniciado en el año precedente. A partir de este año podemos decir, y como se recoge en el documento que ustedes tienen a la vista, que hay elementos ya para formular algunos juicios évaluâtivos en los cuales se puede incluir el importante trabajo de las organizaciones no gubernamentales a lo cual quisiéramos mencionar que este año el Director General de la FAO recomendó involucrar al máximo el número posible de organizaciones de este tipo en la planificación y puesta en marcha del Día Mundial de la Alimentación y tenemos el agrado de anunciar la positiva respuesta recibida de las organizaciones no gubernamentales tanto de nivel internacio­nal como nacional que sin desmayo han apoyado la celebración de este día en todas sus actividades posibles.

Las ONGs han podido utilizar las oportunidades y canales que ofrece el DMA para dar a conocer al público sus programas de trabajo y preocupaciones que orientan su quehacer.

No es fácil prever las perspectivas futuras del Día Mundial de la Alimentación dada la vastedad y riqueza de esta celebración, pero sí podemos decir que esta fecha se va insertando como un evento importante. La atención de los pueblos y de los gobiernos de las diversas latitudes de nuestro planeta nos llena de gratísimo orgullo al constatar que la solidariedad va encontrando su camino para superar los obstáculos que permitirán en el futuro erradicar la pobreza y generar una sociedad más justa y libre.

Quisiéramos, finalmente, manifestar que el señor Director General ha dado especial importancia a las celebraciones nacionales del Día Mundial de la Alimentación y ha instruido a todos nuestros representantes y técnicos que trabajan en los distintos proyectos de campo para que le den su apoyo irrestricto, y dentro del campo específico de sus esfuerzos, a las celebraciones nacionales.

Especial llamado ha hecho el Director General a la incorporación de iniciativas en los Ministerios de Educación, así como igualmente al invitar a todas las Organizaciones e instituciones religiosas de todos los credos para que ellas alcen su voz y se unan a los esfuerzos que se vienen realizando para movilizar la conciencia humana en torno a la importancia que hiciera la celebración de esta fecha. Para ello es necesario que destaquemos la eficiente e innegable colaboración de 104 Comités Nacionales que se crearon para apoyar la celebración del Día Mundial de la Alimentación y que han venido desarrollando esfuerzos para coordinar sus actividades.

Ha sido altamente placentero para la FAO y la Secretaría del Día Mundial de la Alimentación trabajar en conjunto con este tipo de Organizaciones.

Sería muy conveniente que todos los países miembros de la Organización procedieran en 1983 a reiterar el mandato a dichos Comités o a establecerlos, si no lo hubieran hecho todavía.

Las dificultades financieras también requieren un mínimo de atención. En 1982 recibimos una sola contribución, que mucho agradecemos, de parte de Jamahiriya Arabe Libia, y que fue utilizada en apoyar las actividades del DMA en diversos países considerados de menor desarrollo relativo. Reiteramos ahora nuestro llamado a los países desarrollados o a quienes estuvieran en condiciones de hacerlo, de analizar las posibilidades de otorgar pequeñas contribuciones voluntarias para mejorar aún más en los anos venideros el impacto que esté teniendo el Día Mundial de la Alimentación.

Por ultimo, corresponde a las Organizaciones no Gubernamentales hacer esfuerzos especiales para lograr la participación activa de las comunidades locales y de base en las iniciativas del DMA. Solo de esta manera se puede llegar efectivamente a quienes producen y consumen los alimentos; a quienes de una u otra forma se ven más afectados por los problemas del hambre, la desnutrición y la pobreza; a quienes pueden, desde diversas perspectivas, prestar su contribución a la solución de los problemas enfrentados.

Quisiera terminar diciendo que sobre la base del trabajo mancomunado de organismos internacionales, gobiernos, organizaciones no gubernamentales y personas individuales, estaremos haciendo efectivo el ejercicio del derecho humano a la alimentación, sin el cual el derecho a la vida carece de sentido. La alimentación es un derecho prioritario.

CHAIRMAN: Thank you very much, Mr. Moreno. I know that a number of delegations would like to speak on this topic.

J.M. BULHÂO MARTINS (Portugal): C'est avec beaucoup d'enthousiasme que mon pays a donné son adhesion aux commémorations de la Journée mondiale de l'alimentation, ne la considérant pas comme une simple occasion d'attirer l'attention sur les problèmes alimentaires, mais comme le terme de la campagne annuelle qui est maintenant conclue.

Comme nous l'avons déjà dit, le Portugal ne produit pas la majeure partie des aliments dont il a besoin. Cependant, nous ne sommes pas dans une situation de grave insuffisance alimentaire. Aussi les commémorations de la Journée mondiale de l'alimentation ont été orientées vers l'éducation nutritionnelle. On a essayé d'expliquer comment il est possible de remplacer des aliments importés par d'autres que nous produisons, avec la préoccupation d'éviter les exagérations qui se vérifient dans le domaine de la nutrition et qui coûtent très cher à notre pays.

En analysant les bons résultats que nous avons obtenus, nous avons l'intention de poursuivre dans cette voie car nous sommes convaincus de réussir.

L'année dernière, nous avons cherché à informer la population sur les problèmes alimentaires mondiaux. Nous continuons cette année, avec une nouvelle préoccupation : sensibiliser la jeunesse à ces questions. Durant l'année, 22 interventions directes ont été menées auprès de différents groupes de population et au mois de septembre on a organisé trois réunions, au nord, au centre et au sud du pays, avec des centaines d'instituteurs de l'enseignement élémentaire qui, pendant une journée, ont été informés de ces questions et invités à transmettre ces informations à leurs collègues et à leurs élèves. En conséquence, beaucoup d'étudiants des divers degrés de l'ensei­gnement se sont adressés à la commission nationale de la FAO et ont demandé des renseignements et de la documentation sur le thème de la faim dans le monde. Cela est très important, parce que cela est réalisé au niveau de la jeunesse qui s'est montrée très sensible au problème.

En outre, on a incité la publication d'articles sur l'alimentation et l'agriculture dans le monde dans les grands quotidiens et la presse régionale, dont le nombre a dépassé la centaine. On a imprimé également le sigle de la Journée mondiale de l'alimentation sur des objets à grande diffusion : un million de boîtes d'allumettes, des briquets, des plumes, des rasoirs, etc. La Commission nationale de la FAO émet dans une station radiophonique d'audience nationale un programme hebdomadaire sur les activités de cette organisation dont les dernières émissions ont été consacrées à la Journée mondiale de l'alimentation. Le président de la commission nationale de la FAO est intervenu dans des programmes radiophoniques durant la Journée mondiale et les deux jours qui l'ont précédée. La télévision a diffusé des spots FAO aux heures de plus grande audience, et plusieurs journaux ont publié des éditoriaux à ce sujet. En coincidence avec la commémoration de la Journée mondiale, une édition spéciale de la Loterie nationale a largement contribué à divulguer l'événement. Toutes ces activités et initiatives n'ont représenté presque pas de dépenses parce qu'on a réussi à obtenir des collaborations à tous les niveaux.

Nous considérons donc très utile l'échange d'informations concernant la commémoration de la Journée mondiale de l'alimentation dans les divers pays, parce que l'expérience d'un pays peut toujours servir à un autre.

SRA. M. IVANKOVICH DE AROSEMENA (Panamá): Nos vamos a referir al tema 11 "Informe provisional sobre las actividades del Día Mundial de la Alimentación" en base a la acogida que ha dado el Gobierno de Panamá al establecimiento del Día Mundial de la Alimentación y al enfoque que ha dado al mismo. Pero antes, permítame felicitar a la FAO en general, y en particular a la Dirección de Recursos Humanos, Instituciones y Reforma Agraria, así como al coordinador de las actividades conmemorativas del Día Mundial de la Alimentación, Ingeniero Rafael Moreno, por los éxitos logrados.

El Gobierno de Panamá ha visto en esta fecha la oportunidad para que, tanto a nivel de nuestro país como en todo el mundo, este día sea la culminación anual de la divulgación y concientización de la necesaria urgencia que hay tanto a nivel nacional como internacional de alimentar adecuadamente a la creciente población mundial, y más que todo, hacer comprender a la gente la importancia del problema del hambre, tanto por parte de los que la padecen como de aquellos que, por fortuna, no la llegan a padecer, así como la importancia de los problemas de la desnutrición y la pobreza, y lo que es más importante, ¿qué es lo que se puede hacer para resolver ese derecho humano, derecho de todos, símbolo de justicia y de verdadera paz?

La fecha debe permitir igualmente aumentar la conciencia de la opinión pública acerca de la natura­leza y las dimensiones del problema de la alimentación desde un enfoque muy sectorial y de solida­ridad, tanto nacional como internacional. Dentro de este contexto, mi país instituyó mediante dispo­sición legal, el 16 de octubre, Día Nacional de la Alimentación haciéndolo coincidir con el Día Mundial de la Alimentación aprobado por la 20a Conferencia de la FAO y ratificado por la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas. Igualmente, previo al Día Nacional de la Alimentación, Panamá instituyó el 8 de octubre como Día Nacional del Productor y de las Ciencias Agropecuarias.

Para conmemorar el pasado mes de octubre las anteriores fechas, se desarrolló un programa que invo­lucró a productores agropecuarios en general, tanto individuales como organizados, previéndose la participación de la mujer productora así como de profesionales de las ciencias agrícolas, logrando involucrar a Ministerios como el de Educación, Salud, Trabajo y de Planificación y de Política Económica.

Se realizó del 15 al 17 de septiembre el primer Seminario Nacional sobre Planificación de la Alimen­tación y Nutrición que se constituyó en evento nacional preparatorio a la Segunda Conferencia sobre Planificación de la Alimentación y Nutrición, que ha debido celebrarse la semana pasada en nuestro país.

Pero, para que el Día Mundial de la Alimentación vaya más allá de declaraciones retóricas de buenas intenciones, este Consejo debe acoger lo expuesto en el párrafo 21 del documento CL 82/19 "Informe provisional sobre las actividades del Día Mundial de la Alimentación" y relacionar estos señala­mientos con el fortalecimiento de las orientaciones del reajuste agrícola internacional, muy en especial, con las orientaciones número III y IV que en estos momentos, analiza y estudia el Grupo de Contacto establecido por este Consejo para tal fin, y que esperamos estén realizando positivos y fructíferos contactos. Somos de la creencia que la aplicación de orientaciones como éstas, con­tribuirán a lograr los objetivos en que se fundó el establecimiento del 16 de octubre, Aniversario de la Fundación de la FAO, como Día Mundial de la Alimentación.

Finalmente, mi delegación está haciendo entrega a la Secretaría Especial del Día Mundial de la Alimentación, del documento que recoge el Programa de Actividades, que el pasado mes de octubre se celebraron en Panamá, tanto del Día Nacional de la Alimentación como del Día Nacional del Productor y de las Ciencias Agropecuarias.

Ms. P. IMPERIALE (Italy): Italy is conscious of the primary importance of the world food problems and has therefore supported the decision taken by the Conference to establish World Food Day on the 16th October. My delegation wishes to underline the excellent performance of the Secretariat and to draw the attention of the Council to the various initiatives and activities which have taken place in Italy to celebrate World Food Day.

Firstly, special messages were sent by the President of the Italian Republic and by the President of the Council of Ministers to the Director-General. Secondly, I would like to recall that the inter­vention of the President of the Italian Senate to the celebration organized at headquarters is another sign of the special interest that Italy attached to World Food Day.

Allow me to give you in brief a few elements concerning some initiatives which have taken place in our country. Upon special instructions, all Italian schools were informed of the food and agricul­ture situation, of the results achieved through common forces by the international community and of the problems which are waiting for a solution.

A great number of local communities have focused on the problems by issuing special publications or by organizing exhibitions and lectures. I wish to mention the very special effort made by the Comune di Roma and Mayor Vetere; the Director-General referred to it in his speech before this august Council. World Food Day is significant in its implication as being a great intention of the mass media. They broadcast a special intervention of the Director-General. A number of other private networks have also participated in the celebration of the World Food Day.

To conclude, I wish to express our availability for the next World Food Day celebration in 1983.

T. SADAKA (Liban) (Langue originale arabe) : Au nom de la délégation libanaise, j'aimerais féliciter le Directeur général, le Dr. Edouard Saouma, pour le succès sans précédent obtenu lors de la présen­tation du problème de l'alimentation à diverses occasions, et surtout lors de la célébration de la Journée mondiale de l'alimentation à laquelle ont participé 143 pays sous l'égide de leur président ou de leur Ministre de l'agriculture.

Le soutien total accordé à la Journée mondiale de l'alimentation que l'on célèbre pour la deuxième année consécutive est la meilleure preuve de la réussite de cette idée qui a eu pour but d'éveiller la conscience des responsables à l'égard des problèmes de la faim et de la malnutrition dans le monde, pour lesquels nous devons mobiliser tous les moyens dont nous disposons : qu'ils soient humains, matériels ou techniques.

J'aimerais remercier tout particulièrement M. Moreno pour la présentation qu'il nous a faite de tous ces problèmes. La Journée mondiale de l'alimentation, par la présentation des problèmes de la faim et de la malnutrition qui touchent plus de 500 millions de personnes à travers le monde, a constitué un dénominateur commun qui a servi à promouvoir la solidarité internationale des respon­sables dans le but de lutter contre la faim qui est le problème de l'humanité toute entière. Ceci pourrait constituer un élément favorable à l'amorce d'une discussion sérieuse qui pourrait aider à rapprocher les points de vue dans le but de trouver une solution collective. Le problème de l'alimentation a été présenté dans tous les forums aux niveaux national et international, grâce aux efforts de la FAO et aux directives du Directeur général et de ses collègues. C'est la respon­sabilité des peuples et des gouvernements d'être conscients de ces problèmes pour trouver des solutions convenables.

M. le Président, la lutte contre la faim dans le monde est une responsabilité collective. Cette responsabilité incombe à tous : individus, collectivités, institutions nationales et internationales, publiques ou privées. Il n'y a aucune différence entre les individus car tous nous assumons la même responsabilité. Il faut absolument que nous y participions tous sur un pied d'égalité. Dans ce domaine, la délégation de mon pays est très heureuse de constater que les organisations non gouver­nementales sont tout à fait conscientes de leurs responsabilités et sont décidées â mettre fin au problème de la famine par tous les moyens. Nous encourageons ce genre d'initiatives et nous voudrions demander à la FAO de soutenir ces efforts.

Au nom de la délégation de mon pays, j'aimerais m'adresser à M. le Directeur général pour lui demander de faire le suivi de la célébration de la Journée mondiale de l'alimentation. Nous aimerions aussi lui demander d'apporter le soutien nécessaire à" la célébration de la Journée mondiale de l'alimentation et ce pour garantir sa réussite et sa continuité. Nous nous sentons très fiers que notre Organisation, la FAO soit toujours la première à commémorer cette Journée mondiale de l'alimentation. Nous devrions continuer à déployer cet effort tant que demeure le problème de la faim dans le monde.

W. E. ADERO (Kenya): I would like to make a few comments on document CL 82/19 which is before us for discussion. The paper contains a summary of what was done last year to celebrate the World Food Day, and what was done during the early part of this year to prepare for the celebration of the second World Food Day, which" was celebrated on the 16th October this year, and lastly has given an assessment of the impact of the event.

Kenya has been observing the World Food Day in 1981 and 1982. In our experience, we found the day to be an important day in our calendar, as it served to remind us of the importance of food which quite often is taken for granted when available in plenty. My delegation is therefore in full agreement with the assessment of the impact of the event, as contained in paragraph 21 of the report.

Celebration of World Food Day in Kenya is based mainly in districts, divisions, and locational levels. We emphasize celebrations at these levels, because these are the areas where the food producers are, and it is only by taking the celebrations at the rural administrative levels that we can enlist their participation in preparations and actual celebrations.

While deliberate efforts have been made to centre these celebrations in rural areas, they have also been organized at provincial levels and in the capital - that is Nairobi - where, as these are the areas where consumers are concentrated, they also need to be made aware of the importance of food. In the two celebrations we have had, our ministries of agriculture and livestock develop­ment, which are the two ministries directly concerned with food production in collaboration with the FAO office in Nairobi, took a leading role in making arrangements for the day. However, other ministries such as the ministry of health, ministry of education, ministry of cooperative deve­lopment, have also been involved in the preparations. NGO's have also been involved in the preparations. In both celebrations we have had a message which the President of Kenya, The Honorable Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, wrote to the nation. The message during this year's celebrations thanked farmers for the hard work they have done to enable the country to move from deficit in maize which we had about two years ago to a surplus situation which we_-are now enjoying. They were further warned against being complacent, and lastly he underlined the Government's commitment to ensuring agricultural inputs such as seeds,fertilizers,pesticides, etc. are made available to farmers at theright time, at the right place, and at reasonable prices that they can afford. The full textof that message is already with the FAO Secretariat. We are aware that one of the objectives of the World Food Day is to observe or to celebrate the founding of FAO. While we fully accept this objective, it is apparent in Kenya that we are using it as an additional agricultural extension tool, and we have no apologies to make for this. In view of this, my delegation supports the activities of FAO in relation to the World Food Day activities.

To conclude, I want to observe that October 16th, 1983, will fall on a Sunday, and this will be a day of other celebrations. The event being so new in the calendar, Kenya may be forced to bring it forward by one day.

T. SATONE (Japan): My delegation would like to introduce the activities which took place in Japan for the Commemoration of the World Food Day. As for the first World Food Day, my Government stressed the importance of the improvement of the self-sufficiency rate of food supply by utilizing the domestic agricultural resources in order to ensure the food security of my country which is one of the major important problems which my country is coping with.

This year, my government appealed to the Japanese people on the importance of international cooperation in the field of food and agriculture as well as the role which my country should take in the international community, with the understanding that the development of food and agriculture contributes not only to the improvement of food shortages but to the development purposes of the whole.

In the implementation of activities, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries planned and promoted the activities with the assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister's office, Japan Broadcasting Association, so-called, and the Japan/FAO Association. The Japan/FAO Association which took the role of the National Committee of the World Food Day, also implemented various activities including the symposium and publication of pamphlets commemorating the World Food Day.

My government also utilized nation-wide, area-wide, and local newspapers, TV, Radio, and other media for the publicity activities.

In addition to this, five million packages of World Food Day packages of cigarettes were sold all over Japan. A symposium entitled The World Food Problem and Japan was held on World Food Day, and Dr. J.W. Mellor, Director of the International Food Policy Research Institute, Dr. Saburo Ookita, President of the Internal and External Policy Research Institute, and Dr. Nobutane Kiuch, President of the World Economic Research Institute, attended the meeting and gave informative lectures. Sophia University in Tokyo held another symposium entitled Toward the World Food Day.

My government considers the World Food Day to be a very good opportunity to make the people further aware of the food and agriculture problems and plans to strengthen the World Food Day activities.

My delegation would appreciate it if the FAO Secretariat could provide more information materials such as TV programmes and films which could be utilized by all government and national committees for the promotion of the World Food Day activities.

CHAIRMAN: We will resume the discussion of this item tomorrow morning when we have about 20 more speakers. We are behind time in today's agenda, and I shall be grateful if members could be fairly brief in their interventions, because the country reports are also being received, as Mr. Moreno stated.

We are grateful to the Director-General for being present this afternoon.

The meeting rose at 18.00 hours
La séance est levée a 18 heures
Se levanta la sesión a las 18.00 horas

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