CHAIRMAN: Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen. May I call this Session of the Council to order. We have a large list of speakers. As I mentioned yesterday, I hope the speakers who are going to talk this morning - first thing this morning - will address themselves to item 4 on the State of Food and Agriculture, and later we will give special consideration to 4.1, the Food Situation in Africa.
May I extend a very special and warm welcome to Ms Brusletten, Minister for Development Cooperation of Norway and we are honoured with her presence.
J. TCHICAYA (Congo): Je voudrais vous dire toute la joie que nous éprouvons, M. Le Président, de vous voir à nouveau présider les travaux de notre Conseil et de continuer à l’inspirer. La délégation de la République populaire du Congo souhaite également par ma voix féliciter les trois vice-présidents qui ont été élus pour vous seconder dans votre tâche. Elle exprime l’espoir qu'au cours de cette session notre instance de direction arrêtera des décisions qui renforceront la crédibilité de la FAO tout en accroissant son pouvoir d'action sur les questions relevant de son raandat. Nous nous félicitons à cet égard des analyses contenues dans le document soumis à notre examen et nous voudrions à l’occasion féliciter le Secrétariat, et notamment M. Islam qui a pu nous présenter d'une manière claire ce document. Nous félicitons également, pour sa lucide et clairvoyante déclaration faite hier, le Directeur général. Je souhaite également à l'instar d'autres délégués qui l’ont fait hier vous dire combien nous partageons les idées exprimées par le Président du Groupe des 77 au nom de ses Etats Membres. Il y a dix ans la Communauté internationale alertée s’était retrouvée à Rome pour examiner les voies et moyens de faire face à une situation alimentaire dramatique dont chacun s'était accordé à considérer par la suite comme étant la crise alimentaire la plus aigüe que le monde ait jamais connue. Certes, si ces craintes exprimées lors d’un retour cyclique d'excédents et de pénuries entraînant une grande instabilité des approvisionnements et des cours mondiaux ont pu être écartées, en raison d'une production et de programmes alimentaires globalement suffisants, il importe cependant de revéler le déséquilibre insoutenable de leur répartition et la politique visant à créer délibérément les situations qui font monter les prix de certaines exportations pour faire ensuite, ou gêner en fait, les pays en dévelop-pement à faibles revenus et à déficit alimentaire. En effet, on ne peut qu'être surpris lorsque l’on sait que l'accroissement et la production alimentaire des pays en développement n'ont pas atteint les objectifs fixés lors de la Conférence mondiale, même si dans près des deux tiers des pays en développement la ration calorique moyenne par habitant a augmenté.
Si des différences sont reflétées entre deux parties d'une même région, des contrastes existent entre les régions en développement et il est symptomatique de noter que l’Afrique est une des régions les mieux dotées en ressources naturelles, et que durant ces dernières années, il y a eu une régression dans ses capacité à nourrir sa population.
Ma délégation est préoccupée d’apprendre au paragraphe 4 du document que dans les pays où la nutrition s’est améliorée ce sont les importations qui ont fourni la majeure partie de l'accroissement des disponibilités d'énergie alimentaire. Cette situation, si elle offre des avantages aux pays disposant de ressources financières suffisantes, peut au contraire conduire à asphyxier les économies de la plupart des pays en développement que la détérioration des termes de l’échange, considérés sur une période de cinq ans, place dans des situations où ils ont de plus en plus de mal à dégager les ressources en devises nécessaires pour accroître leurs capacites intérieures de production. Cette situation est exacerbée par la force que nous connaissons tous du dollar par rapport aux monnaies fragiles.
Nous savons tous que les pays en développement n’ont pas pu atteindre les objectifs de production fixés par la Conférence mondiale de l’alimentation parce qu’ils n'ont pas disposé de moyens suffisants pour la mise en oeuvre des politiques et stratégies d’autosuffisance alimentaire nationale. A cet égard, il convient de rendre hommage au Directeur général de la FAO pour les efforts inlas-
sables qu’il déploie, d'une part pour aider les gouvernements à définir ces politiques et stratégies, et d’autre part pour alerter l’opinion mondiale afin que la communauté internationale fasse preuve de plus de volonté politique concernant les ressources indispensables à la mise en oeuvre de ces politiques et strategies d'autosuffisance alimentaire.
La conjuncture économique et financière de crises qui se prolongent encore au niveau des pays en développement n’incite guère à l’optimisme. En effet, la reprise économique qui s’est amorcée et se poursuit dans les pays développés depuis l'an dernier ne semble pas, pour l’instant, gagner les pays en développement où les manifestations de la crise ont laissé des séquelles indélibiles et continuent à exercer des pressions insoutenables. Oui, 110 milliards de dollars de dettes est un chiffre impressionnant pris dans l'état actuel des choses et se situe au-delà des capacités simultanées de remboursement et de la poursuite de l’effort indispensable de développement. Ces ralentissements de l’investissement et notamment ceux consacrés au monde rural ont faibli car la capacité de production de l’agriculture, ce phénomène suffisamment répandu en Afrique, est en grande partie la cause de la baisse de la production agricole par habitant et justifierait pour cette raison la consommation alimentaire de cette région. Rien n'est étonnant puisque l’Afrique occupe la dernière place dans l’utilisation des intrants agricoles dont elle ne peut bénéficier en raison du manque de ressources en devises pour leur importation. Ceci est surtout valable pour les engrais dont on indique que les cours sont plutôt à la hausse.
Nous sommes très sensibles aux élans de solidarité internationale qui se manifestent à travers le monde pour sauver des vies humaines menacées de mort par la famine. Cependant, nous aimerions indiquer notre préférence,et éviter certaines de ces situations d'urgence graves, à faire des efforts appropriés soutenus d’aide publique au développement et notamment celle susceptible d'accroître la capacité de production agricole. A cet égard, on peut se demander où en est l'objectif de 0,7 pour cent du PNB que les pays développés devaient réserver à l'aide publique au développement ? Des mécanismes comme les taux d'intérêts nationaux, mondiaux plutôt, ont des conséquences sur la dette des pays en développement, et ne peuvent permettre à ces pays de dégager quelques ressources utiles aux investissements ruraux; le document l’indique à juste titre. Nous sommes pour notre part inquiets de la perte de vigueur des engagements multilatéraux à des conditions de faveur ; ceci est illustré par la decision de limiter à 9 milliards de dollars la septième reconstitution de l'AID au lieu de 12 milliards prévus, et de 16 milliards espérés, encore que, pendant le même temps, les ressources consacrées au développement des armes de destruction massive aient atteint des niveaux jámais égalés. Restriction budgétaire oblige n’est-ce pas ? Le FIDA lui-même créé pour financer sexploitation agricole et rurale des régions les plus pauvres des pays en développement connaît des difficultés sans précédent dans sa seconde reconstitution de ressources et même si celle-ci est conclue en 1985 ce n’est qu'un chiffre dérisoire sans commune mesure avec l'ampleur de la gravité de la situation alimentaire qui prévaut notamment en Afrique. C'est pourquoi je partage ce qui est écrit au paragraphe 18 pour reconnaître que les progrès accomplis en matière d'engagements en faveur de l’agriculture depuis la Conférence mondiale de l’alimentation sont décevants. L’aide alimentaire elle-même n'a pas atteint l'objectif de 10 millions de tonnes fixé par la Conférence; encore que les besoins estimés d'aide alimentaire sont actuellement fixés à 20 millions de tonnes. Son importance dans nombre de pays déficitaires est universellement reconnue. L'objectif de la RAIU qui a été atteint seulement en 1981 et 1983 devait être relevé à 2 millions de tonnes pour permettre aux banques de faire face aux nombreuses situations d'urgence dont le nombre ne cesse d'augmenter, de la sorte, le Directeur général de la FAO pourra, nous le pensons, continuer à répondre favorablement à toutes les demandes d'aide d'urgence et cela sans retard.
A cet égard nous appuyons l’idée émise hier par le Directeur général visant à étudier toutes les mesures susceptibles de réduire les retards préjudiciables aux bénéficiaires de l'aide d'urgence. Le développement des échanges de produits agricoles dont il s'agit au paragraphe 61, entre les pays en développement, est pour nous un signe encourageant même si leur niveau reste encore très faible. Nous demandons à la FAO de ne rien négliger pour aider les gouvernements des pays en développement à redoubler d'efforts dans ce sens. Consciente de l'apport des pêcheries dans l’alimentation, la délégation de mon pays souhaite réitérer ici son appui à l’initiative du Directeur général qui a confirmé la Conférence de la FAO sur l’aménagement et la mise en valeur des pêches, dans le succès des travaux pour l’Organisation et les Etats Membres. Souhaitons que les programmes d'action aient le même succès et mobilisent les ressources nécessaires à leur mise en oeuvre. Le gouvernement de mon pays applique en ce moment une politique qui vise à pérenniser l’exploitation forestière sous toutes ses formes grâce au reboisement, indispensable pour arrêter l'épuisement de nos forêts et de la forestation sur les sols impropres à la culture, car il s'agit ici d'une ressource sur laquelle nous comptons pour ses diverses utilisations. Quant aux effets négatifs de l’urbanisation (comme conséquence l’exode rural), nous sommes d'avis que ceux-ci ôtent à la campagne ses bras les plus valides et accélèrent le vieillissement des populations rurales actives et comme l'a dit le délégué du Mexique il s'agit de l’accroisement de la population et c'est un phénomène relatif qui n'a pas la même signification dans les pays à niveau de développement différent, car comment nier, si des densités de population fortes exercent des pressions insoutenables sur l’effet économique de nos pays qu'il n'en reste pas moins vrai que sa faiblesse peut constituer une contrainte susceptible de freiner l'épanouissement économique national équilibré; bref, il s'agit ici d'un phénomène complexe qu'il importe d'étudier avec précaution dans toutes ses dimensions.
Pour conclure, nous dirons que l'environnement dans lequel évolue la situation alimentaire et agricole est très défavorable aux pays en développement. L'action de ces pays qui ont réussi à s'approcher de l'autosuffisance alimentaire, ou qui l'ont atteinte, s'en trouve d'autant plus méritoire. Mais nous pensons que cet objectif est à la portée de tous les pays en développement à condition que s'établissent des rapports nouveaux entre pays du nord et pays du sud. C'est donc de tous nos voeux que nous appelons l'avènement d'un nouvel ordre économique international plus juste et plus humain. Il serait à cet égard d'un concours précieux pour nos pays pauvres.
Tous les efforts faits pour promouvoir un dialogue utile pouvant seuls aboutir à cet événement est à encourager. En effet nous sommes convaincus que beaucoup de goulots d'étranglenient agissent négativement sur l’augmentation de la production agricole et peuvent être levés grâce à des investissements appropriés. Les déclarations faites hier par les ambassadeurs de l'Inde et du Pakistan concernant l’irrigation, par exemple, sont à cet égard suffisamment éloquentes et nous dispensent de commentaires superflus. Cependant, l'on peut s'interroger si, dans les conditions présentes, de tels investissements sont à la portée de tous les pays. C'est pourquoi nous terminerons notre exposé en félicitant solennellement les pays développés qui s'acquittent avec responsabilité des engagements auxquels ils ont souscrit et nous exhortons tous les autres, et ceux-ci sont hélas les plus nombreux, à suivre cette voie de solidarité internationale agissante si l'on veut extirper les fléaux que sont la famine, la malnutrition et la misère de notre planète.
F. RIBADENEIRA. (Ecuador): Gracias, señor Presidente. En primer lugar, me es grato expresar la complacencia de la delegación del Ecuador por verlo nuevamente presidiendo este Consejo y, asimismo, felicitar a los tres Vicepresidentes por su merecida designación.
En cuanto al tema que nos ocupa acerca de la situación mundial de la agricultura y la alimentación, para el Ecuador reviste grave importancia porque es el sector en el que sustenta su desarrollo socioeconómico. Consideramos que el documento que sirve de base para el debate se halla bien estructurado y los análisis, en general, son correctos. Sin embargo, no se hace suficiente hincapié en un factor que resulta determinante y restrictivo para el mejoramiento de la situación, cual es el del endeudamiento externo.
Como bien señaló la Declaración emitida por la reciente Conferencia Regional de la FAO para América Latina y el Caribe en Buenos Aires, no será posible garantizar la suficiencia alimentaria de nuestras naciones y superar los graves problemas del hambre mientras no se produzca un mejoramiento sustancial de las condiciones del sistema económico intemacional, para lo cual constituye un paso esencial la reducción de las altas tasas de interés aplicadas por los acreedores, que han agravado significativamente los problemas de la pobreza y la subnutrición en virtud de las secuelas que han originado.
En ese orden, mi delegación estima que el párrafo 13 recoge un enunciado importante, pero incompleto, cuando señala que las perspectivas de un crecimiento sostenido depende mucho de las políticas macroeconómicas generales de los países desarrollados y de la capacidad de los países en desarrollo para beneficiarse de la recuperación económica mundial.
Tal pronunciamiento queda incompleto si deja de expresarse que el fenómeno de endeudamiento no constituye sólo y simplemente un hecho puramente cronométrico, sino un problema de cuya solución depende en buena parte la estabilidad de las relaciones internacionales.
En otros términos, no puede omitirse que el diálogo político resulta fundamental entre deudores y acreedores como factor de entendimiento, pues su ausencia impediría poner en marcha la cooperación necesaria entre las partes para resolver conjuntamente la crisis.
Esa afirmación tiene que ver tambiên con el párrafo 8 en el que se manifiesta preocupación por las dificultades no superadas que han impedido, hasta ahora, movilizar la voluntad política orientada a lograr decisivos avances en la agricultura y la alimentación.
Asf pues, reitero que el diálogo entre los países desarrollados y en desarrollo es el vehículo aconsejado para crear condiciones adecuadas que conduzcan a un ambiente de efectiva cooperación. Debo insistir en este punto porque en las actuales circunstancias, la pesada carga de la deuda entre otros factores, como lo señala también muy de paso el párrafo 15, representa ahora el mayor limitante a las perspectivas de desarrollo.
Sin embargo, el convenir condiciones flexibles para el pago de la deuda externa no sería por sí solo suficiente si no va acompañado de medidas paralelas, entre las que tiene urgencia la de que las naciones industrializadas adopten medidas y políticas tendientes a facilitar el acceso a sus mercados de las exportaciones de los países en desarrollo, y creen condiciones que permitan la reanudación de corrientes de financiamiento sin lo cual el esfuerzo de reordenamiento económico que hagan los países latinoamericanos, quedará anulado.
Por otro lado, en el párrafo 3 del documento, al formular comentarios generales acerca de la situación de la agricultura y la alimentación en el tercer mundo, se omite a la América Latina a pesar de que las otras regiones en desarrollo sí son consideradas, y no obstante de que según fuentes de la FAO, se están dejando de cultivar en el' sudcontinente latinoamericano hasta el 80 por ciento de las tierras que ofrecen potencialidad suficiente para la producción de alimentos. Ello merece preocupación pues produce el fenómeno de que por el descuido de las áreas cultivables, se registre progresivamente el aumento de las importaciones de alimentos que contribuyen, en gran medida, a incrementar la inflación y frenar el desarrollo. Esa situación resulta aún más grave si se toma en cuenta que el promedio mundial de desaprovechamiento de los terrenos cultivables es del 52 por ciento, de acuerdo con datos de la FAO.
Al pasar al tema de los recursos naturales, no podía dejar de referirme a la pesca, por la importancia para mi país. Con razón se expresa en el párrafo 79 que la actividad pesquera es muy sensible a los cambios del tiempo y las corrientes marinas, y que esas variaciones tuvieron importantes repercusiones en las capturas frente a las costas de América Latina, en el Pacífico Sur.
Merece aclarar que, sin embargo, esas repercusiones negativas no provienen solamente de fenómenos naturales ni a la corriente de El Niño sino también a acciones humanas como son la reanudación de explosiones nucleares en la cuenca del Pacífico por parte de una nación extracontinental. que constituyen un grave riesgo para el medio marino y sus recursos naturales.
Tal situación produjo que los cuatro países de la Comisión Permanente del Pacífico Sur, con sede actual en Ecuador, y dentro de su política común de protección del medio marino, expresaran recientemente la oposición de sus Gobiernos a las explosiones nucleares, y pidieran el cese inmediato de las mismas; exhortación que renuevo en este foro international.
CHAIRMAN: I thank the distinguished delegate of Ecuador for his statement. It now gives me great pleasure to ask Ms Reidun Brusletten, the very distinguished Minister for Development Cooperation in Norway, to give her statement to this meeting.
Ms R. BRUSLETTEN (Norway): Mr Chairman, permit me first to congratulate this distinguished assembly on its good fortune in having you, Mr Swaminathan, in the Chair to guide our deliberations. As one of the world's distinguished development agricultural scientists you have an understanding of the underlying issues that I believe will be most valuable in the days ahead.
We meet today against a background of crisis in many Member Countries of this Organization - a crisis in which men are starving, women are going hungry, and children are dying from lack of food.
This is an intolerable state of affairs, no matter what the reasons - be they man-made or due to natural calamities. This is really irrelevant - our duty is to help. I hereby pledge on behalf of the Government of which I am a member that Norway will do her share to help in the common cause, the common effort to alleviate the suffering that the present disaster in Africa has brought in its wake.
The present disaster is one thing, and our duty here is clear; another is to work together to eradicate the causes of catastrophies such as we see today - in the hope that documents such as CL 86/2 and its supplements will describe history and not reality when our children sit in these chairs. I say "our children" because, much to my regret, I must agree with the Director-General - I fear we will not arrive where we would all want to be in our own active time. However, Mr Chairman, we can but try. My own Government is deeply committed to this, to international cooperation for economic, social, nutritional improvement and development for the disadvantaged people of the world.
As an indication of this commitment may I inform you, Mr Chairman, that we have just prepared and sent to Parliament a major report embodying guidelines and basic principles for Norway's future participation in international development cooperation.
The first principle, I am happy to inform you, has the support of all major political parties, and it is that 1.15 percent of our GNP is to be allocated.to development financing. It is also my intention as Minister responsible for development cooperation to work for increased allocations in the future.
Another basic commitment is that projects and programmes financed by Norway shall to the fullest extent possible aim at improving the conditions for the poorest people in the poorest countries, with a concentration of effort both geographically and sectorwise. The goal is to achieve a maximum developmental effect from the use of our financial and administrative resources.
On the question of channels for our allocations we intend to maintain in real terms our support for the work done by the United Nations' system of development-oriented agencies and programmes. Today between 40 percent and 50 percent of our total budgetary framework goes to multilateral cooperation. However, our bilateral programmes are continuously getting more extensive and as we gather experience and expertise, these programmes will be able to use efficiently a larger part of future increases in the budget.
I have said we will maintain in monetary terms our share of support for the multilateral agencies. But - and I stress this - the individual agencies and individual programmes will be under continuous evaluation by my Government as to their efficiency, the direction of the programmes (inter-alia their target groups) and for the results of their work. Our commitment is to the poor people, not to the agencies, and we will feel free to shift emphasis to those agencies which work most efficiently for those that need it the most.
Mr Chairman, one of the priorities of Norwegian development assistance is to bring women into the mainstream of the development process. Experience shows that it has been more difficult for women to get their share of development assistance. In our view, increased participation of women in the production process is a prerequisite for improved quality of life, in the families as well as at the national level. Because women constitute half of the world's population, their production potential is enormous. With fairly small investments is the form of improved technologies, training and agricultural inputs, women's work could be made much more productive.
In order to overcome these problems and to step up our bilateral assistance to women my Ministry has drawn up a plan of action with the objective of making assistance to women a regular part of our overall development assistance.
My Government is therefore pleased about the involvement of FAO in this field, which became evident during the valuable discussion in the Committee on Agriculture some time ago. We know that the process of involving women fully in the development process will take time. This is not to be accepted, and the importance of the issue should not be underestimated, as long as women are the backbone of agriculture in large parts of the world. It just means that efforts will have to be increased both at the bilateral level by FAO as well as other multilateral development organizations.
Agriculture, including fisheries, has a central place in the efforts to reduce hunger and malnutrition, and to improve economic and social conditions in the rural areas. Norway will therefore support the view in all international development organizations, especially UNDP and the.World Bank, that they increase their share of allocations for agriculture and rural development.
The organizational structure in the UN system for development cooperation in these sectors is a result of a historical process. The four central organizations located in Rome - FAO, the World Food Council, the World Food Programme and IFAD - all have their separate tasks.
My Government emphasizes the importance of avoiding as much as possible the overlapping and duplication of work during the realization of these tasks. This will be given priority when we take part in consultation procedures and in the governing bodies of these various organizations. My Government will seek to achieve this objective in cooperation with the other Nordic countries. My Government will also contribute to the work of these organizations so that their activities as far as possible be directed towards the poorest countries and the poorest parts of the population.
For my Government it is important to see to it that FAO puts more emphasis on economic, social and agro-political problems in relation to the more technical production problems. We will actively pursue these objectives in our trust fund activities.
Mr Chairman, I have used three times already the word "efficiency" and four times equivalents of the words "most needy". This is to underline what is not only my view, nor that only of the rest of Norway's Government; it is also the view of the Norwegian people who are the final decision-makers. In the end they will accept our participation at the present level in development cooperation - be that multilaterally or bilaterally - only as long as the key concepts I have mentioned are clearly in view.
We know from our own bilateral experience that "efficiency" is an easy word to use, but a difficult objective to achieve, especially so in the complex and many-faceted world of multilateral cooperation. This being said, I would add that the situation is intolerable in which different agencies, instead of being seen as cooperating, are perceived by the outside world to be wasting their resources and energies in fighting over who should have which responsibility, something that in an ordinary situation would be a serious blow to the idea of multilateral cooperation. Today - in the situation which is described in the documents before us - and even more poignantly so in the Director-General's appeals - it is intolerable, as I have said.
That is why my Government (and, indeed, here I speak on behalf of all my Nordic colleagues whose observers are present today), accepted with appreciation the decision by the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Director-General of FAO to institute a joint task force to carry out a full review of all the managerial problems that have arisen for the World Food Programme.
My Nordic colleagues and I are pleased that the Director-General and the Secretary-General have indicated that they share our view on the following aspects of the task force:
1. That the Joint Inspection Unit's report and the report from CFA/18 form part of the basis of the work of the task force;
2. that the reports and statements from the external auditor and the report from the ACABQ form part of the basis of the work concerning financial responsibility;
3. that the Executive Director of WFP is to be fully involved at every stage in the work of the task force, and
4. that this work will proceed with all due despatch so that its Report and conclusions can be submitted to the Nineteenth Session of the CFA, the policy body of the World Food Programme.
We hope that their work will conclude in recommendations so that the problems can be solved administratively, obviating the need for Member Governments to look for other solutions.
May I end my intervention by recalling that 2000 years ago in this city a policy-maker fiddled while Rome burned. Let us not emulate him while the world is burning in so many, far too many places. Let our agencies, governments and individuals act to help, act to build; otherwise history's judgement may be as hard on us as it is on that erstwhile fiddler.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you very much for that inspiring statement. We are very grateful to Ms Reidun Brusletten for coming to deliver her speech.
POINT OF ORDER
POINT D'ORDRE
PUNTO DE ORDEN
G. BULA HOYOS (Colombia): Punto de orden. La delegación de Colombia no interrumpió a la distinguidísima señora Ministro de Noruega por dos consideraciones. Primero, porque es una dama; y segundo, porque es una Ministro. Pero nosotros consideramos que es peligroso que se planteen temas fuera de orden. Estamos discutiendo el punto 4: "Estado mundial de la agricultura y de la alimentación". En la Agenda que adoptamos ayer no hay ningún punto relacionado ni con el Grupo de Acción ni con el 18° período de sesiones del CPA. Creemos que es mejor, como se ha dicho, cantar en vez de encender la llama.
A. ABDEL-MALEK (Liban) (langue originale arabe): Je vous remercie de m’avoir donné.la parole, et je voudrais me joindre à certains de mes collègues qui m'ont précédé pour vous féliciter ainsi que les vice-présidents qui ont été élus pour vous seconder dans la direction des travaux de la 86ème session du Conseil, et pour vous souhaiter à tous la réussite.
La Délégation libanaise est heureuse de participer aux discussions du point 4 de l'ordre du jour sur la situation mondiale de l’agriculture et de l'alimentation, objet du document CL 86/2 et CL 86/2-sup.l, et de les commenter en faisant deux observations.
La première observation c'est qu’en dépit de la reprise économique dont les prémices sont apparues dans les pays industriels au cours de la première moitié de 1984, les répercussions positives de cette reprise n'ont pas été ressenties sur l’agriculture. . De même, le commerce mondial des produits agricoles ne s'est pas amélioré depuis 1981. Nous aurions aimé voir une augmentation substantielle des fonds affectés aux aides bilatérales pour l’agriculture par rapport à l'aide globale.
La deuxième observation: nous sommes particulièrement satisfaits de ce que le document a révélé dans sa troisième partie au sujet de l’amélioration constatée dans la situation mondiale agricole et alimentaire. Il n'est point de doute que la FAO. a joué un rôle prépondérant dans l’accélération du progrès et du développemènt agricoles sur le plan mondial et cet effort recueille toute notre considération et toute notre estime. Toutefois nous sommes quelque peu inquiets en raison de la détérioration des prix mondiaux des produits agricoles, d'où la baisse des revenus des pays en voie de développemènt exportateurs de produits agricoles, le déséquilibre de leur balance des paiements et l’augmentation de leurs dettes, de leur retard et de leur pauvreté.
Nous sommes particulièrement inquiets en raison de la situation déséquilibrée ou plutôt de la détérioration du développemènt agricole dans beaucoup de pays en voie de développemènt. Nous mentionnerons tout particulièrement la situation agricole et alimentaire en Afrique et son niveau actuel auquel notre pays accorde une grande attention, en lui souhaitant la prospérité et le progrès.
Nous sommes particulièrement tristes, ainsi que la conscience mondiale, de voir des milliers d'enfants, de feiranes et d'hommes mourir de faim alors que d'autres pays baignent dans la surabondance et étouffent par la suralimentation. Nous sommes également inquiets du fait qu’au cours des dix demières années la population soit en augmentation constante en Afrique alors que la moyenne du revenu individuel est en détérioration continue et que l’Afrique est devenue un continent importateur d’aliments agricoles après en avoir été un exportateur.
Eu égard à cette situation en détérioration de l'alimentation et de l’agriculture en Afrique, nous sommes heureux d'entendre la -voix du Directeur général s'élever pour inciter la conscience humaine et pour transformer la direction de la FAO en une direction dynamique pour aider les pays dans le besoin. Nous félicitons le Directeur général et remercions la FAO pour sa proposition et son initiative présentées durant la Conférence régionale de l’Afrique et soumises également à la Commission administrative des Nations Unies pour proposer la convocation d’une session spéciale de l'Assemblée générale pour discuter de la situation économique, sociale et agricole en Afrique.
La délégation de mon pays remercie le Directeur général pour cette initiative positive qu'elle considère de bon augure. Nous appuyons cette proposition constructive et positive et invitons nos collègues au sein du Conseil à coopérer avec le Directeur général dans cette noble mission humaine qui revêt une importance incomparable.
L’etude exhaustive et approfondie de la situation de l’alimentation et de l’agriculture en Afrique proposée par le Directeur général revêt, du point de vue de la délégation de mon pays, une grande importance car elle permettra de diagnostiquer le mal, de proposer les remèdes et de régler les problèmes agricoles du continent africain d'une manière claire et pratique susceptible de répondre aux besoins de ces pays.
Notre délégation estime que tant qu’existent une telle direction et une bonne volonté de la part des pays riches et tant qu’existe un potentiel suffisant fourni par la communauté internationale représentée par la FAO qui, aux yeux de ma délégation, est la pionnière du développement agricole et rural sur le plan international et devant ce puissant édifice et sa ferme direction nous ne pouvons qu'envisager l’avenir avec espoir et optimisme en souhaitant bonheur et prospérité à tous les pays. A cette occasion nous souhaitons au Directeur général la réussite dans sa noble mission qu'il assume au sein de la FAO et dans le cadre des objectifs que nous poursuivons.
A. EL SARKI (Egypt) (original language Arabic): In the name of Allah, the Merciful and the Compassionate: I would like at the outset to associate myself with those who preceded me and to congrulate the Director-General for his all-embracing statement. We would like to commend his constrctive efforts to support the activities and programmes of this Organization. I would like also to thank Dr Nurul Islam for his brief and clear presentation of document CL 86/2-sup.l. We would like also to congratulate the Vice-Chairmen who were elected.
Information contained in paragraphs 9 to 13 generate hopes so far as the increase of agricultural production and food production are concerned. The increase was estimated at 3.3 percent, which is a higher percentage than that of the population growth. International cereal stocks were replenished and wheat imports reduced.
Studying paragraphs 25 to 33 has proved that the imports were reduced by 10 percent compared with the level of 1981. Developing countries’ raw materials export revenues were higher but they were not enough to compensate for the losses incurred over the previous years. Therefore agriculture trade patterns should be improved amongst developing countries.
In paragraphs 37 to 42, regarding agricultural external assistance we note that there was a decrease of 20 percent over the years 1982 to 1983, and since agriculture is the very foundation of development in developing countries, we launched an appeal to countries for benefitting credit facilities to take enough care in training the cadres who would be managing these facilities in order to respond in the most optimum manner to their needs.
We would like also to launch an appeal to donor countries to provide liquidity for financial funds so as to enable them to carry out their mission.
The situation in Africa is most distressing, as has been mentioned in paragraphs 46 to 52 and we would like to thank the Director-General for the efforts he has exerted to provide emergency assistance to African countries. We do welcome the resolution which aims at guaranteeing the provision of food resources for the needy and we welcome the cooperation taking place within the TCP of FAO. We would like to commend the Organization for its efforts as far as early warning systems in Africa are concerned. Convinced of the necessity of achieving prosperity in food security, Egypt has prepared a Five-Year Plan for agricultural development since 1982 so as to achieve integration between horizontal and vertical expansion programmes, intensive agriculture, rationalizing the utilization of resources, rationalizing consumption, adopting new pricing policies depending on incentives,
conserving the fertility of the soil by avoiding erosion, etc., organizing urban expansion and ensuring that the village is a productive unit in the service of the city. A certain measure of self-sufficiency was achieved, productivity increased and a surplus for exportation ensured.
L.E. WILLIAMS (Trinidad and Tobago): Mr Chairman, on behalf of the delegation of Trinidad and Tobago I wish to join with all the preceding speakers in congratulating you and the two other Vice-Chairmen of the Council on being elected to office. Our delegation shares the conviction that under your distinguished leadership and guidance our work will be concluded constructively. I also wish to thank the members of the Latin American and Caribbean group for the confidence they have shown in nominating me as Vice-Chairman of this Council meeting.
I now wish to turn my attention to the two documents before us, CL 86/2 and CL 86/2-Sup.l. These documents address themselves to the question of the state of food and agriculture in 1984 and reflect the grimness of the situation in regard to the state of food and agriculture in the developing world. We do not propose to enter into discussion of detail as presented in these documents, since in essence most aspects of the subject have been exhaustively handled by the delegations which have already spoken. We wish instead to direct your attention to some of the broader related issues, the solution of which we believe, at least in part, will be necessary in order to ensure the determination of the food and agriculture problem. Mr Chairman, permit me to direct your attention to the Buenos Airea Declaration and the quotation therefrom as follows: "that the present inequitable international economic order and the profound economic crisis have severely affected development conditions and prospects in the region".
In this present forum, we strongly feel that unless and until the economic relationship between the developed and developing countries is suitably altered, we, of the Third World, will continue to find ourselves in our present disadvantageous position. The unfair price relationship between basic commodities and manufactured products, the inequitable workings of the international monetary system, and the growing protectionist policies all place us at a disadvantage vis-à-vis the developed countries.
We wish, therefore, to support the comments of Argentina and Colombia to the effect that the recently begun economic recovery of the developed countries, which is regarded in some circles as being to the imminent advantage of the developing countries, has been achieved at the expense of developing countries. In reality, the dependence of developing countries on external aid has within recent times increased and their foreign debt situation worsened. The cumulative effects of these policies and practices are reflected, amongst other things, in the worsened state of food and agriculture broadly evident in the Third World. A relevant manifestation of this is the inability of developing countries, a) to maintain their level of funding to agriculture research and development projects or attempt the required numerical increase in such projects, b) to increase the cost of maintaining their curtailed agricultural programmes, or alternatively, to maintain the level of importation of food consistent with their populations' demands.
We would like to refer again to the Buenos Aires Declaration, and with respect to the relevant operative paragraph indicate our support for those initiatives which seek to direct the world's financial and intellectual resources to the more immediate needs for the relief of human suffering and the promotion of food development programmes.
Other significant factors which we think deserve attention are the inter-related issues of urban development and urban drift. It is, we are sure, well recognized that the maintenance and/or enhancement of agricultural activities and productivity are related intimately under Third World conditions to the continued existence of a sufficient human resource in rural areas. A significant problem in the Third World, however, is that of urban population drift, which apart from contributing to the depletion of the human resource in the rural areas, adversely affects food production as well as the food demand characteristics. The documents already referred to adequately appraise the causes of this drift and its seemingly unavoidable consequences.
We wish to suggest here that FAO could enhance its activity in the area of rural development and planning and seek positive influence of relevant international and non-governmental organizations in a similar direction.
Another factor which impacts strongly on the state of food and agriculture in developing countries at this time is that of appropriate technology. Again we believe that accelerating activities in this area will yield lasting dividends and reduce the dependence of some developing countries on food aid, and in others, assist in the conserving of precious foreign exchange.
In conclusion, allow me to thank the Director-General for his worth-while overview of the Agenda items before the Council. Likewise, we wish to report our appreciation to the Secretariat for the substantive documents on this item.
A.K. OSUBAN (Uganda): Mr Chairman, Uganda would like to associate itself with the sentiments already expressed by previous speakers in welcoming you again as Chairman of our sessions. I shall start by congratulating the three Vice-Chairmen who have been unanimously elected to assist you in guiding the deliberations of this Council.
We have been impressed by the comprehensive appraisal of world agriculture given by the Director-General and the lucid exposition by Professor Islam of the current world food situation.
Turning to the document before us, we have a few observations to make. This document, as many others presented in various fora, has very little to give us comfort. It indicates the unequal distribution of food stocks, a point in itself which is a source of food insecurity. The document makes it explicitly clear that the investment climate in agriculture is very uncertain, a situation which has been compounded by the growing heavy debt burdens on the part of developing countries.
It is also more worrying, as evidenced in the document, to note that the momentum of flows of official development assistance, which characterized the mid - and late 1970s, appears to be petering out, and the rate of growth in official commitments to agriculture as in 1979, while multilateral commitments actually declined in 1982.
In this context, let me allude to the pathetic situation of IFAD. All of us here recognize and have appreciated the positive role that IFAD has played by focussing its activities on the rural people who till the land and who are the major producers of food. It is saddening to note that the activities of IFAD are in jeopardy. In 1983 the commitments of IFAD had declined by 37 per cent because of problems of funding. We therefore extend our solemn appeal to all countries to facilitate IFAD to stand on a sound footing so that it can carry out its activities. I should hasten to add that we are very much encouraged by the goodwill which has up to now been shown by the international community.
On the question of food aid we are dismayed by the decline in shipments of food aid in the period under review, and as pointed out in this document this decline happened at the time when food aid was most needed. On the other hand we wish to record our appreciation of international committees response to the various disasters, and especially to the disaster caused by the continuing drought in sub-Saharan Africa. In this regard, Mr Chairman, we would like to reiterate our trust in the United Nations’ Agencies concerned with food, that they will continue to cooperate among themselves in performing their duties for the good of the target beneficiaries.
A. RODRIGUES PIRES (Cap-Vert): Je vous souhaite la bienvenue parmi nous et j’associe ma voix aux honorables délégués qui vous ont félicité ainsi que les vice-présidents. J’aimerais aussi souhaiter la bienvenue dans cette salle à l’honorable Ministre de Sao Tomé-et-Principe qui vient de rentrer il y a à peine une heure.
Je remercie le Professeur Islam pour la clarté de sa présentation et le Secrétariat de la FAO pour la préparation du document CL 86/2, document qui est de très grande importance.
Je commencerai mon intervention par les paragraphes 95-110 qui traitent particulièrement de la situation dramatique en Afrique. En effet, les multiples appels que le Directeur général de la FAO a lancés depuis le mois de mai 1983 sur la situation dans ce continent afin de sensibiliser les donateurs, ont paru alors pessimistes à certains. Malheureusement la situation que nous vivons aujourd’hui en Afrique est de loin plus grave qu'alors. C'est la réalité, il faut le dire. Je voudrais saisir cette occasion pour remercier également les donateurs et les pays membres de l’Organisation de la FAO qui ont répondu à ces appels en faveur de l’Afrique et continuent à donner leur soutien aux problèmes du continent africain.
J'aimerais également rappeler que la FAO porte une attention particulière aux questions de coopération régionale et sous-régionale et appuie les institutions régionales telles que le FISE et autres qui ont été créées dans le but fundamental d'aider les pays membres à l’autosuffisance alimentaire de cette region. Ma délégation voudrait également appuyer la proposition de la Colombie en ce qui concerne la nécessité d'une coopération entre les pays en dévéloppement, coopération technique et scientifique. Egalement il m’est agréable de dire combien j’ai apprécié l’importance des nouvelles déclarations du Ministre de la Norvège, Madame le Ministre de Norvège, en ce qui concerne la participation des femmes. Nous croyons également dans notre pays, que la participation des femmes dans le secteur rural est très importante à tous les niveaux.
Les ministres africains réunis à Harare n'ont pas caché que l'avenir du dévéloppement en Afrique et le soin de développer notre agriculture et notre secteur rural, et par conséquent d'améliorer. l’état nutritionnel de tous nos concitoyens, incombe avant tout à nos gouvernements et à nos peuples. Ils ont donné la priorité à l’agriculture et à la sécurité alimentaire. Mais les efforts nationaux ne pourront pas donner de résultats sans une aide internationale, et notamment celle de la FAO. C’est pourquoi notre délégation appuie pleinement la recommandation faite par le
Directeur général de la FAO demandant à l'Assemblée générale d'examiner tous les aspects de la crise économique et sociale de l’Afrique, de même que sa proposition concernant une étude approfondie des problèmes agricoles et alimentaires de l'Afrique.
Nous sommes certains que cette etude telle que l'a définie le Directeur general de la FAO hier matin tiendra compte des situations réelles des pays africains et permettra aux responsables politiques des pays africains de mettre en pratique la volonté politique qui a été exprimée unanimement à Harare, au Zimbabwe.
Avant de terminer, je voudrais appuyer la déclaration, en solidarité avec le Président du Groupe des 77 et je voudrais rappeler que le dernier sommet de l’OUA a consacré la majeure partie de son temps à traiter des problèmes économiques et sociaux de l'Afrique, notamment du développement rural. Ceci confirme encore une fois la volonté politique de la déclaration d'Harare et permettra à l'aide extérieure de mieux s'intégrer dans les plans de développement national, et je suis sûr que de cette façon l'aide sera encore plus efficace.
P.N. BAIGENT (New Zealand): Thank you Mr Chairman. I am conscious of the fact that we follow a long list of speakers, many of whom have clearly expressed many of our views, particularly those who have highlighted the inequitable distribution of food, so we will try to be brief.
We too congratulate the Secretariat on their excellent review of the world food scene. The Review Section is particularly comprehensive but we would feel that a more indepth analysis of the statistics presented would greatly aid our understanding of the current situation, and perhaps this is something they could bear in mind for the future.
As the present Council Representatives for the f!outh Pacific, we are concerned that the present report, omits to review the situation in the developing nations of our region. We must therefore request that some coverage be given to our region in the future. In focusing attention on the South Pacific let us not also forget the special development problems of isolation, limited resources, distance from markets and the absence of a nearby developed economy which many of our island states face in their efforts to develop a balanced and sustained economy.
Thus it is pleasing to see in the Report on the implementation of earlier Council decisions, special mention of assistance to the South Pacific Island States under the Fisheries Development Programme. We hope that such recognition will be extended to the more general agricultural development programmes.
Mr Chairman, many speakers in this discussion have expressed concern about the lack of progress in improving the agricultural trading environment. Indeed, the Report in front of us shows a decline in the last decade of more than 25 percent in agriculture's share of total trade, and New Zealand must place on record her concern at the situation. We believe a healthy and open trade environment is essential to sustain development and the equitable distribution of food. Clearly we believe food may come from three sources - home production, importation and food aid. The latter we believe should be a short term measure for use in crisis situations. Hence New Zealand's aid attention has been on helping the developing countries institute sustainable and efficient production systems, and on improving the trading environment. We will expand on this in later discussions of the Council.
We submit that it is not necessary or desirable that all countries be totally self sufficient in all food commodities. Given the ability to exploit other sources of foreign exchange, the importation of food may contribute to a better balanced economy, particularly in cases where urbanization has taken place to the detriment of former food sufficiency.
The distinguished delegate from Pakistan yesterday highlighted the paradox of starvation amongst plenty. Surely trade is the vehicle to permanently restore the balance, if only we had the political will to put in place the international economic and trading conditions that this requires. Mr Chairman, it is against this background that we hear with some alarm suggestions that this Organization may be abandoning its attempts to bring about improvements in the world trade environment. We cannot give up. This issue is as important as food aid and other development assistance, and deserves comparable attention from FAO.
Mr Chairman, in closing let us put some meaning to the so far empty calls for freeing-up of trade.
E.W. DENNEY (United States of America): Thank you Mr Chairman. Let me begin by congratulating you on your prestigious position as Chairman of this session. We are confident that under your leadership and that of three capable Vice-Chairmen our deliberations during this two week period will be very fruitful.
The United States is encouraged by the recent improvement in several world wide economic indicators, and fully believes that such improvements will, at least in part, be transmitted to developing economies. Nevertheless, we are acutely aware of the food problems being faced in Africa today and will be providing details on US initiatives for Africa during the next Agenda item.
Mr Chairman, respecting your concerns that our interventions be brief, let me comment on a few items that are indicated in the document which have been referenced by earlier speakers. First let me congratulate the Secretariat for providing a useful and well balanced picture on the state of food and agriculture in 1984. We particularly appreciate the section dealing with patterns of food production and consumption over the past decade, and with urbanization and migration trends. Both sections provide an insight to perspective for those of us concerned with world food problems. Preliminary results of the fifth World Food Survey reveals several important relationships. The survey provides documentation of a close correlation between poverty and hunger, particularly as experienced in the poorest countries. It also gives considerable attention to other factors which affect food consumption, especially prices paid by consumers, but also notes that growing food imports are often very much the result of domestic demand failing to be adequately transmitted to domestic producers.
The Review also notes the important connection between meeting increased urban demand from rural production and the creation'of urban marketing systems. The role of prices in facilitating this transaction is obviously very important. In this regard the United States is anxiously awaiting the results of FAO's global price study, especially the analysis of producer price incentives and recommendations for price modifications by food deficit developing countries.
Mr Chairman, before making additional comments on the documents before us, let me take this opportunity to briefly highlight the current agricultural situation in the United States. We fully recognize that our own production and stock trends exert considerable influence on world-wide trends. I will restrict my comments to commodities which are referenced in the supplements, that is wheat and coarse grains. Our wheat stocks are about 8 percent below the level of a year ago but they are still the second-highest on record. These stocks account for some 37 percent of the world total and are roughly equal to our wheat exports during 1983/84. The recently completed wheat harvest is up 6 percent from a year ago and is our third largest. Our coarse grain output in 1984/85 is expected to be 70 percent above the drought reduced 83/84 harvest, resulting in a projected 36 percent stock increase during 1984/85. The payment in kind programmes for both wheat and coarse grain have been eliminated.
Regarding specific comments on the state of food and agriculture, particularly those items that have been referenced by earlier speakers concerning IDA, we agree that a higher replenishment would have provided a greater impetus to economic development, but the United States continues to believe that a 9 billion US dollar replenishment can be highly effective if focused on countries such as sub-Saharan Africa which lack adequate access to alternative financing. We are also encouraged by recent progress made to affect an IFAD replenishment and feel confident that a replenishment will soon be agreed upon.
Concerning the International Emergency Food Reserve, our Government does not agree to an automatic annual replenishment of the IEFR to an inflexible target level. We believe that each food donor must be flexible in determining the best method for channelling its food assistance. However, we note that contributions to the IEFR have already reached nearly 550 000 tons during 1984, of which the US share was approximately 210 000 and the year is not yet complete.
We are pleased to see that the percentage of disposable per capita income spent on food imports has gradually declined since 1974 to 1976 among the poorest of countries, and note that this percentage is now lower than any other category of developing countries.
Mr Chairman, since there have been several references to the deliberations of the Inter-governmental Group on Bananas let me reiterate that the United States cannot accept a commodity agreement that fails to balance the interests of importers and exporters, and which transfers resources from consumers to producers. In addition to being undesirable from the US viewpoint, an international banana agreement probably would be unworkable. Export quotas are difficult to enforce under the best of circumstances, and the allocation of a total quota at a level that would have any economic effect is always contentious and often unsolveable.
Finally, Mr Chairman, the United States wants to assure fellow delegates that we remain a full partner in coping with the problems of world hunger, the problems of international economic concerns and many others that have been discussed and that are plaguing us today, and we can only say that during the course of events through IDA and IFAD, our contributions to Ethiopia as well as other African countries, will fully indicate in actions what we are today speaking in words.
M. GIFFORD (Canada): First let me congratulate the Secretariat on what we regard as a very good and very professional economic analysis of the situation prevailing in 1984,with some retrospective analysis over the last decade. We appreciate that the Secretariat has responded to the requests of a number of delegations in the past to disaggregate more. The result is an analysis which, in the words of the document, is assisted by some,'unconventional groupings of countries'.
Although as a major developed agricultural exporter country we would have liked to see more analysis of the factors affecting the evolution of the agriculture sectors of both the developed as well as the developing countries, we can appreciate why on this tenth anniversary of the World Food Conference the Secretariat decided to concentrate largely on a retrospective analysis of the food situation in the developing countries.
In our view, the document is balanced and perceptive. It notes that considerable progress in increasing food production in the developing countries has taken place. Although it emphasizes that progress has been extremely uneven, it is noteworthy that even in Africa there have been some positive developments. For example, the document notes that eleven countries in Africa increased their dietary energy supply on a per capita basis by more than 10 percent over the past decade.
The document also suggests that increased food imports are not necessarily a sign of failure. Quite the contrary, those countries experiencing rapid economic growth can be expected to increase their food imports as effective demand outstrips the ability of a country to increase domestic agricultural production. In short, this simply reflects high income elasticities of food demand in middle-income developing countries.
Obviously, however, the situation is far from satisfactory in the case of a number of other developing countries. For these countries growing food imports, whether on a concessionary or commercial basis,do constitute a worrying symptom. In some cases this symptom can reflect underlying inappropriate agricultural and/or general economic development policies. In yet other cases growing food imports can be attributed to factors largely outside the control of any government - for example poor resource endowment or the effects of drought. To repeat, the point I am trying to make here is to underline the document's analysis that growing food imports per se are not necessarily a sign of failure. Increased food self-reliance should not be equated with the autarchic concept followed by too many developed countries that food self-sufficiency is equivalent to godliness.
Many delegations have referred to the growing interdependence of the world food economy and the vital necessity of improving the rules governing the agricultural trade, particularly as they relate to all forms of export assistance, and to improving the terms of access to foreign markets. I think I would be remiss if I did not refer to a small ray of hope in this regard. In Geneva last week the GATT Committee on Trade in Agriculture finally agreed on a set of recommendations to its governing body which holds the promise of actually coming to grips with many of the problems which have plagued agricultural trade for far too long. Obviously solutions cannot be expected overnight. Solutions if and when they occur will be slow and incremental, given the vested political interests in play. Nevertheless, the agreement reached last week does reflect a spirit of willingness and comoromise on behalf of all parties, developed and developing, which we can only hope will continue over the coming years.
Turning to my last point, I would like to flag at this time the Canadian delegation's uneasiness with respect to the continued significance attached to some very crude indicators. In particular, I wonder whether the time has not come to reassess the world cereal stocks barometer which was developed during the World Food Conference. How valid is the concept that cereal stocks as a percentage of world consumption portrays an accurate assessment of global food world security? A lot has happened since 1974. Contrary to the expectations of the 1974 World Food Conference, real world prices of grains have not increased, in fact they have continued their secular decline. Many grain producers in North America and Europe are facing a continuing cost price squeeze at a time when government budget deficits are so high that the traditional propensity to financially support the farm sector is being increasingly circumscribed. It would appear to me that the next State of Food and Agriculture could well examine the implications to world food security of the developments which are currently impacting on the developed as well as the developing agricultural economies.
In closing, let me say how much the Canadian delegation enjoyed the comments of the Norwegian Minister for Development Cooperation. We fully endorse all the comments made by the distinguished Minister.
L. ARIZA HIDALGO (Cuba): Queremos aquí aprovechar la ocasión para saludarlo austed y para felicitar a los Vicepresidentes electos de Trinidad y Tabago, Indonesia y Reino Unido. El Director General de la FAO ha sido explícito y claro con una exposición que nos permite valorar, en toda su magnitud, las responsabilidades del 86º Consejo de la FAO, en estos momentos.
Queremos al empezar a discutir o analizar el documento que se nos ha presentado, primero apoyar en todas sus partes la declaración del Sr. Carandang, representante de Filipinas y Presidente del Grupo de los 77. El Grupo discutió muy cuidadosamente este documento. Por nuestra parte, hemos estudiado
y reflexionado bastante el CL 86/2 presentado por el Sr. Islam, en una inteligente y profesional síntesis de una complicada y compleja situación. Le conferimos al tema de agricultura y alimentación, la razón de ser de la FAO, Organización del Sistema de Naciones Unidas que puede hablar con voz propia sobre la alimentación y la agricultura en el mundo, que viene haciendo esfuerzos gigantescos por cumplir el mandato que le ha dado la comunidad internacional.
El Director General de la FAO Edouard Saouma, sin lugar a dudas, es reconocido por su dinamismo, tenacidad y capacidad para dirigir los esfuerzos hacia la consecución y concertación de medidas en el piano regional y mundial, para aumentar la producción de alimentos, en particular en los países subdesarrollados, reforzar la seguridad alimentaria eintensificar el apoyo internacional.
En este contexto, el documento es un esfuerzo a felicitar, amplio, bastante profuso, con nivel técnico superior, un compendio de datos y cifras de los que surge el mismo diagnóstico de hace veinte años. Sobre el documento, se han planteado en la sala muchas cuestiones que no vamos a repetir; no quisiéramos tampoco hablar sobre cuestiones tan sabidas como redundantes en nuestros documentos de estos últimos años. Creo que es tiempo suficiente para no detenernos aquí; creo que es necesario individuar los obstáculos que hacen que mantengamos en todos los informes y documentos las palabras: preocupantes, decepcionantes, resultados inciertos, seguirán deteriorándose las condiciones, no se ven soluciones al drama terrible, hambruna, tragedias ... Se habla hoy ya en nuestros documentos y en la television italiana, sinexplosión atómica o termonuclear, de millones de muertos. ¿Qué es esto? Realmente, este documento nos hace sentir una amarga impotencia ante la situación que analizamos. Y preguntamos ¿por qué no preguntamos cómo surgen y se multiplican los problemas económicos y financieros en la agricultura? ¿Qué mecanismos provocan la fluctuación de precios? ¿A quiénes benefician nacional e internacionalmente? ¿Por qué no profundizamos en estas cuestiones prácticas que todos conocemos en vez de responsabilizar al mundo subdesarrollado con la explosión demográfica y con el auge urbanístico? No es el llamado Tercer Mundo el responsable de que estos fenómenos sean perjudiciales; podían ser muy útiles. Esto es discutible sobre bases científicas. Quisiera decirlo si bien no creo que este es el foro para discutir esto.
Los modelos y los estudios de factibilidad de los organismos financieros internacionales son los que han planeado' el crecimiento urbanístico en todo el mundo subdesarrollado, y ahora son responsables ellos. Sobre la explosión demográfica, nosotros nos resistimos a aceptarla cuando somos incapaces de redistribuir en una sociedad donde la miseria sigue imperando en el seno de la opulencia. ¿Qué derecho tenemos para decretar sobre el derecho humano primario de la pareja?
Además, señores, cuando todos sabemos aquí, todos lo sabemos que la atenuación de este fenómeno, de este fenómeno sera el resultado, y no otro, de elevar los niveles socioeconómicos y culturales. ¿Vamos a hacer esta estadística para ver los resultados?
¿Por qué no profundizamos en el multilateralismo como el esfuerzo común para lograr la aproximación progresiva, continua de los niveles de desarrollo y del crecimiento económico, en donde puede jugar un papel muy importante la FAO y otro's organismos en el mundo, donde la coparticipación de técnicos y especialistas de los países desarrollados junto con los técnicos y especialistas de los países en desarrollo, esta comunión puede propiciar y preparar a los países una equiparación de niveles que les permitan afrontar las relaciones bilaterales, que siempre existirán entre unos países y otros por herencia, historia, por proximidad, por intereses económicos?
Pero, bilateralmente en grado de ser realmente bilaterales, y no dependientes, obligatoriamente constreñidos a una aceptación. Multilateralidad con la ayuda; multilateralidad en la participación de programas en desarrollo; multilateralidad en la capacitación; multilateralidad en la investigación. Creemos que la multilateralidad puede ayudar a los grandes países desarrollados a ayudar a encontrar el "partenaire" capaz y eficiente de ayudarlos en sus crecientes necesidades, que las tienen tanto productor y consumidor.
Entonces, sí tendría algún sentido esta otra palabra muy utilizada de la interdependencia, que no es formal típicamente. ¿Podrá haber interdependencia con un régimen de dependencia económico, técnico y financiero? ¿La autosuficiencia que también se utiliza, también se podrá no sólo lograr sino a medias tener sin que las condiciones del intercambio producto de un orden económico injusto y negativo cambie? ¿Cómo podemos enfrentar el proteccionismo, qué medidas tenemos para enfrentarlo? ¿Repetirlo en setecientos mil informes de los organismos internacionales? Nada más, porque no tenemos otra forma de resolver el endeudamiento que tenemos actualmente. ¿Nos puede permitir una política nacional independiente? Falso. Los países pequeños dependerán siempre en gran medida del comercio .exterior. La concepción de un programa nacional y económico se hará con las relaciones preferentes de acuerdo a las ventajas de precios; pero para ello, debemos tener la suficiente independencia. Indeperidencia para obrar fuera de las concepciones oligopólicas y monopólicas que rigen el mundo hoy, que imponen el intercambio desigual permanente en el comercio, y que imponen las barreras a la producción arancelarias.
Creo que debemos profundizar también un poco en el Nuevo Orden Económico Internacional que estamos, desde 1979, pugnando los países subdesarrollados, y que consiste no solamente, en primer término diríamos, en romper la desigualdad que hace que tengamos que pagar por los productos que compramos
a diez o quince veces más de lo que pagamos en 1950 -busquen las estadísticas para que vean los precios que estamos pagando y son los de 1950- y sin embargo, los precios de nuestros productos fundamentalmente los estamos comprando a precios de 1931 y 1932, o sea, aquellos precios de los llamados, del llamado momento de la gran depresión.
A veces, el documento nos plantea una palabra muy interesante; que la recuperación ahora es un suspiro para los países en desarrollo o subdesarrollados como nosotros. Planteamos, ¿qué tipo de suspiro?; ¿será el último suspiro, no?
Es fácil comprender lo que esto significa en cuanto a crear dependencia, intercambio, desigualdad. Mientras exista este desequilibrio en los precios, ¿podemos llamar al actual Orden Económico justo y equitativo? El Orden Económico impuesto posibilita a un país crecer él solo, pues sus mecanismos se lo permiten, sus mecanismos. ¿Es casualidad que en medio de su recuperación, las altas tasas de interés subieran a la estratosfera junto con el programa espacial? ¿Es casualidad que para pagar su cuota, como ahora mismo se ha expresado sobre el convenio del banano, para pagar su cuota comprendida en la primera reposición del FIDA, expresaran descaradamente que cómo iban a convencer a sus legisladores si no obtenían ningún beneficio en el FIDA? La palabra es interdependencia.
Ahora se esgrime el liberalismo a ultranza, el libre comercio, la libre empresa. Espontaneidad inherente que surge dentro, pero que están expuestas a una espontaneidad dada por el dominio del monopolio y el oligopolio contra los precios, fluctuaciones y mercados.
Todas estas cuestiones planteadas, señor Presidente, contestan el porqué de la incertidumbre en cuanto al desarrollo del Tercer Mundo; el porque se mantienen las mismas condiciones de hace 20 años, el porqué no hay posibilidades reales dentro del actual Orden Económico Internacional para la negociación global Norte-Sur, para el Convenio del Trigo, para el Convenio Azucarero, -porque no existe la voluntad política ni la voluntad asistencial. Por lo menos los hechos son así y son los que cuentan.
Nuestras respuestas al documento que se nos pidió, y que debemos recoger en este Consejo de FAO con todas sus premoniciones, que tiene bastantes el documento, y con sus observaciones; pero debemos reafirmar si queremos hacer algo por esas observaciones y por esas premoniciones del documento, reafirmar, repito, la profunda convicción de una solución duradera a los problemas de los países subdesarrollados, que ello dependerá de una constante y fundamentada reestructuración de las relaciones económicas internacionales a través del establecimiento de un nuevo Orden Económico Internacional. Este párrafo es muy bonito, no lo hice yo, por eso es bonito. Este párrafo es el primer párrafo que se presentó sobre esto en la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas. Creo recordar que era en 1979 ó 1980.
Sobre la grave situación africana, señor Presidente, nuestra delegación preferiría que primero Africa nos expresara sus criterios. Quisiéramos oírles a ellos antes de que los sabios empecemos a hablar sobre Africa. Africa sabe que Cuba está dispuesta a ayudarlos pero, como digo, quisiéramos oírles sobre qué es lo que quieren y cómo lo quieren.
Finalmente, hay una cuestión muy importante que está en el documento y también en la Declaración del Director General que nos parece que es importante para los países en desarrollo: el reconocer al Director General todo el apoyo que presta a los Programas de Cooperación Técnica entre los países en desarrollo.
DATO ALWI JANTAN (Malaysia): Mr Chairman, I would like first of all to take this opportunity on behalf of my delegation and myself to join those distinguished speakers before me in expressing our pleasure at seeing you in the Chair once again in order to take the deliberations of this Council to their successful conclusion. I would also like to congratulate the three Vice-Chairmen on their election.
Further, my delegation wishes to congratulate the Secretariat for its notable effort in producing this comprehensive report on the State of Food and Agriculture 1984, which not only provides an excellent in-depth review of trends and events in world food and agriculture since the 1970s, but also focuses attention on important features of interest in the agricultural and rural development policies and programmes worldwide.
My delegation wishes to express our deep appreciation to the Director-General for his brilliant analysis of the food situation and world economy. Professor Nurul Islam is also to be congratulated on his excellent introduction to the item under consideration.
My delegation wishes to associate itself with the statement made by the distinguished delegate of the Philippines in his capacity as current Chairman of the Group of 77. His statement highlighted various questions of importance to us.
We would also like to share the concern expressed by a number of delegations on the current state of food and agriculture in the developing world and the seemingly insurmountable obstacles and problems faced by these countries in what is often regarded as a world of affluence and plenty. This really must be the irony of this century. Malaysia has strived and has been quite successful in its efforts to increase food production. However, this has been achieved only through sheer grit and determination in the face of a wide range of problems. However, more needs to be done not only to keep abreast with developments in other sectors, but to ensure that enough food is available for the growing needs of the population. The National Agricultural Policy, introduced by the Government early this year, has been formulated to address itself to the need to sustain the contribution of the agricultural sector, and to the need to be sensitive to present and future needs of the country, as well as being responsive to world trends in agricultural export commodities. The objective of the NAP is to maximize income from agriculture through the utilization of the resources, and the revitalization of the sector's contribution to the overall economic development of the country. In order to achieve this, appropriate strategies and programmes which take cognizance of the constraints and prospects have been formulated and are being implemented.
Returning to the current situation of food and agriculture, what are the strategies and options left to the developing countries and to FAO in trying to assist developing countries? It is to this issue that I wish to address myself.
Malaysia is firmly of the view that primarily there is no real alternative to helping ourselves and to helping each other. We have heard of some success stories; we have heard how some of us have been able to help ourselves, but we might like to hear more about how we can help each other. We submit that this cooperation might be pursued at three levels - first of all, through dialogue and cooperation on a global basis and secondly, through regional cooperation by using existing institutions and organizations where appropriate. We in the Association of South Asian Nations are forging ahead with this kind of cooperation on a sustained basis. We have established a food security scheme, and a joint venture on fertilizer production. We cooperate in research and training as well as a host of other activities in various sectors of agriculture. But there is still much more to be done. We submit that at these two levels, FAO has a role to play in promoting, facilitating and assisting dialogue and cooperation between developing countries. We request the Director-General to consider including this area of activity within his programme priority for economic and technical cooperation between developing countries.
The third level of cooperation.has to be bilateral cooperation transcending regional boundaries. We have made a start in a modest way by offering technical assistance to those countries which might need it. As indicated in document CL 86/2 Sup. 1, Table 8 outlined multilateral and bilateral commitments to agriculture, and in our view these should be further strengthened. While Malaysia is concentrating on development efforts in agriculture and food production, we are continuing collaboration with other developing countries through the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme which is consistent with the concept of technical cooperation among developing countries. Through this Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme we are hoping to pursue collaborative efforts and to share development experience with countries outside the region. At present, a few countries in Africa and the Pacific have already availed themselves of this cooperation. We feel it is our moral obligation to continue to play this role and we are convinced that if this kind of assistance is multiplied many times by those countries in a position to give this kind of assistance, we shall be going a long way towards helping each other to be self-reliant in food.
Finally, Mr Chairman, my delegation would hate to see this Eighty-sixth Session of the Council end with a message of doom and despair for the countries of the developing world but rather, a greater resolve, commitment, greater hope, and faith in God and in ourselves.
REAZ RAHMAN (Bangladesh): Mr Chairman, may I first express how happy we are to see you chairing this Session. It is a reflection of our full confidence in you and our respect for you personally, and for your intimate knowledge and experience of the complex issues before us. I would also like to congratulate all the three Vice-Chairmen on their unanimous election.
The setting and tone of our deliberations have been given a definite focus and direction by the thought-provoking address of the Director-General. We are conscious of his dynamism and his consistent efforts for the eradication of hunger and malnutrition, and we place on record, our deepest appreciation of his efforts. We also wish to thank Professor Nurul Islam for his lucid introduction of the excellent documents placed before us. In his characteristic style he has concisely put forward the main trends contained in the Review of the State of World Food and Agriculture. We are conscious of the difficulties involved in the presentation of such a broad panoramic study embracing, as it does, a wide variety of countries and the infinitely diverse circumstances that affect each, and within a set of intricate and closely connected parameters with widely differing impacts, parameters which cover financial, economic and trading performance. The study has touched on vital matters of food consumption, nutritional requirements, the development of natural resources, and has taken a hard look at the long-term implications of the problems relating to population growth, with urbanization and rural urbanization and its impact on such things as rural development strategies - all this within the shadow of disaster, death, hunger and starvation which imminently looms in Africa.
Obviously, it is difficult to assimilate all that these documents have summed up in such a concentrated and concise fashion. Nevertheless, despite the complexities, directions are inherent in each section of the report; also there are the main elements that can form the framework of an integrated plan of remedial action. Ten years ago, in the face of impending crisis, the World Food Conference formulated its call for more concerted action involving the need to expand food production to enhance food security and to strengthen international support for domestic efforts to be taken by developing countries. Today that call remains equally valid, but as a sharper delineation of understanding of all the complexities and intricacies involved.
The prognosis regarding the world food and agricultural situation that emerges from the documents is a mixed one. On the positive side, global progress has been made in agricultural and rural development. Record levels have been achieved in food and agricultural development, particularly cereal production. There has been some upturn in the prices of most agricultural commodities; per capita dietary energy supplies have improved for at least two-thirds of the 90 developing countries under review. The world economy as a whole is making progress, reflecting recovery also in the industrial sector. However, these positive trends have to be viewed with caution rather than with complacency. As the Director-General himself pinpointed, riches exist in the midst of poverty. He highlighted not only the dire African situation, but the precarious food situation in other regions of the world. On the negative side, food production increases in the developing countries have failed to meet the targets established in 1974. Regional performances are grossly uneven. There is marked polarization in the availability of food and growth in the developing countries has not been commensurate with the recovery in the developed countries and their prospects depend on the ability of the developing countries to continue the world recovery in the face of restraint and restrictions in financial assistance, in agricultural markets, and the Damocles sword of debt which hangs over a great number of developing countries. Particularly relevant in this context of future action is the granting of external aid and the fall in commitments.
Turning to the food situation, the review document has identified what it calls a central dilemma. Unless food imports are allowed to rise in this situation, the food needs of people will not be met, but raising imports may be detrimental to food production and foreign exchange balances. The example of Bangladesh bears this out. Agriculture is a dominant sector of our economy. It accounts for over half of the Gross Domestic Product, but it is largely weather-oriented. Only 25 percent of arable land is irrigated. The short-term growth in Bangladesh depends on what happens to agriculture. Despite an average growth rate of 4.3 percent over the last four years of our second Five-Year Plan, the basis of the growth is low in comparison to our first Five-Year Plan from 1975 to 1980, which achieved a 5.2 percent growth rate. This decline was entirely due to a slowing down of growth in the non-agricultural sector, particularly in industry and construction. Industrial growth declined from 7.5 percent to 4.4 percent against this agricultural sector increase from 3.8 percent to 4.2 percent, mainly due to favourable weather in 1982/83 and 1983/84 compared with drought in 1979/80, and was partly due to a shift in investment priority in favour of agriculture and 28.2 percent of our public sector development expenditure was concentrated on agriculture.
While this vast growth of the agricultural sector reflected the priorities attached by the government, the slowing dovm of the industrial sector was a matter of serious concern for several reasons - firstly, the structural change needed for the consistent growth of the economy could not be effected without industrial development. This was not possible through agricultural development alone because of the weak recovery of subsistence agriculture along with the industrial sector. Secondly, agriculture, dominated by its inherent labour-expelling characteristics, could not alone solve the endemic unemployment problem of Bangladesh even though modern agricultural technology is land-augmenting and labour-intensive.
As a result, with ever-increasing population pressure on land, both functional landlessness and unemployment problems have been accentuated further. Of immediate concern, industrial growth failed to maintain its earlier momentum, resulting in widespread idle capacity, reflecting lack of adequate domestic demand. In general, the long-term need of the economy for structural change was also compromised with the short-term concern for structural adjustment in an unfavourable international economic environment. In the face of depressed international trade and aid conditions, Bangladesh faced a serious balance of payments situation. The Government had to take extremely tough measures, also following a period of bad harvest and virtually stagnant economic conditions in 1981-82. These measures were to deflate adequate demand and the investment level to such an extent that in spite of substantial recovery of the agricultural sector and the favourable weather conditions, economic growth continued to remain depressed in the next-two years. In fact, industrial growth fell to historically low levels due to the lack of domestic demand. Measures for structural adjustment to the external economic situation leading to slowdown in growth could not but entail serious sacrifices of the population as they came in the wake of a declining per capita income. Nutrition levels further declined in a year of stagnant economy in 1981-82. Households below poverty level, that is getting less than 90 percent of nutrition. needs, increased to almost 60 percent. Despite these adverse effects and.weather, the bright side of the economy has been the significant increase in food grains from 13.35 million tons in 1979-80 to 15.1 million tons in 1982-83, and an expected 16 million tons in 1983-84. However,
despite these increases, a poor man hardly participated in this game as they were also accompanied by a rise in prices. Since the bad harvest of 1981-82, as the rising price level resulted in hardships for the common man, distribution of food grains under public food distribution had also to be kept high to relieve distress. Against this high offtake of food-aid food and in order to avoid depletion of public foodstocks to a dangerously low level, the Government had to import substantial quantities of food. The apparent paradox of high food imports, even in recent years of good to excellent harvests, reflects the dilemma and points to both the short-term and long-term problems. The long-term underscores that mere accelerated production of food grains cannot insure food security at the household level. The problem cannot be resolved without rapid income and employment generation in non-farm sectors. The short-term transient problem of rapidly rising food grain prices in the years of excellent harvests has a simple explanation in a monetary factor. Prices rose due to a number of factors: the expansion of the fund sector as foreign exchange resources increased and remittances, both on the forces of international trade, but the main reason, however, was due to the reduced import capability resulting in downward adjustments of domestic demand through such measures as increasing prices of public utilities and goods and reduction of investment levels. This has eased the balance of payments difficulties but with very perverse results. Firstly, it led to liquidity expansion and rise in prices, which ultimately neutralizes the immediate benefits of pressure gains. As inflationary pressure was felt more on the agriculture and food sector, this forced a larger import of food. Thus by depressing domestic demand, it led to substitution of food import for normal import. A consequence of depressed domestic demand for import of non-food commodities has included domestic resource mobilization. Finally, by depressing demand, they have delayed recovery of the economy.
I have given the example of our country to demonstrate the extreme complexities involved. Clearly, there are no simple panaceas for the problems that we face. The review document, as I have mentioned, has touched on a series of remedial measures in each of its sections. The Director-General himself in his programme priorities has spelled out a list of measures that need to be taken. The approaches to these remedial actions are trilateral approaches and integrally involved in the concept of the food security compact which the Director-General himself has elaborated. Quite clearly recognized by all the regional economic meetings is the inescapable reality that the major burden for self-reliance lies on the developing countries themselves, but in the face of the difficulties before developing countries, despite their best efforts, the need for international support and the consolidation of that support continues. The review document has indicated the approaches and outlines, and we believe that it has provided us with food for continuing thought in the months and years to come.
M. YOSHII (Japan): Mr Chairman, first of all, I would like to express my congratulations to you on your re-election as the Independent Chairman, as well as the three Vice-Chairmen of this important Council. I am sure that this Session will be successful under your guidance.
I have listened with special interest to the Director-General of FAC Dr Saouma. We note with appreciation, as he rightly mentioned, that a new sense of urgency by the developing countries themselves to solve their own problems came up as evidenced in the Buenos Aires Declaration in which the ministers adopted in a clear, pragmatic, action-oriented way a new orientation in the results.
We also believe what Dr Saouma said to be of utmost importance: African countries are to be FAO's first and greatest priority and that a new major study to concentrate on practical action to increase food production is going to be undertaken.
I also want to thank Professor Islam for his excellent presentation on the State of Food and Agriculture 1984. The Secretariat has prepared an extensive and detailed study on the State of Food and Agriculture 1984, and my delegation wishes to thank the FAO Secretariat for this fruitful achievement.
The document CL 86/2 focuses upon selected issues from the time of the early 1970's food crisis with particular reference to the food situation in the developing countries. The 1973-76 oil crisis brought about a deepening recession of the world economy. The agricultural sector had also been adversely affected by those events. The fluctuation in commodity prices had made a serious impact on producers and consumers.
The documents point out that despite all the above-mentioned facts, global progress has been made in agriculture and rural development and that per capita energy dietary supplies have improved in about two-thirds of the 90 developing countries reviewed in this document.
My delegation notes with satisfaction that the improvement in the overall world situation is a result of the continuous efforts made by individual farmers together with activities on a national and international level. However, the regional performances have not been very consistent. Asia had shown some improvement, but Africa has very much deteriorated. The serious food shortage in many African countries is of great concern to us. I hope a fruitful contribution will come out when we discuss the matter later in this Session.
Agriculture is the important sector in the economy of developing countries. Many developing countries, however, are still in short food supply, heavily depending upon food imports. Imports are necessitating a great amount of foreign exchange resources which otherwise would have been used for direct development of their economies. My delegation strongly believes, therefore, that efforts by developing countries themselves to increase food production are a vital first step towards solving the world food problem and the economic development of those countries. Japan is certainly prepared to contribute to such efforts of the developing countries.
My delegation would like to briefly touch upon the world cereals trade which represents the largest group of agricultural trade. The international cereal market has been characterized by the instability of prices. This could be accounted for by the fact that the relatively small portion of the total amount of production is geared towards export and that a large amount of imports and exports is concentrated in a very limited number of countries. Therefore, production variation and import and export policy changes in those countries has severely affected the world cereal market. My country, as one of the major importers of grains, has particular concern for market stabilization, and we feel that it is necessary for this country to make further efforts in minimizing the adverse effects on the world market when a policy change production, consumption or trade is made. At the same time, coordinated action on the international level should also be sought to increase market stability. We think that this could be done through a greater exchange of information on supply and demand, bilateral trading agreement and appropriate stock management policies where in turn we should not give up the idea of establishing an international grains agreement with economic provisions.
I. ROUSSEV (Bulgarie): Permettez-moi de m'associer aux félicitations des orateurs précédents et de vous souhaiter plein succès pour l’accomplissement de votre mission.
Je vous prie de transmettre aussi mes remerciements au Directeur général, M. Edouard Saouma, pour ses efforts infatigables au service de notre Organisation et pour les analyses claires qui ont été exposées dans sa déclaration d'hier.
Nous avons minutieusement examiné le document relatif à l'état de l’alimentation et de l’agriculture à l'échelle mondiale au cours de 1984. Le Secretariat de la FAO a mis au point un rapport analytique qui passe en revue l'état de l’alimentation et du développement de l’agriculture. L'image est complétée par des chiffres et des données et elle est éloquente. Nous avons noté, parmi les données qui ont été soumises à notre attention que la quantité de calories absorbées quotidiennement par les habitants de notre planète a augmenté, ce qui se rapproche théoriquement de la quantité nécessaire d'énergie. Permettez-moi d'exprimer, en même temps, la prochaine preoccupation de notre delegation du fait que des millions de gens dans le monde souffrent de la faim aujourd'hui. Nous constatons avec inquiétude que la production des denrées alimentaires dans le monde n'a aucune croissance et même a subi une baisse importante.
Les rythmes de l’augmentation de la population dans certaines régions dépassent de loin ceux de l’accroissement de la production des denrées, ce qui crée des difficultés supplémentaires dans leur alimentation. Dans ce contexte, je voudrais souligner qu'on ne saura résoudre avec succès ce problème que dans des conditions de paix tout en mobilisant et unifiant les efforts de tous pour les pays concernés et de toutes les organisations internationales. La République populaire de Bulgarie est fermement convaincue que la prise de mesures concrètes pour une reduction substantielle des arsenaux militaires accumulés dans le monde et pour le désarmement, contribuera au dégagement de moyens financiers et de ressources humaines importantes pour une partie qui devrait être affectée à la liquidation de la faim et de la sous-alimentation dans les pays en développement.
De profonds changements sociaux et économiques sont survenus dans l’agriculture de la République populaire de Bulgarie au cours des quatre dernières décennies. Tout en mettant à profit les possibilités offertes par le système socialiste et en utilisant les progrès de la science, l’agriculture de la République de la Bulgarie a remporté des résultats considérables et elle est devenue un secteur modèle et rentable de l'économie nationale. Dans ces conditions, la population engagée dans l'agriculture a diminué quatre fois et la production agricole de notre pays s'est accrue trois fois, ce qui permet d'exporter une partie après avoir satisfait les besoins du pays en produits alimentaires. Un tel développement est accompli grâce à l’application poursuivie d'une politique économique, sociale et agraire au cours de ces quatres décennies, qui a mobilisé tous les éléments productifs, hommes et femmes, concentration de la terre et moyens de production dans les coopéeratives, intégration des sciences agricoles à la production. Permettez-moi de réaffirmer la bonne volonté de la Bulgarie de partager son expérience avec tous les pays concernés à la recherche des solutions du problème d'importance vitale lie à l’alimentation de la population.
A cet égard j'aimerais relever qu'en acceptant une politique agricole appropriée, il faudrait, de la façon la plus précise, prendre en compte les conditions spécifiques du développement de différents pays.
A.Y. BUKHARI (Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of): (original language Arabic): In the name of Allah the Merciful and the Compassionate.
Mr Chairman, this august assembly will undoubtedly be very successful in its deliberations over the various items included in our Agenda under your able leadership.
First of all, I would like to thank the Director-General of FAO because he has introduced this analytical, all-embracing document to this Council. I would like to congratulate him also for his overall statement, which we endorse.
I would also like to thank Dr Nurul Islam for his clear and detailed introduction of this document, an introduction which enabled us to discuss it fully.
We would like also to endorse the declaration made by the Group of 77 delivered by the Chairman of that Group.
Mr Chairman, from this forum, the Council of the Organization, and for numerous years the delegation of my country has always expressed its misgivings. We have always warned against the gravity and seriousness of the food situation in the developing countries in particular. We have asked developing countries to adopt accelerated measures in view of increasing food production and in view of supporting and stressing food security. The delegation of my country, drawing upon the lessons learned by the international economic crisis in the 1970s, was amongst the first delegations to draw the attention of the Council to such issues. Despite some progress that has been achieved at the international level in the field of rural and agricultural production and development, increasing demands on food are still far beyond the achievement that has been made. There are African and non-African peoples suffering serious food shortages. Not only that; some of these people are suffering famine and hunger which are destroying numerous human lives. Mr Chairman, we believe what has been said in one of the sayings of our Prophet Mohammed. It means in substance that if an organ of a human body is suffering failure, then all the other organs in the same human body will be suffering that failure. Our society, Mr Chairman, is such a human organism and we are the organs of this organism. Now there is this international failure, so to speak, an evil which we will always suffer as long as even one person is suffering and facing food shortages and famines.
The present situation in Africa, especially to the west of the Sahara, is a situation that needs the efforts of all the members of the international community. This is true, of course, but this should not incite us to overlook what is happening or what might happen in other countries of the world. I am speaking in particular about the least developing countries and mostly poor countries, or the poorer countries so to speak. All the more so because there are some serious indications that enable us to say that some food producing countries, or some food-exporting countries, or some developed or industrálized countries will be reducing their food assistance to Third-World countries, be it at the bilateral or multilateral level.
Moreover other important elements should be taken into account, like for example, the world-wide economic recession.which has occurred over the past few years and which harmed the development of the agricultural sector, international inflation or world inflation, the ever-increasing cost of development, the increase of commodities prices needed to achieve this development in developing countries. All these economic factors have led to an increasing dependence on the part of developing countries. They were reduced to import more foodstuffs which led to an imbalance in the balance of trade. This also has led to an increase in food assistance which they receive either bilaterally or through international organizations and, in fact Mr Chairman, this food assistance was not used in a manner which guarantees sustainable food security for these countries. On the contrary, this food assistance had a negative impact on the agricultural production in the developing countries, a fact highlighted in this document. We made a big mistake and the developing countries are paying a high price now. We have drawn your attention to this fact time and time again, and we have asked developing countries to be wary about this tendency or these tendencies. We have asked various organizations to increase development projects benefitting developing countries, projects aiming at increasing food production for the peoples of these countries.
We are all aware, as has been mentioned in paragraph 36 of this document, that the main characteristic of food assistance or food aid should be ultimately to reduce the cost of food imports. Did this happen in fact? Mr Chairman, this document, highlights the fact that imports from developed countries have increased greatly, especially of these commodities used to achieve development in the developing countries. We have heard that some developed countries have increased their imports from developing countries to the same percentage or to the same tune or to the same amount. Well of course, this, Mr Chairman, underscores one fact. That fact is that there exists a serious deterioration in international terms of trade. As a result of this the developing countries are suffering an economic recession, their debts are even higher, whilst developed countries have embarked upon an economic recovery.
Distinguished delegates, Mr Chairman, developed countries can correct, so to speak, this situation, and guide anew the efforts exerted on the development path. Developing countries should refuse this situation and should try through various means, channels and efforts to correct this problem. Hence, in view of achieving noble ideas like food security for all the peoples of this planet, it becomes incumbent on the international community to introduce a new international economic order. In this connection we would like to highlight one very important point, Mr Chairman; that is, that the efforts exerted by developing countries to achieve food security should be accompanied by similar efforts exerted by developed countries to help these developing countries. We are ready to admit that achieving such a goal is the very responsibility of the developing countries: how faithful they are, how determined and persevering they are and how willing they are to ensure prosperity for their peoples. All these are elements and factors that should be ensured and guaranteed for the developing countries to achieve food security. As has been mentioned, life is meaningless, or rather we cannot hope to live properly if we are not willing to work properly.
Finally, Mr Chairman, we would hope to see reflected in this document in a positive manner the efforts made by some developing countries, such efforts which enable these countries to achieve a good measure of food security and self-sufficiency for some of the main foodstuffs, or even semi self-sufficiency. These efforts should be appreciated, because in fact they prove that true will on the part of some developing countries was a means to achieve progress in the field of food security. On this occasion, Mr Chairman, I must admit that a nation producing the food it needs, depending upon its efforts and means, has the right to self-determination of its fate and the fate of its people.
M. FRANCISCI di BASCHI (Italie): J'avais demandé la parole simplement pour vous demander au nom des pays de la Communauté d'inviter les représentants de la CEE à prendre la parole sur ce point fundamental de l'ordre du .jour. Je vois que vous avez déjà pris une decision dans ce sens. Je vous en remercie beaucoup.
C'est l'occasion pour moi de me féliciter avec vous encore une fois pour votre élection à la prési-dence de cette session. C'est un plaisir pour nous tous de vous avoir encore une fois comme président. Je voudrais également étendre mes félicitations aux trois vice-présidents.
R. RABE (Observateur de Madagascar): Permettez-moi d'exprimer ma gratitude vis-à-vis du Bureau du Conseil qui m'a donné l’occasion de prendre la parole et d'intervenir à ce point important de notre ordre du jour.
C’est un grand plaisir pour ma délégation que de vous voir conduire les débats de cette session avec la haute compétence qui a toujours été la vôtre, de féliciter les vice-présidents nouvellement élus, le nouveau Secrétaire général, et j’aimerais m'associer aux orateurs précédents pour souhaiter la bienvenue aux éminents délégués ici présents ainsi qu'au représentant des Iles Salomon admis comme observateur que je salue en toute fraternité.
Permettez-moi également d’en profiter pour exprimer la satisfaction du Gouvernement malgache pour I'efficacité avec laquelle la FAO oeuvre au renforcement de la production agricole des pays en développement. Toutefois, en dépit des efforts déjà accomplis jusqu'ici et des progrès réalises pour relever le niveau de l’alimentation mondiale, beaucoup reste encore à faire face à des situations dramatiques et persistantes car, comme l'a dit si justement le Directeur général lors de la dixhuitième session du Comité des politiques et Programme d'aide alimentaire, "la misère reste au sein de l’abondance".
Ainsi qu'on s'accorde à le reconnaître partout dans le monde les problèmes les plus graves auxquels sont confrontés la plupart des pays en développement sont ceux qui ont trait à la production alimentaire. Ces pays connaissent à des degrés divers la pauvreté, la faim, la malnutrition et le manque de denrées alimentaires de base qui affectent dans une large mesure la vie de centaines d'êtres humains.
Cette session est importante dans la mesure où ses preoccupations rejoignent parfaitement les soucis de la quasi-totalité de nos gouvernements qui, dans leur politique nationale, accordent une place de premier choix à l’amélioration de la production alimentaire. Et l'intérêt particulier revêtu par cette rencontre réside dans le fait que dans la confrontation de nos riches expériences en la matièrè jailliront, j'en suis persuadé, les rëalités pratiques en vue d'arriver à l'autosuffisance, les stratégies et les programmes pour mener à bien ce noble combat que nous engageons depuis deux décennies.
A cet égard, le document CL 86/2 du Secrétariat fait une analyse très objective de la situation mondiale de l’alimentation et de l’agriculture. C'est à notre avis un document très précieux. Nous tenons à en féliciter le Directeur général.
Il faut en effet partir du principe que la faim est multisectorielle et nécessite des programmes et une action coordonnés, que le remède n’en est pas une aide alimentaire en soi, mais plutôt la création d’une structure de développement ayant des effets durables, générateurs d'autres, adaptée aux agriculteurs tels qu'ils sont et là où ils sont, et envisageant avec souplesse comment ils seront capables d'assumer les nouvelles techniques, les crédits et autres frais, compte tenu du sol, du climat et de la structure des terrains.
Conscients de ces obstacles structurels, les dirigeants africains réunis à Harare en juillet 1984 ont réaffirmé leur volonté et leur détermination de s’attaquer au mal, et ce, en réalisant les différents objectifs du Plan d’action de Lagos, la Stratégie Internationale pour la troisième décennie du développement, le Plan alimentaire régional pour l'Afrique, le Programme d'action de la Conférence mondiale pour la réforme agraire et le développement rural, le Plan d'action correspondant a la nouvelle définition de la sécurité alimentaire mondiale et la Stratégie d'aménagement et de développement des pêches.
D'où l’importance qu'ils attachent à la mise sur pied d’un programme de développement portant sur les capacités industrielles, locales et régionales en veillant par ailleurs à favoriser d'abord une production industrielle qui renforce les tout premiers efforts de survie dans le développement (outils agricoles adéquats, moyens de transport et autres soutiens), à protéger les produits artisanaux et à favoriser l’industrie de transformation alimentaire et autres similaires.
On ne le répétera jamais assez: toute stratégie contre la faim doit encore prendre en considération un autre facteur: la dynamique des populations dans la région concernée, en fonction de la justesse des statistiques de mortalité, des schémas migratoires, des taux de fertilité et des comportements à l'égard de la composition des families.
Il faut tenir à l’esprit que le développement actif et autonome est, dans tous ces processus, précédé de deux autres phénomènes insuffisamment pris en consideration: la perturbation, au niveau des gens et de leurs perceptions, des infrastructures et de leurs capacités (cadres, routes, source d’énergie, budgets, etc.) qui devraient faire l'objet d’etudes préalables.
Certes, dans tous ces domaines, la FAO entreprend déjà diverses actions en vue de relancer la production agricole, sauvegarder l'élevage, améliorer les systèmes de transports, de communications, ainsi que d'approyisionnement en eau, pour créer les conditions favorables à l’intéressement des paysans, "acteurs" et bénéficiaires désignés de toutes ces mesures. Mais il conviendrait, à n’en pas douter, de renforcer ces actions d’une manière coordonnée pour éviter les efforts disperses dont les résultats sont toujours aléatoires.
Dans beaucoup de cas, des techniques simples, ne nécessitant pas l'emploi d’experts de très haut niveau, apportent plus de fruit et l'on pourrait consacrer les fonds aux vrais besoins d'investissement manifestés.
La recherche-développement, la formation et la sensibilisation des paysans à des techniques plus performantes mais à leur portée doivent tenir une place de choix dans les actions de la FAO.
Dans le domaine de la pêche, l’accent devra être mis sur la connaissance des ressources, le contrôle de leur exploitation, le transfert de technologie et la valorisation des produits pêchés.
La Conférence mondiale sur l’aménagement et le développement des pêches a mis en exergue le rôle important joué par les pêcheurs artisanaux dans l’exploitation des ressources marines. L’on devra déterminer, les actions permettant de leur apporter un appui afin d'améliorer leur système de pêche et d'assurer un débouché intéressant à leurs produits.
A plusieurs reprises, l'on s'est demandé si la faim et la privation peuvent être extirpées. Je répondrai "oui" avec confiance. Et ma réponse est réellement fondée car pratiquement, à la suite des appels réitérés et des situations graves, je crois que la communauté Internationale a été mobilisée et a désormais compris la plupart des erreurs commises au niveau des concepts et approches dans les projets de développement. Nous devons reconnaître ces erreurs passées si nous voulons, à present, suivre des stratégies efficaces permettant de lutter contre la famine et la pauvreté.
La route devant nous sera longue et difficile. Rien ne se fera sans heurts, croyez-moi. Mais j'affirme que cette victoire est possible. Aujourd'hui, nous avons suffisamment appris sur la signification de la faim et sur ses aspects sociologiques pour savoir comment la combattre et planifier sa destruction. Nous avons la volonté politique de mener ce combat, ainsi que les moyens financiers, fussent-ils modestes, nous permettant de prendre nos responsabilités.
Une lueur à l'horizon: une amorce de redéploiement des excédents alimentaires se dessine, mais elle est encore nettement insuffisante face au gouffre à combler, De gros efforts seront encore à consentir mais ils demeureront vains si la volonté d’améliorer sensiblement le système de relations Nord-Sud n'est pas encore acquise, si les prix des intrants et matériels de production n'ont pas été révisés à la baisse pour encourager les agriculteurs et, enfin, si les charges de la dette bousculent encore la réalisation de tout programme sérieux de développement.
Arrivé au terme de mon propos, la question qui me vient à l’esprit est celle que nous nous posons tous: que sortira-t-il de cette réunion?
Oh! Certes! Je n'en doute pas. De nos discours, des multiples rapports qui ont été ou seront discutés et dont les conclusions sages ou habiles seront approuvées, on pourra faire de très beaux résumés, exalter la qualité de nos sentiments, l'ardeur de nos résolutions.
Mais que seront les lendemains?
Tout à l’heure, j’ai parlé des espoirs que nous nourrissons et même si tous les problèmes ne seront pas résolus du jour au lendemain, nous savons que d'autres pas seront accomplis pour enrayer définitivement la faim de notre planète.
Tel est le voeu du Gouvernement malgache, tel que.je vous l’apporte et tel qu'avec vous nous travaillerons à l'exaucer.
The meeting rose at 12.40 hours.
La séance est levée à 12 h 40.
Se levanta la sesión a las 12.40 horas.
