Belgique, Indonesia, Bulgaria, Australia, Greece, Nigeria, Poland, Niger, Barbados, Nepal, Lesotho, Israel, Benin, Suisse, Afghanistan
G. STUYCK (Belgique):M. le Ministre de la Coopération et du Développement de Belgique, M. Daniel Coens, retenu à Bruxelles par la crise ministérielle, m'a prié de vous exposer le discours qu'il avait l'intention de prononcer devant vous.
Monsieur le Président, c'est pour moi un grand honneur de prendre la parole au nom de la Belgique sous votre présidence, permettez-moi de vous exprimer à cette occasion mes très vives félicitations pour votre élection et de vous dire mon admiration pour la manière brillante et l'autorité avec lesquelles vous vous acquittez de votre tâche.
Je tiens également à exprimer mes très sincères félicitations.à M. le Directeur général pour l'élection triomphante dont il vient d'être l'objet de la part de la Conférence.
Cette vingt et unième session de la FAO offre une occasion privilégiée d'analyser l'évolution récente ainsi que les divers éléments de la situation de l'alimentation et de l'agriculture mondiale. Pour être efficace, cet événement devra aussi déboucher sur l'indispensable réorientation des politiques et programmes d'aide en fonction des leçons tirées des actions entreprises jusqu'à présent. Cette démarche doit nous permettre de cerner les stratégies indispensables pour améliorer la production et la distribution de ressources alimentaires suffisantes aux plus démunis. Avant d'aborder le point de vue de la Belgique sur les orientations d'aide au développement dans les secteurs agricole et alimentaire, je voudrais rappeler quelques caractéristiques de la situation actuelle et évoquer l'impact parfois négatif que peut revêtir dans certains cas l'aide alimentaire.
Selon la FAO, le monde connaîtra dans vingt ans, c'est-à-dire en l'an 2000, plus d'un milliard d'êtres humains sous-et mal alimentés si un effort colossal n'est pas entrepris pour développer l'agriculture vivrière dans les pays en voie de développement. Devant cette situation, nous n'avons pas le droit de demeurer indifférents, mais il nous faut avoir au contraire un sursaut de solidarité et de clairvoyance impliquant une mobilisation massive des moyens techniques, humains et financiers disponibles, au niveau des pays développés, certes, mais surtout au niveau des pays en voie de développement euxmêmes.
A l'évidence, les problèmes à régler sont multiples et énormes. Pourtant les statistiques de l'Organisa tion des Nations Unies révèlent qu'aux cours des vingt dernières années les sources alimentaires mondiales ont augmenté plus rapidement .que la population et qu'en 1981 le monde produit et fait ce qui est nécessaire pour nourrir tous ses habitants. En théorie, le problème de la faim dans le monde peut donc être résolu. Toutefois, d'énormes disparités de situations subsistent, tant au niveau international que national.En effet, aussi longtemps que certains pays développés disposent d'excédents importants, de nombreux pays en voie de développement ne satisfont pas les besoins alimentaires de base de larges couches de la population, lesquelles, trop démunies, sont incapables de traduire leurs besoins en demandes solvables.
En effet, au sein même de nombreux pays en voie de développement,les disparités régionales et le manque de réseaux de distribution et de transport efficaces sont telles que les surplus existant dans une région ne peuvent souvent être écoulés de manière satisfaisante ou achetés dans les zones de disette,
Si, globalement considérée, la situation alimentaire des pays en voie de développement s'est quelque peu améliorée ces dernière années, la situation de certains pays parmi les plus pauvres, et particulièrement les pays africains, s'est par contre sensiblement détériorée. Il importe de remédier d'urgence à cette situation. Il faut, à ce propos rendre hommage à la FAO et à son Directeur général, M. Saouma, qui a eu le mérite de préconiser une approche globale et cohérente du problème de la faim dans le monde, non seulement grâce à la mise sur pied d'un système de sécurité alimentaire adéquat, tant au niveau national qu'au niveau international, mais surtout en aidaint les pays en voie de développement à élaborer et à mettre en oeuvre des stratégies alimentaires nationales reposant sur le développement de l'agriculture et, en particulier, des cultures vivrières. Il s'agit d'aller de l'avant dans cette voie.
La situation de certains pays parmi les plus pauvres, et particulièrement les pays africains, s'est par contre sensiblement détériorée. Il importe de remédier d'urgence à cette situation. Il faut, à ce propos rendre hommage à la FAO et à son Directeur general,M. Saouma, qui a eu le mérite de préconiser une approche globale et cohérente du problème de la faim dans le monde, non seulement grâce à la mise sur pied d'un système de sécurité alimentaire adéquat, tant au niveau national qu'au niveau international, mais surtout en aidant les pays en voie de développement à élaborer et à mettre en oeuvre des stratégies alimentaires nationales reposant sur le développement de l'agriculture et, en particulier, des cultures vivrières. Il s'agit d'aller de l'avant dans cette voie.
Cependant, au préalable, il faut se poser la question de savoir pourquoi l'aide internationale, durantles deux dernières décennies, n'a pas davantage contribué, malgré son volume non négligeable, à la solution du problème de la faim et du développement agricole dans le monde. Trop souvent la tentation a été de recourir, en face de déficits dans l'alimentation des populations du tiers monde, à l'aide alimentaire internationale. Celle-ci, qui n'a de sens que si elle est conçue comme une solution momentanée, destinée à faire face à des situations catastrophiques plus ou moins accidentelles et insurmontables par les pays concernés, s'est plus d'une fois transformée en une sorte d'habitude qui a souvent alors retardé la prise de mesures corrigeant les causes réelles du mal. Confrontés à des problèmes de balance de paiement et à la nécessité de réduire les tensions sociales dans les centres urbains, les gouvernements de certains pays en développement ont tendance à recourir à cette solution de facilité. A la longue cependant, l'aide alimentaire a l'inconvénient de changer des habitudes de consommation des citadins qui en arrivent à préférer les produits alimentaires importés aux produits locaux. Livrée gratuitement ou à des prix très bas, et sans que des mesures suffisantes soient prises, toujours pour protéger les producteurs locaux, l'ai. de alimentaire internationale, en de nombreux cas, produit des effets négatifs, diamétralement opposés à ceux qui étaient recherchés.
Il en est parfois résulté un découragement des agriculteurs locaux, un exode rural accéléré et une chute des productions vivrières locales.
Ces commentaires ne sont d'aucune manière une critique de l'action méritoire menée par le Programme alimentaire mondial dont je voudrais souligner ici l'efficacité et le dévouement. Si j'ai rappelé quelques-uns des inconvénients et dangers majeurs de l'aide alimentaire internationale dans certains cas, ce n'est pas, croyez-le bien, pour mettre en cause son caractère indispensable, particulièrement dans certains cas d'urgence,mais bien pour souligner qu'il est nécessaire qu'elle soit strictement temporaire et sélective, et qu'elle s'accompagne de mesures cohérentes et globales de relance et de restructuration des productions agricoles locales. C'est, je pense, ce qu'ont compris depuis longtemps les dirigeants du Programme alimentaire mondial.
Ceci m'amène à vous parler des objectifs à assigner à l'aide internationale dans les domaines agricole et alimentaire. Il faut, en premier lieu, donner aux pays en voie de développement tous les moyens nécessaires pour la définition et la mise en oeuvre de politiques nationales cohérentes et intégrées visant à réaliser l'autosuffisance alimentaire. Cela suppose la mise à la disposition des pays pauvres, à divers niveaux, d'un encadrement humain et financier important et, avant tout, de la part des gouvernements locaux et nationaux, une véritable volonté politique de prendre toutes les mesures voulues en vue de'stimuler l'intérêt des paysans pour les cultures vivrières.
Il est notamment indispensable et primordial que des prix suffisamment rémunérateurs soient garantis aux agriculteurs et que les circuits des commercialisations soient améliorés si l'on veut que l'aide internationale complémentaire aux efforts locaux ait un effet durable et efficace.
C'est par exemple dans cet esprit que la Belgique a décidé de collaborer avec la Communauté économique européenne dans un programme d'aide alimentaire lié à des mesures de redressement du marché céréalier local au Mali; une opération du même type en collaboration avec le PAM et le PASA est prévue en Mauritanie. Dans les deux cas, la Belgique a pu apprécier, lors du dialogue préparatoire, le vif intérêt manifesté par les pays concernés pour de telles formules.
Une attention toute particulière doit aussi être donnée à la recherche appliquée et à la mise en oeuvre des résultats de celle-ci, en ce qui concerne notamment la sélection des semences, la protection des végétaux et la lutte contre les pertes après récolte. Ces dernières sont souvent, dans les pays en voie de développement, d'une importance énorme et atteignent couramment 10 pour cent de la production locale. Leur élimination ou leur simple diminution serait susceptible, dans de nombreux cas, de rendre l'aide
alimentaire internationale superflue et la constitution de réserves alimentaires nationales, de préférence au simple stockage dans les pays producteurs de blé. Et c'est notamment dans cette optique que la Belgique apporte son soutien au programme d'assistance à la sécurité alimentaire de la FAO et vient de donner son accord pour le financement sur fonds belge, et avec la collaboration de la FAO, de deux projets destinés à aider les gouvernements des pays concernés à résoudre leurs programmes de stockage alimentaire .
Notre action vise également à la mise au point et au transfert de technologies adaptées aux besoins, à la culture et aux moyens de populations locales, notamment dans les domaines de techniques culturales et de la production d'énergie renouvelable.
Dans le même esprit, nous visons à la réalisation de programmes de développement rural intégré où des améliorations en matière sociale et d'infrastructure sont liées à des activités visant à accroître la production agricole. Nos efforts contribuent également souvent au rôle capital et méconnu de la femme dans le processus de la production agricole- liest alors important que les programmes d'aide dans ce secteur puissent en tenir dûment compte, Nous nous efforçons également d'encourager la mise en place des structures d'encadrement et de crédit agricole décentralisées et réellement proches des populations.
Enfin et surtout, nous poussons à la coordination des aides internationales entre elles et aussi en concordance avec les stratégies nationales de développement agricole et alimentaire. L'expérience de ces dernières années a, en effet, amplement démontré que l'aide internationale, en nature aussi bien que l'aide - projet, n'a guère de chances de produire des effets durables si elle ne s'insère pas dans le cadre de politiques d'ensemble, c'est-à-dire de stratégie globale tenant compte, non seulement des aspects techniques, mais également sociaux du développement agricole. La Belgique est, à ce propos, favorable à la proposition de la commission européenne de constituer des "Task Forces" internationales destinées à épauler de manière coordonnée les efforts des pays en voie de développement et notamment des pays les moins avancés ayant accepté de mettre sur pied des stratégies alimentaires nationales.
Je voudrais avant de conclure, Monsieur le Président, rappeler que la Belgique participe activement et depuis longtemps à l'effort international dans le secteur agricole, tant par le biais de son aide bilatérale que par ses organisations non gouvernementales et le canal des organisations multilatérales.
Plus de 29% de l'aide publique belge, soit +- 100 millions de dollars, sont consacrés annuellement au secteur agricole. Cette aide se répartit grosso modo de la manière suivante:
- pratiquement 50% des sommes en question concernent des projets bilatéraux;
- 36% de l'aide au secteur agricole sont affectés à des projets multilatéraux, via notamment la FAO, le FIDA, la Banque mondiale ou le Fonds européen de développement;
- 8% sont octroyés sous forme d'aide alimentaire;
- 6% à des projets cofinancés avec les O. N. G.
Grâce aux actions de l'aide gouvernementale et à celles des nombreuses O. N. G., l'opinion publique belge est sensibilisée au problème de la faim dans le monde. Pour que ce sentiment puisse être maintenu et renforcé, il importe que les efforts entrepris par les pays en voie de développement eux-mêmes soient efficaces et significatifs et que, sans ambiguïté, l'aide internationale profite, avant tout, aux populations les plus pauvres.
La Belgique soutient fermement le rôle irremplaçable joué par la FAO dans la lutte contre la faim dans le monde. Elle souhaite cependant que,dans le contexte actuel, les efforts additionnels à fournir pour mener cette action soient fondés en priorité sur la recherche d'une plus grande efficacité et par des économies au sein du budget même de l'Organisation, plutôt que par une augmentation de ce dernier.
Voilà, Monsieur le Président, quelles sont les principales préoccupations de mon pays à l'aube de cette nouvelle décennie du développement, dont le volet alimentaire constitue une des composantes essentielles.
Je ne doute pas que, grâce à l'esprit de conciliation de "réalisme et de volonté d'aboutir qui nous anime tous, des progrès substantiels pourront être réalisés à 1/occasion de cette 21ème session de la Conférence, en vue de remédier à ce scandale de notre tem:s que constitue le problème de la faim dans le monde.
Il s'agit non seulement de mieux nourrir ceux qui ont fain mais surtout d'aider les pays en voie de développement à créer chez eux des types nouveaux de société où les paysans cessent d'être, comme ils le sont trop souvent, les laissés pour compte et les "dampés de la terre".
S. HADISAPOETRO (Indonesia): It is a great privilege and pleasure, to extend my sincere congratulations to you Sir, for your unanimous election to chair the Twenty-First Session of the FAO Conference. There would be no doubt that your immense experience and wise leadership will guide the deliberations of this session to a fruitful conclusion.
I would also use this opportunity to pay tribute to and congratulate Dr. Edouard Saouma for being reelected as Director-General of FAO. Your success in this election is a success for developing countries, since you have always been one of them in the fight for a better world.
The current world food situation does not seem to give us any reason for optimism. To approach solutions, various programmes and policy measures which had been recommended by the World Food Council in 1981 in Novi Sad, and elaborated at the 79th Session of the FAO Council a few months ago, should continue to be vigorously pursued, particularly the enhancement of food production and the implementation of the national food strategy.
In support of the objectives, the strategy has reiterated that despite the efforts of the developing countries themselves, international financial assistance however is badly required. In this regard my delegation would like to underline the assessment made by the Director-General that early action is needed to implement a minimum global food programme for the rest of the decade in order to ensure sound measures for the achievement of the objectives of the international Development Strategy.
International activities and inter-dependency among nations have become more and more important in the solution of food and agricultural development problems to reduce hunger, malnutrition, mass poverty and inequality. We are all, individually and collectively committed having moral responsibility towards solving food and agricultural problems since it concerns the basic needs of all human beings. A recent example in this connection are the two Ministerial Meetings on Food and Agricultural Development sponsored separately by the Conference of Islamic countries and the Non-Aligned countries, held respectively in Ankara and Pyong Yang.
We believe that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, as the UN body responsible for food and agriculture should also be appropriately involved in the follow-up activities in order to avoid overlapping and duplication of efforts.
It is becoming increasingly clear that important as the production of additional food is to man's efforts to combat hunger, increased food supplied alone will eradicate undernutrition at best, very, very slowly. And the need to move beyond increasing food production is the new element in the problem of hunger as the world will encounter it during the 1980's and beyond. As we approach adequacy of food supplies, the problems of distribution, storage and above all the requirement for us to learn how to involve the disadvantaged in the benefits of economic development, will be more and more important within the total pattern of undernutrition in the world. A strong appeal should, therefore, be addressed to all governments and international institutions to design programmes aimed at improving food infrastructure.
Rural areas have always enjoyed a high priority in the Indonesian development scheme. Land reform and land development, represent significant aspects in our development strategy. For Java, where the man-land ratio is high, a tenancy reform with decentralized management and a minimum guaranteed income to the sharecroppers is being introduced. This reform implies setting maximum or cash rents, requiring all lease agreements to be written and registered and establishing security of tenure by regulating the length of leases and the circumstances under which tenancy can be terminated. These steps are aimed at overcoming the disincentives to efficient input use and long-term investment in the land.
With regard to the Declaration of Principles and Programmes of Action of the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (WCARRD), my delegation would like to reiterate our Government's offer made in Dacca early this year for hosting a regional workshop in collaboration with FAO, towards the implementation of the Programme of Action of WCARRD.
Women in many developing countries shoulder the burden of feeding the family. They are actively involved in the production, processing, storaging of food, as managers or by doing specialized activities. Above all they are educators who are responsible for the early shaping of future generations, physically as well as mentally.
It is a well known fact however that in spite of those very strategic positions for development, women in many parts of the world are still being deprived of rights and being denied accesses that otherwise would have enabled them to contribute considerably more to solving our food and nutrition problems. Removal of those discriminations against women, caused by social or cultural traditions, should be therefore consistently pursued to release the enormous food production potential of women.
The forest is a resource already under pressure from billions of people striving to lift their standard of living. This situation places on governments and on their forest administrations an even greater responsibility than ever before to arrest degradation and to manage every hectare of forest to the best advantage and in the best interest of all people. In this respect my delegation calls for better utilization of forest resources by seeking to practice more efficient harvesting and processing techniques. International organizations as well as developed countries should spare no effort to help developing countries possessing substantial forest resources, with properly designing an inventory system which could be managed on a sustainable basis.
The shortage of fossil fuel energy sources has now become an important issue in agricultural development, since the rapid progress of modern technologies rely heavily on the use of intensive energy inputs such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides and agricultural implements. On the other hand, the agricultural sector is also the producer of energy of renewable sources, relevant to the "poor man's energy crisis" as reflected by the presently growing firewood shortages brought about by population pressure and dwindling forests. To diversify sources of energy and energy consumption we will, of course turn to FAO for assistance, but would also recommend that FAO become more active in countries with major requirements for fuelwood but not well endowed with forest resources.
The long standing problem of international trade pertinent to the developing countries has so far not been resolved, since protective trade practices continue to undermine their export potential and their ability to meet their essential food and other needs. It would be essential, therefore, to design constructive programmes which would motivate industrialized countries to adjust their position in favour of a more conducive climate for trade without artificial barriers.
Indonesia is a developing country where, during the previous decade incidences of food shortage and under nutrition were a plague. Our rice import in 1978 was the highest in the world. However, for the past two years we were blessed with good rice crops, which resulted in a dramatic decrease of imports, making available a bigger proportion of the world market rice stock at the disposal of other needy food deficit countries. It should come as no surprise that improved rice availability generates a consumer shift from other staple food grains towards rice in the domestic markets. Since production of those grains also records an above average performance, we found ourselves with a higher stock level for the current year.
Being aware of the critical need for food aids, and taking into account our present food stock level, while recalling the personal appeal made by the Director-General of FAO, my delegation, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, in all modesty, offers to pledge an additional contribution in the form of corn and mungbeans as food aid to be channelled through the World Food Programme.
Although Indonesia is still not self-sufficient in food, but it is just an effort of share what we have with other more seriously affected nations in concrete response to the precarious world food situation.
Allow me now, Mr. Chairman, to extend our whole-hearted welcome to the newly admitted members of FAO, namely Bhutan, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Tonga, and Zimbabwe. I do believe in the valuable contribution the new members will surely make to our common and continuing struggle to eliminate hunger and malnutrition in the world.
Mr. Chairman: On behalf of my delegation and the Government of Indonesia, I wish to thank you, Sir, Dr. Edouard Saouma, the Director-General of FAO, the Conference Secretariat and the distinguished Delegates for the wonderful opportunity, to address this important gathering. I am sure that we will continue our open and frank dialogue from which mutual consensus will arise leading to concrete and action-oriented recommendations.
Furthermore Mr. Chairman, to enable FAO to carry out its mission to the high expectations of the developing countries, my delegation expresses its strong support for the Programme of Work and level of its Budget as contained in document C 81/3. In concluding my address, my delegation takes note of the high spirit of cooperation present in this august body. I thank you.
P. ISHPEKOV (Bulgaria): First of all, I would like to congratulate Mr. Ruben Aguado on the occasion of his election to the post of Chairman of the Twenty-First Conference of FAO and to wish him and his deputies successful work in the leadership of this high-ranking assembly.
I would like also to congratulate the members of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: the delegations of Bhutan, Equatorial Guinea, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Tonga and Zimbabwe.
Allow me to congratulate the honorable Dr. Saouma on the occasion of his re-election to the post of Director-General of FAO, and to wish him further successes in leading our Organization with his inherent persistence and dynamism.
The only bright tone in the generally gloomy picture of economic recession and inflation in many countries with market economy, appears the maintenance of the rate of increase of the agricultural and food production above that of the population growth in the developing countries taken as a whole. Unfortunately, this is not characteristic for all countries of the Third World and particularly for the economically most affected countries. They are more and more oppressed with the burden of the broken balance of payments and the diminishing currency income, due to the unequal commodity exchange with their basic commercial partners, the developed countries.
As a direct result of all that comes the transference of the inflation and the economic stagnation in the developing countries.
Without a consistent policy and decisive measures for the development of national agricultural production, the prospects for attaining food supply autonomy seem quite remote, and even problematic, and those related to the establishment of national and regional stocks for meeting eventual failures in food production and supply seem even more unrealizable. These stocks constitute an essential necessity for the sure and free development not only of agriculture but also of the national economy as a whole. Beyond dispute, all this requires both considerable material means and investments for general intensification of agricultural production and fundamental changes in the existing structures for the entire mobilization of available human and material resources in favour of development.
All this proves how important, in order to solve the world food problem, is the initiative taken by socialist countries towards total worldwide disarmament in the interest of peace, security and the well-being of people. The more radical and continuous our joint efforts in this direction, the more quickly the necessary means to save humanity from starvation will be obtained.
Parallel to the permanent care about the industrial development of the country, one of the first-ranking tasks of the Bulgarian Government, still in the first years following the war, was the task for socialist reconstruction of agriculture, for its rapid modernization and intensification. In the course of a quite short historical period reaching 15-20 years, the contemporary large production units, in the agroindustrial complexes were built. Therefore, total agricultural production increased nearly three times and the productivity of labour more than four times.
Our country has definitively resolved the grain production problem by adopting high-yielding cereal crop varieties, bred in the country, thereby ensuring nearly a three-fold increase in the mean yields and in the food supply of the population thus eliminating the need for food grain imports that was characteristic for the years following the war.
At the 12th Congress of the Party held recently, the strategy to be followed in the field of agriculture was defined for the 1981-1985 five-year period; it envisages a 20 percent increase in the cereal' crops production exceeding one ton of grain per capita of the population. This should be attained through the further intensification of production. The fulfilment of this task will create a possibility to establish, parallel to the steady supply of the population, a solid feed basis contributing to the further development of animal production.
The consistent policy of our Government aimed at a more complete satisfaction of the increasing requirements of the population for foodstuffs, by means of the harmonious development of the agriculture and food industry, and the irrefutable successes in this respect, attracts the interest of many developing countries.
The aid rendered to some of these countries, according to our potentialities, is directed primarily toward the development of their agricultural production and particularly toward the production of foodstuffs, with a view to overcoming their economic backwardness and to strengthening their sovereignty and food supply autonomy. In a number of these countries farm cooperatives are being built, as well as higher forms of organization of agricultural production and its integration with the processing industry in agro industrial complexes. Within the lines of the consistent peaceful policy of this country and its Government, the Bulgarian specialists in the developing countries help in the building of schools, sport complexes, and hospitals, and the thousand doctors, hospital nurses and medical personnel wage a struggle against infant mortality, for improvement of sanitary care for pregnant women, young mothers and growing infants, while the educational workers wage war against illiteracy and for the improvement of methods of teaching, all in accordance with the recommendations of the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development.
Of no less importance is also the help rendered according to the bilateral line to a number of developing states in the training of agricultural specialists, both with higher practical education, as for example in the training of managers for cooperatives. For a certain number of years already, and with success in Bulgaria training courses for managers have been organized in the field of agriculture, courses which have already been attended by a few hundred specialists from developing countries. We consider this as our humble contribution to the Plan of Action adopted by the above-mentioned World Conference.
I would like to add that no use has yet been made of the possibilities for training specialists from the developing countries in the sphere of soil classification, agrochemistry, soil erosion and preservation of soil fertility on the basis of the project realized with the help of FAO and the Development Programme of the Organization of the United Nations at the Poushkarov Institute of Soil Science and Yields Programming, Sofia, Bulgaria.
In expressing our keen interest and support of FAO activities in agriculture and forestry, in fishing and feeding, I cannot leave out the problems concerning the Programme of Work of the Organization for the 1982-1983 period. We appreciate the efforts of the Director-General for suppressing the existing bureaucracy through the offered cutting down of the staff in the Secretariat and in the Regional Bureaux of FAO. We would also like to express our appreciation of the structural changes effected in the Regular Programme of Work of the Organization during the last few years and of the preference given to the technical and economic programmes and suchlike in support of development, as well as of the programme for technical assistance, highly appreciated by the developing countries.
The Bulgarian Government always at all fora of the United Nations has stood against all unmotivated raising of the budget of the secretariats of the Specialized Agencies. Taking into consideration the character of the proposed programme and the efforts which will be made by the Director-General in the direction of increasing the effectiveness of the organization, the Bulgarian delegation is disposed to give its support to the Programme of Work and Budget for the period 1982/83.
Allow me, at the end of my speech, to state in front of this high-ranking meeting, that our Government and people entering this month the 14th century of their historical development, will continue their tireless work for strengthening peace and peaceful collaboration in Europe and in the world. In the framework of this cooperation, it is a great pleasure for our Government to host the European Regional Conference of FAO in 1982.
We will always support the policy and the activities of FAO directed toward the peaceful progress of the world's agriculture, toward the systematic improvement of the material and cultural welfare of the multimillion population of the developing countries in the world.
T. J. KELLY (Australia): The Australian Minister for Primary Industry, the Honourable Peter Nixon, regrets that because of commitments in Australia it is not possible for him to join his Ministerial colleagues at this Conference. He has asked me to reaffirm, on his behalf, the importance which Australia attaches to the work of the Conference, and to wish it well.
Our delegation joins others in congratulating you, Mr. Chairman, on your election. We congratulate also the Vice-Chairmen and all others who have been elected to hold Conference office.
We welcome the nations newly admitted to membership, and we greet with special warmth the representative of Tonga who joins us in the South West Pacific region.
On behalf of that region I have already congratulated Dr. Saouma on his re-election to the office of Director-General. I do so now on behalf of the Australian delegation.
This Conference closely follows on the observance of the first World Food Day. That observance reminded us all of the dimensions of the world food problem about which many delegates speak from daily, personal, experience. It is in the context of the human need for food that the Australian delegation addresses its observations to this Plenary Session.
At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Melbourne early last month Australia's Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Malcolm Fraser, expressed our country's concern about problems of food production and food security. He expressed the hope that we can build on the conclusions of the Dacca Commonwealth Food Minister's Conference and the Ministerial Session of the World Food Council. He announced immediate additional practical support for a number of programmes involving food production and research in countries of the Commonwealth. That announcement reflects the spirit and approach which the Australian government will continue to observe.
It is in that spirit that Australia assesses the programmes and funding of the FAO. I mention in passing in that respect that included in Australia's expanded aid programme for 1981/82 - much of it going to food and agriculture - is a special allocation of $A 2. 1 million to assist with the food security programmes of some of our principal aid recipients. I am happy to say that in view of the vital role which FAO plays in this area it has been decided to allocate upwards of $A 1 million for specific projects under the Food Security Assistance Scheme and the Prevention of Food Losses Scheme.
On a broader front we fully support the emphasis placed in the international development strategy on the importance of agricultural and rural development and the eradication of hunger and malnutrition. We accept that the long term solution to world food security lies in accelerating food production in developing countries themselves, a view which has been stated here by a number of representatives of those countries.
We accept also that donor countries and international financial institutions must have an important role in assisting national efforts. We seek to play our part in two ways: first, by addressing the problem of food shortages in developing countries through food aid; and, second, by addressing the long term problem of increasing developing countries' food production through such measures as bilateral agriculture oriented aid projects and strengthening agricultural research technology and training facilities.
So much for what has happened, and is happening. But Australia is a forward-looking nation. Only a few days ago, in the United Nations General Assembly plenary debate on global negotiations the Australian representative reaffirmed a stance which had been taken in the Melbourne declaration of Commonwealth Heads of Government. In the latter was reflected strong opposition to protectionism in all its forms, and an emphasis on food security which we hope to see continued in global negotiations.
At each Conference there is considerable discussion of what is inevitably a matter of some controversy in international organizations, namely, the level of the budget. This is an issue of serious concern to the Australian government.
Our overall approach to the world food problem matches words with deeds. Through this Organization and through other channels we seek to give practical effect to our belief that alleviating hunger and malnutrition is a process that needs to be accelerated. For that reason, as I have already informed members of the Council, Australia supports the budget level proposed for the 1982/93 biennium.
At the same time, we share the views of Member Nations within the UN family who believe that budget levels should be set only after close examination of programmes and priorities. Every cent of needless administrative expenditure, every cent devoted to a project whose usefulness has ended, every cent directed to a new and unnecessary programme, however small, represents food withheld from the hungry people of the world.
We believe, and we expect it to be the belief of the Organization, that no position is static and that there is always room for improvement. We expect to see that basic approach pursued as the budget for the next biennium is being devised.
Finally, Dr. Bukar Shaib, who with characteristic humility calls himself a son of FAO when he is in fact surely one of its elder Statesmen, ended his Independent Chairmanship of the Council with a compelling thought. He said that he approached his task in a spirit, to use his words, of "peace, conciliation and dialogue". That thought reflects precisely Australia's attitude at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and to prospective global negotiations. That approach, and that approach alone, offers us a sure and certain path to the achievement of FAO objectives.
A. FOTILAS (Greece): Mr. Chairman, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, in the first place I wish, on behalf of my Delegation, to congratulate you on your election to this high Office. At the same time I wish to express, on behalf of my Government, our full confidence to the Director-General, Dr. Saouma, and to convey to him our warm congratulations for his merited re-election as Director-General of this Organization.
Last but not least, Mr. Chairman, I want to congratulate whole-heartedly and to welcome the new member nations for their incorporation into this World Family.
One factor which ultimately has seriously aggravated the problem of famine in the World has certainly been political instability and international conflicts.
There have been repeated cases of regional and civil wars, which have blocked large part of existing resources, such as land and human potential, thus creating additional needs and at the same time negative repercussions to the volume of agricultural production.
The side-effects of these wars have been no less negligible. A large number of refugees, diseases, epidemics and unemployment aggravated the already tragical situation in many of those countries.
Mrs. Indira Ghandi has very successfully pointed out before this distinguished forum the consequences of the arms race in the battle against starvation and hunger from a purely economical point of view. However, there is probably a more tragic aspect of the picture. The arms produced do not only block a large part of the economic potential of the world, a potential that could and should be put to the service of the needs of mankind. They further destroy it, when used, and, alas, their use seems to get day by day more frequent. It is really difficult, distinguished gentlemen, to decide at which time arms cause the biggest harm. That is when they are produced or when they are used.
The contribution of FAO and other UN Organizations has been very remarkable in the field of the coordination of international cooperation in agricultural issues. Such efforts have to be further strengthened to secure a better future for all countries of the world.
We wish to emphasize particularly the following points:
First, there must be effective national control of the use of the resources particularly in the field of food production in every country.
Second, the critical decisions relative to the productive process must be coordinated, but must remain immune of any external pressures.
Third, decentralisation is the condition "sine qua non" for an appropriate equilibrium in the development process of the developing countries.
The lack of success in concluding a new International Wheat Agreement resulted in the well-known Five-Point Plan of Action on World Food Security, after the relevant initiative of the Director-General of FAO, My country, Greece, supported this plan from the very beginning, and a number of measures have already been undertaken by my country in this regard. And our new government has no reason to change this policy.
In addition to the above, Greece wishes to confirm its major interest in the issue of the European Networks of Cooperation for Agricultural purposes and particularly that of Rural Renewable Sources of Energy for the realization of which we are ready to contribute both institutionally and financially.
It would be justified probably to spot the fact that the orientations of the FAO, as well as other International Institutions, dealing with the confrontation of hunger and famine problems are directed mainly towards the development of new sources. The intensification of production through modernized economy and the installation of new mechanisms of distribution.
These certainly are goals worthy of every respect. However there is a parallel problem which is either neglected or probably oversighted. It is the problem of the right handling with existing production potential, which, curiously enough, in many cases is being suppressed rather than developed. I am referring to some policies followed by a number of the more advanced and developed countries, such as the countries of the EEC. It is well known that Greece has recently been integrated into the European Economic Community. It seems to me highly contradictory and deeply inconsistent to declared tasks that European Countries do follow policies and install mechanisms that aim directly to the reduction of production of a series of goods highly essential in the battle against world famine. No doubt that structural surpluses of a number of agricultural products do impose an enormous financial burden on the shoulders of the European consumer. On the other hand it appears to me absolutely unacceptable that the structural problem is confronted, allow me to say, by demolition. Sanity of world economy can never be obtained and based on reduction of production.
Such a policy would amount to a European financial sectarism. We do not favour this Policy. The contradiction, however, does not stop there - does not stop in the adoption of this method. On one hand the declared goals of the European Economic Community are to create a complementary economy within the framework of the EEC, yet, on the other hand we undermine this policy by completing preferential trade agreements with a number of countries by which we aggravate the problems of structural surpluses, by creating artificial surpluses while at the same time the third world's sales reduce the amount of goods disposable to the consumption of the Third World. I must underline on this very point the very wise suggestion made by Her Excellency the French Minister of Agriculture Madame Cresson that one of the main instruments in obtaining a world equilibrium of production, equilibrium of needs and equilibrium of consumption, should be to favourize to the maximum the local production to the benefit of local consumption. And furthermore the last serious mistake in the policies followed is to restrict the goal of complementary economy within a geographical region or within the framework of an interstate economic community.
The actual confrontation of the problem calls for a worldwide supplementary economy which at the same time will respect the traditional evaluation of local resources and local production that should be devoted mainly to the satisfaction of local needs.
This of course for an intensification of the efforts for regional development. We cannot really hope to achieve such a goal just by adopting the policy of preferential agreements, the actual effect of which is to secure only the access of the developed industrial forces into the developing geographical areas while at the same time they are just injecting some last drops of life to some dying industries in the North. Some of which are already lying dead and buried. The Third World can never compromise with a plan of restricted development which has as a target the transfer to the developing countries of the undesired industrial plants, undesired for various reasons such as high cost of labour in the North, high rates of pollution and diminished profits. And the developed countries should fully realize and sincerely compromise with the idea that we are entering in an era in which the achievements of modern technology must be commonly and equally shared between East and West, North and South in a fully equilibrated production and consumption system. The only path that leads to a peaceful and prosperous mankind.
Mr. Chairman, I bear in mind always the suggestion to orators that their intervention should not amount to their own enjoyment, to the detriment of others.
I would therefore like to conclude my short, I hope, intervention by declaring that our government and our delegation fully supports the proposed budget both as regards its volume as well as the work programme.
I cannot help expressing some anxiety for the need of a constant increase of the volume of this budget. However, this is not because of the financial burden that is involved as much as it reflects our disappointment that development programmes in the past were proven insufficient or inefficient in substituting independent development of the less developed countries to the need of aid.
A. I. GÜSAU (Nigeria): On behalf of the Nigerian delegation, I congratulate the Chairman of the conference, His Excellency the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Argentina, who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and maturity by the way he has conducted the affairs of this conference so far. I also congratulate the vice chairmen of the conference, the chairmen of the commissions and other office bearers of the conference.
My delegation welcomes most warmly the sister African Nations of Equatorial Guinea and Zimbabwe as well as the independent states of Bhutan, Tonga and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. I also hope their membership of the FAO will bring to their peoples assurances of better life and prosperity. It is our fervent hope that Namibia will join us as an independent state at the next conference.
I would also like to congratulate the Director-General Dr. Edouard Saouma first for his outstanding achievement during his first term of office and secondly for his re-election with overwhelming support. His unrelenting effort to pull the world out of food insecurity and his utmost concern for the plight of the poorest segments of the international community are well known.
Mr. Chairman, we as Ministers responsible for food and agriculture in 152 countries are gathered here for the 21st time in 35 years and for the fourth time since the World Food Conference to deliberate on the state of food and agriculture and to find solutions to the ever pressing problem of global food shortage. Although recent FAO reports have indicated some elements of recovery in Asia and Latin America the global situation is still very unsatisfactory. In Africa where half of the countries face serious food deficits and rising food import bills largely due to unfavourable weather conditions, the situation is dismal. It is reassuring however that considerable concern has recently been expressed worldwide at various meetings of Heads of States in Cancún, Melbourne and Ottawa and also at a recently concluded conference on least developed countries in Paris.
My delegation shares the views of Dr. Bukar Shaib, the outgoing Independent Chairman of FAO Council, on the need for a follow up action on the declarations at the Canctin Summit. It is important that this conference works out ways of involving the FAO in the implementation of the decisions taken at Cancun where these relate to food production - otherwise the valuable dialogue started at Cancun would have been to no avail.
In a sense the 21st conference of FAO could therefore be seen as a climax to a series of meetings at which the world food situation has been a central issue. My delegation while appreciating these expressed concerns is apprehensive that they may unwittingly become substitute for practical action.
If 35 years of meetings have not solved the world food problem it is obvious that our salvation must lie much more in greater action, and less talk. It is a pity that the developed countries are also facing economic difficulties at a time when their assistance is most needed. I hope nonetheless they appreciate the relativity of their plight to those of the least developed countries and therefore consider stepping up their assistance to developing countries in order to match their expressed concern with effective action.
This, Mr. Chairman brings me to the subject of self-reliance in food and agricultural production. No amount of external assistance can ensure food security for any nation unless it is combined with a philosophy of self-reliance which must be demonstrated by deliberate and persistent substantial allocation of national resources to food and agricultural production.
The developing countries are however limited in their capacity to generate enough resources for investment in agriculture by a complex set of factors. Firstly, their share of agricultural trade has declined from 46% in the mid-fifties to only 28% in 1979. Secondly, the purchasing power of agricultural export earnings has witnessed a declining trend. Among the most serious cases are cocoa, the price of which declined by 35% in June 1981 over the previous year, sugar and coffee by 45-50%, and sisal and rubber by 20%. It should be the concern of all member nations of this organization to ensure the stabilisation of earnings of developing countries from agricultural trade in order to improve their capacity to implement their agricultural programmes. I cannot therefore but appeal to all countries to work towards an early conclusion of various commodity agreements now under consideration and to honour such agreements once they have become operative.
We in Nigeria have found that although in financial terms the FAO and UNDP contributions to our agricultural development effort have not been very significant nevertheless they have had significant supportive and catalytic effect on such key areas as seed improvement, pest and disease control and agricultural mechanisation. In this connection, I have studied the Director-General's programme of work and the budget for the 1982-83 biennium and I am in agreement with the general thrust and the priorities outlined in the programme. I therefore support the level of the budget which is very closely related to the programme of work which many of us have already applauded.
Mr. Chairman, I wish to say a few words on the work of the FAO in the African Region. I am aware that the 1980-81 biennium was taken up mainly with the preparation of the Regional Food Plan for Africa and the Lagos Plan of Action. It is also gratifying to note FAO's involvement in the review of food plans in 25 African countries. It is my hope that FAO's assistance will not stop with the preparation of these plans but will continue to be provided for their effective and speedy execution. The Field programmes such as the control of the African Migratory locust, control of livestock diseases, the management of range and forest resources have enjoyed support for several years and I hope FAO's efforts in these areas will be intensified.
Mr. Chairman, allow me to say a few words on the plight of the most seriously affected food deficit countries in Africa which now number 24. While the international concern and assistance to these countries in food aid and in other programmes are very much appreciated, it is the hope of my delegation that more assistance would be provided in the development of water resources, rural roads and extension services so that a permanent solution to the problem of food insecurity can be found in this region.
At this juncture, Mr. Chairman, I would like to focus briefly on the activities of my Government in the area of food production. Agriculture is the number one concern of the present administration in Nigeria which has, as a practical demonstration of this policy, increased the capital allocation to agriculture from the previous level of 9% to 15% of the total capital budget.
During the current five-year development plan which began this year, a total of 6 billion Naira or approximately 9 billion U. S. Dollars are to be spent to develop the sector. Special programmes have been launched to increase cereals and root crop production. Livestock production particularly poultry is also receiving considerable boost. Major efforts are also going into the development of grazing reserves to settle nomadic herdsmen.
In fisheries we are gearing up for the effective exploitation of the resources within our exclusive economic zone. We shall need some technical assistance in this venture, particularly in manpower development. Fortunately, the private sector has taken commendable initiatives in this field. The catch from artisanal and off-shore fishing is also increasing as a result of the increase in the supply of fishing inputs to local fishermen.
The afforestation of the arid belt of the country is the most important project in forestry. Under the programme ten million tree seedlings were raised for planting this year alone. We are also extending our rural development schemes which now cover eleven of our nineteen states to virtually
the whole country. In these schemes emphasis is placed on the development of physical infrastructures such as roads, water supplies, marketing and crop processing facilities. Access to and availability of inputs are also ensured. This action programme which has already brought about tremendous increases in agricultural production is in line with the conclusions of the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development.
Mr. Chairman, may I now draw the attention of this august body to a relatively new but very serious threat to food production in the humid tropics and savanna regions of Africa. It is the combined menace of the Green Spider Mite and the mealybug on cassava. These pests which have been spreading very rapidly in the past four years have reduced cassava production in Nigeria, Zaire, Congo, Gabon and in several other West African countries. In Nigeria alone, reduction in yield is as much as 40%, estimated at about 1. 5 billion or 2. 25 billion U. S. Dollars in 1981. This situation has led to very sharp increase in cereal importation to Nigeria. Consequently, some urgent international action to combat the menace of the pests and in particular the cassava mealybug which at present defies simple solutions needs to be undertaken. Otherwise the humid tropics which have traditionally been self-sufficient in carbohydrate foods will increasingly become a food deficit region. I therefore call on the Director-General to set up an expert team to study the problem and to initiate an action programme to control the pests.
Mr. Chairman, as we start the third United Nations development decade it is incumbent on all nations of the world to work more closely together to rid the world of hunger, poverty and disease. There is no doubt that the international community has the resources. What is often lacking is sustained political will and concerted and persistent action at national, regional and international levels. I hope this meeting will provide the necessary inspiration which will enable all of us individually and collectively to re-dedicate ourselves anew to the task of eradicating these human indignities from the face of the world.
J. WOJTECKI (Poland): Every FAO Conference is an occasion both for considering the present state of world agriculture and for setting up programmes for its further development. These questions are also the most important subject of the present session, which is not surprising. Figures and indices, which I am not going to quote, as they can be easily found in the Conference documents elaborated by the Secretariat, prove that the world agriculture keeps advancing too slowly to satisfy, at least, physiological nutrition needs of all inhabitants of the globe. The progress in the 70s was inconsiderable. It was particularly insignificant in the poorest countries of the World, in which the food situation is the most difficult. It has been known for a few years now that the ambitious aim, formulated at the World Food Conference, to eliminate the most acute signs of hunger and malnutrition in the world, will not be implemented till 1985. It is hard to imagine the realization of the new international economic order and of the recently introduced development strategy for the 80s without a satisfactory solution of the world food problem.
FAO performs a vital role in the realization of the New International Economic Order programme and the strategy for the Third Development Decade, in which agriculture is one of the basic objectives.
The idea of cooperation in long-range programming of world economy development, implemented, by the way, in this very form since the early 60s deserves full appreciation. My government has expressed its appreciation in supporting progressive assumption of the New International Economic Order and the development strategy for the Third Decade. However, these programmes will make sense only, provided they are based on realistic principles, in particular, on the cooperation of all member countries of the UN system. Otherwise, they will remain a collection of unfulfilled hopes. Such was the character of the long-range development plans of world agriculture elaborated so far. This is confirmed by the comparison of development indices contained in those programmes with the actually achieved results.
A considerable acceleration of the rate of growth of world agriculture in comparison with that accomplished so far, is also assumed in the 80s. Although according to examples in many countries, the assumed rate is attainable but it requires a considerable increase of outlays for agriculture from the own means of the developing countries. International cooperation and foreign aid have an essential role to perform. We are afraid that the slow-down of the rate of growth in world economy and the economic difficulties occurring in many countries will inhibit the realization. A completely different outlook would appear if the world stopped the rapid rate of armaments, and assigned a part of the funds wasted for armaments for agriculture development. Peace and international security are imperative factors for the realization of the programmes of our cooperation - the means released from disarmament could fill the gap between the plans and their implementation.
Poland is experiencing now serious difficulties, particularly economic ones, which have been accumulating for the past few years, and were revealed in summer 1980. One of the first signs was the stagnation of agricultural production in the second half of the 70s. In the years 1979 and 1980 a conspicuous decline of that production took place. I would like to state that in spite of an evident lowering of the nutrition standard of the population in Poland, the basic demand of the society for protein and calories is still fully satisfied. Meanwhile, acutediscrepancies occur between the present level of supply with food articles of a higher order, primarily meat, and the demand. At first, the production failures were attributed almost exclusively to particularly unfavourable conditions in the second half of the past decade. In reality there were many more reasons which were the consequence of economic policy, among other things.
Taking into account our experiences, in the development programme of national economy in the next coming years, we anticipate a reorientation of the considerable part of industry in favour of manufacturing of production means for agriculture and food economy in order to secure an increase of agricultural production based on the own resources, a gradual reduction of grain imports and to try to achieve inthe second half of the 80s food self-sufficiency of the country.
One of the essential questions discussed at the present Conference is the problem of energy. As we know, agriculture becomes ever more energy-intensive. It is not, in the world scale, a significant energy consumer, which clearly appears from the study presented by the FAO Secretariat, but under the conditions of a rapid growth of energy prices, the economical use of energy is one of the vital problems of agriculture. What is important is not only the costs of energy used directly in agriculture in form of liquid fuels, coal, wood and electric energy but also the costs of indirectly used energy in form of fertilizers and pesticides. The problem of economical use of energy in agriculture is the more important for my country, as the Polish energy balance, which has been favourable not so long ago, is adverse now. And so it will remain even if the previous level of coal exports is restored. That is because the use of oil is growing fast, and the domestic output covers only a few percent of the needs. In view of the existing difficulties in fully satisfying of energy demands, the Polish agriculture will most likely limit the rate of growth of direct energy use in the coming years, which use amounted to approximately 10 per cent in the 70s. There will be maintained traditional sources of energy such as live traction; wood and peat will be more extensively used for heating, and intensive workon new energy sources will be carried on. Polish specialists actively joined the work of the European research network dealing with renewable energy sources. We expect very much from this cooperation.
Poland is also interested in further development of international cooperation in fisheries. We are convinced that FAO can play a vital role in the successful solving of many controversial problems of fisheries concerning proper use of the existing fishing fleet as well as protection of third countries interests, catching traditionally in specificed zones.
Although FAO concentrates its activities on the regions where the basic nutrition problems have not been solved, it is, however, an organization of a comprehensive character, covering by its range and cooperation all parts of the world, the European region included. Therefore I would like to discuss a problem with which Poland, a country of this region, has been coping for some years now. It is the gradation of nun tussock-moth which developed in conifers of north and central Poland on an unprecedented scale. The measures used so far saved the woods from distruction but failed in breaking the gradation of the pest. What is more, there was noted an expansion of the range of present gradation on the neighbouring countries. Thus, it becomes a regional problem menacing with tremendous economic and ecological losses in Europe.
In the development of international cooperation in the second half of the present century, the problems of food, agriculture, fisheries and forestry take an important place, and our Organization plays a vital role in their solution. I would like to assure you of the unfailing support of Poland for the FAO activities and of our high appreciation of FAO Director-General, Mr. Saouma. The Polish delegation will take constructive pains so that also the present FAO Conference constitutes a valuable contribution to solving the problems facing us today.
M. ARI-tOUBO IBRAHIM (Niger): La délégation nigérienne, que j'ai l'honneur de conduire, est heureuse de prendre la parole à l'occasion de cette vingt et unième session de la Conférence de notre Organisation.
En son nom, je voudrais joindre ma voix a celle des orateurs qui m'ont précédé pour vous féliciter, Monsieur le Président, pour votre nomination à ce poste, et pour exprimer au Gouvernement et au peuple italiens tous nos remerciements pour l'accueil cordial que nous avons reçu. Je voudrais aussi féliciter très sincèrement M. Saouma pour sa très brillante élection au poste de Directeur général; je le fais au nom de mon pays, de notre gouvernement, du Conseil militaire suprême et de son Président, de la délégation du Niger â cette session et en mon nom personnel. Je tiens à lui dire que son succès nous honore et nous satisfait énormément.
Qu'il me soit permis d'autre part de souhaiter une chaleureuse bienvenue aux nouveaux pays Membres de notre Organisation, le Zimbabwe et la Guinée equatoriale. Nous nous réjouissons que notre Organisation gagne ainsi en universalité.
Au lendemain de la célébration de la première Journée mondiale de l'alimentation, notre présence ici traduit notre ferme engagement aux principes contenus dans la résolution instituant la Journée mondiale de l'alimentation, mais aussi et surtout notre souci constant pour un meilleur devenir de notre Organisation.
Territoire enclavé de 1 267 000 kilomètres carrés, situé dans la frange Saharo-Sahélienne de l'Afrique de l'Ouest. Mon pays, le Niger, appartient bien malgré lui à la famille des plus économiquement faibles au sein des plus défavorisés par la nature. Seulement 24 pour cent de sa superficie totale constituent les surfaces agricoles. Avec une croissance démographique de 2,7 pour cent par an, sa population est très jeune dans sa structure rurale à près de 90 pour cent.
L'austérité de notre environnement pédo-climatique rend notre production agro-pastorale largement dépendante du volume et de la répartition des pluies. Conscient de ces contraintes, et tirant la leçon de la période de sécheresse qui a sévi dans notre sous-région, le Conseil militaire suprême et le gouvernement de mon pays, se sont engages à lever le défi de satisfaire les besoins fondamentaux de nos populations à travers le programme triennal 1976-1978 et le Plan quinquennal 1979-1983 dont les objectifs globaux sont:
- L'autosuffisance alimentaire;
- La recherche de l'indépendance économique;
- Et l'instauration d'une société de développement.
Nous avons conçu au Niger, la recherche de l'autosuffisance alimentaire comme un processus global à long terme, qui s'appuie sur trois volets principaux:
- La production végétale;
- La production animale;
- La' lutte contre la désertification.
En amont, la recherche agronomique intégrée au milieu agro-pastoral et, en aval, l'organisation et l'encadrement des principaux bénéficiaires, les paysans, les pasteurs et les pêcheurs.
S'agissant tout d'abord de la production végétale, elle s'appuie sur deux grands axes: les projets de productivité et les aménagements hydro-agricoles.
Les projets de productivité visent l'augmentation des rendements des cultures vivrières pluviales et celles d'apport, par le biais du développement de l'auto-encadrement paysan en formant les jeunes ruraux durant toute une campagne agricole dans les centres de promotion rurale, la mise à leur disposition, à temps, en quantité et qualité suffisantes, desintrants agricoles à des prix raisonnables, la protection et l'entretien du patrimoine foncier, l'amélioration des infrastructures de desserte et de stockage, la mise en place d'un circuit cohérent de commercialisation qui rênumère le producteur.
Le deuxième axe devrait nous permettre de soustraire à long terme une partie de notre agriculture des contraintes naturelles en mettant en place des aménagements hydro-agricoles là où les potentialités existent et s'y prêtent. De telles terres sont elles-mêmes limitées, 270 000 hectares en tout. Voilà qui justifie l'importance particulière et la haute priorité que nous accordons au Barrage de Kandadji dans le processus de développement économique et social du Niger. En effet, une fois réalisé, ce barrage permettra la régularisation du débit du fleuve Niger et la mise en exploitation de plus de 140 000 hectares.
En ce qui concerne la production animale, deuxième volet de la politique de l'autosuffisance alimentaire, la période de la grande sécheresse a généré de nouvelles données, et le choix de nouvelles priorités.
Deux objectifs sont poursuivis:
L'amélioration et le maintien d'un état sanitaire satisfaisant du cheptel au moyen d'une rigoureuse législation sanitaire prévoyant des campagnes annuelles de vaccination obligatoire contre la peste bovine et la péripneumonie des bovidés. L'efficience et l'efficacité de l'action sont assurées par la gratuité de ces interventions qui couvrent sans discrimination les troupeaux des pays voisins transhumant à travers nos frontières, en avant goût de la Campagne conjointe contre les épizooties en Afrique de l'Ouest, important projet régional en négociation.
L'accroissement du rendement des troupeaux à travers des programmes d'actions et des projets entrepris pour augmenter les productions animales et élever le niveau de vie des éleveurs constitue le deuxième objectif du volet production animale.
Ainsi, nous envisageons de rétablir le niveau de production d'avant la sécheresse tout en procédant a une restructure profonde de la gestion traditionnelle du cheptel et de l'espace pastoral, par un changement des mentalités de nos éleveurs. Pour y parvenir, une spécialisation de zone et des fonctions de production est opérée:
- A la zone pastorale est dévolue la fonction de naissance;
- A la zone intermédiaire celle de croissance;
- Et à la zone agricole la production laitière et la finition des animaux de boucherie par le biais de l'embouche paysanne.
Concernant le troisième volet, la rupture de l'équilibre écologique générale dans notre sous-région; le fait que le bois constitue l'essentiel de la source d'énergie dans nos campagnes, et même nos villes et la menace que font peser la pression démographique et le système actuel d'exploitation agricole et pastorale sur le patrimoine forestier nous ont imposé une nouvelle approche dans la gestion de notre patrimoine ligneux.
Nous avons ainsi opté pour la protection des sols menacés et la restauration de ceux qui sont surexploités, aux moyens d'une foresterie de masse, d'un programme dynamique de recherche en énergie solaire et d'utilisation de charbon fossile.
Ce développement, que nous voulons harmonieux et intégré, ne peut être finalisé que s'il est le fruit du triptyque consultation, concertation et participation de tous les Nigériens.
Le cadre institutionnel de réflexion et d'animation à la participation pour la production est désormais créé. C'est la Société de développement, produit d'un consensus national, obtenu au travers d'institutions permettant une concertation entre toutes nos couches sociales, leur consultation par les pouvoirs publics et leur participation active et effective aux actions de développement ainsi arrêtées.
Nous avons entrepris l'organisation du monde rural de notre jeunesse et de toutes les professions en mettant en place dans les quartiers, les villages et les campements des cellules de développement.
Ainsi toute action de développement rural à entreprendre aura pour support les structures villageoises de développement, afin de toucher l'ensemble des paysans pour leur confier la gestion de leur terroir et la maîtrise de leur développement,
Je m'en voudrais de ne pas déclarer que plus de 25 pour cent de nos ressources consacrées aux investissements publics sont réservées au secteur de la production rurale, ce qui démontre que la recherche de l'auto-suffisance alimentaire au Niger est perçue comme le fondement de la politique de recherche de l'indépendance économique et la pierre angulaire de notre politique de développement national.
En présentant les grandes orientations du Conseil militaire suprême et du gouvernement de mon pays, en matière de production rurale, j'ai voulu faire saisir à notre auguste assemblée notre volonté de compter d'abord sur nous-mêmes solidairement et sur nos propres moyens.
Ces efforts sont hélas soumis ä deux pesanteurs: l'interdépendance des économies de ce monde et les facteurs naturels. L'expansion de notre économie reste conditionnée par le niveau de prix de nos matières premières à l'exportation; ainsi pour nous, l'uranium, qui constitue le moteur de notre économie, a subi une baisse de prix préoccupante alors que notre plan quinquennal escomptait une relative stabilité. La capacité de financement de l'Etat sérieusement diminuée commence déjà à avoir des effets négatifs sur l'exécution des programmes arrêtés.
Quant aux facteurs naturels, les aleas climatiques, les attaques des cultures, la trypanosomiase animale et les epizooties meurtrières telle que la peripneumonie bovine, demeurent des facteurs naturels permanents et incontrôlés, compte tenu de leur caractère régional et de la faiblesse de nos ressources.
L'équilibre alimentaire précaire annoncé en 1980 se trouve cette année encore annihilé par un retard à l'installation des pluies, des trous hydriques des attaques parasitaires engendrant un déficit dans la zone productrice de céréales et une insuffisance de pâturages nécessitant la mise en place d'urgence des aliments pour le bétail dans la zone pastorale.
Pour assurer la sécurité alimentaire de nos populations, le Niger devra importer au moins 100 000 tonnes de céréales pour compléter la production intérieure, reconstituer notre stock de sécurité dangereusement érodé. C'est dire, une fois de plus, combien le soutien de la Coopération technique et financière de la Communauté internationale à notre engagement s'avère nécessaire.
Cette aide alimentaire ne sera efficace que si elle est transférée et distribuée rapidement. Elle trouve son fondement dans l'utilisation et la gestion qui en découlent:
- elle est intégrée dans les plans de développement, notamment en la recyclant dans les achats locaux, pour reconstituer le stock, et dans le financement des opérations de développement;
- elle n'est l'objet d'aucune distribution gratuite, sauf cas de force majeure, pour les groupes vulnérables et les régions touchées par les calamités naturelles; du reste, l'aide ne peut constituer pour le bénéficiaire une incitation à la recherche de la facilité ou à la passivité.
Cette irrégularité de la production due à ces pesanteurs, a renforcé notre volonté de coopération régionale. Ainsi nous avons, notamment souscrit à la définition d'une politique régionale de stockage à travers notre Comité inter-Etats de lutte contre la sécheresse au Sahel (CILSS) et au projet de stocks céréaliers nationaux et régionaux de sécurité alimentaire au Sahel préparé avec le concours bienveillant de la FAO.
Nous gardons l'immense espoir que la réunion des bailleurs de fonds sur ce projet prévue ici même à Rome en janvier prochain débouche sur un accord et des engagements fermes.
Le système économique est aujourd'hui un tout; la paix et le développement ne pourraient être assurés tant que la majeure partie de la population continuerait à immigrer, à souffrir de la faim et de la pauvreté.
Le Niger, par sa voix la plus autorisée, a émis ses réflexions pertinentes en la matière et suggéré des recommandations concrètes; ainsi s'est exprimé tout récemment encore, le Président du Conseil militaire suprême, chef de l'Etat, le Colonnel Seyni Kountche, dans son important discours devant la 36ème session de l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies à New-York, je cité: "Nous ne préserverons le monde d'une confrontation économique fort dommageable que si nous procédons ensemble à une révision des rapports Nord-Sud et oeuvrons solidairement dans une optique plus unitaire du développement du monde et du bien-être de l'humanité'' „
C'est en réitérant notre adhésion à l'importante étude "Agriculture Horizon 2000" et l'un de ses dérivés, le plan d'action de Lagos, aval très appréciable aux recommandations de la Conférence mondiale sur la réforme agraire et le développement rural, et adepte de la stratégie internationale de développement pour la troisième décennie, que nous abordons l'avenir avec un peu plus de confiance.
Nous voulons espérer que le programme de travail et le budget 1982-1983 seront approuvés dans leur ensemble,que les stratégies et les priorités développées si justes seront adoptées afin de poursuivre :
- les programmes d'action spéciaux et de coopération technique
- l'adaptation des technologies
- la promotion des formes d'énergies nouvelles
- l'aide alimentaire affectée à des activités productives
Nous venons de célébrer tous la 1ère Journée mondiale de l'alimentation qui doit être le tremplin pour concrétiser notre solidarité d'intérêts pour une cause commune, celle de la lutte pour l'acquisition d'un droit fondamental pour tout être, celui de manger tous les jours à sa faim.
Ce combat ne peut être gagné tant que l'égoîsme des hommes ne sera pas vaincu et la volonté politique des gouvernants acquise pour que s’instaure enfin une ère de compréhension, de justice, d'équité et de dignité dans le rapport entre les hommes, entre les nations, entre les Etats.
Le Niger continuera de croire au dynamisme de la coopération internationale.
R. CHELTENHAM. (Barbados):Let me first warmly congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, on your election to this high office and on your acceptance of the responsibility to conduct the affairs of this twenty-first session of the FAO Conference. The Conference is indeed very fortunate to have at its service your experience and success not only as a farmer but as a Minister of Agriculture of Argentina, a great food producing country. I am sure that this Conference will come to an eminently successful conclusion under your guidance.
Mr. Director General, congratulations are in order for you too, Sir, on what I consider to be a most well-deserved re-election to office as leader of this most important organ in the United Nations System. Your re-election unopposed as it was, is a glowing tribute to your dynamism and to the effective manner in which you have led this Organization in the past six years. I regard it as a loud expression of the confidence we all have in you and in your ability to chart the course of this organization through the next six years, some of which we already know from present trends will be fraught with several difficulties.
My delegation wishes to extend a sincere welcome to the five new member nations joining this important body at this Session. Among this new group is my country's nearest Caribbean neighbour, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and it is a pleasure for me to give them a very special welcome. I believe I will find ready support when I say that all these new nations in their several ways will contribute to the greater effectiveness of and a brighter future for our international body.
The global outlook for food and agriculture has given rise to much anxious attention and impatience among nations; and this is so, particularly in the case of developing countries. For notwithstanding their efforts at self development, these countries must necessarily look to external agencies and international organizations for effective assistance in the development of their agriculture.
In recent times we have been urged at conferences of the highest level, for example in Ottawa, Melbourne and more recently in Cancún, that greater resources should be diverted to agriculture as an instrument for development. But for these verbal assurances to be meaningful, they must be translated into effective action. Yet that connective element which we are looking for seems to be eluding us, because developing countries have been witnessing a progressive decline in the quantum of external assistance coming their way for agriculture. Developing countries are also viewing with alarm the unhealthy accumulation of arrears in contributions occasioned by delays in payment by members of their subscriptions to which FAO is richly entitled. My delegation feels that this is an undeservedly difficult path on which to put the FAO and anxiously implores all member governments to give their full and ardent support to the work of the FAO.
My delegation wishes to record its support for the Programme of Work and Budget at the level presented by the Director-General and endorsed by the Council in conference document. C 81/3. We feel that the budget as presented is a modest one and, in a way of speaking, constitutes the very stomach of FAO. And since we ought never to compromise our stomachs, I trust, that the Conference will see its way to give its full support to what seems to be a minimal budget in all the circumstances of the time.
The world food situation needs to be addressed in a serious way; for after all this time it still stands in a very precarious position in many developing countries of the world. Appropriate solutions must be found to meet the needs of all countries affected, particularly those countries where hunger and malnutrition prevail as a matter of course. I am one of those who believe that the first rungs of the ladder of self-sufficiency and food security must be climbed by the persevering efforts of the countries themselves. My delegation further subscribes to the view that these problems can best be overcome by an optimum blend of national, regional and international policies.
At the national level countries must have some food production plan of their own, no matter how rudimentary it is. All countries must work towards keeping the hounds of Malthus from their doors by ensuring that the rate of population growth does not exceed in an appreciable way the rate of food production. Developing countries in particular must also work towards greater improvement in the nutritional levels of their citizens.
At the regional level countries must endeavour to sink some of their individual differences and concentrate seriously on the regional good. And having bettered their efforts in food production and regional trade, they are in a stronger position to demand the critical assistance needed from developed countries to maintain their thrust at further improvements in food self-sufficiency.
At the international level developed countries must continue to work at creating avenues of assistance for needy countries. The areas of assistance have already been well identified. They include the development and transfer of science and technology, particularly in the area of the control of plant and animal diseases and the optimization of the use of indigenous materials.
Also identified is the need for accelerated and more meaningful capital flows to reach countries in need, in order to enable them to augment their store of capital goods, so essential to the upgrading of their agricultural efforts. We can point to another avenue of assistance: the need for third world countries to gain improved access into the markets of the industrialized countries for their agricultural commodities and at prices sufficiently remunerative for the former to meet their obligations.
The approaches I have adumbrated are fully within the grasp of every one of us. In my country, I can say that we have worked steadfastly and successfully in controlling the rate of population growth over the years, while the rate of agricultural growth has shown some modest increases. In this regard, sugar cane, which is our main export crop, has shown an average increase of 15% over the past five years as compared to the level of the previous five years, even taking into account that the acreage applied to this crop has declined about 18% in the last ten years.
My delegation recognizes the importance of wheat and other grains as a commodity for trade amongst the industrialized countries of the world. Nevertheless we feel that a new attempt must be made by all countries to sit together and negotiate an acceptable international grains arrangement. Success in this regard would help FAO to turn the corner towards world food security. We give our full support to the FAO five point plan of action and we are of the view that the proposal made by this Organization for the voluntary arrangements for coordination of national foos stocks is a reasonable one in which follow-up action must be taken.
In this regard, my country and its partners in the Caribbean Economic Community are hard at work to implement a regional food plan which embraces amongst other things, possibilities of regional bulk purchase of grains, livestock multiplication projects, bulk fertilizer purchase arrangements and regional marketing data.
But in our region our efforts at agricultural development regularly encounter the natural disasters of hurricanes, which are lethal to crops and devastating to infrastructure. Barbados is of the view that there is an urgent need for expanding the agricultural sector in all the countries of the region and for accelerating the rate of growth of this vital sector of our national economies, in order to cushion the effects of these disasters and to supplement necessary emergency support that permit recovery at a rapid rate.
My delegation remains convinced that the only real food security that can exist for any country arises through the optimum utilization of its national agricultural resources. It is also convinced that the vehicle of agrarian reform and rural development is a prime mover in optimum land utilization. And so, my government has embarked on a number of rural development projects as a sound social and economic vehicle for transfering to existing plantation tenant workers the plantation lands on which they have been living or working for more than 5 years. With such security of tenure, these farmers are encouraged to make capital investments on their holdings to affect national production in a positive way.
An analysis of our food situation shows that in the past decade, we have been able to maintain food imports at the same percentage level of total consumption. But this is far from satisfactory, as the dollar value of the bill grows higher and higher each year. We therefore are resolved to reduce significantly imports over the next five years. Heading the list of our high cost imports are feedgrains, wheat, red meats and dairy products. We are determined, however, to reduce these external costs by way of import substitution, and have taken steps with the assistance of FAO to effect improvements in our cattle industry.
We have to face the fact that modernization of rustic and traditional agricultural production systems can best be accomplished by the rational use of available energy resources. Developing countries in the majority of cases in this process of modernization have to absorb increased demand for imported fuel and an increase in energy consumption on and off the farm. It would seem then, that an energy policy must form part of the thrust in agricultural development in order to abate and reverse some of the costs of consuming fossil fuel energy. Barbados is tackling vigorously this area of development of non-fossil fuel energy and with the assistance of international funding organizations, feasibility studies for experimental projects in the use of wind energy and wave energy are in progress. In addition we have been successful in using solar energy to cool buildings.
The Director--General in an excellent statement to the Conference on Monday last painted a precise picture of the ramifications of the exclusive economic zone policies of countries. And it behoves us not only to be seriously concerned over the deterioration in the availability of fish supplies but also to act to enhance food production in this area.
My delegation believes that developing countries bar none, should commit themselves to a massive thrust in upgrading fish production in whatever way their respective opportunities for so doing allow. The benefits of success in this endeavour on the countries and their populations are multidimensional in terms of employment, industrial development and health.
In Barbados we are actively activating the recommendations of a fisheries development plan, produced with the kind assistance of the Canadian Government. We aim to reduce dramatically the 50 percent of fish and fish products we now import. We are talking to an international agency and involving the FAO Investment Centre with the hope of securing the technical assistance needed to commence, a boat improvement programme and a new marketing and distribution system.
In short, the full utilization of our fisheries as an instrument of national food self-sufficiency and food security has been accorded very high priority in the food strategy of Barbados.
Barbados joins the entire international community in applauding the thoughtful initiative of the FAO in commemorating World Food Day. In my country the events and activities were deliberately spread over many weeks and they served to stimulate awareness about the issues of food production, distribution and consumption. In addition, they served to concentrate attention on the need for new energy and expanded resources to be injected into the blood stream of the agricultural limbs of the body politic.
Seen from an international perspective, there can be no doubt that World Food Day activities have led in part ot a growing consensus on the need to put food security on top of the national and international agenda. But it would be unrealistic and unwise to expect that world attention will continue for a long period of time to be focussed on food security: and much as it will remain basic to man's survival it must be remembered that man does not live by bread alone.
The urgent challenge, therefore, is for national governments and the FAO to make hay whilst the sun shines, to ride as it were on the crest of the wave, and to transform the sudden and growing awareness and the present interest into practical and sustained action that will result in beating back the scourge of hunger, and malnutrition, and lead to a better-fed more prosperous and a less insecure world.
H. B. MALLA (Nepal)(original language - Nepalese):On behalf of my delegation and myself I wish to extend to you, Mr. Chairman, our warmest congratulations on being elected to the high office of this conference. We are confident that under your able guidance this conference will produce fruitful results. I would also like to assureyou, Mr Chairman, that my delegation will extend its full cooperation ι towards the success of the conference which is being held in this beautiful eternal city of Rome.
May I also take this opportunity to express our most sincere congratulations to the Director-General for his re-election which we consider as the testimony of his dynamic leadership in the conduct of the affairs of this august organization, FAO.
I would also like to extend our warmest welcome to those friendly countries like Bhutan, Equatorial Guinea, St. Vincent, Tonga and Zimbabwe, which have just joined the growing family of FAO.
A great many changes have taken placein my country since the last conference. Though these changes have been largely political in their appearance, they have lasting effects on the life of a common man, which cannot be lost sight of. At the instance of His Majesty the King, who is a symbol of unity and aspirations of the Nepalese people, a referendum was held in the country in which the people opted for a partyless panchayat democracy with timely reforms which are reflected in the present amendment of the Constitution. Accordingly, a government fully responsible to the people has been constituted recently. At the moment the entire nation is committed to an onerous task of an all-round development of the country as desired by His Majesty the King. Within the context of this overall development of the country, rural development programmes enjoy the highest priority under which the food and agriculture sector has the lion's share so far as our resource allocation in the Sixth Plan is concerned. For example, there is an increase of over 90 percent in the resources allocated to this sector for the current fiscal year over the past year. We are fully aware that the mere allocation of resources is
not going too far in the process of development without effective implementation of the programmes, for which a positive participation of the farmer is the key to any success in attaining the growth of agriculture. Effective measures have therefore been taken to ensure that the ultimate decision-makers, the farmers, are provided with enough incentive to embark upon the task of increasing agricultural output. The assurance of tenancy right and fixation of rent are important steps towards this direction. We have recently amended the lands act in favour of tenants in such a way that a tenant who has cultivated a single crop is also guaranteed of this right by law even in the absence of written evidence.
Starting with the basic needs where "food" naturally comes first, priorities are given to potential areas - whether in hills or in Tarai (plain areas) - where food production can be increased. There has been a happy coincidence that during the past two years, which happen to be the first two years of our Sixth Plan, the harvest has become much better than in the past few years mainly thanks to good weather conditions. Dependence on the vagaries of the weather, however, has no guarantee, for the continued availability of food; and in order to ensure the availability of food to the needy farmers, we need and support the programmes of Food Security Assistance sponsored by FAO.
As a first step to this programme, we have set a target of maintaining 5,000 tons of minimum emergency stock and 10,000 tons of minimum operational food stock. Based on past experience, we feel that even this quantity, which is far from sufficient, requires international cooperation not only by providing food aid but also by providing means to increase food production. The best and the most important input in this process appears to be water - a resource in which we abound. There exists, therefore, a great potential of achieving increased food production through the proper use of, among other things, water resources. This requires a good deal of Know-how, which is lacking. For example, the Himalayan rivers, which are the reservoir of such resources, have become more of a problem than any means of production.
Given large capital requirements and the long gestation period involved in the case of large projects and the urgency of the needs of the people, we find that small-scale projects need immediate attention. Accordingly, we have opted for a policy of implementing a mix of quick yielding projects - whether small or large. Irrigation projects not only increase production within a short span of time, but also remain labour-intensive. The rugged geographical terrain of Nepal makes the task of implementing irrigation projects extremely difficult, but we hope the international community will come forward and extend its generous cooperation to us in this endeavour of ours.
The World Conference of Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, has already formulated principles and recommended reformative measures for agricultural and rural development. FAO has been helping many countries like ours in this regard through its Technical Cooperation Programme and Trust Funds, The effective implementation of these programmes could greatly benefit countries like Nepal. 1 would also like to express our gratitude to the Director-General for the emergency food aid Nepal has received at the time of disaster.
The assistance provided by FAO for the development and implementation of watershed projects to arrest the ecological inbalance caused by the increased demand for fuel and the increase in population has been of great use. Feasibility studies on establishing a centre for Hill and High Altitude Agriculture Development has also been initiated, which will be helpful also for other neighbouring member coutries having similar agro-geographical conditions. In our opinion, in order to effectively implement the programmes as identified by WCARRD, substantially large amounts of financial resources will be needed to assist the developing countries. I would like to take this opportunity to express oar sincere gratitude to FAO for its continued assistance in the field of Food, Agricultural and Forestry development activities.
Also my delegation feels that FAO should continue to take international technical leadership so far as it relates to agricultural and rural development. Stronger commitment by international financial organizations is also therefore necessary for this purpose. Against this background, my delegation would like to support the proposal of the Director-General for the availability of increased resources at his disposal and the entire Programme of Work and Budget which he hassubmittedto this conference. My delegation will comment on specific issues at the Commissions as and when appropriate.
My delegation continues to consider favourably the policy of decentralization and the establishment of FAO country, offices. This has brought administrative efficiency by facilitating direct contact, easy exchange of information and ideas in developing country programmes. Similarly, the technical service provided by the FAO Regional Office has been of great value to member countries. It has helped promote economic and technical cooperation among developing countries themselves. The assistance provided by the Regional Office in developing field programmes in the countries in collaboration with country offices has also been of great significance.
In summing up let me note that the problems of hunger and poverty are not insoluble. What is needed for this purpose is the effective support by the international community to our own national efforts. Speaking of poverty and hunger - mostly in the least-developed countries where there are the poorest of the poor - no better picture can be drawn of a poor man who is the "epitome of poverty" than the one described by His Majesty the King of Nepal who represented 10 of the least-developed countries of Asia and the Pacific in the UN Conference on the least-developed countries, held in Paris last September, when he spoke of a destitute at length and pointed out in particular the anomaly between the wealth, opulence and luxury on the one hand and the dearth, want and degradation on the other. He said, "When I speak of the destitute of the world, I hear an infant crying for bread, and we give him bombs. He looks for compassion but we inflict him with cruelty. And he seeks peace, we prepare for war. "Mr. Chairman, time has yet to come when "no child goes to bed hungry". And it is with this aim in mind that FAO should endeavour to eradicate hunger and malnutrition in the world and save mankind from ultimate disaster.
P. Ν. ΡΕΕΤΕ (Lesotho): On behalf of my delegation and on my behalf, I wish to convey the gratitude of my Government for the wise decision, which this conference has made by unanimously re-electing Mr. Edouard Saouma as the Director-General of FAO. Indeed, I wish Mr. Saouma good health and greater wisdom and look forward to another fruitful six years. My Delegation congratulates you, Mr. Chairman, on being elected as Chairman of this Conference.
The 21st Session of the conference coincides with the 36th year of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. These dates coincide at a time when the world food situation is putting to test the will of the world to stand by the principles and objectives of FAO. The test is made more difficult by the ugly economic prospects for the Third World Countries.
Scientific and technological advances made by the western world are a source of hopes that man still has the capability to overcome starvation and poverty. The progress made by some of the developing countries gives assurance that, the problems of food shortage are not insurmountable. There is evidence that, with renewed effort and commitment to the elimination of malnutrition, even those countries which are still lagging behind also have a chance to join the ranks of the adequately fed and secure nations of the world.
Notwithstanding these good possibilities, the World Food situation is a constant worry. Every forum discusses world food supply with deep concern. Resolutions, and plans of action adopted by world bodies, and summits, serve as testimony that global food shortage is a menace that threatens world peace and social stability.
Under this threat, extraordinary measures have to be taken to abate human extermination by hunger. In this regard, my delegation is convinced that a deliberate onslaught on hunger should be mounted.
I am happy to announce that in 1980 my government, from its own coffers, incurred unusual expenditure in food production for self-sufficiency, and the results of the first year of operation have shown a 23 percent increase in maize production. At this rate, it is now expected that self-sufficiency in maize will be achieved before the end of the scheduled five years. It should be noted that this new programme was a brain child of local initiatives and was implemented in a manner that local people clearly recognised as their customary approach of mutual assistance. Its success was stimulated by the land reform changes.
Since Lesotho has tasted the sweet fruits of a sacrifice of channelling a substantial portion of its meager resources into food production, my delegation is now in a position to submit that, the call of the Director-General for more resources to be channelled into agriculture, is a justified and valid one. The moving statement made by the Prime Minister of India and our short experience, auger well for a careful review of dubious position already taken toward the proposed level of the budget of FAO for the next biennium. The sum total of all that has been said in support of the Programme of work of FAO, the Lagos plan of action,the WCARRD plan of action and the Third Development decade strategies, is that one more chance given to the Third World, in the form of adequate flow of resources from the international community, will leave us only a modicum of distance to arrive in the promised land of national and international food security.
Mr. Chairman, already too much has been invested, in food production and supply programmes, to let it go for nothing by abandoning the effort at this stage. Too much is at stake to even consider a moratorium. This would only lead to a deterioration of production and development infrastructure, which has been built over many years. Worse still, it will be many times expensive to reconstruct to the level reached now, especially considering inflation and economic difficulties that face many countries today.
The only reasonable choice is to keep going and invest more, particularly when the final goal is inevitable and in sight. And in doing so, devices such as the authority to borrow, the increase of the working capital and a more rational use of the reserve fund, all of which the Director General has requested, seem to have the potential to go a long way in relieving some of the financial tensions.
The concern of major donors that their investments in FAO, are not buying the longest mileage in development terms may not be totally without a basis. However, my delegation submits that the efficient implementation of the decentralisation policy, which we have observed and welcomed with appreciation, is an assurance that FAO is getting closer to where the core of the problem lies; among the rural poor in developing countries.
The technical cooperation Programme and the World Food Programme have shown unprecedented efficiency in responding to the needs of developing countries. These are the programmes which my delegation feels, can have a quicker and firmer handle on the energy issue in Agriculture and Rural Development.
Given the choice between energy cropping,afforestation and reforestation as well as use of biomass to generate methane gas, there can be no doubt that wood is a traditional and time old source of energy for rural and agrarian communities. Efforts should be intensified and patience exercised as benefits in this regard can only be realised in the medium term. In the meantime, advantage should be taken of enormous amounts of energy latent in organic residues. Asian countries have a long experience in the simple methods of extracting this form of energy. It is worthwhile learning from them, especially because even after extraction, the residue is a better organic fertiliser. Considering that 150 million tons of animal dung are burned every year in Asia and Africa, this conference should call upon FAO to intensify efforts to help countries which are ready and willing to use biomass for energy and plant food.
The roadmap to social justice has been defined in the WCARRD principles and plan of action. The response of member nations to a call for their immediate implementation has been impressive within such a short time. Establishment of Regional Rural Development centres and national strategies for mobilising participation of rural communities, especially women, has been encouraging. But what is even more reassuring are the special measures taken by FAO to closely monitor progress. This monitoring exercise has been a constant reminder that the onus is not on FAO, nor is it on the donors, but on member nations to instai institutional arrangements and create conditions and environments that are conducive for rural dwellers to respond aggressively and positively to problems that confront them in their day to day life. Thus, Mr. Chairman, the formation of Lesotho National Women's self-help organization in 1979 is living testimony of our commitment to WCARRD principles. Most of project food aid for afforestation, soil conservation, road building and fresh water fisheries is directed through this organization. Since most of our able bodied men are migrant workers, hope has been pinned on the women at home to undertake these basic but vital activities so that when the men finally return home, they will find a suitable and viable agricultural production network. Not only that, but an indivisible cooperative work force ready to take any local problem. Of course the natural tendency of children to learn from mothers is a cornerstone of a conscious and self-respecting future generation.
These new initiatives and renewed efforts are invoked against a gloomy background of unfavourable terms of trade in international markets, which reduce the power of agricultural commodities to purchase manufactured imports and some appropriate technologies from industrialised countries. Export earnings of developing countries have declined and most of them experience trade deficits.
This problem is serious and indeed a burning one. It necessitates further promotion of a purposeful new North-South dialogue, effective implementation of favourable trade terms for beef, meat, hides and skins, oil seeds, bananas, hard fibres from developing countries and promotion of trade in favour of and with preferential treatment accorded agricultural products originating from the least developed countries. Thus the entire international machinery has to be overhauled to provide the same treatment for all commodities. Lesotho pays tribute to FAO for promoting discussions on the North-South issues, to consider the Brandt Report with a view to establishing a cooperative atmosphere among countries. It is important that developing countries realize that their exports will be boosted by exploitation of Regional trade agreements as part of Intra-Third World Trade and expansion of technical cooperation among themselves. In this connection, Mr, Chairman, the delegation of Lesotho stands committed to implementation of the recommendations enunciated by the Lagos Plan of Action.
Before concluding, I widh to welcome the new members of the Organization, Bhutan, Equatorial Guinea, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Tonga and Zimbabwe. Their presence among us is symbolic of the growing strength of the organization. We look forward to their active participation as we regard their arrival as an injection of additional vigour with which to pursue the noble goal of establishing a new Inter national Economic Order.
Our organization has played a significant role towards the equitable sharing of the common heritage of mankind. Thanks to the wisdom of its leadership and the loyalty of all its staff which have been a source of inspiration to all of us gathered here. The united will of the world against hunger, demonstrated by the overwhelming expression of confidence is a source of new hope. The hopes expressed in pronouncements during this conference were prelude to a panacea.
The hope that will ensue from the wise decisions of this august assembly, will vibrate and echo in all the corners of the universe, where millions of men, women, and children live under a dark cloud of desperation, but hoping, as hope springs eternal in the human breast.
S. EHRLICH (Israel): Mr. Chairman, distinguished delegates, on behalf of my delegation I wish to express my congratulations on your election as Chairman of this Conference. I am sure, Mr. Chairman, that under your guidance the deliberations of this Conference will reach successful results. I would like also to welcome - Bruhim Habaim in Hebrew - the five new members of the organisation.
I am also glad to express our congratulations to Dr. Saouma on his re-election as Director-General and our appreciation to him and the Secretariat for their commendable efforts to promote agricultural development, technological and social progress, and, lastly, for the excellent preparation work for this Conference,
Mr. Chairman, the full text of my address is published in English. It is being distributed to the distinguished delegates and so, with your kind permission, I shall continue in Hebrew. (Continues in Hebrew)
Permit me to focus my speech on some actual aspects of contemporary rural development. I wish to present some of our Israeli ideas on development strategy reorientation.
The growth record of the Third World over the last two decades tends to mask the fact that the economic growth of poorer less developed countries has been, to say the least, disappointing.
Most analysts now tend to agree that this lopsided development in the Third World can be corrected only by directly addressing the productivity and quality of life problems of underdevelopment on a national scale. Many FAO and other surveys indicate that capital and human resources available for this purpose fall far short of the resources required for the implementation of conventional development programmes.
The new programmes will be based on an integrative approach and will focus on issues of productivity and production in agriculture, off-farm job creation in rural industries and workshops, rural social services, and rural regional infrastructure.
Israel's experience and expertise, as well as that of other countries active in this field could be utilized to assist Third World nations to accelerate the shift to the "transitional economy" strategy.
It would only be natural for Israel, as well as other countries active in this field, to participate in a programme designed to help Third World Nations to promote their agricultural development and quality of life.
Programmes for the promotion of the "transitional economy" will, in general, focus on five principal Issues: agricultural productivity (including, where relevant, irrigation); off-farm rural job creation; rural social services and infrastructure; integrated rural regional development; and population control,
A main feature of Israel's international contribution to agricultural cooperation is the introduction of integrated rural development projects, based on the economic, social and physical development of selected rural areas. The major target of this concept is improvement of the living conditions of the farming community, its farming and marketing methods and their income.
The Israeli approach to agricultural and rural development is to direct efforts towards transforming small family and land parcels into viable enterprises. However, in carrying out such a transformation Israel has taken care to preserve inherent advantages of individual ownership. Among other things, efforts have been directed to enable the individual family farmer to benefit from "advantage of scale", quite often by means of a cooperative framework.
This special feature of our agricultural development allowed us to transfer the experience of developing agricultural and rural sector to other countries, through the establishing of specialized centres for training manpower and in implementing development projects together with the countries involved.
Over the last two decades Israel has trained some 7 000 planners, technicians and experts from different countries. Over 10 000 others underwent training on the spot in courses held at project areas in different countries.
Israel's programmes abroad were carried out by about 2 000 experts on long-term duty contracts and others on short consulting missions. Most of these experts, being themselves farmers, worked within the rural communities of the developing countries, understanding the farmer's mentality and approaches, and introducing by hard work modern patterns of agriculture. Our experts had always kept in mind the necessity to adapt the technology and to transfer knowhow in full coordination with the specific conditions prevailing in each country. Their experience shows that although it is not possible to transfer automatically agricultural experience, it can be adjusted to the needs of the developing country and considerably raise its agricultural standards.
We hope that Israel's international cooperation in advancing the less favoured rural areas has yet many more contributions to make.
Let me refer here to Israel's active role in the agricultural international cooperation. Throughout the last 24 years, nearly 170 agricultural projects, in some 70 countries, were planned and implemented under Israeli experts' guidance and cooperation. Most of these projects fall within 8 major areas of skills, in which Israel has a relative advantage: planning of integrated rural development; agro-industrial protects; water resources planning and development of arid and semi-arid zones; rural community development including health services; organisation of agricultural cooperatives; educational and vocational training; rural housing projects; and agricultural research.
Permit me, ladies and gentlemen, to conclude my address with a very brief mention of the peace process in our region. Let me express my view that now, with the first steps towards peace in the region, international cooperation will become all the more important. It is indeed with these sentiments that I thank you very much.
M. C. AZODOGBEHOU (Benin): La delegation de la République populaire du Bénin s'associe aux orateurs qui l'ont précédée pour vous féliciter chaleureusement, Monsieur le Président, de votre brillante élection pour diriger les travaux de la vingt et unième session de la Conférence générale de l'Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture.
S'agissant de vous, Monsieur le Directeur général, la foi, l'énergie et la détermination qui vous caractérisent, le dynamisme, la compétence et l'efficacité que vous avez su communiquer à toute votre équipe tout au long de votre premier mandat, faisaient de vous votre propre successeur. Les résultats des élections organisées pour la nomination d'un nouveau Directeur général de la FAO l'ont bien démontré. Au nom de notre pays et de notre gouvernement, nous vous adressons nos vives et sincères félicitations.
Nous souhaitons la cordiale bienvenue aux cinq nouveaux Etats qui viennent d'être admis comme membres de notre organisation, la FAO. Il s'agit:
- du Bouthan- de la Guinée equatoriale
- De Saint-Vincent-et-Grenadines
- du Tonga- et du Zimbabwe
Il n'est pas besoin d'être un observateur avisé pour se rendre compte de ce que notre monde d'aujour-d'hui est un monde de profonds contrastes générateurs de contradictions antagonistes, un monde secoué par une chaîne de crises aiguës, dont la crise alimentaire chaque jour plus grave dans plusieurs pays du tiers monde. Cela nous amène â nous poser certaines questions.
Premièrement : Pourquoi et comment les pays développés, avec 17 pour cent de la population agricole mondiale et 25 pour cent des surfaces des terres arables, disposent-ils des deux tiers de la production et de l'exploitation des denrées alimentaires?
Deuxièmement : Pourquoi et comment les pays en développement avec 83 pour cent de la population agricole mondiale et 75 pour cent des terres arables n'en disposent que d'un tiers?
Troisièmement : Pourquoi la quantité des importations céréalières des pays en développement évaluée au début des années soixante-dix à 40 millions de tonnes, subit-elle sans cesse une ascension vertigineuse pouvant la porter cette année à 100 millions de tonnes?
Quatrièmement : Pourquoi les dettes des pays en développement vis-à-vis des pays développés, inférieures à 20 milliards de dollars en 1960, ont déjà atteint 500 milliards de dollars avec 88 milliards de dollars d'intérêts, alors que les matières premières exportées par eux subissent, du fait du système actuel des échanges, des pertes de 18 à 20 milliards de dollars par an?
Cinquièmement : Pour toute cette situation en dégradation continuelle, jusqu'où irons-nous et jusques à quand?
En cherchant à répondre objectivement à toutes ces questions et à bien d'autres encore à partir des causes profondes, on ne peut guère passer sous silence, pour un pays comme le Bénin, trois faits fondamentaux :
- D'abord, la longue période, multiséculaire, de la traite des Noirs. Car les cotes de mon pays étaient baptisées, en d'autres temps de prospérité économique pour certains, côte des esclaves.
- Ensuite, la période de domination étrangère, coloniale et néocoloniale, s'étendant sur plusieurs dizaines d'années.
- Enfin, l'ordre économique actuel dans le monde, pour le moins injuste et irrationnel.
Les conséquences de ces trois faits de l'histoire ancienne et contemporaine, c'est dans le domaine qui nous intéresse ici à la FAO, une agriculture extrêmement morcelée et des plus arriérées, reposant sur des forces productives particulièrement faibles avec des rapports de production néfastes, fondés sur l'exploitation des producteurs. Dans ces conditions, et avec l'essor démographique en cours, il est de plus en plus difficile de demander à cette agriculture de hasard de faire face, avec succès, aux exigences actuelles, notamment en ce qui concerne les productions vivrières longtemps négligées par les modes de production féodale et coloniale, intéressés surtout par une modernisation, relative des cultures rentables.
C'est en partant de toutes ces considérations que la Révolution béninoise, démocratique et populaire, convaincue que, dans le fond, la question alimentaire n'est autre que la question de l'accroissement de la production alimentaire et agricole diversifiée en quantité et en qualité, a résolu de s'attaquer fermement et fondamentalement à la modernisation de l'agriculture béninoise.
Cependant, dans les conditions de notre pays, la voie qui mène à la modernisation continue de l'agriculture est obstruée par deux obstacles que nous sommes déterminés à briser et auxquels nous nous sommes déjà résolument attaqués.
1) Rendre la terre, toute la terre cultivable, exploitable et disponible, aux producteurs dans les conditions de mise en valeur les meilleures. C'est la tâche de la Réforme agraire à réaliser fermement mais graduellement, dans des conditions socio-économiques responsables.
2) Encourager activement les petits exploitants agricoles aujourd'hui dispersés qui constituent la quasi-totalité de notre paysannerie laborieuse, à se regrouper librement et à constituer volontairement des domaines agricoles plus vastes, à y déployer toutes les formes de coopération agricole susceptibles de favoriser rapidement la modernisation de l'agriculture, et par conséquent d'accroître sensiblement et continuellement la production alimentaire et agricole. C'est la tâche de la Coopérativisation.
Telle est la ligne politique de notre Parti et de notre Etat dans le domaine de l'agriculture, ligne politique dont la mise en oeuvre depuis l'ouverture de la Campagne nationale de production, le 31 décembre 1975, nous a déjà donné des résultats fort encourageants, parfois même spectaculaires, notamment dans le domaine de l'émulation dans le travail, de l'amélioration de la productivité du travail et des rendements par hectare, dans le cadre d'un projet technique véritable communiqué aux paysans par un encadrement plus efficace.
C'est la voie que nous avons tracée pour que la Modernisation de l'agriculture, base de l'accroissement de la production alimentaire et agricole, et solution réelle à la crise alimentaire, cesse d'être un fait ponctuel, intéressant quelques cultures, quelques producteurs et quelques îlots dans le pays.
Réaliser la réforme agraire et la coopérâtivisation, c'est créer enfin les bases solides pour une agriculture moderne initiée, gérée et contrôlée par les paysans eux-mêmes.
Cette agriculture moderne suppose et exige un défrichement rationnel des terres, l'utilisation des instruments de travail qui réduisent la pénibilité du travail pour les paysans, la maîtrise de l'eau, la mise au point de matériel végétal amélioré, la bonification des terres par l'utilisation d'engrais, la lutte contre les prédateurs et la protection des végétaux, la récolte et le stockage dans des conditions réduisant les pertes post-récoltes, la formation et le recyclage des cadres et des paysans et le développement des structures de recherches agronomiques, la lutte contre l'analphabétisme, la transformation des productions agricoles pour leur valorisation, l'assurance de leur qualité, etc. Nous sommes conscients de la complexité et des difficultés de ces tâches, mais nous n'avons pas d'autre choix dans les conditions de notre pays. Nous sommes résolus à les mener jusqu'au bout, en comptant d'abord sur nos propres forces.
D'ailleurs, cette année même, et depuis le mois de mai 1981, pour donner un nouvel essor à la production agricole, et pour mobiliser davantage encore tout notre peuple dans l'application de la politique de notre Parti dans le domaine de l'agriculture, bref, pour développer la lutte pour la production végétale et animale, vivrière et industrielle, en quantité et en qualité, le Président Mathieu Kérékou a entrepris une vaste tournée agricole dans toutes les régions rurales les plus reculées de notre pays.
Ainsi, avons-nous commencé, depuis quelques années déjà, à mettre en oeuvre activement une politique dans le domaine agricole, politique dont la justesse a été confirmée par les conclusions de la Conférence mondiale sur la Réforme agraire et le développement rural organisée par la FAO en 1979. Nous comptons développer cette politique dans le cadre de l'exécution du Plan d'action de Lagos, adopté par les chefs d'Etats africains en avril 1980, pour faire face à nos obligations sous-régionales et régionales. Nous nous situons aussi dans le cadre de la déclaration de Pyongyang adoptée par les pays non alignés et autres pays en voie de développement en août 1981 dont la République populaire et démocratique de Corée.
Les Organisations internationales et de nombreux pays se sont portés à nos côtés pour soutenir nos efforts. Nous les en remercions ici très sincèrement.
Cependant, nos besoins sont immenses de même que ceux des pays qui, comme le nôtre, ont été classés au nombre des pays les moins avancés.
Dans ces conditions,vous comprenez bien que je ne puisse que vous assurer de l'appui sans réserve de notre délégation aux objectifs nobles et utiles contenus dans le document C 81/3. Le programme de travail et budget présenté par le Directeur général de la FAO à la vingt et unième session de notre Conférence générale ne représente, à mon avis, qu'un minimum si l'on examine les besoins urgents sur le terrain en vue de la modernisation rapide de toute l'agriculture dans nos pays.
Entre ce qu'impose la nécessité de jeter des jalons pour éliminer à terme la faim, la malnutrition et la misère, objectif réaffirmé par 22 chefs d'Etat et de gouvernement réunis il y a moins d'un mois à Cancun, et ce qui est possible, le Directeur général, en se fondant sur les restrictions financières que lui impose l'attitude des grands donateurs, a su trouver un compromis. L'augmentation de budget proposée par le Directeur général représente a-t-on dit à peine 15 minutes de pause que voudront observer les nations du monde dans leur course aux armements! Un quart d'heure dans une année d'au moins 365 jours! Il faut méditer cela.
De tous les temps et à travers les siècles, la première préoccupation de l'homme a été de produire et de garantir sa nourriture.
Pourquoi alors tenterait-on d'imposer au monde la fameuse théorie de la croissance zéro à moins qu'elle puisse s'imposer à la croissance humaine elle-même? Cela ne me semble pas être de notre temps!
Pourquoi chercherait-on à refuser la priorité accordée à l'alimentation et à l'agriculture, la priorité à soutenir les efforts que les peuples déploient sans cesse dans les conditions les plus difficiles pour accroître la production alimentaire et agricole?
Pourquoi voudrait-on opérer une discrimination politique, faire un tri dans l'aide bilatérale à partir de préjugés prétendument, idéologiques qui ne tiennent pas compte des efforts véritables de chaque Etat pour le bien-être de ses populations?
Plus grave encore,pourquoi mus par on ne sait quelles visées diaboliques, certains organisent-ils délibérément les pressions et sabotages économiques, les menées subversives de déstabilisation, voire
les agressions et invasions armées contre des peuples pacifiques qui ne demandent qu'à consacrer leur force à la production agricole et à réaliser leur propre bonheur? Mon pays a été victime de ces faits le 16 janvier 1977 et en garde encore les séquelles dans ses efforts de développement économique.
Les conditions dans lesquelles les peuples du tiers monde luttent pour vaincre la faim et la malnutrition comptent autant que les mesures techniques et financières que nous envisageons ici pour liquider ces fléaux.
Du fond de leur tombe, des millions et des millions d'hommes, morts parce que ceux qui possèdent les moyens financiers et techniques en ont décidé ainsi, nous regardent.
Ceux qui continuent de lutter héroïquement dans leurs champs, sous le soleil et l'orage, pour de maigres récoltes, faute de pouvoir pratiquer une agriculture moderne, attendent les résultats de nos délibérations. Les peuples aspirent à la paix, la justice et au progrès social. Nombre de peuples de nos pays sont persuadés qu'en son temps, et même aujourd'hui encore, ils ont participé et participent au développement des développés. Ce n'est pas l'aumône qu'ils réclament. C'est la solidarité, humaine, la solidarité internationale. C'est un juste retour des choses pour que ceux qui ont donné hier et continuent de donner aujourd'hui reçoivent également les moyens financiers et techniques indispensables à l'avènement, pour eux, d'un monde meilleur qu'ils sont résolus à bâtir de leurs mains.
Oeuvrons ensemble pour ce noble objectif.
J. C. PIOT (Suisse): Le 16 octobre dernier, dans un gran élan de solidarité, nos pays ont célébré la première Journée mondiale de l'Alimentation, instituée par la 20e conférence de la FAO tenue il y a deux ans. Cette journée a permis d'informer plus complètement nos concitoyens sur la persistance des fléaux que sont la faim et la malnutrition dans le monde, sur les efforts entrepris partout pour les vaincre, sur les succès remportés mais aussi sur les échecs essuyés dans ce comat. Mais cette première Journée mondiale de l'Alimentation a permis avant tout de sensibiliser davantage, de faire prendre meilleure conscience à nos populations de la responsabilité qui est la nôtre et de notre intérêt commun à supprimer dans les plus brefs délais cette atteinte à la dignité de l'humanité tout entière que constituent la faim et la mort de millions de nos concitoyens dans le monde.
La lutte contre la faim, l'eradication de la malnutrition sont la raison d'être de la FAO' et nous sommes rassemblés ici afin d'unir nos efforts dans la poursuite de ces buts primordiaux. Une grande responsabilité vous a donc été confiée, M, le Président, et je vous remercie de l'avoir assumée.
Ma reconnaissance s'exprime aussi à M. Saouma, notre Directeur général et à tous ses collaborateurs et collaboratrices du Secrétariat, pour leur excellent et considérable travail, dont le moindre n'est pas la bonne préparation de la présente Conférence.
Votre brillante réélection, M. Saouma - on peut même parler de plébiscite - pour un nouveau mandat de 6 ans à la tête de notre Organisation signifie tout avant la reconnaissance de votre dynamisme et de votre clairvoyance, que la manifestation de l'espoir des pays membres en la poursuite de votre action efficace en faveur des plus pauvres et des plus deshérités. Aussi puis-je vous assurer de notre soutien.
Dans votre déclaration de lundi dernier, M. le Directeur général vous avez procédé à une analyse claire, lucide, courageuse et sans complaisance de la situation. Vous avez fait des constatations pessimistes, mais réalistes. Il est réconfortant de trouver en votre personne un chef qui ne se laisse pas gagner par la désillusion, mais qui garde le solide espoir, la profonde conviction que cela peut, que cela doit changer.
Le renforcement de la sécurité alimentaire à l'échelle planétaire imprègne les divers thèmes figurant à l'ordre du jour de la présente conférence. Toutefois, les meilleures intentions ne sauraient suffire si elles ne sont pas suivies d'actions concrètes en temps utile. Dans les diverses interventions d'orateurs qui m'ont précédé à cette tribune, j'ai noté que la lutte contre la faim ne consiste pas seulement en une augmentation sensible de la production alimentaire - qui en reste bien sûr le pilier principal - mais exige aussi une approche plus globale du problème. Cela se résume finalement - je m'excuse de cette terrible simplification - à la question de trouver des emplois en nombre suffisants, donc des revenus permettant de satisfaire tous les besoins fondamentaux de tous.
Cette stratégie du plein-emploi est à notre avis entièrement liée à la stratégie de l'alimentation dans la recherche de solutions viables et valables à long terme. Elle s'apparente fortement avec la moralisation des marchés internationaux, où l'instabilité chronique des prix due au jeu excessif et néfaste de la loi de l'offre et de la demande en culture pure, perturbe les économies, surtout celles des pays
en voie de développement et rend finalement illusoire une part importante de l'aide apportée par ailleurs. Si la rencontre de Cancun pouvait avoir une suite dans cette direction, je crois pouvoir affirmer que nous en serions tous très heureux. Pour cela, il ne faut pas seulement de bonnes déclarations d'intentions, mais aussi la volonté politique d'imposer certaines disciplines de production en contrepartie de prix satisfaisants pour les producteurs, et de mettre un frein efficace à la spéculation sur les marchés mondiaux. Nous devons héals admettre que la situation insatisfaisante d'aujourd'hui n'est que la représentation plastique de la somme de nos égoïsmes nationaux. L'évolution erratique des prix du sucre ne peut que confirmer cet état de fait. L'échec dans la recherche d'un accord international sur les céréales est un autre exemple de notre faiblesse.
Et pourtant les projets concrets de solutions ne manquent pas. Je pense au Plan d'action pour la Sécurité alimentaire mondiale, que nous soutenons. Nous saluons également les initiatives de la FAO quant aux suites à donner à la Conférence Mondiale sur la Réforme Agraire et le Développement Rural (CMRADR), à ses efforts d'assistance à la mise en place de systèmes nationaux de réserves céréalières et à toute l'importance qu'elle accorde aux questions de l'énergie en milieu agricole et rural,
Le programme de travail pour le prochain biennium nous semble propre à mieux orienter encore les activités de la FAO dans le sens désiré. Je remercie le Directeur général d'avoir tenu compte de nos avis dans la restructuration, la réorientation et la dynamisation de notre Institution. Cependant, personne n'ignore que nos Etats sont aussi soumis à des contraintes budgétaires considérables car même les pays dits riches ont leurs problèmes. Il est donc normal que les Organisations internationales en tiennent également compte dans l'établissement de leurs programmes.
Si les pays membres assument l'obligation de contribuer au financement de la FAO dans la mesure des moyens disponibles, nous devons aussi veiller à ce que celle-ci puisse remplir correctement et efficacement ses tâches. Ceci nous autorise donc, au besoin, à la formulation de critiques que nous voulons constructives. La FAO ne saurait être le lieu où les uns exigent et les autres paient sans discussion. Elle doit être le centre de dialogues entre partenaires désireux de collaborer efficacement, en tenant compte des avis des uns et des autres dans l'intérêt de tous.
Dans la situation actuelle, il nous paraît dès lors indispensable que la FAO cherche à compenser le renforcement de ses activités dans les domaines prioritaires par des économies dans les programmes pouvant être retardés, voir éliminés. Il ne m'appartient pas de les préciser ici, c'est la tâche des commissions ou des divers comités de travail; je sais que cela a até fait ou se fera encore.
Je tiens toutefois à affirmer concrètement que ce désir d'économies n'implique pas un manque de volonté de mon pays de faire des efforts financiers supplémentaires là où ils sont les plus nécessaires. Bien au contraire, j'en veux pour preuve l'importante participation de la Suisse au financement de programmes extra-budgéraires de terrain de la FAO dans les domaines de la sécurité alimentaire, des semences et des pertes après récoltes, domaines considérés à juste titre comme prioritaires par tous les membres de la FAO.
M. le Président, je souhaite pour terminer que le dialogue dont je viens de parler soit à même d'aplanir les divergences d'opinion qui pourraient se manifester durant cette Conférence. L'accord sur les grandes lignes est indispensable pour assurer l'efficacité de l'action. Ne nous perdons donc pas dans les divergences éventuelles de détail. Sachons les dominer en maintenant notre regard sur notre objectif principal: "Assurer le pain-quotidien de tous les hommes de bonne volonté".
Claude Batault, Vice-Chairman of the Conference, took the chair
Claude Batault, Vice-Président de la Conférence assume la présidence
Claude Batault, Vicepresidente de la Conferencia ocupa la'presidencia
F. R. MOHMAND (Afghanistan): Mr. Chairman, thank you for giving me the floor outside your schedule because I shall not be here tomorrow. I hope that you will excuse me for this. I am greatly privileged to extend congratulations of the Afghan Delegation to you on your election as the Chairman of this important conference. We are confident that under your able guidance deliberations in this Conference will be crowned with success.
I would like also to welcome the new members and sincerely hope that their participation will greatly enhance the positive efforts of this organisation.
May I take this opportunity to welcome the re-election of Dr. Edouard Saouma. His stewardship of FAO over the past six years has been marked by dynamism, new initiatives and total dedication to the cause of the developing countries. We look forward to the next six difficult years with optimism and the full assurance that our organisation will face up to the problems and challenges with the courage and wisdom we have witnessed in the past.
Traditionally Afghanistan is an agricultural country and agriculture will continue to be the mainstay of its economy. By and large the agricultural production is still carried out by traditional methods. Before the April revolution the peasants were the neglected citizens of the country and very little attention was paid to their needs and there was hardly any political or material support given to them by the previous regimes.
No amount of resources and technical know-how could help us increase agricultural production unless we were able to ensure equitable distribution of land to the farming population. The feudal lords made up less than 3% of the land owners, owned more than 1/3 of agricultural land of the country, had to be dealt with, before we could embark upon the road to modernizing our agriculture. So far we have distributed more than 730 000 hectares of land to 296 000 peasant households. These peasants, owners of small and average farms have been organized into 1200 agricultural cooperatives.
In the 2nd phase of land reform, the Government is providing the farmers and peasants with supporting services, agricultural inputs and agricultural loans under very favourable conditions. The main purpose is to intensify agricultural production by increasing productivity per unit area and the number of crops cultivated per year on the same land.
We are giving high priority to creating suitable infrastructure in the rural areas to enable the peasants and farmers to take maximum benefits of the technological improvements, made in the field of agriculture elsewhere. These infrastructures will be in the form of faster communication lines, improvement of the present irrigation system and methods, better transport and storage systems, facilities for quality control, availability of energy and an easy access to agricultural inputs.
For accelerating the transformation of our socioeconomic system the human resources of our country are being mobilized and organized. One of the recent major activities in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan is the formation of the National Fatherland Front, which includes workers, peasants, craftsmen, clergymen and intelligentsia and different tribes of the country. Similarly, new social organizations, composed of thousands of members have been formed recently:the Women's Democratic Organization, Workers Union, Union of Intelligentsia, writers, and artists, and they support the progressive objectives of the party. These organizations and unions have also voluntarily joined the National Fatherland Front and taken active part in the development of our beloved nation, specially for the elimination of socio-economic injustice and gaps between urban and rural areas.
A number of other urgent measures have also been taken by the Government. Four mechanization stations have been established in different parts of the country to help farmers to rent tractors, combines and machinery on favourable terms. More mechanization stations wll be established in the near future. During 1980-81, we have distributed 14% more fertilizers and pesticides, 42% more improved seeds of crops to the farmers than what we did during 1979-80. The purchase price of cash crops has been increased and the prices of most of the inputs have been reduced for the benefit of the farmers. These and other measures have caused increase in agricultural production by more than 2. 6% and in the export of agricultural commodities by more than 30% during 1980-81 than they were during the previous year.
The new International Development Strategy for the 80s, the Third UN Development Decade, rightly gives importance to problems of food and agriculture. The chapter on food and agriculture is, if I may say so, divided into two parts. One refers to obligations of the developing countries themselves; the other to developed countries and financial institutions who are required to alleviate the pains of developing countries in fulfilling their obligations. We accept the priorities laid down in the strategy; we are taking measures to accelerate food production and improve national self-sufficiency; we have increased price incentives and have been trying to increase credit distribution; we are committed to agrarian reforms and have already distributed 730 000 hectares of land to more than 296 000 families; we are setting out a new law of water to improve the system of irrigation and make it equitable, less wasteful and more productive; we are improving the quality of extension services and rural development and support the conclusions and recommendations of the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development. But what about the other part of the social and International commitment?
The flow of international aid to agriculture, as we see it from our country, seems to have slowed down. The World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and IFAD have been wary of assistance to my country. More in sorrow than in anger, I pose the question if these institutions were established to exercise political pressure on recipient governments, we hope they would think over the problems. Similarly, should we allow the World Food Programme to be use as an instrument of a few governments?
On the World Food Day Babrak Karmal, Secretary General of the Central Committee of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan and President of the Revolutionary Council of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan mentioned that the cause of all poverty and the lack of enough food for mankind is the continual exploitation of the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America by imperialists who are against peace, detente, freedom and independence and justice and against the establishment of a new international economic order and social progress. If the imperialists give up the ideas of exploitation and put an end to the arms race and spend the large amount of money saved on the development of agriculture and adequate food security for all mankind, not only famine, hunger and poverty would be abolished from the globe but the world will become a place of peace and prosperity for mankind.
At the global level too, there is no evidence that IDS will be treated with more respect. The target of food aid, envisaged in 1974 has not yet been met. The Wheat Agreement with a binding food aid clause is still elusive. The target of International Food Emergency Reserve remains unfulfilled. Bilateral and multilateral aid flows are not being made on "an increasingly assured,continuous and predictable basis". We would like the UN and other international agencies to review the progress of International Development Strategy on a regular basis and assist its performance in terms of quantity and quality of aid provided. The political manipulations prevalent in several international aid agencies are totally unacceptable to the developing countries.
We have studied the document C 81/28 with great interest. We are happy at the way the Director-General followed up on Resolution 6/79 and the support UNDP Administrator and the Governing Council gave to implement the purposes of the resolution. We also appreciate the close collaboration the Director-General has established with the Administrator to ensure mutual assistance and cooperation at the field level and emphasis on the primary of food and agriculture in UNDP planning exercise governments. We also hope that the Administrator will continue to draw the attention of UNDP field offices to the importance of food and agriculture recognized by IDS and secure their continuing commitment to promote the growth of food and agriculture in the least developed countries.
I would like to refer briefly to document C 81/9 on Medium Term Objectives. It is an important document not only because it sets the tone for FAO's forward planning but also because it gives the right perspective and background for global food and agricultural situation. The priorities and objectives are right and we would welcome FAO's continuing effort to update and refine them. We particularly welcome and appreciate the linkages FAO is trying to establish between the objectives and investment and orientation of headquarters and field personnel to realize these objectives. Trust funds, special programmes and TCP are fulfilling very essential roles and we would have so much less if resources for these were not forthcoming on an increasing and regular basis. We contest the tendency among some donors to minimize the significance of these programmes.
We disagree with the argument that so-called multiplicity of resources of assistance is negative and inhibits overall development assistance. We would also propose that the international community should benefit from exploitation of the international resources by powerful countries. A system should be devised to augment the resources of organizations like FAO through projects from exploitation of the sea.
Before I close, I would like to extend my support to the Director-General's programme of work and budget for 1982-83. His introduction to the document C 81/3 and this statement bear testimony to the pain he has taken to harmonize the concerns of several developed countries that find additional needed development assistance disconcerting.
His Programme of Work and Budget has been framed at the minimum desirable level, a level repeatedly demanded by the large majority of Member Nations and we have to provide him with the budget required to carry out the tasks and obligations of FAO.
Because of the time limitation, the full text of this statement will be put at the disposal of delegates. In conclusion I would like to wish every success to this great Organization.
The meeting rose at 18. 30hours
La séance est levée à 18 h 30
Se levanta la sesión a las 18. 30 horas
