CHAIRMAN: The inclusion of this item on the agenda of the Conference and the reports prepared by the Secretariat mark the start of the four-year cycle of reporting progress in agrarian reform and rural development, as decided on by the 1981 Conference.
N. ISLAM (Assistant Director-General, Economic and Social Policy Department): The document before you, C 83/23, is the first in the four-year cycle of reporting as called for by the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development. The FAO Conference in 1981 requested the Secretariat to prepare a consolidated report, both factual and analytical, revealing the policies and progress of countries in the implementation on the WCARRD Programme of Action. The preparation of this report would not have been possible without the full cooperation of member countries, not only in submitting their own country reports, but also in facilitating the in-depth country studies which were undertaken by the FAO Secretariat. The complexity of the exercise involved in the preparation of this report is undeniable, especially in view of the limitations imposed by available data and the short period which has elapsed since the WCARRD Conference in 1979. Nevertheless, our joint efforts brought out a number of useful conclusions.
We have made progress in evolving a methodological basis for monitoring progress in agrarian reform and rural development based on socio-economic indicators. Data requirements for a core group of indicators which can monitor progress in the status of the rural poor with reference to uniform benchmarks, were identified. The present report summarizes such developments as can be analysed from currently available data. It indicates the gap in information and suggests the directions in which progress in the quantification and analysis of various aspects of agrarian reform and rural development can be made in the future.
A major responsibility lies on the member countries and on the international organizations cooperating with them, in expanding and improving the data base as well as the analytical capacity required for the task.
An important lesson of the past experience is the recognition of the need for a coordinating mechanism at the national level which would facilitate and encourage not only multi-sectoral work on rural development but also an integrated progress of monitoring and evaluation with feedback of information and signals to those in charge of policies and programmes at the national level.
This would also stimulate efforts to improve monitoring and evaluation, at the country level, on a continuing basis, and to formulate time-bound quantifiable targets in national development plans and programmes.
The report also attempts to indicate progress in the other major areas of concern, of a substantive nature, included in the WCARRD Programme of Action.
The role of rural women as primary producers is increasingly recognised, as is their need for services to improve their social status, to increase productivity, and to enhance their role in promoting rural development. Rural people's organizations as a mechanism for people's participation, are effective to the extent that administrative decentralisation of government functions and the decision-making process are implemented and resources are made available or mobilised at the local level. An increased awareness has developed in recent years regarding the role of national, regional, and international non-governmental organizations in promoting agrarian reform and rural development. Many countries have made some progress in orienting their programmes on agricultural extension to the needs of small farmers, as well as in expanding training programmes for farmers' leaders.
Even though the need for institutional changes in credit and marketing, to meet the needs of the rural poor, is recognised on a wider scale, much remains to be done. The report confirms that increased provision of institutional credit should be supplemented by effective arrangements amongst the borrowers - small farmers and the landless labourers - to enable them to have easy access to and to ensure effective utilisation of rural credit. Improvements in the management of cooperatives and the establishment of marketing and information systems, wherever they have been undertaken, have enabled the small farmers to receive higher prices and to increase employment and income.
In regard to access to land and changes in land tenure, available evidence shows that the post-WCARRD period has not been marked by any major land distribution in favour of the rural poor; only five countries in this period introduced significant policy changes relating to access to land. Conceptual difficulties abound in defining small farmers and landless labourers; a crude estimate shows that out of the agricultural population of 1.28 billion in the developing countries, excluding China, in 1981 745 million were smallholders, many of whom are marginal farmers seeking wage employment, another 167 million are landless labourers. High concentration of land holdings continues in many developing countries, particularly in Latin America. The pattern of agricultural growth in many areas adversely affected the landless and the marginal farmers. Against this background, the need for effective measures to enhance access to land assumes even more importance in the 1980s than in the 1970s.
The land settlement programmes continued to be prominent in many countries, but they have been able to benefit only a small proportion of tenants and landless workers. The situation of these latter groups of the rural poor was aggravated by the increasing scarcity of agricultural land.
The man-land ratios are getting worse in the agricultural sector of the developing countries in spite of the large-scale shift of population from the agricultural to the non-agricultural sector. Per capita arable land declined over the period 1968-80 and the rate of decline was faster in more recent years. The condition was most severe in the high poverty groups. The latter not only have a lower man-land ratio than the other groups, but also they experienced a decline per year in land availability.
In respect of the commitment of resources to agricultural and rural development the progress has been slow and uneven. During the period 1978-82, out of a sample of 37 countries, planned public expenditures in real terms in 24 countries recorded an increase - in some of them as high as 15 percent per annum, whereas in another 13 countries there was a decline - in some by as low as 8 percent per annum.
In respect of the international factors affecting progress in agrarian reform and rural development, the report reconfirms much of what is already widely known, i.e., the adverse movement of terms of trade, fall in export earnings and stagnation in development assistance have severe constricted the ability of low-income countries to promote rural development. The rural poor engaged in the production of export crops, which suffered declines in prices and export earnings, suffered considerable setbacks in their economic position.
At a time when there is an increased recognition of the need to direct external assistance towards the poorer developing countries and to the poverty groups within individual countries, the stagnation in development assistance affects particularly adversely the recent trends in development efforts towards poverty alleviation.
There has been some progress in economic and technical cooperation among developing countries, but much needs to be done in this regard.
Chapter 4 of the document brings together an integrated analysis of trends in rural poverty. In 1980, on the basis of crude measures and admittedly imperfect data, FAO estimates show that out of nearly 2 billion people living in 68 developing countries, nearly half of the 1.34 billion people living in rural areas are below the poverty line. There is a high degree of concentration of the incidence of rural poverty in a few regions of the developing world: nearly two-thirds of the poor are in the Far East and nearly three-quarters are in eight countries. In the majority of the countries, the top 10 percent of households receive more than 15 times the income received by the bottom 10 percent of the households. While benefits of persistent high rates of growth have been shared to some extent by the lower income groups, there is still reason for concern regarding the level of absolute rural poverty.
While some progress has been made towards the reduction of rural poverty, the incidence of absolute poverty and risk of food inadequacy are still very high. This is so in many countries even with high rates of economic growth. Countries which have experienced a slow overall rate of growth are unable to make any dent on rural poverty. On the other hand, countries which have grown at a relatively high rate continue to suffer from high incidence of absolute rural poverty in the absence of special measures to improve the conditions of the rural poor. Substantial progress in the reduction in rural poverty, therefore, would be difficult to achieve within a politically acceptable time period, especially in low-income countries, if measures for promoting growth are not accompanied by development policies and programmes specially targetted towards the rural poor.
A number of policy issues for consideration by the Conference have been highlighted in the Introduction to the document before you. They include the organizational arrangements for monitoring progress, including improvement of statistical information for fixing time-bound quantifiable targets, in the context of an improved national capacity for policy analysis and development planning for agrarian reform and rural development. Increased commitment of resources to the agricultural and rural sector is urgently needed. Additional issues for consideration for the Conference relate to specific strategies for reduction of rural poverty and undernutrition, including special emphasis on Africa. The document also indicates areas where FAO can assist member countries in their efforts towards the implementation of the WCARRD Programme of Action.
These introductory remarks can scarcely cover all the salient aspects of the comprehensive and detailed report which is placed before you.
We look forward to the deliberations of the Conference, not only in providing additional insights into the complex, multi-faceted problems of agrarian reform and rural development, but also in eliciting additional information and analysis from the member countries regarding the progress they have achieved and difficulties they have encountered in this vital area.
CHAIRMAN: We will move now to discussion of the resolution as contained indocument C 83/LIM/24.I would draw your attention to a typographical error in the English version on page 3, second line,
the word "and" should read "as", "as endorsed by the 1975 FAO Conference;". I would ask the
delegates to address the draft resolution for general discussion.
H. MENDS (Ghana): I think we have quite a comprehensive resolution embodving the activities of the needy areas that member governments of the Organization must focus attention on but of particular concern to my delegation is the fact that the need for training in the area of rural development has not been properlv highlighted in this resolution as one of the essential items that must be tackled by the member governments and to this extent I would like to propose a new paragraph in the operative section, preferably this should be immediatelv after operative paragraph 2 but I would not mind if it comes between 3 and 4.
With your permission I will read the proposed paragraph. This would come immediatelv after operative paragraph 2.
"Urges member countries forcefully to pursue the provision
of extension and training for small farmers and the rural poor,
including women and rural youth, and to provide adeauate
training of personnel to service them. It also requests FAO
to assist countries in strengthening training institutions and
programmes and to encourage technical cooperation among developing
countries in this field".
CHAIRMAN: Delegate of Chana, would you submit vour amendment in writing to the Secretary, please. I would ask that comments at this stage be confined to those suggesting amendments to the draft resolution.
D. R. GREGORY (Australia): I do not have a specific form of words to propose at the moment but we feel some concern, in view of the emphasis we have given in the Committee on Agriculture and elsewhere on the role of women in development, that possiblv the reference made to this important aspect is not suitably emphasised in the draft document concerned. I refer to paragraph 9, where it refers certainly to rural women's organizations, and paragraph 3, where it talks about directing programmes to benefit the intended groups among the rural poor, including rural women. I think to reflect the emphasis we have given to this and the importance of our discussions in this regard and the very strong feelings that most delegations have on this subiect perhaps it could be brought out as a separate item or a separate paragraph, and perhaps we could suggest a form of words later.
M.E. JIMENEZ Z. (El Salvador): Unicamente para apoyar la propuesta de Australia referente a la incorporación de un párrafo que especifique más claramente el papel de la mujer en el desarrollo rural y la reforma agraria.
J.R. LOPEZ-PORTILLO ROMANO (México): La delegación de México, recordará usted, presento una notificación entorno a este proyecto de Resolución y ahora que lo vemos a la luz de los trabajos que está desarrollando esta Comisión debemos concordar con lo planteado por la delegación de Australia y confirmado por la delegación de El Salvador en el sentido de que sí debería incorporarse un párrafo específico sobre la situación de la mujer y la necesidad de incorporarla plenamente en los planes de desarrollo nacional en términos de igualdad, reconociendo la función importante, principal, que tiene la mujer en el desarrollo agrícola y alimentario.
CHAIRMAN: I think it is clear that there is support for an amendment relating to the role of women in rural development. I would ask whether the delegation of Australia could draft something in consultation with El Salvador and Mexico- and hand it to the Secretariat. Some other delegations wish to speak.
G SOTO CARRERO (Cuba): Indiscutiblemente, la delegación de Cuba apoya la propuesta muy lúcida del distinguido delegado de Australia, pero también quisiéramos en el numeral 3, donde co mienza "Insta a los Estados Miembros", en la penúltima línea de la versión en español donde dice: "en favor de los presuntos grupos de entre los campesinos pobres", eliminar "los presuntos grupos" quedando entonces "para orientar los programas en favor de los campesinos pobres". Teniendo en cuenta que está propuesto y apoyado por varias delegaciones, incluyendo la nuestra, un párrafo sobre la mujer pues a nuestro entender debíamos poner un punto después de "campesinos pobres" e inmediatamente después el párrafo sobre la participación de la mujer.
CHAIRMAN: Would you like to put your amendment in writing to the Secretariat?
M. FENWICK (United States of America): In cooperation with the delegations of Australia, Mexico and El Salvador, I would like to urge the adoption of an amendment as follows, a whole separate paragraph perhaps:
"The Committee further urges member countries that, when necessary technological improvements have been introduced in order to increase food production, arrangements must be made for the women, who so often do much of the individual hand labour of agriculture and will need employment when these improvements have been introduced."
CHAIRMAN: The purpose of this discussion is to establish whether it is necessary to have any more formal discussion in a contact group on this resolution. Of course we all aim to avoid having to have such a contact group if there is a reasonable degree of consensus evident. So far we have had suggestions about two areas, one an amendment regarding the needs for training and one to strengthen the contents of the resolution in regard to the role of women. It seems to me that if those are the only areas in which some change is needed it would be possible to avoid the need for a contact group. I would like to establish fairly quickly just how wide a range of other amendments there may be to be proposed, to have amendments handed in, in writing to the Secretariat.
H. LOPEZ DE MORAL (Colombia): Yo en realidad había levantado el nombre de mi país para solicitar la palabra inmediatamente después de que hablo el Delegado de Australia, precisamente para apoyar la propuesta de Australia de incluir un párrafo específico sobre la mujer en esta Resolución.
Mi delegación tenía igualmente una enmienda idéntica a la que presentó Cuba en el sentido de que supriman las palabras "presuntos grupos de entre los", al final del párrafo 3, y se ponga un punto después de "campesinos pobres", principalmente por el hecho de que se ha acordado ya -posición que apoyo- la inclusión de un párrafo específico sobre la participación de la mujer.
Quisiera también apoyar la propuesta de la Delegación de los Estados Unidos en queen este párrafo, en el cual pienso que se podrían fundir las dos ideas, deje constancia de la necesidad de capacitar a las mujeres y ponerlas al corriente de los últimos desarrollos en materia tanto de producción, cultivos, como de preparación de alimentos, tareas en las cuales ellas tienen una participación tan importante.
M. AHMAD (Pakistan): I was only going to suggest that this paragraph 3 should be further broken up, because the first part of this paragraph, and the second part, I think the ideas do not flow from each other. Perhaps it would be much better if we put a full stop after the words "urban centres" and then continue on to say in paragraph 4, a new paragraph 4, "Urges member countries to fix in their development plans time-bound quantifiable targets for directing programmes to benefit the intended poor." Because the first part and the second part are quite distinct from each other. In fact, the first is only a limited part.
CHAIRMAN: Any other suggestions? If there are no further amendments to be suggested, could I ask that the suggestions that have been made be put in writing to the Secretary, on the subject matter of the amendment proposed by Australia. Would it be possible for El Salvador, Mexico, United States and Australia to consult, and see if an agreed amendment can be drawn up and handed to the Secretary?
S.P. MUKERJI (India): I have only a brief suggestion to make so far as the resolution is concerned and this relates to item No. 5 on page 2 of the document under consideration, which says, "allocation of resources to agriculture, agrarian reform and rural development" etc. etc. should be made. My delegation feels that improving and increasing agricultural production in the rural sector is the core of rural development.
I have only a brief suggestion in so far as paragraph 5 is concerned. My country feels that rural development is very closely linked with the increasing agricultural production, whereas in this paragraph we have urged for increased allocation of resources to agriculture, there is no reference to increasing agricultural production. Therefore I would suggest that at the end of this sub-paragraph we might add the words, "and to increase agricultural production a periodic assessment of progress made and to undertake studies on the overall effect of policies and other factors on the flow of resources to the rural sector for increasing agricultural production also."
CHAIRMAN: I believe that that could be readily accomodated. Would you also give a brief note to the Secretary on that, so that we do not lose track of it. Could I ask,do the delegations now seeking the floor wish to propose further amendments to the draft resolutions? If that is the case, before calling on you I would like to suggest, I think, that we had better get those amendments in writing.
Y. ABT (Israel): I would like to follow up on the suggestion by the distinguished delegate of India that paragraph 5 of the resolution be somewhat expanded in order to include the following suggestion, "urges countries to improve support systems particularly for the timely and cost effective avail of critical inputs and other support services to peasant communities in order to accelerate farm production."
N.K. BASNYAT (Nepal): In paragraph 9 it reads, "Requests the Director-General to assist countries in the establishment of effective measures to support and strengthen self-reliance and representation of rural organizations, including rural women's and youth organizations...." In WCARRD Programme we have been talking a lot about cooperatives and small farmers are missing somewhere. So really we should be particular about maintaining cooperatives and small farmers somewhere, so I request that they should be included.
CHAIRMAN: I would like to say that I think that what we should try to do now is draw this item of discussion to a close. Everybody wishing to make amendments to the resolution, if they could hand them in the Secretariat will then be in a position to assess whether it seems that a contact group will be necessary .
G. SOTO CARRERO (Cuba): Yo le pido disculpas, porque me iba a referir a una enmienda que con muchísimo gusto trasladaría a la Secretaría para que las tuviera en cuenta y le pido disculpas una vez más porque se trata del párrafo 3 nuevamente.
En la version española donde dice "metas cuantificables a plazo fijo para orientar los programas etc., etc.",nosotros propondríamos"metas específicas para orientar los programas...", y así seguiría el párrafo con la enmienda que ya habíamos propuesto.
Le repito que con mucho gusto pasaríamos esta enmienda a la Secretaría para que la tenga en cuenta si lo considera pertinente.
CHAIRMAN: Could I just repeat that proposed amendments should be handed in writing to the Secretariat, and we will have an assessment at a later stage as to whether a contact group is necessary.
Could we now move to expressions of opinion on the document itself, the Report, which is C 83/23?
G. ERICSSON (Sweden): The Nordic countries paid great attention to the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development. We cooperated in the active participation in the preparation of the Conference as well as during the Conference itself. We have allocated extrabudgetary resources to the FAO follow-up activities and we have jointly and closely followed the FAO/WCARRD activities. As a logical outcome of this close cooperation I am now speaking on behalf of the four of us: Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
The Progress Report on the developments on national level and in development cooperation since the Conference is an impressive document and a good example of the professional skill and capacity in this Organization. We congratulate the Secretariat for this excellent work.
In the first part of this Nordic intervention I will make some general comments based on the document. I will then conclude with some more specific comments on the future FAO contribution to the follow-up of WCARRD.
For us the successful outcome of the Conference, the Action Programme has meant that we now have a common and agreed framework within which to discuss development cooperation with our partners with the aim to design, and wherever necessary to redesign projects and programmes in agriculture and rural development with greater benefit for the poor and disadvantaged rural population. The Programme of Action has already influenced our bilateral activities. Greater attention is given to agriculture and rural development and the implications for the target groups as defined in the WCARRD document are more vigorously analysed.
From the document now under discussion we can see an emerging positive response to WCARRD principles in national development plans and other plans for development. This indicates an increasing general acceptance of the basic principles and the ambitions of the World Conference. The picture of what has really happened is less bright but this has to be seen also in the perspective of the economic situation prevailing during the period. The deteriorating economic situation following a period of development optimism which led to over-emphasis on the modern and urban sectors as well as a rapid development of the social sectors — in itself a redistributive measure — has committed the countries financially to an extent that reallocations to agriculture and rural development are indeed hampered.
In this connection we must, however, accept that a huge flow of fresh financial resources is not the main focus of WCARRD Programme of Action. The main feature is a changed approach in national planning and implementation and in the development cooperation. All activities must be seen in the perspective of the WCARRD principles.
Four years is a short period to evaluate the impact of an action programme like this. We feel, however, that the analysis confirms that the basic principles were well conceived and that an overall application in development planning and implementation of these principles will contribute to a more balanced economic and social development. To what extent this will come through in respective countries will at the end depend upon the strength by governments to pursue such policy.
The very existence of a regular reporting will have direct influence in that direction. The difficulties due to lack of data have made this exercise, the presentation of this Report, not an easy task. But we note with satisfaction the work that has already been done by FAO in cooperation with other agencies, institutions and countries themselves to identify indicators and to suggest methods for a more reliable quantitative monitoring and evaluation. Increased interest on national level to develop statistical capacity for such monitoring and evaluation will contribute to a more meaningful analysis in the future. We therefore believe that a discussion on the next report to the 1987 Conference will be even more fruitful. Moreover we understand from the Programme of Work and Budget that the Secretariat will present a comprehensive report of a different format on alleviating rural poverty. We are grateful for this. In our opinion the status of the follow-up of WCARRD should be on the agenda for each of the coming Conferences.
The Regional Centres for Integrated Rural Development will have an important role to play in studies of certain aspects of the Action Programme. This also refers to universities and research institutions as stated in the document. Concerted action as presented in Chapter B, Section 1 on page 11 in the Overview of the Progress Report will however be needed.
Section 2 in the same Chapter of the Overview deals with increased resources. We find it of extreme importance that the net outflow of resources from rural areas to urban counties can be arrested. This will mean a considerable reallocation to the rural sector. The economic situation of the rural population must be promoted. Increased productions, higher producer prices and better marketing systems are elements in such a process. The study of the pricing policy now underway in FAO will, in that respect, contribute to the WCARRD follow-up.
When it comes to development cooperation support we have already referred to our deliberate efforts to increase the allocations to agriculture and rural development on a bilateral basis. We are also aware that the FAO follow-up activities, after a somewhat slow start, now have gained momentum. Therefore there will be a need for more donors to join in the provision of extra-budgetary resources.
We will further fully associate ourselves with what is presented in Sections 3 and 4 under Chapter B: Policy Issues for Consideration by the Conference.
The Nordic countries also support what is proposed under Section 5 in the same chapter. Paragraph b refers to FAO's role as a lead agency in the United Nations ACC Task Force. We do take for granted that this will lead to an increased direct cooperation with relevant UN agencies as has been exemplified in the high level policy missions on WCARRD follow-up. This will contribute to a wider application in the overall UN system of the WCARRD principles.
We have understood that the principles laid down in WCARRD would lead to a gradual reorientation of all FAO activities along these principles. In the Programme of Work and Budget reference is made to the WCARRD Programme of Action primarily under rural development, social forestry and small-scale fishery. A similar picture can be derived from the Progress Report we are now discussing.
The challenge of the WCARRD cannot be met by introducing special rural development projects. The overwhelming majority of the projects will still be limited to specific sectors and subject matter areas. Thus the focus in planning and implementation of all these activities must be on the effect they will have on the conditions of the poor and disadvantaged groups in the rural areas. The ongoing staff orientation training in rural development is an important vehicle to create greater awareness in all divisions of the agency.
I will turn then to a few more specific questions referring to FAO's follow-up activities to the WCARRD Programme of Action. The high level missions under the Country Support Programme, launched at the request from countries, seem to have been a very positive contribution. They differ in certain aspects from other missions. In the first instance they are true inter-agency missions. Secondly they are governed by the WCARRD principles and thus deal with poverty, target groups, integration of women and people's participation in an explicit and conscious way. We will commend the FAO for the achievement with this activity. It comes out from the mission reports that they provide a policy framework for rural development which can serve as a basis for future cooperation. In order not to lose momentum it could be discussed if they should be followed by a second phrase whereby the policy framework is translated into a concrete action programme in different sectors for each country, at different levels of aggregation and with different time horizons.
An important component among the FAO activities in the WCARRD follow-up is the programme for People's Participation in Rural Development through the promotion of self-help organizations. The aim of this programme is to promote the establishment of different types of associations for small farmers and other groups of the rural population, for a variety of purposes, economic as well as social. If successful such associations will mobilize resources at village level, at very low costs, which will very effectively contribute to rural development. We recommend the FAO to pay greatest attention to this programme. We also urge the governments to actively promote such non-governmental associations.
This programme calls for a greater involvement of non-governmental organizations, international and national, in the development cooperation. The very nature of such a cooperation does not fit in well with the present procedures for development cooperation, and a high degree of flexibility must be exercised both on agency and government level.
The Nordic countries have strongly supported activities aimed at the integration of women in rural development. Chapter III, Section 3 reports on to what extent the Programme of Action in that respect has been adhered to. The review shows that vigorous efforts are needed to give the women possibilities to exercise their rights and participate actively in the development process. One aspect of women programmes is to promote specific women's associations on village level in the same way as mentioned under people's participation earlier in this statement. We still believe, for several reasons, that there is a need of specific associations grouping women. We also believe that the interest of women would be better taken care of if women constituted a bigger share in the high level missions and other missions in connection with the follow-up of WCARRD.
Let me lastly say a few words on nutrition with reference to WCARRD. Nutrition is an aspect of concern to the WCARRD thinking. We feel that the WCARRD principles, if clearly adhered to, would by themselves promote satisfactory nutritional conditions. The nutrition of individuals can be viewed as an end result of processes taking place in society. It is the responsibility of everybody concerned with eradicating poverty and hunger to understand how these processes are and can be influenced. We believe that adherence to the WCARRD principles is a good approach to actively affect these processes in a positive direction.
To conclude, the Nordic countries firmly believe in the WCARRD Action Programme as a turning point in national development and in development cooperation. We sincerely hope that we together, all countries, will keep it alive and healthy and that it will not lose momentum, and be turned into a non-committing slogan, as has happened to some other approaches launched in earlier periods of development cooperation.
We commend the Secretariat for how they have met the challenge of the WCARRD so far.
Then as a final point, I believe that we will be able to come back to the resolution as such in a later statement.
D.R. GREGORY (Australia): Australia recognizes both in principle and in practice the aims of the Programme of Action adopted by WCARRD which defines the problems of food production, nutrition and investment in the framework of agrarian reform and rural development, and which also delineates in broad terms the nature and orientation of national and international policies conducive to their reservation. Perhaps it would be best if I focus on each of the items which it has been suggested in the document that we considered at Conference, and I will speak to these items separately.
In relation to item 1, Australia endorses the proposals aimed at improving the organization and coordination of data requirements, of the priorities by countries at a national level including the development and use of indicators.
We agree that FAO should be involved in preparing guiding principles to establish the poverty line and to measure participation of different groups in society in achieving the WCARRD objectives. We also endorse the need for action to reduce the net outflow of resources from the rural sector. This is covered in item 2 and I would note that Australia continues to give a high priority to the agricultural sector in its own bilateral aid programmes. Perhaps it would be useful to caution against necessarily requiring donors or international financial institutions to establish agriculture as the absolute priority in their aid programmes. In this regard perhaps it is useful to see agriculture in its perspective, with the problems of development and the problems of growth. I think the Australian attitude on this matter is well known. We continue to emphasize the desirability of countries achieving self-reliance, self-reliance itself leading to overcoming the problems of world food security. We have continued to emphasize, of course, the desirability of countries doing what they can do best.
I do not need to remind developing countries, in particular - and it is something of which we are only too well aware - that, of course, resources are scarce. I think before potential donors are asked to contribute extra budgetary additional resources to support WCARRD follow-up action, we would like to feel reassured that national governments are themselves devoting an adequate level of resources to this programme. And again, it is an essential feature of our attitudes in this area that we emphasize the important role of national initiative; and I am well aware that developing countries themselves recognize this aspect.
I think in fact the document itself suggests that the need is least, possibly in those countries which are already making such a commitment from their own resources. Perhaps, to isolate one item, I should indicate the importance that Australia places on the role of rural credit. In relation to the role of rural credit in our own development programmes, we emphasize the role of cooperatives and credit unions and other forms of credit arrangements which are already indigenous to the countries themselves and we feel that in the development of programmes, the importance and the emphasis should be on building on these indigenous facilities, both as a means to increasing local participation and also to increase the viability of these organizations and to ensure the benefits accrued to the target groups at whom we are aiming to direct our major focus of attention.
In relation to item 3, this item highlights the difficult domestic policy decisions facing many countries, and I suppose it is natural that countries in their own follow-up and reporting on the achievements they have made, will obviously tend to emphasize those things which they have done best, and possibly those where there is least contention. I think it is rather important that countries indicate their more serious constraints and difficulties in the alleviation of rural poverty and malnutrition, and emphasize the policies they expect to employ to overcome those problems and whether or not they will devote additional resources to their resolution. We note in particular the action proposed by FAO of countries identifying rural socio-economic groups, fixing both viable and achievable targets and increasing access to land and other productive aspects which will assist in this regard.
I have already emphasized in relation to this aspect the importance which Australia attaches in its own programmes to the role of rural women; we value the work that has been done earlier this year in the Committee on Agriculture and the document that we considered before that Committee, and I follow this operation in relation to the resolution which we will be considering later during the Committee's proceedings.
In relation to item 4, Australia supports the scope and expansion in expenditure for agricultural and rural development by African countries themselves, particularly in respect to small scale farmers. We congratulate those African countries that have been able to make the necessary difficult decisions required by such policies. We also agree on the need to emphasize traditional methods; in fact, this was an important part of our own Minister's speech during the Plenary. We think there is a demonstrable advantage in using technology which is indigenous to the peoples and the regions concerned. In fact, this is an important aspect of Australia's own rural development and production activities that we emphasize cost-effective methods of production and think this is an important element in achieving efficiency for our own products on world markets, given the difficult competitive situations which we face and of which we are well aware. So I give additional emphasis to this question of countries focusing on appropriate technology. I myself have experienced this continually in talking to personnel within FAO and we often find criticisms of developing countries attempting to use technology which is probably being used or developed for completely different circumstances, perhaps in countries where cultivation has been undertaken for generations.
Many of the problems that African countries face are not dissimilar to those that we face in Australia, where many lands are being cultivated for the first time.
In relation to item 5, we consider the responsibility rests with Member Nations of FAO to implement the WCARRD Programme of Action and this has being reiterated at successive FAO meetings. We do agree that FAO continues to have a major responsibility to assist countries in their work, and it has a leading role also in relation to the UN system of organizations. Australia therefore supports FAO continuing its efforts to assist countries to implement the WCARRD Programme of Action including the preparation of progress reports to the 1987 FAO Conference. We can also support FAO's lead agency role in the UN/ACC Task Force on Rural Development and the emphasis proposed on joint country and regional action, participation at all levels in formulating plans and monitoring and evaluating rural development. We endorse greater participation by member governments in monitoring and evaluation of agrarian reform and development, including the increased emphasis on strengthening statistical systems and improving data collection and analysis; and that member countries should use the results to improve their national agrarian reform and rural development policies and programmes, including the establishment of national coordinating mechanism, if these can reasonably be expected to assist in policy formulation and programme implementation.
While the opportunity exists, I would also like to take up a point that was made by the delegate of Sweden concerning the importance of non-governmental organizations. We would recognize the key role of non-governmental organizations in rural development. I do not need to remind you of the strength of these organizations and the participation and part that they play in Australian agricultural development. In fact, we owe much to these organizations and we would also support the proposal that FAO should work with these organizations and build on their capacity to act as agents of change.
I think those are possibly all the comments I would like to make at this stage, but once again I repeat Australia's reaffirmation of the Resolution 7/79 which gives a much needed added emphasis to the WCARRD Programme.
M. AHMAD (Pakistan): Let me first of all commend the excellent presentation made by Dr Nurul Islam of the progress report during the first four years since WCARRD, on the implementation of this programme of action. This report reflects a growth of awareness of the urgent and imperative need of taking action and implementing the plan, rather than any indication of substantial results having been achieved. We in Pakistan have made modest progress but it appears that the references to it in FAO's report are rather scanty. Perhaps the data was not available to it. We have just launched the Sixth Plan this year from the 1st of July and the document giving the details of this Plan perhaps was not available.
In Pakistan we have drawn upon the world experience as well as followed and brought about some innovative approaches in this area. Growth with equity has been the hallmark of our Fifth Plan which was launched just a year before the WCARRD. Inspired by WCARRD, the Declaration of Principles as embodied in WCARRD, we have of course given a clear focus to the national goal of improvement of the quality of life of the common man, particularly living in the rural areas. The agricultural policy which came out in 1980 reflected this crystalization of the thoughts on this subject.
Our Sixth Five-Year Plan, as I mentioned, was launched from the 1st of July of this year. It is a basic framework, which basic framework is development of the people, by the people and for the people, principles which have very much been embodied in the WCARRD Declaration. This Plan reviews what has been achieved and laid down quantitative targets which have to be achieved during the course of these five years. I would just mention some of them. The literacy rate is to be increased from the present level of 23.5 percent to 48 percent. At the primary education we are seeking enrolment which is at the moment 63 percent for boys to 90 percent and for girls which is at the moment 32 percent to 60 percent. Similar targets have been laid for infant mortality decrease. Electricity, we have at the moment 16 000 out of the 45 000 villages electrified. We would like to raise this number to 36 000 in the Sixth Five-Year Plan covering about 81 percent of the villages. The roads, from farm to market roads have also made a big jump from 5 000 kilometres which was achieved during the last Plan, it will now be 35 000. Access to clean water, at the moment only 22 percent ot the rural population has this access, we would like to raise it to 45 percent in the next Five-Year Plan which has just been launched. Another goal that has been provided in our Sixth Five-Year Plan is the eradication of severe malnutrition which afflicts 7 percent of our people. We would like to eradicate it in the next five years, 1.25 million people are involved. We propose to lay down a safety net for the poor, for the destitute indigents, 2 million of them through the Institution of the Islamic Tax System, that I mentioned yesterday. Then there are special programmes for the disabled and the handicapped and special funding arrangements airectiy rrom the Federal Government for remote neglected areas on the basis of area development.
Our Sixth Five-Year Plan calls for a public sector expenditure of 32 percent on rural development as compared to 21 percent in the last Five-Year Plan. In absolute terms this means a three times increase. I would like to touch briefly upon some of the items. Access to land, we have already brought the ceiling down on land holdings to 100 acres in 1977. At the moment it is the intention to consolidate the gains and to see that the people do get the benefit from this particular refixation of the ceiling. The Government has been stoutly resisting proposals that we should encourage cooperate farming as a means of improving and boosting agricultural production. In line with our commitment that we believe WCARRD Declaration Principles represents a very equitable approach this proposal is not being progressed. On the other hand we have instituted cooperative farming, we are now in the process of examining the difficulties of how and why this farming, which is based on cooperative farming, on the basis of association of small farmers, is not making actual progress, so we are at the moment reviewing the possible deficiencies. We have constituted a land utilization authority to see how we can bring under the plough land belonging to small holders, small farmers,but not at the moment raising anything. Although within our limited resources we can tackle this problem only in areas which are close and near the electrical system so that we can put in some tool wells. We are also helping through this land utilization authority the reclamation of this land, gypsum treatment, levelling, so that the poor farmers who own the land can really cultivate it and get some income out of it.
In our agricultural programme we have made special efforts to see that the small farmers are also involved in the development process and there are several measures we have undertaken. I do hope they will be of interest. Firstly, research, the fact that research is important is not enough, it has to be seen that whatever findings, whatever technology they develop should be available to the small farmers so that they can use it and it should not be the larger farmers who have the advantage of research. So this is one of the important criteria on the basis of which research effort is judged.
Then extension, we have introduced the new world famous training and visit method, T and V, and the effort is to see that we concentrate in conveying extension methodology to the small farmers.
Then several innovative approaches have been carried out in the field of credit. We feel that credit must not only be sensitized to the needs of the small man, it should be used as a vehicle for the transfer of technology only because the new technology is somewhat capital intensive and credit comes in as a very important instrument for the transfer of this technology. In fact the decision was taken in 1978, the Government does not charge any interest on all production loans for small farmers owning lands less than 5 hectares. Then the Government has taken a decision that the supervised credit, which means credit accompanied by technology through mobile credit officers, who are usually graduates in agriculture, should be spread over the entire country in a matter of three to four years. This is simplification of procedure for getting credit. The number of farms has been reduced to 1 and up to 25 000 rupees can be taken on the basis of personal surety and no recourse to tortuous procedure of presenting collectors needs to be pursued. We are encouraging the farmers cooperatives as a means for delivering credit to the members. Fortunately as a result of the Government decision that the production credit should be given interest free now the credit cooperatives are combining to be more homogeneous organizations so that they have to take advantage of it, so that there are no pressure groups who can exploit the members who are small farmers.
The pricing policy is another area which is especially oriented towards the small farmers. We see to it that those prices are reasonable for the small farmers, that the small farmers will be able to get the prices if they do produce, so that the marketing has to be improved and we have to indicate the organizations which will buy the produce from him should he not be able to sell at a price above the support price. A number of commodities are being brought into the safety net of the support pricing system and to see that his production is marketed we have not only set up a number of organizations for this purpose but also seen to it that they work as close to the farmers as possible.
We are very actively pursuing and investigating the possibility of introducing crop insurance and I am glad to note that in the programme which is just about to be approved by FAO some provision has been made for this area also because crop insurance can be again a very powerful instrument on persuading the small farmers without the risk of any failures to go in for new technology and therefore improve their yields and also their incomes. Most of the small farmers, they would like to go in for value added agriculture, particularly vegetables and fruits, providing the market is assured to them, so that this is another area on which emphasis is being placed from the point of view of marketing and also small-scale agro-processing industries dispersed in the village. We have drawn up special programmes for the landless and in particular we know that most of these people are raising milch cattle. We have given incentives, a number of incentives to the dairy industry, they are tax free, they can get their equipment without duty. These concessions have been given, not to make the rich richer, but to see that they provide an outlet for the production of small milk producers who are spread all over the country and who are very poor. In fact most of the cattle owners are landless.
Then social forestry is also being encouraged. In fact a very high priority is being given to it in the Sixth Five Year Plan sericulture, apiculture and poultry are other rural areas to provide them off the farm in employment.
As regards people's participation, in 1979 we installed popularly elected local government institutions based on adult franchise. These local institutions have had their term of four years and last month there were elections again. Another set of these elected representatives have taken office. These councils, union councils - a union council normally covers five to ten villages -they have been made responsible for primary education, public health, sanitation and various roles. Encouraged by the experience of their working for the last four years the Government is seriously considering expanding their financial resources and also to give them more powers and to entrust to them some more functions.
The Government is fully committed to enhance the role of women, especially from the standpoint of rural uplift through their integration in the development process. In 1978 a full-flight women's division under a full-flight permanent lady secretary to the Government has been created to formulate public policies and laws to meet the special needs of women and to develop programmes aimed at improving their skills. A number of special seats have been preserved for them on the district and union councils to which I made reference earlier. The role of women usually goes unnoticed in national census. It has been mentioned in our national census that about 5 percent of the labour force is women but their contribution in farming, agriculture, which is in fact more marked, in small farms is ignored. The women are the people who are engaged in sowing, transplanting, harvesting, threshing, cotton picking, weeding, vegetable cultivation, livestock rearing, poultry farming on their own lands. A number of schemes have been undertaken to improve their skills and in this connexion I might mention the pilot women's centre, centres for training the women in kitchen gardens, raising fruits and vegetables, preservation, beekeeping, preparation of jams, jellies and squashes.
I would like to say one word about the poverty line. There are two approaches which have been mentioned. One is the nutrition level. The other is the household income. Both have their demerits and we hope that FAO will carry out further studies to see how we can improve upon a correct definition of the poverty line. As regards nutrition, it may be due not so much because the income is low but because of lack of education. As regards household service, the difficulty is that some of these rural poor and the landless not only earn income as wage workers but sometimes they are paid in non-monetary terms. But what is important is that they have free grazing rights for their cattle and the milk that comes is free and probably is not reflected in this service. Secondly, the fuel, the animal dung, that comes to them is also free and probably also not reflected in this service. So these deficiencies exist and I hope that FAO will carry out some more refinement of this so that the proper poverty line can be defined.
When all this has been done the national environment has to be right, and it has been rightly emphasised in this summary that there has to be liberalisation of international trade, there has to be more aid, and if it is aid for rural development it has to be extended on concessional terms, it has to include even local currency and recurring expenditures. Then there has to be cooperation, economic and technical, among the developing countries in this area, and we fully subscribe to it.
We also endorse the suggestion made in paragraph B, sub-paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 on pages XII and XIII of the Report. We attach great importance to FAO's role in assisting countries in proceeding with the implementation of the WCARRD Programme of Action, including in particular monitoring and evaluation. The extra budgetary resources should be provided to them.
The budget for this biennium is being adopted currently, but we hope that hard budget allocations will be made to them from the next biennium onwards.
S. SHAKIR (Iraq) (original language Arabic): We would like to commend and congratulate the Organization for the excellent Report under discussion today. Iraq attaches great importance to the Programme of Action of WCARRD because it is closely linked with the agricultural policy which we are pursuing in Iraq in order to develop the agricultural sector and raise the standard of living of the farmers.
We in Iraq have given great importance to the implementation of the laws of agrarian reform in order to facilitate land tenure in sufficient sizes to provide them with enough income and to alleviate poverty in the rural sector and to put an end to feudalism and large owners.
Rural areas in Iraq, thanks to the implementation of agrarian reform, have witnessed great changes because the farmer has become an owner of his land and beneficiary of his effort. The state has provided him with reformed areas within large agricultural projects and the state has built modern villages including social centres health and veterinary clinics and schools, and farmers have been organized in cooperative societies which provide them with production inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, in addition to providing them with the necessary funds at concessionary terms in order to purchase these tools and instruments through advances by the Agricultural Cooperative Bank at an interest rate which does not exceed 2 or 3 percent, in addition to facilitating repayment when these advances fall due.
We have also given attention to the network of roads in order to link the rural sector with the Lowns and facilitate the transportation of produce and crops. We have provided farmers with trucks for this purpose.
The rural society in Iraq, after having been landless and poor, now enjoys a good income and prosperous life. Many of the inhabitants who left the countryside have now returned to the village in order to live on their lands and practise farming after they have felt the benefits of agricultural investment. They have also participated in the agricultural plan through the annual Conferences and they contribute to the implementation of the plan through their Union which has branches all over the country.
Iraq was pioneering in combatting illiteracy, because we have promulgated a compulsory law of literacy and all illiterates were sent to centres of literacy; therefore we could embark on the road that would lead eventually to putting an end to illiteracy in Iraq. We believe that ignorance and illiteracy are two fierce enemies to progress and development and we can never develop the farmer unless he is able to acquire modern technology and scientific and technical know how which help him improve and increase production.
In addition to combatting illiteracy we emphasised social, health and training centres and training in order to create an educated healthy and trained generation in the countryside and to increase the role of women in agricultural development. There is a cooperative farm which is established and run by the women in the vicinity of Baghdad.
Mr Chairman, we commend the pioneering role of the Organization in the follow-up of the
resolutions and the Programme of Action of WCARRD and calling on governments to support their national plans for agrarian reform and rural development.
The five year plan, 1981-85, in Iraq, as has been indicated in the work programme of the agricultural sector which has been discussed by all concerned quarters and by the Supreme Political Council in Iraq, aims at greatly improving the rural sector whether in production or services. We shall change more than half a million hectares of rainfed areas to irrigated areas after the completion of the two major irrigation projects: Saddam and Monsel. We shall reclaim about one million hectares of land after the completion of irrigation, drainage, and levelling projects.
The state has given great importance to the protection of natural forestry in the northern mountainous area of Iraq in addition to man-made forests, parks and touristic sights in addition to free distribution of seedlings.
In the field of fisheries, we have a fishing fleet in the seas in order to meet the needs of the population, and we concluded bilateral agreements with a number of Arab States in order to establish joint ventures for fisheries. Lately we have given financial and technical assistance to those citizens who want to work in fisheries, and this activity is increasing annually.
In view of the importance we attach to training and extension in agriculture, we have established a general organization for this purpose and we have a centre for training and extension in Baghdad with branches in all the governorates to undertake extension and technical training and help the farmers in the field through field demonstration and agricultural research. This general organization of agricultural extension and training issues publications and they broadcast programmes in the mass media in order to reach the biggest possible audience and viewers.
Iraq has also promulgated laws that have given full rights to women, the woman has become an equal partner with the man and all social pressures have been alleviated so that the woman in Iraq participates with the man in developing the country within the activities of women's organizations, unions and other popular organizations of women in Iraq.
The labour law has given equal rights to all workers and gave agricultural labourers all their rights. Therefore it has done away with the injustices that were faced by agricultural labourers before the Revolution and it has opened more opportunities for work and creativity.
Mr Chairman, Iraq endorses the technical cooperation among developing countries in rural development and the modernization of extension and training in agriculture and the introduction of scientific and technological methods in agriculture.
We also see benefit in applying credit to agriculture in order to cushion farmers against losses so far as crops or animal wealth is concerned in the face of natural catastrophes and pests.
In conclusion we believe that agrarian reform is the cornerstone of the modern countryside providing the farmer with a better standard of living, because without it we cannot develop the agricultural sector and rural problems will be solved.
I.MADE-SANDI (Indonesia): Professor Islam has succinctly but clearly presented a summary of the Report this morning, which we highly value. May I congratulate you, Sir, for that.
I must say that I am very much impressed with the content of document C 83/23. In so few words, it managed to cover so many subjects.
The document successfully provides us with what it purports to submit; which is the stage of achievement of rural development in various countries in its global perspective.
The document clearly shows the linkages that exist between food production on one hand and other factors that are very closely related to it on the other, which render support to the implementation of the guidelines stated in document C 83/22 which was discussed several days ago.
Informative though this document might be its brevity sometimes inevitably avoids certain details which in certain cases might give way to misunderstandings.
Just to provide you with some insight as to what is currently going on in Indonesia in the realm of rural development in general, permit me to go into some detail just to clarify some points as made in the Report.
Recognising the importance of village cooperatives in particular, the Government of Indonesia as of March 1983 has created a Department of Cooperatives with a fully-fledged Minister. Together with the Department of Agriculture this new Department is charged with the management of cooperatives in general and in particular the cooperatives at the village level.
At the present time there are around 24 000 co-ops in the country, covering various fields of endeavour like farm co-ops,women co-ops, co-ops of banks, etc.
Although the effort does show or make progress in some areas, in certain fields we are not yet fully satisfied.
It is in this respect that we very much expect FAO support in expert guidance and cooperation. Past cooperation with FAO in this area is highly appreciated.
The role of woman in society has never been subordinate to that of man, but it is fully recognized that the area where she exercises her role is different from that of man. In fact we have two women at present as ministers.
Decision making at the village level towards the fulfilment of local needs has been greatly encouraged, as witnessed by the fact that a law has been passed in 1979 to that effect.
Projects like rural electrification, the provision of piped drinking water to the village, the establishment of rural small industries, and the redistribution of land to those who are needing, in the form of transmigration to sparsely settled areas; the establishment of nucleus estates with the aid from the World Bank, improved nutrition and family planning in rural areas, all were given due attention and are actively pursued at the moment. Those are just a few items concerning rural development in Indonesia at present. The progress we have made is encouraging, but the problem is still immense.
The role of the mass-media in this respect cannot be downplayed.
I cannot help but be impressed by the comprehensiveness of the manuscript presented by the Secretariat. May I congratulate the Secretariat for this monumental achievement.
May I also herewith express our full endorsement of the report.
M. A. CORREIA DE PINHO (Portugal) : L'on connaît les activités intenses développées par la FAO dans le but de stimuler par des moyens techniques et financiers puissants, les actions de réforme agraire et de développement rural, approuvées par la Conférence Mondiale de 1979, à Rome, spécialement dirigées vers les pays du tiers monde où il existe de profonds déséquilibres sociaux et autres problèmes dûs à la mauvaise gestion des ressources agricoles. Ces problèmes proviennent, en outre, du manque de préparation technologique des populations, de l'inexistence de capacités financières d'investissement, de circuits commerciaux désordonnés et inefficaces et du manque de capacité d'emmagasinage des produits agricoles, ce qui explique, en grande partie, que ces pays ne sont pas en mesure de satisfaire les besoins de leur population en termes de ravitaillement en produits alimentaires.
Par conséquent, comme on le constate au cours de cette Conférence, la préoccupation de la FAO est de continuer d'appuyer plus intensément les résolutions de la Conférence mondiale sur la Réforme Agraire et le Développement Rural. Cet appui, comme l'a souligné le Directeur général, ne peut se limiter à un objectif de deux ans, en accord d'ailleurs avec l'opinion des Etats Membres, des Conférences et Conseils de la FAO, des Conférences Régionales et des organes dirigeants de l'Organisation en ce qui concerne la nature et l'efficacité du rôle de la FAO. Ainsi, dans le programme de travail et du budget pour 1984-85, le Directeur général propose de nouvelles ressources supplémentaires qui devront être affectées aux différents sous-programmes, et notamment pour l'enseignement, la vulgarisation et la formation agricole, la réforme agraire et la colonisation des terres, les institutions rurales et le rôle de la femme dans la production agricole et dans le développement rural. Des ressources sensiblement plus élevées sont aussi sollicitées pour promouvoir la participation des femmes dans la commercialisation et aider les différents pays à élaborer des mesures politiques pour faciliter l'accès des femmes au service de la commercialisation et du crédit et à d'autres services institutionnels au niveau de l'échelon local.
Conformément au Programme de travail et Budget pour 1984-85, actuellement à l'étude, les aides de la FAO peuvent se traduire par d'autres formes comme des mesures visant à organiser des missions dans les différents pays pour aider à définir les grandes lignes d'action en matière de réforme agraire et de développement rural, ou l'intensification de consultations intergouvernementales et des aides aux "Centres régionaux de développement rural intégré" que la FAO vient de créer et d'appuyer dans plusieurs régions du monde.
Ma délégation appuie entièrement, dans cette matière, les orientations exprimées dans le Programme et Budget de la FAO pour 1984-85 et notamment la priorité accordée à la politique définie en 1979 par la CMRADR, politique qui continue de recevoir l'approbation du Gouvernement portugais car il estime que cette stratégie va dans le sens des besoins ressentis par les Peuples, en rapport avec le développement économique et social et avec une utilisation et une propriété de la terre plus judicieuses, ce qui permettra d'augmenter la production et améliorer la distribution avec pour but d'assurer, grâce à la coopération internationale, le combat contre la Faim dans certaines régions du monde. C'est ce qu'a souligné le Président de la République portugaise quand, dans un récent message, adressé au Directeur général de la FAO à l'occasion de la Journée Mondiale de l'alimentation, le 16 octobre, il affirmait : "En réalité, il existe encore de nos jours, de grandes régions géographiques et de vastes espaces peuplés, intolérablement éloignés des conditions de subsistance physique minimum, comme s'ils étaient condamnés à jouer le rôle, sans espoir, de situations de famine, d'indigence et de misère, clairement offensives de la conscience universelle. Si l'on n'est pas en mesure de surmonter avec décision et fermeté un tel état de choses - d'ailleurs incompréhensible et inacceptable dans un monde de progrès technologiques solides - l'on verra se vider de son contenu la lutte contre les droits de l'homme plus effectifs et avancés, se réduire l'indépendance et l'égalité des états à une fiction mensongère et l'on verra les valeurs de la paix et de la sécurité internationale devenir dangereusement vulnérables".
A. EL SARKY (Egypt) (original language Arabic): In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, the delegation of my country, having studied the document under consideration would like to commend the Secretariat for the efforts deployed in its preparation. We express our satisfaction with the information included therein. This document serves as a good model for the analysis of developmental efforts in the alleviation of poverty. We hope that the Organization will continue the preparation of similar documents in the future.
Egypt was one of the first countries who were aware of the importance of agrarian reform in the realization of social and economic development. We had a pioneering experience in this respect. The first law on agrarian reform was promulgated in 1952, followed by two amendments, one in 1961 and the other in 1966. Egypt has applied agrarian reform in order to give the beneficiaries the chance of taking decisions, in making their own organizations. We established the General Cooperative Societies for Agrarian Reform, which is responsible for the formulation of the general policy of the land of agrarian reform within the framework of the State overall plan. We have given the beneficiaries credit, and given the chance for training to the leaders of farmers on the national level, or in accordance with a programme of exchanging visits with countries of similar nature, and provided them with extension services to equip them with modern technology so as to increase productivity.
Egypt was also keen on stressing the role of women in the area of agrarian reform, as a factor of production. We have established a special department in agricultural extension in the Ministry of Agriculture for the preparation and implementation of programmes in order to increase the role of women and their participation in food production. Egypt also has increased the number of women in extension services, in order to widen the base of dealing with women working in agriculture, and undertaken research work to solve the problems that hinder women's effective participation, together with establishing departments for community development in the places where agrarian reform is applied.
Egypt's efforts were not confined to this, because we have started to adapt the objectives of agrarian reform, in order to make it oriented towards agro-industries, in order to provide more chances of work, and to increase the income of beneficiaries. We had a successful experiment through which we could establish a dairy complex and poultry projects. Agrarian reform has led to the increase of agricultural production, and the expansion of the base of land tenure.
WCARRD for 1979 aimed at alleviation of poverty, but after five years document C 83/23 indicated that about 60 percent of the rural population is still poor and the level of illiteracy has increased in 15 countries. In this respect we would like at the outset to support the efforts of the Organization for the realization of rural development.
My country with its extensive experience in the field of rural development is prepared to receive more of the sons of the African and Latin American countries in order to receive training in the Egyptian International Centre for Agriculture and to send some Egyptian cadres to assist countries in building their infrastructure. Egypt is also aware of the importance of the centres of rural development as focal points for the realization of rural development.
In conclusion, we would like to commend the Organization and its assistance for conducting a study on the economic and social indicators, special measures for the alleviation of poverty and the preparation of the census. Egypt endorses the resolution on this issue.
N.V.K. WERAGODA (Sri Lanka) : Given the constraints in collecting information and the necessary data for an analysis of this nature, which should reveal both a quantitative and qualitative picture of the prevailing situation, the document C 83/23 is commendable.
To quote from this document -- I readfrom the document -- "it is rather an attempt to analyse changing trends with specific country examples to the extent of data availability". The Sri Lankan delegation thanks the Secretariat for this contribution and also Professor Islam's introduction to the subject.
To my mind what WCARRD attempts to do is a reconsideration of some of the stereotyped development theories that were applied in the developing countries. Some development planners considered development as synonymous with urbanization. They also thought that the rural area will benefit from the so-called forward and backward linkages, and the most needy, the poorest of the poor, were expected to be benefitted from the trickle down effect of development. Having realized the problems and resulting implications of this form of development, serious consideration is now given to development programmes as envisaged under WCARRD, which in brief could be referred to as 'a back to the village' theory of development.
Permit me to refer to a few Sri Lankan experiences in agricultural reform and rural development. At the outset I must say that we have given very high priority to the development activities of this area of work, not only because Sri Lanka is predominantly an agricultural country, but its 1.6 million small farmer population is the backbone of her agricultural operations.
We have emphasized this developing strategy on various fronts. Sri Lanka is divided into 24 administrative districts. Out of these we have identified the most backward districts and area specific development programmes have been prepared for each district. These development programmes are offered to donors on a multilateral or bilateral basis. I am happy to say that since 1979 we have been able to start six of these Integrated Rural Development Programmes in six districts.
The emphasis in these programmes is to identify the most needy target groups in each district and to provide them with the necessary investment package to improve their quality of life, and to sustain it on a self reliant basis. For these development activities to be sustained by the target groups, we have taken extra care to bring them into the programming and implementation of these activities wherever possible.
Permit me to make use of this occasion to record the appreciation of the Sri Lankan Governement to all those multilateral and bilateral donors, also the non-governmental organizations who have assisted us in these Integrated Rural Development Programmes, and we look forward for further assistance for the projects that are in the pipeline in respect of a few other backward districts.
Sri Lanka has also undertaken a massive multi-purpose investment programme, the Mahaweli project, where 1.5 million farmers would be settled on an area of about 625 thousand acres of irrigated land.
We also have successfully operated crop insurance schemes which benefit the small farmers, the dairy producers and the horticulturists. Multi-purpose cooperatives have been very useful and active in providing credit and inputs and also in providing the necessary marketing facilities for farmers and fishermen.
From 1979 we have had a women's bureau to give a greater impetus to women's activities and this has been further expanded by creating a separate Ministry for Women's Affairs in 1982.
Mr Chairman, here I have attempted to highlight only a few of the activities which we have been doing in improving our rural economy in keeping with the WCARRD Programme of Action.
Let me now refer to some of the lessons we have learned in doing these activities. Firstly in the setting up of local level organizations, we have found that they are more acceptable and workable when due consideration is given to the customs and traditions prevailing among the people in setting up these organizations. Organizations that have been set up on stereotyped dogmatic formulas have often been unworkable and have died a natural death within a few years.
Yet another factor we have observed is to sustain development on a self-reliant basis is to foster economic development to be in harmony with the cultural and religious background of the people.
I will now refer to a few comments in the Report. With regard to the suggestion to establish a coordinating mechanism I must emphasise that depending on the administrative structures in different countries the need for such a super organization may have to be seriously reviewed. We feel that the suggestion for a national strategy for increased commitment to arrest the net outflow of resources from rural areas to urban centres is very important in drawing up national investment programmes. As observed in the Report, "Frequently enlarged resource flows to agriculture have been associated with more benefits to large farmers, marginalisation of peasantry and increasing drift of rural people to urban areas". This type of situation can only be avoided by making a concerted effort in diverting development funds to rural areas. We have already requested FAO to field a mission to review what we have done and to provide necessary assistance to up-date our information data processing systems.
Finally the Sri Lankan delegation endorses the resolutions submitted by Mexico on the subject with the necessary amendments that have been suggested.
GONG SHAOWEN (China) (original language Chinese): First of all the Chinese delegation would like to thank Professor Islam for his concise presentation on this agenda item. Our thanks also go to the Secretariat for its preparation of this comprehensive document C 83/23. This document, having collected data from 41 countries and from 9 relevant national and international aspects, analysed and evaluated the progress of agrarian reform and rural development in the world today. Thus it has provided us with updated and relevant information. At the same time, it has raised some questions for our consideration in the future. Therefore, we think it is a valuable document. We would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm our support for FAO's leading role in this area of work.
We consider that it is still necessary to continue this type of monitoring and evaluation in the future. But we should take note of the fact that the socio-economic conditions in every country are different, their level of development uneven and some developing countries' statistical monitoring and evaluation analysis is not high in standard. That's why we think at present we should do our best to simplify the socio-economic indicators needed for monitoring progress, seize the key problems and gradually perfect the work. Each country should also be allowed to add some necessary socio-economic indicators according to their own conditions. In analysing and evaluating the progress, it is preferable to differentiate the conditions of different countries and include a few typical cases for reference.
We have also submitted a country review as requested by the Director-General in his letter of November 5, 1982 to our Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries. Now, in connection with the subject under review, I would like to make some additional explanations as we feel necessary.
Since the winter of 1978, we have, proceeding from the actual conditions in our rural areas, carried out a series of reforms and readjustments in the management system of the cooperative economy and in the structuring of the agricultural production. Mainly, on the premise of persisting in the collective ownership, the principle of "to each according to his work", the guiding role played by state planning and the policy of achieving common prosperity, the Government introduced the household contracting responsibility system with remuneration linked to output, which takes households or small groups as the contracting units and integrates the commune members' responsibilities, rights and interests altogether, so as to further arouse their production enthusiasm. This has been a major readjustment in the relations of rural production since the two large-scale transformations in the relations of production in our rural areas, namely, the Agrarian Reform and Agricultural Cooperative Movement, aimed at making the relations of production correspond to the current level of productive forces. This readjustment has already played a marked role in promoting the all-round development of agriculture.
At present, our rural economy is switching from a self-sufficient and semi-self-sufficient economy to a large-scale commodity production economy. With the introduction of the household contracting responsibility system with remuneration linked to output and the development of a diversified economy in the rural areas, there have, in recent years, appeared a number of specialized and key households which make up over 10 percent of the country's total peasant households. Specialized households can be divided into two categories: first, contracting households, which engage by contract in certain specialized production organized by the collective at the commune or brigade level; second, self-managing households, which have developed on the basis of household sideline occupations. They have displayed superiority in raising output, increasing commodity varieties, improving economic efficiency and getting rich through hard work, thus becoming the prototype of China's specialized production. Now the Government is making every effort to support them,help them improve management and provide them with guidance. At the same time, we are also carrying out relevant readjustments and reforms in the system of rural commodity circulation in an effort to develop an economic structure which integrates agriculture, industry and commerce.
It should be admitted that development in different rural areas is uneven. Though the superiority of the cooperative economy has been brought into full play, some areas are still in a relatively backward state, due to their poor natural conditions, lack of transportation, and inadequate commercial services. The peasants in those areas have lower income and lower food consumption level. They are classified as poor areas according to our criteria. Until 1978, there were more than 240 such counties in the country with a population of about 100 million. Taking into account the causes leading to their poverty, we have adopted more flexible rural economic policies to allow the peasants more decision-making power in aspects such as production arrangement, management and administration, marketing of products and income distribution, in order to bring their enthusiasm in production into full play. Furthermore, our Government has adopted a policy of reduction of exemp tion of state procurement quotas and agricultural taxes for those areas to give the peasants opportunities to recover. Coupled with this, the state has expanded agricultural investment in the same areas, developed various kinds of agricultural projects and infrastructure facilities, thus improv-
ing the production conditions of those areas. In this way, their backwardness has been rapidly put to an end. Now, the Government has primarily solved the problem of food and clothing for most of the poor peasants in those areas. Nearly 40 of the 240 poor counties have doubled their gross out-put value of the industry and agriculture and begun to embark on the road of prosperity.
Y. ABT (Israel): My delegation congratulates the Secretariat on the comprehensive Progress Report on the WCARRD Programme of Action presented to this Conference. We note with satisfaction that there is a marked trend to extend agricultural extension and training for peasant communities and small farmers. We would suggest that a parallel now be given to train farm leaders to manage and indeed initiate improvements of the supporting system, particularly in relation to managing input centres, processing facilities and marketing techniques. We are confident about the future of the organized family farm units, provided, however, that more research and development is expanded to introduce technologies and organizational systems relevant to market oriented farming. My country has, for example, developed a system for the village cooperative sector whereby forage mixers in situ have released the farmer from the burdens of forage production, enabling him to spend his energies solely on the management of his herd; with the result that today a typical family farm unit or herd on 3 hectares would produce some 300 000 litres with 40 cows in lactation per year.
We note the lack of data related to small-scale fisheries, particularly fresh pond fishing. We are very willing to share with others some dramatic new potentials encountered in our country recently in the field of feeding and breeding. Of late, Israel is cooperating with a number of countries to develop with indigenous fish species, fish farming techniques adapted to peasant community organization systems.
We also note the emphasis now being given by some countries to small livestock development. This aspect in our opinion, holds much promise, provided more research and development is expanded to utilize available industrial by-products for feeding and, in the case of goat and sheep husbandry, provided we find a way to develop adapted agro-pastoral systems. In this connection too, we are able to make a modest contribution both in research and training.
May I mention, on a somewhat sombre note, that my country is facing a rather high inflation and we are now grappling with the problem of how, under high inflationary conditions, the family farm can remain economically viable. Our message to others in this matter is that if the supporting system, which includes agro-industries and processing and village cooperative, is well structured and well managed, the difficulties of high inflation are at least manageable. The job of rural development is never over, it is a dynamic process leading to rural and urban integration and the report under discussion certainly shows up this process.
We therefore strongly suggest an additional post-graduate training effort for future planners and policy makers, to carry the message of WCARRD in practical terms for generations to come.
E.B.M. BARUA CHELE (Kenya): My delegation would like to commend the Director-General and the Secretariat for a job well done, as contained in the Progress Report before us. We are aware in our own situation how difficult it is to pool all the available data in the country for meaningful analysis. The matter is even further complicated when there are several ministries dealing with various aspects of agriculture, that is, crops, livestock, fisheries, forestry and even cooperatives, as well as data collecting. We are among those countries that did not submit our report according to the Director-General's letter of November 1982, the problem being what I have just said. However, we have very close contact with FAO and we have quite a number of publications that filter through the Headquarters. The FAO has been active and I can cite quite a number of areas which are already mentioned in the document; and we have been working very cooperatively on strengthening our development programmes and WCARRD recommendations.
I would also like to state that in our 1979-83 Kenya National Development Plan we did definitely draw up programmes and projects that were tailored to recommendations made by WCARRD. The theme of the Development Plan was appropriately put as poverty elimination, recognizing five target groups.
The socio-economic indicators that are already given by FAO are very much detailed and we have, incidentally, been a country where the test has been carried out and we feel honored, from this point of view, that any improvement could probably be directed to our statistical collection, as was mentioned by previous speakers.
At the moment we are finalizing the Fifth National Development Plan to cover the years 1984-88. The problem that is facing us is that of budgetary constraints, and foreign exchange problems due to reduced earnings from major crops, namely coffee and tea.
On the food scene, we have already greatly improved, particularly from the low of 1979-80 which was one of our shocking areas due to weather vagrancies ,but of late the farmers have already responded to this and we have already attained our self-sufficiency in food production, except that the farmers have to be paid in time and, because of the constraints I mentioned, on our budgetary section, the farmer payments have been delayed. However, this situation has already been solved by friendly countries including the EEC and, of course, the World Food Programme.
Storage capacities have also been increased and these are the areas where we need greater assistance. In my earlier intervention I mentioned our national food policy; this was done in 1981. I am now glad to report that with that drawn up, and with our concerted efforts to reach the farmers, much has been achieved and we hope there will be sufficient food in specific areas through distribution and in the amounts needed to reach the target groups. I do not wish to dwell at length on this issue.
We support all the recommendations under WCARRD and the follow-up and we also support our Centre for Integrated Rural Development in Africa and what it is doing. The document before us is very lucid and, in view of the difficulties that were encountered in data collection and analysis, I would say it is well laid out and an excellent job to begin with.
We would also like to assure the Director-General of our commitment to fight poverty and malnutrition and to raise the standard of living of rural areas. We shall need further assistance in improving data collection and analysis, training of our nationals at various levels, and strengthening the implementation of the WCARRD recommendations.
CHAIRMAN: Let us proceed to some announcements. First in regard to the proposed amendments to the resolution lodged by Mexico the Secretariat has received amendments in writing from several delegations, including Ghana, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Israel, Australia, the Netherlands and Norway. I understand that there is no controversial issue or any great inconsistency involved in those several amendments but there is a problem in getting an agreed final text which it appears would be best and most expeditiously handled by a contact group. I therefore propose that there be a contact group at 3 p.m. today in the German Room and I propose the following membership for that group, Ghana, Australia, Cuba, United States of America, Norway, India, Mexico, Netherlands. Is this agreeable to the Commission? I take it that the proposal is acceptable to the Commission.
The meeting rose at 12.30 hours
La séance est levée à 12 h 30
Se levanta la sesión a las 12.30 horas
