LE PRESIDENT:Je voudrais annoncer en ce début de séance que nous avons reçu à ce jour les candida tures suivantes pour le Comité de rédaction: Tanzanie, Cameroun, Bangladesh, Philippines, Egypte, Liban, Colombie, Mexique, Australie, Canada, France, Italie, Japon et Etats-Unis d'Amérique. Nous retenons ces noms, et si d'autres candidats se présentent, nous pourrons les prendre en considération. Y-a-t-il une observation?
Joseph TCHICAYA (Congo): J'ai écouté avec beaucoup d'attention La liste des membres du Comité de rédaction que vous venez de nous livrer. Je note une petite erreur concernant l'Afrique: les membres du Comité de rédaction désignés pour l'Afrique sont le Cameroun et la Gambie et non la Tanzanie.
LE PRESIDENT: Donc pour l'Afrique: Cameroun et Gambie. Y-a-t-il d'autres remarques? Je remercie le Conseil.
Ν. ISLAM (Assistant Director-General, Economie and Social Policy Department): You have before you two documents for discussion on this Agenda Item. The first document, the State of Food and Agriculture CL 90/2, which is based on information available in early August. The second document, CL 90/2 Sup. 1, updates and supplements the earlier document. Both these documents devote some attention to the overall economic environment surrounding agriculture. This is because many of the problems now facing agriculture are closely related to the paradoxes in, and witnesses of, the current economic situation, namely, failure by industrial countries despite lower inflation and interest rates to resume and transmit the momentum of economic growth, disappointing trade performances and low international commodity prices, a worsened debt situation for many developing countries, reduced capital inflows, and lower interest rates, adjustements of which are costly in terms of human welfare.
The current world food supply situation, while ample at a global level and greatly improved in some critical areas, still presents enormous aspects. Despite a slowdown in world "food production growth 1986, particularly in some developed exporting countries to a rate of 1.5 percent per annum, the problem of global over-supply of many agricultural products has not subsided. This is because demand remains weak, while stocks remain high as a consequence of relatively high production levels in previous years. As a consequence of both these factors, international prices are low. Agricultural markets have become-distorted by fierce competition between export markets through export subsidies and other market incentives.
In 1986 growth in food production slowed in the developing market economies with the recovery in food production in Africa and acceleration in Latin America, as compared to the performance in the previous year. Food production remained unchanged for the developing countries as a whole, including centrally planned economies because food output growth in China accelerated. I must point out here a typographical error in Table 1 of the Supplement. The last line of the table refers to "Total
World Food Agriculture Crop and Livestock production" including China. However the text discussing the Table is correct. In addition, since the Supplement document was prepared official estimates of USSR cereal production in recent years have been released. These serve to increase the original enhanced world estimates shown in Table 1. These changes will be incorporated in the final version of the State of Food and Agriculture now being prepared.
Ironically, the continued high rate of'growth in food and agriculture production also served to exacerbate the difficulties in the few agricultural commodity markets as some countries reduced dependence on food imports while others generated export surpluses and faced problems in their disposal.
The case of Africa, which has achieved a cumulative growth of over 8 percent in food production in 1985/86 is a most welcome one. However, this remarkable recovery should not conceal the persistence of abnormal food shortages in seven African countries. Also the sudden emergence of localised surpluses and the difficulties in marketing; them underlines how the equilibrium of Africa's food systems is precariously poised. It is both paradoxical and regrettable that at the time countries succeed in improving their production performance, they are deprived of market opportunities that would permit them to benefit from their success.
The latest reports of the situation regarding grasshopper and locust infestations in Africa indicate the threat has receded in western and eastern Africa and major food losses have been averted. The danger still exists of desert locust upsurge in the. Arabian Peninsula and brown locusts remain a threat in South Africa, thus requiring continuing control effort. Nevertheless, one year after FAO's first warning of a grasshopper and locust upsurge, the prompt response of African governments and the international community can already be credited as largely successful.
The early eighties were a period of serious economic stress for many developing countries. Per capita calorie intake declined by one-half in nearly one hundred or so countries reviewed in the document. The greatest losses in nutritional levels are found in Africa and Latin America, another third only showed modest gains in per capita calorie intake. Countries in the Near East achieved some gains in calorie consumption but only through increased imports. On the other hand, the improvement in food availability in some Asian countries accounting for a major share of all the developing countries populations may be regarded as a creditable accomplishment. The losses or gains in calorie intakes or food availability were related to changes in income, per capital GDP, food production performance and food imports.
The second section of the document CL 90/2 which reveals the agricultural performance of the different regions is complemented by discussion of the emerging issues and problems in each region, in particular the policy response to challenges and constraints faced by different regions.
Concerning the recent food and agriculture situation in Africa, I should like to mention that in addition to the treatment in this document the subject is also taken up for further discussion in Agenda Item 8. 2. We have in the document a special section on the financing of agricultural development. This is a preview of the special chapter to be published later on in the fuller document on the State of Food and Agriculture. It is not an easy subject to deal with, partly because of severe limitations of data and partly because concepts and definitions used in different countries and over time often differ significantly. However, we have presented the preliminary results of our efforts in this direction for your review and comments with a view to improving the final treatment of the subject to be published later on. How, and from what sources, to mobilise the resources for financing agriculture development and how to use them in rural development is a challenge confronting developing countries. The relative role of domestic finance is of critical importance, especially in view of the changes which have already occurred and are underway in the external economic environment including the availability of external economic assistance to the agricultural sector.
The document discusses sources both domestic and external, public and private as well as users of funds for agricultural development. Three major inter-related areas are taken up for analysis. One concerns the financing of agriculture in relation to overall economic development. The emphasis here is on the effective use of limited government resources to relieve the critical constraints on agricultural development, for example on government policy which affects the incentive to save and invest in the agricultural sector; as well as on a coherent fiscal policy for the sector, especially in times of rapid technological change or windfall economic gains.
The second main area of focus is on the role of rural financial markets, to mobilise rural savings and to act as an intermediary between savers and investors for investment in rural areas both by agriculture and related activities. The major issues relating to the development of rural financial markets are: interest rate policies, justification or otherwise for credit subsidies, loan recovery, transaction costs and organisation of rural financial institutions, both formal and informal. There are many unsettled questions on each of these issues and experiences among the countries over time differ widely.
The third area relates to international markets, and external sources of financing. Foreign exchange restraints facing many countries not only inhibit overall economic develpment, but also development of the agricultural sector. The lack of imported inputs prohibits and frustrates the use of domestic savings. Imported inputs are needed to complement domestic savings in investment projects. The depressed, or unfair available markets for exports seriously jeopardise the ability to borrow especially in private capital markets for agricultural development.
Turning to external sources of finance the issues revolve around the effectiveness of development assistance to agriculture as well as the recent levelling off of data flows which have an increasingly negative impact on the growth of dispersements later on in the decade. For external private borrowing the key words are dependable sources because, "as the experience of recent years has shown, these flows can collapse very rapidly. Furthermore, foreign direct investment in the agricultural sector as an answer remains a hotly-debated issue. Domestic policies towards agriculture remain critically important in stimulating not only domestic investment and savings in the agricultural sector but also in atracting external sources.
Ahmed Ali MUQBEL (Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of:) (original language Arabic): I should like to preface my remarks by saying how pleased I am to be at this Ninetieth Session of the Council. I should like to extend to ail members of the Council the wishes of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen that we manage to bring this session to a successful conclusion. We should also like to commend She role played by FAO under the stewardship of Mr Edouard Saouma.
On this occasion, we should like to congratulate you and we should like to congratulate all the officers of the Council who have been elected. We are convinced that this Session under your leadership will bear fruit and will lead us to resolutions which will allow us to promote agriculture in developing countries.
Please allow me to give you our remarks on this document The State of Food and Agriculture 1986. My delegation has studied this report very carefully indeed. We are particularly concerned because of the current situation pertaining to agriculture and to the economy in many developing countries, and particularly in the low-income food-deficit developing countries, most of which are in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Also, the situation is exacerbated by the uncertainties in the NIEO, which is unjust.
The Documents show that agriculture has had somewhat deceiving results recently, that weather conditions are still unfavourable and that drought is going to remain with us for some time. There have also been the problems with locusts and grasshoppers which have infested many regions.
On the other hand, many developing countries have to face up to the financial difficulties which have been very bad since the beginning of the 1980s. These have had an adverse effect on agriculture, since this sector has not been able to benefit from the necessary inputs and adequate investment levels. All these factors have constituted a very serious threat to agriculture and to food production.
We have to add to this that when developing countries have to turn to outside financial sources so that they can find their way out of these difficult situations they find a world confronted with an economic crisis, with a shrinkage of bilateral aid and with a decrease in the amount of aid provided by regional and international organizations, and at the same time a decrease in Governments' Commitment to Agriculture. This crisis has particularly affected many African sub-Saharan countries. We should like to praise the African countries which, with the help of donor organizations and donor countries, especially the FAO and the World Food Programme, have been able to face up to the very serious crisis. In other developing countries it would appear that the crisis will continue. So it really depends on the Governments of those countries to find the necessary solutions, i. e. domestic funding, and optimum aid from use of international organizations so that they can find a solution to this crisis. "Certainly, these countries are going to need more aid to enable them to get out of this deadlock. It is for that reason that aid has to be given from rich countries to poor countries, and there has to be cooperation between them. That is why it is essential to provide the necessary funding to international organizations, particularly to the FAO, the World Food Programme and IFAD, because these are the three main institutions that have the necessary experience and that are able to develop the agricultural and the rural sectors. Indeed, providing funds to these organizations would be proof of the solidarity between the developed and the developing world to get out of the crisis and to develop their agricultural sector, and of a better future with peace and stability.
It would be futile to talk about peace when we have seen that billions of dollars are being spent on arms while millions of people are dying of hunger. We do not understand why the funds of international organizations such as the FAO should be restricted whilst at the same cime huge sums are being spent on arms and means of descruccion. Therefore the solucion of food problems in the world is linked to a fairer international economic order which would allow the developing countries fairer relations with the developed countries.
Gonzalo BULA HOYOS (Colombia): Como siempre la declaración del profesor Islam fue excelente. Nos complace intervenir después de la exposición que ha hecho nuestro colega de la República Democrática del Yemen porque compartimos algunos de los aspectos de esa declaración.
En cada sesión de este Consejo, en los años pares, el primer temade fondo que se discute siempre es éste: "El estado de la agricultura y la alimentación". El sentido de las discusiones es siempre el mismo y las conclusiones son siempre las mismas:aumento global de la producción, pero limicada a los escados induscrializados; increraento del comercio, de productos agrícolas, pero con beneficios sólo para los países desarrollados; mayor numero de personas hambriencas y mainucridas, naturalmente en el Tercer Mundo. Las perspectivas son siempre inquietances. Proteccionismo, aumento y diversificación del proteccionismo, como lo dijo esta mañana con su gran autoridad el Director General, proteccionismo que ahora se nos presenta bajo la nueva condena de los subsidios.
Hoy, noviembre de 1986 estamos revisando esa situación después de las graves crisis en el Africa subsahariana, principalmente en los años 83 a 85.
Del 12 al 16 de julio de 1976, este Consejo celebró su 69° período de sesiones, excepcional en los años pares, dedicado especialmente a la consideración de las dos innovaciones más importantes y afortunadas, propuestas por la nueva administración, que, bajo la dirección del doctor Edouard Saouma, había comenzado en enero de 1976:la descentralización, designación de representantes en los países, funcionarios propios de la FAO y la creación del Programa de Cooperación Técnica;iniciacivas del Director General que han sido ambas muy positivas.
El lunes 29 de noviembre 1976 este Consejo, yo era su Presidente Independiente, en el 70° período de sesiones estaba analizando esa situación de la agricultura y la alimentación, después de la Conferencia Mundial de la Alimentación celebrada dos años antes y cuando teníamos la pretensión imaginaria de que habíamos superado definitivamente la grave crisis alimentaria de principios de los años 70 que afectó considerablemente siempre al Africa.
Dencro de diez años, el lunes 30 de noviembre 1996, quienes hayamos concado con vida y apoyo polícico seguramente escaremos de nuevo en esta sala roja en el 110° período de sesiones y el primer tema de fondo será la sicuación de la agricultura y la a limencacion, después de la crisis de principios de los años 90 y en acención a que va a llegar el año dos mil y la sicuación de los países en desarrollo será siempre frágil y preocupance, con millones de es humanos hambriencos y malnucridos enere una y ocra crisis decenal.
Esce recraco escueco que corresponde a la realidad de los hechos confirma el caráccer cíclico de las crisis debido indudablemente a la misma forma cíclica y descontinuada como los países desarrollados ofrecen su asistencia, que alcanza el máximo nivel sólo cuando se declaran las crisis y la comunidad internacional denuncia graves hechos de muertos por hambre y malnutricion.
Ese cuadro, según la delegación de Colombia, impone una vez más el llamado a los países desarrollados para que no sólo en los años de crisis ofrezcan su ayuda alimentaria y financiera, sino que con decidida voluntad política la asistencia financiera y técnica se suministre continuamente en volúmenes, términos, condiciones y oportunidades que hagan realmente eficaz la cooperación incerna-cional y permican a los países del Tercer Mundo, progresivamence, sencar las bases sobre las cuales pueda lograrse el aumento de su propia producción.
La difícil situación alimentaria y agrícola por la que atraviesa el Tercer Mundo y la inquietud que se manifiesta en muchos lugares deberían encuadrarse en el ofrecimiento de esa cooperación por parte de los países desarrollados, en la frase reciente del honorable Bettino Craxi, Primer Ministro del Gobierno de Italia, quien dijo:"La asistencia a Los países en desarrollo no es solamente un acto humanitario, sino una necesidad para lograr el equilibrio económico y la paz mundial. "
Una primera hojeada al documento Análisis Mundial, la coyuntura económica, demuestra, como lo dijo el Director General esta mañana, que el proteccionismo sigue siendo el mal tremendo de nuestra época, incorregible.
En efecto, los párrafos 1, 3 y 12 se refieren a la constante extensión del proteccionismo comercial, a la necesidad de que los principales países importadores frenen las medidas proteccionistas y a que "la escasez de divisas y las medidas de ajuste de los países endeudados se deben a la introducción o intensificación de medidas proteccionistas".
Siempre que va a celebrarse una reunión de importancia renace cierta esperanza, aunque después esa esperanza desaparezca entre el espejismo y la ingenuidad óptica. Ese fue el caso de la Conferencia Ministerial del GATT, realizada a mediados de septiembre pasado en Punta del Este, Uruguay.
Colombia tuvo el honor de asociarse con un importante país desarrollado, como Suiza, y juntos llevaron a esa Conferencia un plan que estaba dirigido en el campo agrícola a eliminar gradualmente los funestos subsidios que particularmente la Comunidad Económica Europea aplica a la producción y exportación de productos agropecuarios, con graves perjuicios para ios países exportadores del Tercer Mundo y muy altos costos para las poblaciones consumidoras de ios propios Estados de la C. E. E.
La propuesta suizo-colombiana fue llamada "Café con Leche" en referencia al excelente café de Colombia y a la deliciosa leche producida por Suiza. Teníamos la ilusión de que esa combinación de esfuerzos provenientes de dos países con niveles de desarrollo diferentes pudieran comenzar a cambiar esa lamentable situación de ios subsidios; pero la oposición de varios miembros de la C. E. E., apegados a su política agrícola común, no hizo posible lograr ningún avance hacia el cambio que es indispensable porque sus consecuencias están afectando gravemente la economía de numerosos países en desarrollo.
En efecto, el párrafo 13 dice que "América Latina experimentó una disminución del 1. 2 por ciento en el volumen de sus exportaciones y un fuerte deterioro del 3 por ciento en su relación de inter cambio en 1985.
El párrafo 38 indica la causa principal de esa desafortunada situación:"Los subsidios a las exportaciones han proliferado y se han acentuado".
Exactamente un mes después de haberse iniciado la Conferencia del GATT, en Uruguay, el 16 de octubre, Día Mundial de la Alimentación, el señor Pandolfi, Ministro de Agricultura de Italia y miembro prominente de la CEE, en este mismo edificio, dos pisos más arriba, dijo textualmente:"Hoy hay más barreras comerciales en la agricultura que en 1973, antes de la ronda de Tokio. Grandes cantidades de productos agrícolas·son vendidas en ios mercados mundiales a precios inferiores a los practicados en el mercado interior. Todos estamos llamados a cumplir un esfuerzo de prudencia, de equilibrio y coraje", concluyó el Ministro italiano Pandolfi. La delegación de Colombia espera que esa manifestación honesta sea un buen principio de rectificación en la política de la CEE, a cuyos doce Estados el gobierno colombiano reitera su admiración y simpatía. Pedimos que este Consejo reitere, una vez más, su llamado a la CEE y a los demás países industrializados que practican el proteccionismo para que reduzcan el proteccionismo y’sobre todo eliminen los subsidios.
Ojalá que la CEE Y los demás Estados industrializados que practican las diversas formas de proteccionismo oigan las voces como las que el Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Colombia hn dicho en la reciente Asamblea General de la Organización de los Estados Americanos:"Si realmente se quiere asegurar un proceso de crecimiento económico sostenido que asegure el empleo y la esta-bilidad social política en los países en desarrollo, las naciones industrializadas tendrán que abrir de nuevo sus mercados y permitir el acceso de las exportaciones provenientes del Tercer Mundo. Si no exportamos, moriremos, si no existen mercados para nuestros productos, América Latina y el Caribe verán fustradas sus expectativas de desarrollo y progreso social".
Indica este documento básico que entre 1980 y 1986 el PIB real per cápida en Africa ha disminuido en más del 11 por ciento y es probable que se reduzca el ritmo de crecimiento económico del Lejano Oriente, y de manera más considerable el de América Latina y el Caribe.
Esto justifica la afirmación del párrafo 15 según el cual "las primeras estimaciones con respecto a 1986 son poco alentadoras para la mayoría de los países en desarrollo".
La extensión de la pobreza, del hambre, de la malnutrición abarca todos ios rincones del mundo en desarrollo, mientras que los Estados industrializados siguen disfrutando de su opulenta sociedad de consumo.
Todo este documento confirma cómo la inmensa deuda externa del Tercer Mundo y las políticas proteccionistas de los Estados desarrollados han afectado considerablemente el crecimiento econó-mico y la vida misma de los países en desarrollo.
Aunque en ocasiones bajen los precios, ios países del Tercer Mundo no están en condiciones de importar alimentos; tienen que escoger entre el servicio de la deuda externa o las importaciones para sobrevivir, ya que del aumento de su crecimiento económico notienen ninguna esperanza, tienen que decidir entre el hambre y un mínimo de desarrollo.
Esos hechos conforman el contenido del párrafo 30, según el cual, las importaciones de cereales 1986/87 alcanzarán una cifra muy inferior a la de 1984/85. "Algunos importadores no podrán comprar cereales, debido a ios problemas financieros" concluye el párrafo 30.
Como ha dicho el profesor Islam, los recursos externos para la agricultura descienden considerablemente.
El párrafo 35 habla del Fondo Internacional de Desarrollo Agrícola (FIDA). Esta referencia señala brevemente la crisis del FIDA, organismo que nació bajo tan buenas esperanzas a fines de 1977 para beneficio de pequeños y medianos agricultores, y que ahora está declinando lentamente. El FIDA está adelantando una intensa campaña para tratar de que sobreviva. El Gobierno de Colombia viene apoyando esos esfuerzos.
La delegación de Colombia propone que este Consejo apoye toda iniciativa seria, realista y positiva para que el FIDA logre sobrevivir sobre bases estables.
La parte final del párrafo 35 hace referencia al nuevo servicio de préstamos del Fondo Monetario Internacional, con relación a la asistencia para equilibrar la balanza de pagos sobre los préstamos hechos en condiciones de favor a los países de bajos ingresos. Ese nuevo Servicio se ha llamado de Ajuste Estructural.
Seguramente este nuevo Servicio del FMI tendrá tantastrabas y limitaciones como el llamado Servicio Cerealero que sólo pudo ser utilizado por un número muy limitado de países en desarrollo, cinco solamente,
En efecto, se dice que 60 Estados tienen acceso a ese Servicio, que en gran parte se utilizará para apoyar actividades agropecuarias, pero ya dos grandes países en desarrollo, China e India, han dicho que no utilizarán ese Servicio.
La frase final del párrafo 39 afirma que el'Convenio Internacional del Trigo y el Convenio sobre Ayuda Alimentaria se renovaron sin cambios ni disposiciones económicas importantes por otros tres anos. De nada valió la insistencia de los países en desarrollo para que el Convenio Internacional del Trigo contenga cláusulas económicas que lo hagan verdaderamente operante y no inútil como en su forma actual.
Vanos también fueron ios esfuerzos, los reconocemos, de la Comunidad Económica Europea para que eso se lograra a través del llamado Grupo de Reflexión que propuso la CEE.
Como se puede ver todo es negativo para los países en desarrollo en este estudio de la Situación de la Agricultura y de la Alimentación.
El párrafo 51 dice que "para muchos países en desarrollo 1980/84 fue un período decepcionante en lo que respecta a su situación nutricional".
El párrafo 53 señala que africanos y latinoamericanos fueron los más afectados.
En síntesis, el hambre y la roaInutrición aumentan.
El Papa Juan Pablo II ha dicho que "resulta intolerable que se logren grandes progresos en el espacio mientras en la tierra millones de seres humanos padecen hambre".
El nuevo Presidente de la República de Colombia, doctor Virgilio Barco, declaró ante el 41 período de sesiones de la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas, en curso, que: "la humanidad puede si se lo propone desterrar él hambre. Quiero solicitar a la Comunidad Internacional, dijo el Presidente de Colombia, que reafirme su compromiso con la erradicación de la pobreza absoluta. Entre las multiples amenazas a nuestro mundo ninguna ha sido tan permanente como la pobreza".
El Presidente de Colombia ha propuesto una reunión que se celebraría en nuestro país el próximo año dedicado a buscar fórmulas para erradicar la pobreza absoluta en América Latina y El Caribe.
Los 26 países integrantes del Sistema Económico Latinoamericano, SELA, en su última reunión, así como la Asamblea General de la OEA que se celebra en Guatemala han manifestado que "acogemos'con entusiasmo la iniciativa formulada por el Presidente de Colombia en la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas a fin de emprender una lucha activa y coordinada para erradicar la pobreza absoluta de nues tra región, con la cooperación de los Organismos y Agencias Internacionales competentes". Es una idea que está apenas en formación. En la medida en que se concrete, el Gobierno de Colombia espera contar con la valiosa cooperación y asistencia de la FAO en los campos de la agricultura y de la alimentación, Organización que tantos y tan eficaces servicios viene prestando a nuestra región.
Joseph TCHICAYA (Congo): Je ne rivaliserai pas ni en éloquence ni en longueur avec mon collègue et cher ami de gauche. Au moment où nous intervenons sur ce point de notre ordre du jour, je voudrais vous dire combien ma délégation est heureuse de vous "voir parmi nous présider cette importante session. Je profité de l'occasion pour féliciter les autres membres élus ou à élire du Bureau. Nous sommes certains qu'ils vous apporteront le concours nécessaire pour assurer le succès des travaux de cette quatre-vingt-dixième session.
La délégation de la République populaire du Congo accueille avec le plus grand intérêt l'analyse détaillée de la situation de l'alimentation et de l'agriculture qui est présentée dans le document CL 90/2 et son supplément. Elle remercie le Prof. Islam pour son excellente introduction. C'est, il faut le dire, l'un des documents le plus complets que le Conseil ait jamais examiné sur ce sujet. Que le secrétariat en soit félicité. Je me réjouis de l'amélioration de certains paramètres économi-ques au niveau mondial depuis notre dernier examen de la situation. Mais lorsque l'on connaît l'interdépendance des différents secteurs de l'économie, l'on ne peut s'empêcher de se montrer inquiets de la situation dont plusieurs paramètres révèlent un climat d'incertitude quant à l'avenir de l'économie mondiale. En plus, les recettes d'exportations, sources de devises susceptibles de contribuer de manière décisive sur l'évolution des investissements dans le secteur qui nous concerne, ont stagné voire régressé; il ne faut pas oublier les dimensions prises par un phénomène partout décrié, à savoir le protectionnisme, devenu pratique courante par ceux-là même qui reconnaissent ses méfaits et exaltent la liberté de marché.
Même si les taux d'intérêt internationaux ont baissé, la plupart des pays en développement sont dans des situations qui ne leur permettent plus d'emprunter, le coefficient du service de leur dette ayant atteint des pourcentages record, incompatibles avec une nécessaire relance des activités économiques soutenues. Il est normal que dans ces conditions nombre de pays en développement aient enregistré un taux de croissance décevant de la production. Certes, on prévoit que des régions, comme celle à laquelle appartient mon pays, devraient voir leur production augmenter à un rythme assez élevé mais prévisible au regard de niveaux bas. En outre, il est signalé que ce rythme aura du mal à suivre celui de la croissance démographique dans l'état actuel des choses, et le tableau 1 sur la variation annuelle de certains indicateurs économiques et financiers est suffisamment éloquent car il montre qu'il ne faut pas s'attendre, sans une action d'envergure de la communauté internationale, à ce que cette situation s'améliore en Afrique où le coefficient du service de la dette a connu un accroissement accéléré passant de 13, 6 en 1980 à 32, 3 en 1986. Il va sans dire que les importations ont souffert non seulement de la faiblesse des recettes d'exportation et du coût du service de la dette, comme il est dit au paragraphe 15, mais aussi des mesures imposées par le FMI qui, on le sait, loin de guérir les économies de nos pays, y créent des tensions sociales et politiques déstabilisatrices. Les exemples pour illustrer cela ne manquent pas dans notre région.
Ce qui est dit au paragraphe 17 semble juste en partie, car il-faut également dire que les mesures radicales d'ajustement dictées par le FMI ont souvent entraîné des hausses de prix insupportables dans les pays concernés où les prix de biens et services étaient jusque là contenus par des politiques de subvention de certaines denrées de première nécessité, ainsi que des services publics, pendant que les salaires étaient bloqués.
Avec ce point, je voudrais aborder la situation de l'alimentation et de l'agriculture en 1985 et 1986. Il est réjouissant de constater que la croissance de la production agricole dans les pays en développement s'est maintenue en 1985 et surtout qu'elle a été mieux répartie. L'Afrique, après ses graves pénuries alimentaires engendrées notamment par la sécheresse, a amélioré sa production. Mais si cette hausse de la production reste encore soumise aux aléas climatiques et autres, que faut-il en penser ? Il est cependant regrettable que cette hausse de la production qui accroît la capacité d'exportation de nos pays se soit heurtée à une demande plus vigoureuse entraînant la baisse des cours internationaux des produits agricoles, réduisant ainsi les possibilités d'importation des intrants agricoles susceptibles d'agir positivement et durablement sur la production agricole, et ce, malgré des prix à l'exportation des engrais azotés et potassiques en baisse. C'est ici où l'aide en nature, préconisée par le Directeur général, et dont l'étude a été recommandée par la 14ème Conférence régionale de la FAO pour l'Afrique tenue en septembre dernier à Yamoussoukro prend toute sa dimension. Nous aurons l'occasion d'y revenir lorsque sera abordé ce point de notre ordre du jour. Nous ne cesserons jamais d'insister sur les effets bénéfiques des transactions triangulaires comme actions susceptibles de promouvoir la production, surtout dans pareilles situations. Devant une telle situation le paragraphe 33 concernant l'aide extérieure à l'agriculture nous semble justifier les plus vives inquiétudes. En effet, la baisse des engagements d'aide extérieure publique à l'agriculture-qui a connu une chute de 12 pour cent en prix courants en 1984, même si ce taux est plus faible en ce qui concerne les engagements d'aide multilatérale à des conditions de faveur qui n'ont fléchi, elles, que de 2 pour cent aux prix de 1980-cette inquiétude est d'autant plus partagée qu'il s'agit là de la troisième baisse consécutive. Même si l'on s'attend à un redressement de la situation en 1985, qui constitue en fait une année où le volume d'aide s'est exceptionnellement accru en raison de la grave situation qu'a connue l'Afrique et dont les effets restent encore sensibles, et même en tenant compte de la vague de solidarité internationale sans précédent qu'elle a entraîné, nous émettons le voeu que malgré le faible niveau de reconstitution des ressources du FIDA, les pays développés mettent tout en oeuvre pour atteindre l'objectif des 300 millions nécessaires pour financer le Programme spécial du FIDA en faveur des pays subsahariens, victimes de la sécheresse et de la désertification et surtout qu'ils parviennent à mobiliser des ressources suffisantes pour appuyer les efforts de redressement économique et de développement des pays africains, dont le programme d'action est centré sur l'agriculture et les secteurs connexes, conformément aux résultats de la session extra ordinaire de l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies.
Pour ce qui concerne le commerce international' des produits agricoles, il convient de dire que s'il est utile de réorienter les politiques agricoles en adaptant la structure de la production à la demande mondiale pour éviter un excédent structurel qui a contribué à la dégradation des conditions du commerce mondial des produits agricoles, disons tout de suite que si les pays développés ont les moyens de les mettre en oeuvre, la communauté internationale devra apporter une assistance de tous
ordres pour la favoriser dans les pays en développement. Le moment nous semble approprié pour lancer un appel en direction des grands pays qui n'ont toujours pas ratifié l'Accord commun portant sur la création d'un fonds commun pour les produits de base, pour qu'ils le ratifient.
Enfin, nous tenons à saluer les efforts déployés par le Directeur général pour mobiliser les ressources nécessaires, pour faire face aux attaques de criquets et de sautériaux en Afrique et au Proche-Orient et remercions tous les donateurs qui ont généreusement répondu à son appel. De même nous encourageons les efforts visant à mettre en place des mécaniques susceptibles d'aider à faire face aux accidents du type Tchernobyl. L'examen de la situation, région par région, nous amène à nous apesantir sur l'Afrique pour reconnaître que si la sécheresse a pris fin, nous venons de le voir, les criquets et les sautériaux ont pris le relais, au point où l'Afrique reste une zone fragile qui devra continuer à faire l'objet d'une surveillance soutenue et d'un traitement spécial.
Nous savons tous que les dirigeants africains au plus haut: niveau ont analysé cette situation et nous sommes heureux que la FAO ait contribué à cette réflexion suscitée par la dégradation continue de l'agriculture africaine dont la production vivrière par habitant n'a cessé de se dégrader depuis près de vingt ans. Ces mauvais résultats de notre agriculture ont fait l'objet d'examens approfondis et suscité des initiatives souvent hardies que cela soit Harare où la 13ème Conférence de la FAO pour l'Afrique avait non seulement adopté une résolution courageuse mais aussi demandé une étude sur l'agriculture de la région ou son relèvement, que cela soit dans le cadre du programme prioritaire de redressement économique de l'Afrique 1986-1990, approuvé par l'OUA en 1985, le tout consacré par la session extraordinaire de l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies du 27 mai au ler juin 1986.
Nous savons que le retard de la croissance agricole en Afrique est la résultante de causes endogènes et exogènes; même si les gouvernements africains sont déterminés à s'attaquer aux premières, les secondes y jouent un role déterminant, relèvent de la réponse qu'elles obtiendront de la communauté internationale. Et à cet égard, nous regrettons de n'avoir pu obtenir un engagement ferme et unanime de tous les pays donateurs dans l'accroissement de leur aide et l'allégement de la dette pour laquelle, on le sait, l'Afrique réclame une conférence spéciale, étant donné que sans une solution radicale dece côté, les ressources d'exportations-du reste en constante diminution-ne serviront qu'à faire face au service de ka dette alors qu'elles devraient être investies pour accroître la capacité de production, de stockage, de commercialisation et de transformation de son agriculture.'Les programmes d'ajustement' structurel actuellement mis en oeuvre à l'instigation du FMI ne servent aue de palliatifs dont les effets risquent de s'avérer aléatoires et sans portée réelle. La délégation de mon pays a été surprise de voir-ou de ne pas voir-au paragraphe 126 qui parle de la situation alimentaire de 1986 en Afrique australe, qu'on nous cite parmi les causes de la mauvaise campagne céréalièreles conflits intérieurs sans que mention ne soit faite d'une raison aujourd'hui unanimement acceptée, à savoir les actions déstabilisatrices de l'Afrique du Sud; car les conflits intérieurs dont il est fait état ici, sont créés et entretenus par l'Afrique du Sud, avec, hélas, l'appui de certains gouvernements présents au sein de ce Conseil qui, on le sait, se refusent à appliquer des sanctions obligatoires au régime de l'apartheid.
Ce que nous venons de dire précédemment montre que le financement du développement agricole est certes avant tout affaire des gouvernements des pays en développement, mais, étant donné le faible poids de ces pays sur les facteurs exogènes, l'appoint adapté et suffisant de la communauté internationale est plus que requis.
Certes, nous sommes d'avis qu'il importe de mobiliser l'épargne intérieure mais si certains pays en développement en possèdent une relativement importante, dans nombre de nos pays elle est inexistante puisque chacun sait que l'agriculture de subsistance ne peut guère la favoriser. Et même chez les petits exploitants qui produisent pour l'exportation, étant donné les cours mondiaux extrêmement bas et la détérioration des termes de l'échange, il n'y a guère de possibilité d'épargne; et l'Etat est parfois le seul organisme susceptible d'intervenir tout en veillant aux équilibres macro-économiques indispensables. Ainsi les sources extérieures restent-elles un appoint sérieux à condition que de telles ressources soient judicieusement utilisées, et, ici, les donateurs et les bénéficiaires doivent être invités à entretenir un dialogue franc pour veiller à ce que les coûts liés à cette aide n'engendrent pas d'obligations financières insupportables pour le pays bénéficiaire, obligations qui pourraient être génératrices de dettes, pendant que le gouvernement est invité à réduire les dépenses de l'Etat tout en cherchant à accroître ses recettes.
L'analyse faite sur l'évolution de l'aide publique au développement de l'agriculture montre clairement qu'il n'y a pas une orientation précise de celle-ci liée à une volonté politique suffisamment prononcée. On semble plutôt réagir à des circonstances du moment, a en juger par l'évolution de l'aide pubLique à des' conditions do faveur.
Le paragraphe 254 et le tableau 14 montrent qu'un effort doit actuellement être fait dans le domaine des engagements d'aide publique à l'agriculture, notamment dans le domaine de la production locale en intrants, tout en continuant à approvisionner les pays en développement en intrants afin d'élargir leur utilisation et de justifier l'implantation d'unités viables de production d'intrants. En effet, tant que l'épargne intérieure(et l'épargne rurale en particulier) a constitué la source principale de financement du développement agricole, suivant son importance on a assisté soit à de réels progrès quand celle-ci était importante, soit à une stagnation, voire un recul de la productivité agricole dans les pays en développement et le cas de l'Afrique s'inscrit dans cette seconde situation. Il est clair que dans tous les cas les apports extérieurs en ressources financières constituent un complément indispensable pour accroître la capacité d'autosuffisance alimentaire et de sécurité alimentaire dans nombre de pays en développement qui assistent impuissants au déclin continu des recettes d'exportation, en raison de la conjugaison de plusieurs facteurs défavorables. Nous partageons à cet égard ce qui est dit au paragraphe 297 sur la nécessité d'accorder de plus en plus d'attention à l'organisation des marchés intérieurs qui tendront à se substituer aux marchés extérieurs comme moteur de la croissance du secteur agricole et ce faisant, sur le reste des activités économiques; cette politique autocentrée et autodynamique nous semble répondre à la présente situation. Certes le role des gouvernements consiste à favoriser l'instauration d'un climat économique favorable aux producteurs mais il devra tenir compte du pouvoir d'achat des consommateurs si l'on veut que la demande intérieure s'élargisse et surtout si l'on ne veut pas sacrifier une des compo santes du concept élargi de la sécurité alimentaire, à savoir l'accès économique de tous aux approvisionnements.
Comme on le voit, plus que jamais la FAO doit déployer toute son expérience et toutes ses ressources pour apporter une, réponse appropriée aux différents problèmes qui se posent au monde en développement dans son domaine d'activité. Aussi est-ce avec inquiétude que nous allons suivre la situation financière de notre Organisation.
Nous osons croire que les pays membres mettront tout en oeuvre pouraméliorer cette situation en payant intégralement et dans les délais leur contribution. C'est dans cet esprit que nous lançons un appel au plus grand contributeur pour qu'il épargne à notre Organisation de ces difficultés sans précédent pour lui permettre de continuer à accomplir sa mission constitutionnelle pour laquelle le Programme de coopération technique joue un role des plus positifs, comme l'a reconnu ce matin le Directeur général dans sa brillante et courageuse intervention.
Zhu PEIRONG (China) (Original language Chinese):I would like to thank the Secretariat for providing us with up-to-date information on the world economy and on the world agricultural development. I am sure that such background knowledge will facilitate our deliberations on this subject. We have taken note of the fact that although this year has witnessed increases in the agricultural production and the world economy as a whole, most of the developing countries are istill facing a critical situation in their economy and agricultural development. The problems of food and trade for agricultural commodities as well as the problem of debt-servicing in many developing countries need to be addressed with greater efforts in the coming years.
We are happy to learn that fairly good harvests have been recorded in the African continent over the past two years and as a result the severe food shortage has been eased to a modest extent. However, they still have the arduous task of rehabilitating and developing their agriculture to accomplish. Under a grave economic situation, Latin America has not made remarkable progress in food production. Though Asia has achieved some progress in food production over the past two years, restricted by high population density and limited land resources, it is facedwith a heavy task of achieving sustained growth by increasing inputs and investment and improving technology. All this indicates that the development of food production is closely related to that of the overall social economy, and also depends on whether the developed countries can transfer funds and technology in fair terms to the developing countries. Therefore the issue of food will remain a high priority to be solved in a long period ahead.
What concerns us most is that the international trade for agricultural commodities has experienced no improvement. The developing countries are hit by the growing tariff and non-tariff trade barriers, the continuous decline of the price for raw materials and the deteriorating terms of trade. When considering the agenda item on the state of food and agriculture at the 23rd session of the FAO Conference last year, we expressed the hope that the international community would give this issue serious thought and eventually find a solution. Not long ago, ministers from 74 GATT member countries met in the Uruguayan seaside resort of Punta del Este and adopted a declaration, calling for reduced barriers on imports, minimizing the adverse effects that sanitary and phyto-sanitary regulations can have on agricultural trade, improving the environment for competition and eliminating the varied forms of subsidies affecting agricultural trade so as to gradually achieve the objective of liberalizing trade. All these measures will havea positive impact, and therefore we welcome this progress. At the same time, we wish to emphasize that although this part of the declaration has expressed the common wish of the participating countries, the most important thing is to translate it into action. We sincerely hope that FAO and other relevant UN agencies will continue to hold consultations on this issue in the future.
The United Nations Assembly has recently adopted a resolution on food and agriculture, which shows that the issue of food and agriculture has once again attracted the attention of the international community. We welcome such a move.
As we have expressed our views on the issue of food and trade for agricultural commodities touched upon in the resolution, we now would like to highlight the issue of financial resources used for agriculture which stands as a separate point in the document. We have noted with concern the declining trend of both the multilateral resources and private investment. The Chinese delegation has always held that the economy of all countries is interdependent. Today the developed countries assist the developing countries by providing funds and technology in promoting their agricultural production and in turn they will benefit by obtaining raw material and markets from the developing countries. Now the paradoxical phenomenon that the supply of agricultural products exceeds demand is rooted in the economic difficulties facing many developing countries. It neither means that the world demand for agricultural products has already been fully met, nor does it meanthat investment in agriculture will not achieve satisfactory returns. If we look at this problem with a wise and farsightedview, we believe that with the economic development in the developing countries and with the rehabilitation of agriculture in particular, the newly increased purchasing power will be tremendous. What is left for us to do is to tap this potential and seek markets in development. We hope that development should be our common objective.
On the other hand, we should not lose sight of other problems in development worthy of our attention such as overreclamation and overgrazing in some regions which have accelerated soil erosion and desertification; the exhausting fishery resources due to overfishing or pollution and the near extinction of some plant germplasm resources and animal breeds. All this suggests that we are faced with the urgent task of ensuring sustained growth of agriculture by conserving and regenerating agricultural resources. We suggest that study on this issue be included in the next biennal programme of work of FAO, and discussed in due course and that decisions be made accordingly.
China's agricultural development in recent years is mentioned in the document. Now please allow me to make a few additions. This year, though hit by frequent natural calamities, we have produced fairly good harvests. The latest information reveals that food production will increase over last year but will be still lower than the peak year of 1984. Livestock and fishery production and township enterprises continue to grow. However, the production of cash crops such as cotton and sugar-bearing crops will drop compared to last year due to enlarged sown area under grain crops, and reduction of the area under cash crops. In general, China still has a low level of per capita foodgrain consumption, and food production performance varies among provinces. The problem of feeding and clothing the people in the areas with about 10% of the total population still needs to be solved. Therefore in the 7th Five-Year Plan period starting from this year, food production is listed as a priority for development. Great efforts will be made to strengthen the construction of commodity grain bases, build up a service network for agriculture, implement reforms in rural circulation and help the remote and poor areas to raise their agricultural productivity by providing funds and technology in an effort to improve the general performance of food and agricultural production in the country.
As more than 20 items will be discussed at the current Council session, we have a heavy task before us. We shall join efforts with the other delegates and strive to make the session a success through full consultation.
Vanrob ISARANKURA (Thailand): First I wish to join the other delegates in expressing our happiness in seeing you again in the Chair of this important meeting of FAO. I can assure you of the cooperation of my delegation in accomplishing the goals of this Council. I would also like to congratulate the two vice-chairmen on their election.
My delegation has listened with great interest and deep concern to the excellent introduction made by DrIslam of the current world food and agriculture situation. We have also carefully studied the documents CL 90/2 and CL 90/2-Sup. 1 and we find that they give a very comprehensive and important report. However, we also find that on the Chapter of Regional Review, in the Asia Section of the document CL 90/2, there is no report about the situation in Thailand. To provide more information at this juncture my delegation wishes to submit to this Council a brief comment on the food and agriculture situation in Thailand.
The situation in our country can be described as having both a positive and a negative aspect to it. On the positive side Thailand is experiencing, as never before in its recent history, a super abundance of food resources. However, on the negative side sharply declining prices combined with weak world demand for agricultural commodities are posing a serious threat to the economic survival of our farmers and have already contributed to a substantialslowdown in Thailand's economic growth.
In 1985, agricultural production in Thailand recorded an overall growth rate of 3.8 percent. Whilst this figure is somewhat lower than the 4.5 percent target set by the fifth Five Year Plan, 1985 is the third consecutive year characterised by high crop production. The production of rice, corn and sugar cane, (to mention just some of the major crops) have reached new high levels, previously unattained. Fisheries have also recorded a substantial rise in production, while the livestock sector continued to expand and develop.
Turning to the documents now before us. My delegation fully agrees with the view contained in paragraph 8 of document CL 90/2 Sup. 1 that countries in South East Asia suffered the most serious setback in export earning in 1985. This conclusion can be confirmed by the situation in Thailand. To give one glaring example, exports of rice, our top foreign exchange earner, the value of such exports dropped as much as 25 percent due to the sharp decline in prices. But agriculture is the backbone of the Thai economy and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Our agricultural products must be able to fetch reasonable prices on the world market to ensure the economic survival of the farmers and to maintain the incentive for sustained high productivity. Too low commodity prices will, sooner or later, drive farmers out of business. Therefore, world agricultural trade conditions should be improved and readjusted in such a way as to assure free and fair competition. In particular, national measures such as subsidies, which result in trade distortions and artificially low export prices, should be abandoned. In the same spirit the rich, industrially-advanced countries should liberalise trade and facilitate, rather than restrict, access to their
domestic markets. This implies the lifting of non-tariff barriers and the elimination of protectionist measures. The foregoing suggestions would, no doubt, necessitate some short term sacrifices, but given the necessary political will and courage the rich countries could surely afford to make such sacrifices.
Victor HJORT (Denmark): The State-of Food and Agriculture 1986 provides, as in earlier versions, a comprehensive and balanced description and analysis of the world food and agriculture situation in the first half of the eighties up to 1986. The document testifies to the paramount role that FAO plays in collecting, analysing and presenting information to enable the international community to monitor and understand world agriculture. Indeed, it enhances the policy making of the international community with regard to food and agriculture. The State of World Food and Agriculture, particularly in the developing countries, presents some aspects which are duly recorded and systematised in the FAO review, first and foremost through the regional focus especially on Africa, although the situation in the other important development regions is by no means overlooked. It also highlights the central role of agriculture in stimulating and supporting overall economic development. This implies discussion on the most adequate ways and means of improving agricultural production. In this context due accent is given to rural development, domestic policies and financing.
The document emphasises that the main source of agricultural development also with regard to financial resources is generated in the developing countries themselves. This seems a very obvious fact, but by stating it we are reminded that the international donor community can only be a catalyst in a development process implemented by the developing countries. In this respect we wish to commend the analysis carried out by FAO on the causes of the African agricultural crisis as well as the policy implications already carried out by a number of African states.
The general picture of the economic environment and the state of food and agriculture is not very encouraging. It is true that a series of indicators testify to a positive development in fields such as lower inflation, increasing production in developing countries and improved nutrition standards in a number of countries. With respect to earlier sessions we can finally also note a step forward in terms of the agreement on the second replenishment of IFAD and the holding of the General Assembly's Special Session on Africa. However, the Report shows that the constraints are heavier than the improvements. In spite of market food output increases in the developing countries the growth in production does not (as in Africa) keep pace with population growth. Farm productivity is not improving and the gap in nutritional status between lower and higher income countries is widening.
Another gap is produced by the growing contrast between countries with an increasing domestic demand and strongly export dependent countries, the latter being penalised by weakening commodity prices. Africa, in particular, is faced with a serious deterioration in terms of trade and with increasing debt problems. In general net capital flows to developing countries fell drastically in the first half of the eighties but growth in official commitments is recovering, namely in terms of concessional contributions. At a special session on Africa, Denmark, together with other donors, announced higher commitments and initiatives to limit debt burdens.
The Report also records the locust and grasshopper problem in Africa which, thanks to ready donor support, also by my Government, has been so far successful. We commend our Secretariat's intention to secure in the future a more coordinated prevention against locust upsurges.
In conclusion, I should like to express my satisfaction with the present state of the Food and Agriculture Report, which is more than a statutory report. By reason of the longer term analysis and the special chapter on financing, it will provide a number of nations with a more efficient and critical information when presented to the next Conference. The Report helps member states in assessing and shaping their policies to improve food and agricultural production.
Finally, I should like to refer to the European Community statement on this matter later on.
J. R. LOPEZ-PORTILLO ROMANO (Mexico): Mexico se congratula de que dirija usted, señor Presidente, tan eficazmente nuestros trabajos; asimismo expresamos nuestra felicitación de agradecimiento al Director General por la magnífica intervención que nos hizo esta mañana. Agradecemos al doctor Islam su presentación y a la Secretaría la preparación del documento que ahora estudiamos.
Señor Presidente, la probreza es sin duda, y así se reconoce universalmente, la causa fundamental de la inseguridad alimentaria y por tanto el aumento en el ingreso es el factor más importante en el mejoramiento de las dietas y en el combate del hambre.
En esta década se ha reducido o estancado el ingreso promedio de gran parte de la población mundial. La pobreza absoluta se ha extendido, como nos lo ha recordado el delegado de Colombia, y con ello el hambre y la malnutrición se han exacerbado.
Los excedentes de los países industrializados se acumulan, deprimen precios, cargan sus economías e inducen a prácticas desleales y proteccionismos que se preven cada vez más agresivos.
A pesar de la afluencia de alimentos, los hambrientos no pueden traducir sus necesidades en demandas efectivas. La reactivación económica de muchos países desarrollados y la virtual recesión en otros no han estimulado la economía de los países subdesarrollados, por el contrario el empeoramiento de la carga de la deuda externa, la ausencia de créditos y de financiación externos, los movimientos incontrolados de los tipos de cambio, las tasas de interéselevadas, la reducción de los términos del intercambio, el proteccionismo, la contracción de los mercados y la sustitución de productos de exportación del mundo subdesarrollado, así como la fuga de capitales y cerebros y las estériles y peligrosas políticas de austeridad, todo ello ha impuesto severos retrocesos ai crecimiento económico, al empleo y al nivel y distribución de los ingresos entre regiones y entre grupos poblacionales.
Se cuestiona, inclusive, la posibilidad misma del desarrollo futuro y lo acertado de los modelos de desarrollo adoptados. Difícilmente se puede seguir hablando de países en desarrollo. Cabe, quizás, otra expresión que califique su atraso y que denote la necesidad de transitar en otro sentido.
Se hace cada vez más patente lairracionalidad que desperdicia recursos económicos escasos en la producción de bienes y servicios socialmente innecesarios o de baja prioridad. Baste recordar que unas cuantas horas del derroche en el ejercicio del presupuesto armamentista anual de algunas potencias es equivalente a su contribución total bianual a la FAO.
Recordemos también que las empresas agroalimentarias están en el negocio no para satisfacer necesidades básicas, sino para obtener máximas ganancias. De ahí que no deba sorprendernos que busquen, mediante todas las técnicas, ampliar mercados, moldear viejas necesidades, imponer nuevas técnicas que promuevan un consumo de todo tipo de productos alimenticios. Así, por ejemplo, se usan aditivos que atentan contra la salud, colorantes que engañan, o se aplican plaguicidas que permiten una máxima producción, pero cuya toxicidad contamina el medio ambiente y envenena al consumidor.
Recordemos también la acumulación costosa y el derroche de excedentes alimentarios frente a la indigencia y la muerte por hambre de millones de seres humanos. Muchos son, sin duda, los ejemplos y todo esto tiene también su propia lógica que explica la visión cíclica ydiscontinuade que veía el delegado de Colombia. En todo caso, podemos calificar esa lógica o ese sistema de irracional e injusto.
Esa irracionalidad e injusticia priva en los países subdesarrollados como efecto de su dependencia económicay a intereses geopolíticos de las potencias.
El subdesarrollo del sector agrícola y su bajaprioridad en los planes y presupuestos nacionales, así como el cambio desventajoso, la estructura de cultivos y patrones alimentarios promovidos a la par de la urbanización en sustitución de alimentos tradicionales, son muestra de esa irracionalidad. Son en buena parte causa de la crisis agrícola y alimentaria vigente en muchos países.
La situación de Africa es particularmente precaria y nadie debe sentirse tranquilo de que en el último ano su crisis no haya sido tan grave. Apoyamos en todo lo que valenlas iniciativas que esa región adopte y los esfuerzos del Director General de responder a las prioridades de ese Continente; pero un cambio cualitativo en su forma de enfrentar el futuro se hace imperativo. Reformar estructuras como las propuestas en el documento que estudiamos, junto con una cooperación internacional más generosa y menos condicionada a obtener ventajas económicas o políticas es necesario.
Sin duda, la superación de conflictos internos y regionales, particularmentela política desestablizadora que fomenta Sud Africa escondición para un porvenir más estable y justo.
No nos deja de preocupar tampoco el deterioro de la seguridad alimentaria en otras regiones, particularmente en América Latina. Lo explican razones estructurales internas, como serecoge en los párrafos 135 a 139 y en el 142, pero también obedece a factores externos, como bien lo identifica el documento, como la propia crisis financiera, las deudas, la recesión internacional, el proteccionis mo, la inestabilidad de precios, el deterioro de los términos de intercambio y, en fin, el menor flujo de la asistencia externa.
En estas condiciones, subrayamos la prioridad absoluta que debe recibir el sector agrícola a nivel nacional e internacional como fórmula indispensable para la sobrevivencia del mundo en que vivimos y como sustento de todo crecimiento económico en los países del Tercer Mundo.
Puntualizamos la necesidad de crear cambios cualitativos en las estructuras de cultivo y en los patrones del consumo de alimentos, impulsando prioritariamente los productos y alimentos autóctonos, y aquellos que conlleven una menor dependencia externa y que mejor se adapten a las condiciones agro-climáticas y socioeconómicas, particularmente de las zonas de temporal.
Los mal llamados cereales secundarios, como el maíz, y por otra parte las raíces tubérculos, plátanos y otras frutas y legumbres deben de reivindicarse en la economía agraria y en las dietas de nuestros países;la disponibilidad de insumos agrícolas suficientes y adecuados es esencial para aumentar la producción agrícola y la suficiencia alimentaria. De ahí que propongamos. de nuevo, que en el concepto ampliado de seguridad alimentaria se adicione a los insumos agrícolas, tales como semillas, fertilizantes, plaguicidas, maquinaria agrícola, crédito, etc. como factoresindispensables para la consecución de tal objetivo y que se contemplen adecuadamente en toda estrategia de seguridad alimentaria.
En vista de que en un mundo interdependiente como el que vivimos, la seguridad alimentaria es una responsabilidad colectiva, debemos promover la cooperación multilateral y el carácter multilateral de la ayuda. Sólo así se puede prever una respuesta congruente a los intereses fundamentales de cada país beneficiario. Nos preocupa, por tanto la tendencia a bilateralizarla. Rechazamos cualquier tipo de condicionamiento de la asistencia externa y de la ayuda en función de prejuicios en todo caso, ideológicos e intereses contrarios al propósito mismo de la cooperación internacional.
En vista delo que se indica en el párrafo 33 y dela situación precaria del FIDA, descrita en términos muy sencillos en el párrafo 35, hacemos un nuevo llamado a la Comunidad Internacional para que incremente la totalidad de las corrientes de fondos internacionales destinados al aumento de la producción agrícola y sus compromisos oficiales de asistencia externa a la agricultura por la vía multilateral.
Tomamos nota y agradecemos la calidad del apartado tercero del documento 90/2 y de que la financiación del desarrollo agrícola en este decenio se ha visto seriamente afectada. Ello responde a causas coyunturales y a razones estructurales que invitan a fomentar la confianza colectiva, la cooperación Sur-Sur, la cooperación técnica y económica entre países en desarrollo con usos más prudentes de los recursos disponibles, y una intervención más eficaz del Estado para organizar los mercados internos que estimulen el crecimiento agrícola. Debe, sin duda, crearse un clima económico más favorable a los productores del campo, a la inversión productiva pública y privada y al uso de técnicas, variedades e insumos que reduzcan la dependencia del exterior, promuevan el consumo de ali mentos autóctonos y respeten y consideren las necesidades y las posibilidades de los consumidores.
Pedimos a la FAO que profundice en este estudio y que nos lo presente con todos los beneficios de esa profundidad en la próxima Conferencia de la FAO.
Debemos advertir, sin embargo, que el peso de la deuda externa impide, y muy probablemente impedirá, la recuperación económica y específicamente agrícola en la mayoría de los países subdesarrollados.
Subrayamos que difícilmente habrá solución a la crisis económica internacional hasta que no se resuelva el problema de la deuda. Sus efectos en la agricultura, la alimentación y las importaciones seguirán condenando a la mayor parte del mundo a un estado permanente deinseguridad alimentaria.
Rechazamos, pues, las prácticas proteccionistas que han mermado el valor y la posibilidad de expor-tación de los países subdesarrollados y que han alimentado el círculo vicioso del financiamenlo al desarrollo agrícola y del subdesarrollo en general.
Instamos a la Comunidad Internacional a que encuentre las fórmulas para estabilizar los precios y mercados internacionales mediante convenios, acuerdos de productos básicos, la ratificación del Convenio constitutivo del Fondo Común y la incorporación de cláusulas en el Convenio Internacional del Trigo y otros sobre, ayuda alimentaria.
Insistimos en que se incorporen las cuestiones relativas al comercio agrícola en el programa de negociaciones comerciales y multilaterales del GATT. Pedimos al Director General que nos mantenga informado de la evolución de tales negociaciones y de la situación de los acuerdos y convenios inter nacionales de productos básicos.
Finalmente, reclamamos de nuevo la presentación de un estudio que ha venido preparando la FAO a so licitud de varios países sobre la participación de las empresas transnacionales en este sector, en vista del dominio preponderante que tienen en el comercio exterior de productos básicos, en la transferencia de tecnología agrícola y alimentaria y en el comportamiento y volumen del crédito y la inver sión externa e interna. No queremos que pruritos técnicos permitan posponer la presentación de tal estudio. Hoy solicitamos enfáticamente que se presente en la próxima reunión del Comité de Seguri dad . Alimentaria en abril del próximo año.
Octavio Rainho da SILVA NEVES (Brazil): We are very glad to see you again in the chair. We should also like to congratulate the Director-General on his statement this morning.
To begin with, I should like to make mine the views expressed by Saudi Arabia, Colombia and Congo in particular. My delegation wishes to thank Dr Islam and the Secretariat for the presentation of a very important and well balanced analysis on the state of food and agriculture. My delegation is pre-pared to give general support to the findings and the conclusions of the study under consideration.
The first chapter of the document pays attention to the problem of external debt, and rightly points out-and I quote-
"It is a major obstacle to a resumption of growth in many developing countries. "
However, the document fails to mention, as has already been stressed in other documents prepared by this Organization, that the servicing of the external debt has led the developing countries to play a new role in the international scene:the role of net exporters of capital to the industrialized world.
According to the Inter-American Development Bank, Latin America has transferred more than $100 billion to wealthier creditors in the last four years. My country alone has been transferring around $11 billion a year for the service of its debt. We have made considerable efforts to honour our engagements through the expansion of our exports and reforms in our economy. As a great part of the developing world, Brazil has been confronted, on the one hand, with the need to increase its exports in order to service the external debt and, on the other hand, with a decline in the price of its main products, the shrinkage of developed countries' markets, the overall shortage of credit and financing, and the widespread protectionism of the industrialized world. In order to be able to honour their commitments and as well to ensure socially acceptable rates of economic growth, the developing countries must count on fairer arrangements in regard to their external debt and as well on a better access free of artificial competitiveness of subsidized goods of their products to international markets. Debt payments relief will as well permit us to import the goods we need to sustain our growth and eradicate the areas of absolute poverty. In regard to-absolute poverty, I am pleased to inform the Council that my delegation fully supports the proposal made by Mr Virgilio Barco, President of Colombia, at the United Nations Assembly for a conference on this question.
The prospects shown by the document under review for economic growth in developing countries in 1986 are not promising at all. For Latin America there is a forecast of a pronounced deceleration in economic growth and a continuing fall in its terms of trade. Whilst considering useful the chapter dedicated to Latin America and the Caribbean, my delegation believes that not enough attention has been given to the concerns expressed at the Nineteenth Regional Conference held last August in Bridgetown, Barbados. In this connection, I should like to recall two paragraphs of the Report of the Nineteenth Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Paragraph 13 of that report, just distributed, states that the Regional Conference highlights the fact that Latin America and the Caribbean were undergoing a serious and unprecedented economic crisis intensified by the heavy burden of external debts, the fall in export prices, adverse terms of trade, and by a large transfer of resources out of the region which had led to a reduction in per caput income in food supplies and an increase in poverty and malnutrition, especially in the most vulnerable population groups.
In paragraph 20, the Conference expresses its satisfaction for the Director-General's acceptance in his statement of the suggestion made by the representatives of the countries of the region to FAO that the Organization conduct a specific study on the economic situation, as well as its implications for the long-term development of the region in what pertains to food and agriculture. In this respect, they request the Director-General to allocate the necessary resources to initiate this study as soon as possible. They also request that the study contemplate the formulation of a Plan of Action including the role of FAO, as well as that of governments themselves, and the cooperation of other international organizations interested in the development of the region.
My delegation wishes, once again, to appeal for increased cooperation among the developed and the developing countries in trade matters. Not only in relation to a more rational and stable international trade, as stressed by the representative of Mexico, particularly in connection with Africa, but as well in relation to the suspension of domestic measures that adversely affect world markets. As to the question of protectionism, Mr Chairman, let us hope that theEconomist's this well-known British Magazine's prediction-the Economist, the last one I believe, on November 15th, becomes true.
That magazine stated that in the richand mainly industrial countries, farmers are paid too much so they produce too much. In the poor and mainly agricultural countries farmers are paid too little so they produce too little. Europeans trample cognac grapes into industrial alcohol. Americans fill rock mountain caverns with butter. Japanese pay eight to ten times the world price for their bowl of rice. Meanwhile, many millions of Asians and Africans live in real poverty and go hungry to bed. They end by saying "do not despair, the mistakes are so large that this contrary policy will soon collapse. Properly staged and handled, that collapse will leave the world better off. "They may be optimistic but we hope that this prediction will come true.
Temel ISKIT (Turkey): We would like to begin by complimenting the Secretariat for the well prepared and, at the same time, thought-provoking and stimulating document before us. In our opinion CL/90/2 and its supplement not only gives a very accurate picture of the state of food and agriculture in 1985 and the first half of 1986, but they also contain interesting analyses on major issues confronting agriculture and economic development in general. We think that these analyses deserve some comments and we shall try to do so later in our intervention. We would also like to congratulate DrIslam for his very clear, concise but comprehensive introduction to the item, although his well-known mastery of the matter and his skills of presentation are beyond praise. The state of food and agriculture in the period under consideration contains, as in the past, positive and negative elements and, alas, again, as in the past years, reasons for satisfaction are by far out-numbered by the causes for concern. The list of the causes for concern which stem mainly from the still deteriorating overall economic environment is quite long :slowdownin the world output of goods and services and a more dramatic slowdown in the growth of world trade and especially in agricultural trade;the ensuing stagnation of the export earnings of developing countries;the uncertainties still plaguing the medium-term prospects for the resumption of growth because of unpredictable exchange rates and interest rates, the current trends in prices of oil and other commodities and the momentum of growth in industrial countries. And, last but not least, theunresolved debt question.
To these we can add negative factors especially affecting the agricultural sector such as the ever-increasing agricultural surplusses, ever falling commodity prices, and ever shrinking export markets caused mainly by shortsighted policies that foment practices based on protectionism and subsidies. Certainly there are light spots too. Despite the deteriorating economic environment developing countries as a whole could maintain their food production growth and this growth was more evenly spread than in the past. The emergency situation in Africa has largely abated. Substantive steps have been taken and programmes adopted towards the rehabilitation of the agriculture in this continent. Among the reasons for satisfaction we could have mentioned the slowing down of the inflation almost worldwide, were it not caused by the sharp drops in commodity prices and the contraction of the world trade which, by themselves, are graver than any single negative factor I have mentioned.
Indeed, we believe that trade is the key to the overall growth and consequently a vital factor in development. We still think that exports, and in particular, agricultural exports constitute the major means for a developing world to ensure its growth. To deprive the developing countries of the only means to pay for the capital goods they need, will not only doom these countries, but also, given the reality of interdependence, will affect the world economy as a whole, thereby further endangering world peace and security. To give an. example, how can we try to solve the indebtedness problem when the debtors only possibility for reimbursement is "shrinking more and more.
We do not believe either that there can be a substitute for growth of developing countries' exportsor for the ensuing growth in world trade. There is no doubt that development rests mainly on the efforts of the developing countries themselves. The optimization of their country's own resources should be, and most of the time, is the main aim of developing countries' governments. It is also obvious that whatever effort a developing country spends, its measure of success is limited by the world economic conditions, trade playing a crucial-role in this regard.
It is with these thoughts in mind, that we would like to make a few brief comments on the analysis ; and conclusions, in our opinion, seem to emanate from the document before us. We would like to refer, in particular, to the section D, namely Major Issues of the document, starting from paragraph 294. In this section it appeared to us that the document considers the reduction of export markets due to various reasons as a given fact and concludes that, and I quote from paragraph 315, "the long-term viability of agricultural exports as a major source of growth is not promising". Starting from this point, the document concentrates on the idea that developing countries should more and more depend on the domestic resources and markets and restructure their policies accordingly. In fact, the section weare referring to contains a series of suggestions for structural adjustments, in particular in the agricultural sector of the developing countries in view of the shrinking hopes before international markets and external sources of financing. The broad message of the Secretariat to the developing countries is, it seemed to us, "since the neighbourhood has gone wrong, put your own house in order".
As we said earlier, we agree entirely with the last part of this proposition. Developing countries should put their own house in order. Indeed, most of them are undergoing a process of adjustment despite its painful hard-to-bear social costs. But, what about the neighbourhood? Don't the actions of the neighbours affect your house?Isn't there a limit to developing countries'self-help efforts since they have to rely so heavily on external factors such as world financial systems, trade, transfer of technology? How is it possible to generate sufficient income to absorb domestic production and even accumulate a surplus to finance development without external outlets? The document does not elaborate upon the positive adjustment measures and structural changes that need to be adopted by the developed world. It does not mention the policy approaches to be pursued by the industrialized countries in attenuating protectionist practices and dismantling subsidies which, dis tort and contract world trade, flagrantly breaking the principles of comparative advantage and free competition. We are certain that the Secretariat's intention was not to ignore this side of the question. Perhaps it was a matter of emphasis or style, and it can be argued that such negative practices and policies are sufficiently emphasized and criticized in almost all the organs and papers of the Organization.
In his brilliant address this morning, the Director-General himself has forcefully dwelt on that point. Dr Islam; also in his presentation has underlined these unfair practices. All we wished to see in the documents was a more balanced presentation between the duties and obligations of both parts of the world, since, as I have said, we believe that no solution can be found to the issues of development and sustained world growth without the concerted action of the whole community of nations.
Speaking of trade, we should not fail to mention our satisfaction in seeing that the following GATT round of negotiations may be off to a good start with the agreement to discuss the problems of trade in agricultural commodities. This slender ray of hope, (as the Director-General has put it this morning) should be jealously kept alive and should give way to concrete improvements towards the liberalization of trade. We note also with satisfaction the pledge of the Director-General to commit FAO to provide all the assistance that may be required to further the GATT discussion. We submit that FAO can be of great help to developing countries in particular, not only by way of producing statis tics and furnishing information, but also through a closer cooperation with the GATT Secretariat on all matters falling within its expertise.
Before concluding I would like to touch briefly upon an entirely new danger confronting world agriculture, namely the risk of contamination by radioactivity. The grave example of the Chernobyl accident emphasized the need for urgent and comprehensive international action to minimize the effects of such disasters in the future. We congratulate FAO for its quick response to this need. Among the measures to be considered we attach particular importance to the definition of common standards since the actual inconsistent application of standards started to create an additional barrier to trade in agricultural goods, especially in Europe. Many countries, including my own, have suffered export losses due to such, often arbitary practices by the importers. We hope that work on common standards will be speedily concluded and common agreement will be soon reached so that such damages can be limited.
Malikana Mike LISWANISO (Zambia): In the first instance, my delegation would like to welcome you back to the chair and to congratulate your Vice Chairmen on their election to the bureau. We have no doubt that you will, as usual, steer our deliberations to a successful conclusion.
My delegation has studied very carefully the document CL 90/2 and its supplement and I must congratulate the Secretariat for producing a detailed document which will give us a lot of food for thought.
Despite various measures taken especially by developing countries, it is worrisome to my delegation to note that the world food situation is still far from satisfactory.
The document under consideration has attempted to give a clear analysis of the global food situation. It has also highlighted some of the major factors which have contributed to the current unsatisfactory world food situation.
I shall very briefly comment on some of the points contained in the report before us.
The elements of, and the increased trade protectionism coupled with export subsidies practised in developed countries, have created a number of hardships in many Third World countries, putting their national economies in disarray. As the export earnings of the developing countries continued to decrease largely because of lack of access to the world markets, more and more have they failed to finance their agricultural development projects. This is mainly so because most of the agricultural inputs required for boosting agricultural production, such as fertilizers, insecticides, animal drugs, machinery, to mention but a few, have to be imported and paid for in convertible currencies, the serious scarcity of which needs no elaboration here.
Under these prevailing circumstances, many developing countries have resorted to cash crop production thereby neglecting the staple foods. The long-term effects of this approach, is that it leads to widespread famine as evidenced in Africa 1984/5. The African food crisis of the 1980s was a bitter experience and a lesson to all of us here. The International Community should not allow such an incident to happen again anywhere on this globe.
It is my delegation's view that the formulation and adoption of national food strategies is the answer to the creation of viable economies in the developing countries. These strategies should be aimed at reducing the bias against agriculture in the policy framework and should aim at maximising the use of the available scarce resources for increased agricultural output and productivity. Effective implementation of the strategies calls for structural adjustments and internal reforms. In the case of Asian countries, for instance, India and China, these policy changes brought about rapid increases in food producion and agricultural output. In Africa and many other developing countries, the macro-economic policy reforms brought a lot of hardships to the governments and the people in that their implementation required large investment capital;it brought about massive currency devaluations, increased costs of local foods and services, unemployment and, in some cases, political unrest. I wish to add that, apart from structural adjustments and internal reforms, the developing countries will also need considerable external aid to attain self sufficiency in food production. It is therefore my hope that the developing countries will get more external aid than what is currently available.
It is unfortunate that at a time when the prospects for economic recovery in many developing countries are promising, at such a critical moment, we are at the same time witnessing a fall in most of the official commitments for external assistance to agriculture (OCA). At this state of development, when the Third World countries are overburdened by foreign debts and with their debt servicing payments rising, more concessional assistance is required.
The problems facing the International Development Association (IDA) and in particular the way the second replenishment of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) was concluded, are phenomena which should be a source of concern to the entire International Community. IDA and IFAD all give concessional development assistance to least developing countries, and in the case of the latter, it specializes in the plight of the disadvantaged rural communities. The role IFAD has played in raising the standard of living of the peasants, the rural poor, the landless and the small scale fishermen in the countries in which it is operating cannot be doubted. Besides, IFAD projects have fully incorporated the element of peoples' participation in project planning, implementation and decision making. Its technical skills and experience in dealing with the small scale farmers and its efficiency in executing development projects have been recognised the world over. My delegation is therefore appealing to all the countries represented here today to support IFAD not only morally but also financially. We do hope that, as the 10th Governing Council meets this December, agreement will be reached on the future funding of IFAD.
Let me now turn briefly to the question of externally funded projects. As the number of reported failures in externally funded projects is growing, the question of aid effectiveness calls for close scrutiny and review. I do not deem it necessary to catalogue all the possible causes for the fail ure of some externally funded projects. Suffice to mention only a few and these are:-(a)the project planners, mostly from the donor countries, have often overlooked the customs, traditions and the values of those on the receiving end;(b)at times no proper mechanisms are worked for the nationals to take up the management. of the schemes when the foreign experts pull out at the end of the contract;(c)the training element is sometimes not seriously incorporated in the project; (d)project equipment is often delivered late and in some cases such equipment is not suitable to local conditions;(e) at the end of the project period the equipments are taken away by the donor or executing agency;(f)a number of projects have more than 60% of the projects's funds allocated for administrative requirements, only a trickle is left for the execution of the project itself.
If developing countries have to pick up in productivity from where they are now, this issue of aid effectiveness requires attention. My delegation is requesting FAO to undertake a study on this subject and report to this Council accordingly. Indeed if a similar study has already been done, we would like to be informed of the problems and the suggested remedies.
Another area which needs to be addressed here is the question of Fertilizer Aid. It has been documented in many FAO documents and elsewhere that in the countries where large amount of fertilizers are being used per hectare there is more productivity than in areas where less fertilizers are being applied. Africa has now the lowest average fertilizer application rate and consequently it has the least food productivity. The lack of foreign exchange to import the required amounts of fertilizers is the major reason for the under-utilization of this product. In this context, Fertilizer Aid would • go a long way to boosting agriculture production in many countries. In the case of my own country, Zambia, we would very much appreciate offers of this commodity, we are ready to receive and use it profitably. The donors are called upon to seriously consider this request.
The return to normal or nearly normal rains in Africa in 1985 and the creation of favourable economic conditions in many countries brought two undesirable effects, namely the locust and grasshopper infestation which threatened many crops in the region and the food surpluses which have created disposal problems.
The average to above average of good harvests with exportable surpluses which were recorded in Africa this year is an encouraging development especially so when one considers the fact that, it is only a year ago when Africa had the worst famine ever. However, without the timely initiative of the FAO Director-General Dr Edouard Saouma who alerted the International Community to the seriousness of the locust and grasshopper plague which had invaded Africa at the time, the above mentioned bumper harvests would not have been there. The good response from the donor community on this problem and their willingness to help fight the invasion was most commendable and very much appreciated.
Allow me at this juncture to convey my government's gratitude to FAO and those countries who came to Zambia's aid when the red locusts threatened our survival. As far as we are concerned, the war is not yet over. Now that the rains have come, these pests are likely to multiply and by early next year another havoc is expected. Surveillance equipment and pesticides and other logistics are now urgently required in Zambia to effectively control red locust invasion. As locust and grasshopper infestations respect no national boundaries, regional and sub-regional approach is the only guarantee to the ultimate control and eradication of these pests.
Let me turn to the disposal of surplus food. The disposal of the surplus food in some parts of Africa and elsewhere in the developing countries is causing a lot of concern. These surpluses, if not looked after properly, will in the short run depress prices which will in turn become a disincentive to the farmers for increased production. The question of occasional surpluses requires a three-pronged approach, namely triangular transactions, sub-regional and regional cooperation and liberalization of world markets.
In the majority of the developing countries the triangular transactions would work wonders. Firstly, it will generate foreign exchange for the country with surplus stocks and secondly it will provide the neighbouring needy country with the right type of food for its people. Where other logistics get into the way of triangular transactions, special programmes and projects should be worked out to get rid of the obstacles.
Since not all countries within and between regions have the same type of surpluses and needs, intra-and inter-regional cooperation would go a long way in minimizing and solving the problem. In other words the solution to the profitable disposal of the occasional surpluses lies in the promotion of regional cooperation in agricultural production and trade.
In conclusion, let me state this. Whatever the approach to profitable disposal of occasional surpluses, the most important ingredient for progress on the world market is the political goodwill among partner countries. It is only through this that the current multilateral trade negotiations under the GATT could be successful. It should be regrettably stressed thatthe food surpluses which have built up in the developed countries due to excessive export subsidies coupled with protectionism have brought a lot of uncertainty and hardships to the developing countries. If famine and malnutrition are to be eradicated and world food security attained in each and every country of this planet, then we have to liberalize the world market, we have to do away with export subsidies and protectionism. It is only at this stage that the state of food and agriculture in the world will be bright for all.
Kosei SHIOZAWA (Japan): I have listened with special interest to the excellent introduction made by Dr Islam on the current world food and agricultural situation, which the Director-General also touched upon in his opening statement.
The document CL 90/2 presents to us a comprehensive illustration of the main features of the world food and agricultural situation. The world food production in 1985 has increased compared to the previous year almost all over the world except for Western Europe. However, the rate of increase against the previous year was 2.1 percent which is less than half that of the previous year, which was 4.7 percent. This change came about from the downfall in the rate of increase for developed countries-that is, from 6.5 percent to 0. 8 percent, while the rate of increase for developed countries went up from 3.0 percent to 3.3 percent. We would like to express a sigh of relief that the food production in Africa has recovered considerably by 7.0 percent since the previous year.
We are pleased about the increase in food production in the food deficit developing countries, particularly in the African countries, and we hope this is not just a temporary phenomena due to the good weather, but rather a sign that further steps are being made by the developing countries in order to achieve a sustained food production level for both middle-and long-term arrangements. While there is a clear indication that the critical food situation in Africa is improving, at the same time the problem of locust and grasshopper infestation has' become our new concern. FAO has been making efforts to collect and disseminate relatedinformation promptly throughout the world and these efforts made by FAO in trying to mobilize resources and coordinate international assistance are highly appreciated. It goes without saying that the quick response of the western developed countries to contribute the necessary funds should be highly valued.
Japan has also been extending active assistance to locust control projects through the FAO/ Japanese Government Cooperation Programme as well as through the bilateral cooperation programmes and will continue to make these contributions. We hope to see that FAO continues to play an import ant role in monitoring the infestation during the early stages and coordinating the implementation of the comprehensive measures on a regional scale.
The Chernobyl nuclear accident in April 1986 caused substantial adversary effects in various respects; not only in respect of the domestic distribution and consumption in the affected regions, but also the international trade of agricultural and livestock products.
In my country a widespread anxiety among consumers concerning the level of contamination of imported foods and domestic milk and other foods had been provoked. My delegation believes that the utmost efforts should be made to prevent such accidents in the future and precise information should be disseminated urgently in case of another accident.
Before concluding my statement, I would like to make some brief comments on the useful financial analysis of agricultural development in the developing countries which was described inSection III of this document.
A comprehensive analysis of this sort has not been conducted so far despite the fact that it is important to raise the efficiency level of agricultural development and external cooperation relating to it. This analysis is quite useful and interesting and highly worthwhile.
As it has been indicated in the document, the major resources for agricultural development in the developing countries are the domestic savings, government revenue from taxes and external investment and assistance. It has also been pointed out that the share of the domestic savings among agricultural development resources has been growing since the early 1980s in the developing countries and this trend will further continue to advance through the last half of the present decade.
We can agree with the idea stated in the document that it is very important to make the best out of the domestic savings as a resource for agricultural development. With regard to the external financial flow for agriculture, the developing countries are expected to pursue measures to maximise effectiveness in the use of the resources.
In this connection, my country hopes that the resources available from the counterpart funds which Japan promotes in connection with food aid and aid for food production will be effectively
utilized by the recipient developing countries.
Mohammad Hasan PAIMAN (Afghanistan):I am greatly privileged to extend my good wishes to you and wish FAO and its Member Nations success in developing agriculture and providing more and more diversified food for the people andin eliminating malnutrition, hunger and poverty from our planet.
First of all, I would like to thank His Excellency the Director-General for his good speech giving much attention to underdeveloped countries.
I would like to give some short information about agriculturalland and water reform in Afghanistan. Agriculture as a main production sector is the backbone of the economy of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Around 85 percent of the population of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, directly or indirectly, is engaged in different sectors of agriculture, animal husbandry, and forestry. Agricultural products contain more than half ot the domestic gross anual products and contain more than 64 percent of the national income. Around 50 percent of the income from exports is the share of agricultural products which is of great importance from the viewpoint of gaining foreign currency.
In 1985, the worth of gross products of agriculture has been estimated to be around 88 milliard Afghanis in which the share of crop products was about 70 percent, and the remaining 30 percent was from animal husbandry and products from forestry.
Parallel to the share of agriculture sector in our economic development, animal husbandryand forestry sectors also contribute an important role.
Sheep husbandry is one of the traditional businesses in our rural areas. Our nomads, with a population of around 2.5 million are mostly busy with sheep husbandry since the Karakul sheep is one of our famous breeds and one of the confident sources of earning foreign exchange.
Based on these mentioned facts and having in mind that our economic development mostly depends on the agricultural sector, the integrated socio-economic rural development is the priority of our Party and Government's goals. Today, in our country, the policies and economic strategies of development are formulated with the target of rural development.
In this connection, I want to point out some of our main achievements in providing technical and economic assistance to our peasants.
The implementation of land and water reforms is considered as a basic action and step towards rural development. In our country before the victory of the national and democratic Saur Revolution (April revolution) 35 000 landlord families owned around 28.6 percent of agricultural land, which was more than one million hectares. 11. 5 million farmers were living in rural areas, almost all of them did not ownland, or had only a small area of land.
The farmers who were recruited by big landlords owned only 25 percent of the products as their wages, while the farmers were using their own old traditional farming equipment. Therefore land reform was identified as an immediate need. It was cleared and approved by our Revolutionary Council and was implemented in 1978.
The main objectives of implementing land reforms in our Country are to eliminate feudaiistic and pre-feudalistic relations from our socio-ecomomic system; to raise the living standards of farmers'families; to increase the level of production;to bring facilities of Government economy and technical assistance to farmers; and to unite the farmers in the up-grading of their social and cultural life.
Since the start of the land reform, we have distributed a total of 754 228 hectares ofland to 334 845 landless farmers'families, free of any charges. Also hundreds of councils of village farmers have been established.
The process of land reforms has not ended with the completion of land distribution. The Government provides all agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, improved seeds, pesticides and insecticides, veterinary drugs, agricultural machinery, advisory services in different fields of agriculture and animal husbandry to new settlements' and farmers who acquired the land recently.
With the assistance of other governmental organizations, rural health centres, schools and other institutions are established in the villages. TheGovernmentalso assists the farmers in establishing their own cooperatives. Through these cooperatives, production, marketing and other economic and social affairs of the villagers are managed. Economic and technical assistance from the Government is provided through these cooperatives.
We are on the threshold of elimination of illiteracy. Illiterate peasants are not only enrolled in literary courses in their villages, but they are also educated at their farms by literary brigades and volunteers.
Our Government has also adopted an effective plan of irrigation reforms. As recently as 1985, 1 100 hectares of land have been newly cultivated, which show a 22 percent progress over the previous year, 1984. In 1985 sufficient irrigation water has been provided for 750 000 hectares. 72 farmers committees have been established in villages for managing the water distribution to rural areas. Nine governmental offices have been established for irrigation affairs. Also a number of deep wells have been constructed in range areas. Due to the great importance of land and water reforms in the rehabilitation of our economy our party's Politburo recently has concluded that new measures and practical procedures should be adopted for accelerating the process of land and water reforms'all over the country to increase its effectiveness especially in the economic development of rural areas.
Unity of farmers, peasants, and cooperatives is a significant progress in our country to ensure satisfactory agricultural development. Before the revolution, the number of registered agricultural cooperatives was only 135 whilst in 1986, we have 472 agricultural cooperatives. These cooperatives not only bring satisfactory benefit to their members but also benef it the farmers by cutting out the middleman from the markets, by stabilizing the prices of agricultural products, and by enabling the consumers to receive the products directly from the cooperatives.
In order to raise the living standards of farmers, the Government performs all agricultural extension services in the villages. The District Agricultural Extension Units serve the farmer with cropping systems, introduce new crop varieties through demonstration plots, demonstrate plant protection practices, landpreparation, soil management, animal health services, and use machinery and modern agricultural practices.
We have planned to establish extension units all over the country. In this connection 100 new extension units have been planned to be established next year, and as a result we need financial resources and foreign assistance.
In our country, there are 1.9 million hectares under forest. The main forestry products are timber, fruits such as pistacchio, medicinal plants and firewood. The income from forestry products in 1985 has been estimated at about 350 million Afghanis. Our findings in securing the needs of wood for constructionhave led us to intensify the plantation of fast-growing tree species.
In 1985 we had considerable achievements in veterinary services. About 10.1 million head of cattle have been treated or vaccinated against animal diseases and 9. 5 million doses of different animal vaccines have been produced.
To improve the services to farmers, chemical fertilizers and improved seeds are sold at. subsidised prices, although the price of cotton and sugarbeet (which are mainly purchased by governmental enterprises) has been raised several times during the last few years.
Our country is in a state of undeclared war on imperialism and regional reactionaries. The machinery of this destructive war is fed through the organization of an integrated economic, social and psychological struggle against our hard-working people which is being implemented by armed counter-revolutionaries. This counterrevolutiondestroys irrigation dams and networks, burns and destroys
agricultural constructions, machinery and equipment, transportation, seed and fertilizer stocks, mosques, schools, and further terrorises and threatens the farmers and technical employees, preventing them from cultivation.
In spite of all these disruptive efforts by the counterrevolutionaries, our industrious farmers do not spare in their endeavours in the way of production offoodstuffs for their countrymen. I hope everyone will agree with me that instead of producing all kinds of destructive means, it would be better to work towards producing agricultural products, to contribute to a worldwide struggle against hunger and poverty, and to assist agricultural development especially for the under developed countries.
In this connection, a review of our Country's production last year would reveal that we had 3.8 million hectares under cultivation of permanent and seasonal crops. This figure shows a one hundred percent implementation of the plan and an increase of 4.7 thousand hectares of cultivated land.
In accordance with the estimate of the full cultivation campaign of 1985 and the spring campaign, of this year, 99. 7 percent of the cultivation plan for cereals was under implementation. However, in the current year, in many parts of our country, (especially, in the north) the drought is still prevailing, and we are greatly concerned about this fact.
As I mentioned, our economy is suffering from the effective undeclared war against our people. Undoubtedly, normally no nation could perform its economic activities alone, and would have to call on the assistance of one of its powerful friendly countries. In this connection, we appreciate the impartial brotherhood and internationalist economic and technical assistance of the Soviet Union in our agricultural affairs. Every year, the Soviet Union grants a great amount of chemical fertilizers, improved seeds, veterinary drugs, and chemicals for the control of the desert, locust. In addition to that, the Soviet Union assists us in establishing and equipping agricultural mechanisation centres, and agrochemical laboratories, in artificial insemination and in constructing and equipping modern agricultural farms.
A number of on-going United Nations' agricultural development projects are operationalbecause of the cooperation of FAOwith our country. The output of these fruitful projects has an effect on our agricultural development. In this connection, on behalf of our people and my delegation I want to thank FAO, especially Dr Saouma, the Director-General, for its cooperation in maintaining our agricultural development every year. In the meantime, I also request the technical divisions concerned in FAO to kindly approve those pipeline projects which are requested by our Government for UNDP's assistance.
The meeting rose at 17. 30 hours.
La séance est levée à 17 h 30.
Se levanta la sesión a las 17.30 horas.
