H. OGÜT (Turkey): As my delegation takes the floor in this Commission for the first time, please allow me to congratulate you, Mr Chairman, and the Vice-Chairmen on your election. I wish in particular to express my distinct pleasure to have you, Mr Chairman, as an old colleague chairing the current session of this important Commission.
The proposed Programme of Work and Budget has been carefully studied by my delegation and been approved in general terms. It is a modest budget but is responsive to our current needs following the changes that took place recently in the global food and agricultural situation.
With regard to the technical and economic programmes, we wish to commend FAO for according more emphasis to these programmes. Thus we are happy with the extension proposed in the budget of these programmes. Also we see that priorities established for these programmes take into account the views expressed by the Member Nations during the preparation of the Programme of Work and Budget.
On Natural Resources we have noted with satisfaction that FAO is according priority to the development of farming systems to be based on social and economic fact prevailing at the local and national level.
We approve the high priority attached to agricultural research and technology development, not only through the programme increase but also through some organizational improvements. Developing countries' research capabilities need to be strengthened by the support of the international agencies and FAO should play an important role in providing this support.
We believe that developing countries should utilize available technologies in agricultural activities. The gap between developed and developing countries can be filled speedily by the adoption of these new technologies. However, we also indicate that the technologies should be based on the resources available in the country.
In this connection I wish to refer to the commendable work of the Remote Sensing Centre of FAO and propose that the relevant programme be given higher priority during implementation.
Agricultural mechanization is also an area which developing countries can benefit from, provided that policies and strategies take into account the existing social and economic conditions in the country.
On programme 2.1.3, Livestock, we endorse the special emphasis given to animal health assistance. The support provided to International Meat Development Scheme from the Regular Programme is also approved by my delegation, in the light of the past achievements of this programme.
Mr Chairman, at this juncture we wish to underline once again the importance of links between research and extension based on a well developed information system, not only during planning and implementation of activities, but also with respect to the institutional set up. We suggest that this approach can also be introduced to the organizational set up of FAO. We also note that Regular Programme allocation to extension is modest, although extra-budgetary resources are at a high level. However, we think that high dependence of FAO's extension assistance on extra-budgetary sources is not satisfactory.
On the programme entitled Rural Development I wish also to refer to the recommendation of COAG in 1983 and the strengthening of activities related to productive work of rural women, which was then endorsed by the Council in 1983.
We approve the increase in the resources of the TCP, in the light of its past achievements and contribution to FAO's programmes in the field. This programme provides also possibilities for FAO to intervene in situations which require urgent assistance.
We fully endorse the priority accorded in the proposed budget of the TCP to training assistance, particularly that of a practical nature. The cost-effectiveness of the training activities supported by the TCP has been at the desired level, and is still on the increase. The support provided to countries on formulation of investment projects is also a reason for commending FAO, though its share in FAO's overall investment support is small. Another fact is that functioning of the TCP matches with the Organization's present policy of according priority to the needs of low-income
developing countries. Taking all these into account my delegation strongly supports the TCP activities proposed in the Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85.
We only note with concern that within the TCP development support activities have been decreased to 10 percent of the total programme in 1983, while it was 15.9 percent in 1977. We also suggest that the initiative taken recently to support intergovernmental projects by the TCP be further realised and expanded in the coming biennium to serve the Organization's objective of promoting technical cooperation among developing countries.
Lastly, Mr Chairman, I would like to make some remarks on the activities of the European Regional Office of FAO. My delegation believes that programmes undertaken by this Office, particularly cooperative research activities at the country level, have contributed a great deal to our national efforts. We note with satisfaction that the activities of this Office also attract involvement of extra-budgetary sources, such as UNDP.
In conclusion, Mr Chairman, I wish to briefly say that my delegation approves the objectives set forth, and priorities established in the proposed Programme of Work and Budget, as well as the resource levels established for the individual programmes. Thank you, Mr Chairman.
O. AWOYEMI (Nigeria): Mr Chairman, I wish to comment briefly on parts of Chapter 2 of the Programme of Work and Budget. The first is sub-programme 2.1.1, that is Natural Resources. The greatest problem facing farming in Africa and, indeed many other parts of the developing world, is the unpredictability of rainfall distribution. There is, if fact, growing evidence that total precipitation in the Sahel, the Sudan and Guinea Savannah regions of Africa is reducing. The conservation of surface water and the exploitation of ground water resources will, therefore, have to assume greater importance than hitherto. Less than 5 percent of the total crop area in Africa is under irrigation. FAO must in future biennia devote much more resources to the promotion of irrigation development.
The second area of concern to my delegation is Animal Health, that is sub-programme 2.1.3.2. The need to step up the work on the control of trypanosomiasis has already been mentioned by some other delegations, but other cases, like the recent widespread outbreak of rinderpest, brings to the forefront the need to devote more resources to animal health programmes. The recent outbreak of rinderpest cost us the loss of about half a million head of cattle in Nigeria alone. The financial losses on the continental scale are, therefore, likely to be astronomical.
My third comment is on Rural Development, that is programme 2.1.5. Although the WCARRD Programme of Action is explicit on what to do, the allocation of resources to rural institutions and infrastructures requires special mention. In many developing countries the rural areas where most of the farming takes place are in most cases retrogressing, rather than advancing, in terms of economic opportunities and the quality of life, hence it is difficult to arrest the rural exodus, and the consequent decline in agricultural production.
Fourthly, I wish to confirm my delegation's support for the present level of the TCP in the budget. Being a recent beneficiary of the Programme the promptness of response to the emergency that occurred in Nigeria demonstrated its usefulness. Its rather small proportion in relation to both the Regular and the Field Programmes makes it impossible for it to be a substitute to either. We, however, support the view that it should continue to be closely monitored and evaluated, as has happened in the past.
Finally, I want to say that the Nigerian delegation firmly believes that the present structure and functions of the regional offices should be maintained, as they, in our estimation, have continued to discharge very effectively the roles for which they were established. If they cease to be useful we shall be the first to ask for a review of their establishment. Thank you, Mr Chairman.
E. MARTENS (Belgium): Thank you, Mr Chairman. So many delegations have already expressed their appreciation to the Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85, and made known their views on the proposed priorities. They have pointed out these programmes and activities for which they want to receive an even higher priority. Our concern goes in the same direction. Therefore, I can be very brief and will limit my intervention to the following remarks on the programmes that retain the special interest of my delegation.
As far as the priorities are concerned: first of all, Development of Research and Techniques. This programme receives our full support, especially the fact that four existing units have been melted together into one new division for which we express our sincere desire that it may lead to an increased efficiency. We only regret that this operation needs an increase of personnel, whereas this type of coordinating existing forces normally results in a reduction of personnel.
Secondly, the follow-up on the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development. My delegation considers all actions on rural development as a very high priority. However, we have the impression that this programme is too heterogeneous and we are still confused about its contents; some more unity of actions in order to arrive at a consistent and global programme would be welcomed.
The third point: other agricultural programmes as well as other economic and social programmes. We fully agree on the importance given to local cereals and tuber crops, as well as to the horticultural crops. It seems to my delegation that too much emphasis is put on statistical data gathering and field studies. I simply would like to recall that as the Director-General stated in his opening remarks to the Plenary session on 5 November, neither statistics, though they are more abundant and more precise today, nor field surveys, are capable of changing the fate of the rural popolation; it is the mobilisation of the rural people that is essential. That is what was said by the Director-General. My delegation expresses its desire that special attention should be given to pricing policies as a way of mobilising the farmer, and hence we would like to stress the utmost importance of the marketing component of every technical support activity.
The fourth point. Ways and means of action. The TCP has been cited by almost every delegation, and I agree with the general point of view and will restrain from further comments on it.
I only would like to pick out one point that withholds our particular attention - training. We are fully aware of the need for it, and support the importance given to it. Just one reflexion; or rather a question: who needs it most, the farmer or the expert? Or, in other words, who has to learn from whom? We think that we can learn more from the farmer than he from us.
Mr Chairman, in order to stay within the time limit, I will conclude by mentioning only some of the special programme activities that receive our special support, and that we would like to emphasize in particular. The Food Security Assistance Scheme; fertilizer programme, with special emphasis on related inputs; prevention of food losses and plant protection; agricultural marketing and credit; and forestry development.
Before ending, Mr Chairman, I would like to record again our wish to see the tables completed with a column on extra-budgetary funding for the 1982-83 biennium, to the ones that already include, the extra-budgetary funding for 1984-85. My delegation believes that this type of information may add to the transparency of the document, especially after some other delegations made a point on the need for more transparency. I sincerely hope, Mr Chairman, that the Secretariat will take into account our well-intentioned comments. Thank you very much.
M. MAHI (Cameroun): Si la delegation du Cameroun demande la parole une seconde fois, c'est pour insister sur quelques points que nous croyons vitaux.
Ces points portent sur le sort des petits producteurs, qui constituent encore 60 à 80 pour cent des populations des pays en développement, et ce sont les petits agriculteurs, les éleveurs, les pêcheurs et tous les petits artisans ruraux. C'est à eux en fait qu'incombe la lourde tâche, l'immense charge de la production des aliments dont nos populations ont grand besoin, populations sans cesse croissantes et de plus en plus urbanisées. Devant l'ampleur de cette tâche, les caprices des facteurs météorologiques et la faiblesse des moyens des pays pauvres, nous croyons que les mesures envisagées ou prises par la FAO en vue d'améliorer le sort de ces catégories de citoyens constituent la base d'une amélioration de la vie de la masse générale de nos populations. C'est pourquoi les programmes relatifs à la fourniture des services à ces producteurs, leur organisation, les mesures amenant nos divers gouvernements à les associer à la prise de décisions qui les con‐cernent sont des dispositions qui doivent guider l'action de la FAO dans les différents pays.
Aussi nous permettons-nous, une fois de plus, d'insister sur les programmes d'engrais, d'organisation des petits pêcheurs et éleveurs auxquels doit s'intéresser la FAO. Aussi également nous semble-t-il plausible de constater l'effort consenti par la FAO dans ce domaine. Nous insistons aussi sur les programmes relatifs aux activités féminines, car dans certaines parties du monde, et notamment en Afrique, la femme reste l'élément essentiel de la production vivrière, ell intervient dans la production elle-même, dans les réseaux de distribution, et elle participe activement à la trans‐formation des produits. Dans certains pays, elle est pratiquement le seul pilier de l'alimentation de la famille, la grande famille africaine. Nous sommes, une fois de plus, heureux de constater l'intérêt que lui accorde la FAO. Puisse la FAO renforcer ses programmes pour mieux dynamiser l'activité des productrices rurales.
Enfin, notre délégation insiste sur la formation des encadreurs de base. Cette formation ne doit pas seulement se limiter aux colloques, séminaires et stages de courte durée. Il est bon que la FAO renforce son action d'octroi de bourses de formation aux cadres des pays en développement. Ce programme contribuera sûrement à améliorer la production des paysans africains.
Pour terminer, notre délégation insiste aussi sur le renforcement des bureaux régionaux. Je pense surtout à celui de l'Afrique. Nous croyons que la FAO, dans sa politique de renforcement des activités de ce bureau, répondra aux voeux des pays desservis par lui. Notre délégation réitère son appui aux priorités de programme qui lui ont été proposées et continue à confirmer le projet du budget qui lui a été soumis.
H. MENDS (Ghana): My delegation would like to comment briefly on the question of the FAO Regional Offices raised during the course of this Conference.
We find that several developing countries have indicated their appreciation of the work of the Regional Offices and have even gone to the extent in some cases of proposing their strengthening. This is supported by the fact that the Regional Conference for Africa last year adopted a resolution for the strengthening of the Regional Office in Africa.
Some of our colleagues from the developed countries have found it necessary, I am afraid, to suggest that in view of the FAO having set up country offices, the role of Regional Offices should be reviewed with the objective of making reduced allocations. We are all aware of the massive problems facing food production in the developing countries, particularly in Africa, and indeed, agricultural production faces its greatest challenge in these parts of the world, as we have been frequently told in the Plenary by the special distinguished speakers. We strongly believe that this Technical Commission of the Conference should come out with suggestions that will ameliorate these dire circumstances in the developing countries.
My delegation is therefore strongly opposed to such suggestions for time consuming reviews which merely tend to divert attention from the real problems in the field. We feel that the suggestion is misconstrued and we would like to point out that the need and justification for Regional Offices is in no way diminished by the fact that FAO has set up country offices. Indeed, the need for Regional Offices is all the greater now. Country offices, which are basically a small outfit, increasingly look to Regional Offices as a first point of reference for the needed technical backstopping. Being nearer to the countries, technical backstopping by the Regional Offices is more cost-effective, as we have been called upon to make sure that the FAO budget and its programme reflect.
The increasing importance of TCDC an ECDC makes the need for Regional Offices even more necessary. The Regional Offices, as we have found out, provide the -backstopping, both technical and secretarial, to the Regional Commissions in sectors such as nutrition and food security, animal production and forestry.
Another factor highlighting the importance of Regional Offices is the need for increased inter-agency cooperation within the United Nations system at the regional level. With the increasing decentralisation to the regional economic commissions, the Regional Offices have increasingly served as FAO's focal point for contact and collaboration.
While food and agriculture have many problems which are country specific, there are also several aspects which are peculiar to individual countries or regions. FAO Regional Offices have a vital role in identifying such problems and assisting the countries in pooling successful experiences in dealing with such problems.
Mr Chairman, three Conferences ago the Technical Cooperation Programme was institutionalized as an item of the Regular budget. The impact of this famous Programme in the developing countries requests for increased food production is too well known to bring up here for discussion. In addition to the desired political will from the governments of the recipients, these developing countries need technical assistance and money to streamline their efforts in food production, and these often lead to long and painful negotiations and discussions, and the TCP, as timely seed money for the initiation of such efforts, has come in very handy. It provides the seed money only for the project to be taken over by national budget or external sources of financing when the necessary negotiations at the bilateral or multilateral levels have been completed.
Mr Chairman, in these days of austerity or global budgetary stringency, we are convinced that the allocation for this Programme in the next Budget and Programme of Work could be considered as the barest minimum. We believe that the training component is very very necessary because new technologies are being introduced and the appropriate training must accompany these projects, and I really do not see why a call should be made for review of TCP funds being used for training otherwise the whole thing falls through.
Mr Chairman, we also feel strongly that the existing institutional arrangements in this Organization whereby these projects and the TCP are subjected to critical reviews by the internal as well as the external auditors, and passed through the Programme and Finance Committees and then the Council, are ample enough.
The increasingly tearing despair of the recipient country, Mr Chairman, clearly forbids such blatant waste of scarce resources on theoretical views and studies.
Finally, Mr Chairman, my delegation further supports, as we have already done in the Finance Committee and other fora, the Medium-Term Objectives as proposed in the Programme of Work and Budget for the next biennium as reasonably balanced, and the priorities for improved assistance to the needy countries. That is why we are surprised, Mr Chairman, to learn of the invocation of the United Nations General Assembly's Resolution and the call on FAO to carry out a_review of its Medium-Term Objectives in line with the spirit and letter of the said Resolution. As far as I can remember Mr Chairman - I have not been able to lay hands on the Resolution because of the big programme we had outside - but as far as I can remember the said Resolution applies to the United Nations itself and has no application to the Specialized Agencies.
We think this Conference has the power, the will and the resources to strengthen actions that would bring hope and show the way to the light at the end of the tunnel to these needy developing countries of the world.
F. LARBI (Tunisie): Ma délégation voudrait porter son appui à ce qui a été dit par les délégués de l'Inde, de la Thaïlande et du Ghana, en ce qui concerne l'importance du rôle à jouer par les bureaux régionaux et les représentants de la FAO dans les pays.
De même, ma délégation souhaiterait appuyer ce qui a été dit ce matin par le délégué du Bangladesh pour ce qui est du Programme de coopération technique. Enfin, elle réitère son appui aux objectifs à moyen terme du programme qui nous est proposé.
ABDUL WAHID JALIL (Malaysia): My delegation has listened with great interest to the statements of the various delegations on this very important Agenda item. We do not intend to say very much more than what we have said before, but in view of the importance of the subject for the continued role of FAO in the region, my delegation would like to say something about the Regional Offices. My delegation feels the Regional Office has a role to play in the collaboration and promotion of regional programmes in food and agriculture. For example Malaysia has been pleased to be able to corroborate in many practical inter-country works of the Regional Office at its technical commissions in issues that have a direct tangible impact on our agricultural performance. We have, for example, worked with other countries through the Regional Office to control the outbreak of the deadly foot-and-mouth disease. The Regional Office activities in the field of post-harvest losses, a priority that has been recognized by all of us, have been carried out in my country on saving what has been called the second lost harvest, namely the qualitative loss in grains. Nature is collaborating with the Regional Office in the work of the Regional Commission in food security.
We are also working closely with the Regional Office in the ASEAN Population Rural Development Programme.
Mr Chairman, in running through the catalogue of practical and useful programmes of the Regional Office, our executives are backstopped by this Office. We find that the inter-country collaboration in food and agriculture is very substantial, and as has been mentioned by other delegates before me, the Regional Office is the focal point of these inter-country activities. The Regional Office is an invaluable tool for which countries in the region would use to strengthen the Development Programme.
S. PADMANAGARA (Indonesia): In endorsing the Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85 which we stated clearly during the first day of our deliberations, my delegation has taken into account the specific needs for some internal assistance in implementing our own agricultural development programme. Farming systems, fisheries exploitation and utilisation, and forestry for people are special fields to which we now have to give our attention. We are pleased to note that the proposed activities of FAO in those fields are supplementary to our own agricultural development programme.
Mr Chairman, training, research and technology we feel will remain the all-important means as the basis for true agricultural development. In this context I should like to point out that we should never lose sight of the principle that we are trying to help the people to help themselves. Hence all the activities in the different fields, and the functional activities, especially those of training should be geared to strengthening the role of agricultural development as well as to developing the active and true participation of farmers and fishermen, their families and their communities.
In implementing the external assistance we needed,one of the arrangements we appreciate very much is the TCP.We feel therefore the TCP should be maintained and strengthened. The demand is therethe demand from the developing countries in general which is an expression of their felt needsSince there is this need for TCP it should be met by sufficient supply.This is exactly in line with the duty of FAO.
Mr Chairman, progress in agricultural development has been made in many developing countries. Many of them are now in a position to modestly help their fellow developing countries. Therefore regional cooperation and/or sub-regional cooperation, and subsequently the TCP has become a reality. We may in this context, as an example, point to ASEAN, the Association of South-East Asian Nations. The very important role of backstopping and keeping these cooperative arrangements viable and beneficial is one of the roles to be played by a functioning, strong and effective regional FAO office.
G. BULA HOYOS (Colombia); Señor Presidente: al intervenir por primera vez en esta Comisión, deseo felicitar a usted y a los señores Vicepresidentes. Para mí, como representante de Colombia, consti‐tuye un placer, una gran satisfacción trabajar bajo su dirección, porque usted es un distinguido colega y amigo proveniente de un país de la noble region africana, a la que mi país, Colombia, está vinculado por nexos de solidaridad en el seno del Tercer Mundo.
Hubiéramos deseado tener ocasión de referirnos a muchos de los capítulos del Programa de Labores y Presupuesto, pero vamos a acoger su llamada en materia de brevedad y limitaremos nuestras interven‐ciones esencialmente a dos puntos que fueron las bases programáticas del Director General actual, al asumir sus funciones en 1976, o sea, la descentralización y el Programa de Cooperación Económica Técnica.
Muchos colegas han hablado ya con conocimiento profundo acerca de la tradición que tiene en esta Organización la discusión sobre la descentralización y nosotros queremos recordar que hace ya muchos años los representantes de Colombia estábamos siempre opuestos a la situación en que se encontraba nuestra Organización, que en esa epoca era la más profundamente centralizada y la menos sensible a los cambios que se operaban en el contexto de la cooperación internacional. Era una epoca en que los tecnócratas de la FAO, sentados aquí, en Roma, en sus escritorios, pretendían desde esta ciudad hacer recomendaciones para nuestros países que no conocían porque no tenían, como ahora lo tienen, a través de la descentralización de las funciones de FAO, un conocimiento directo realista y pragmático de los países en vías de desarrollo.
Por eso, la delegación de Colombia piensa, Señor Presidente, que el hecho de que para 1984-85 no se asignen recursos para las Oficinas Regionales ni para más oficinas en los países, debe ser un hecho provisional y transitorio que no debe repetirse en los bienios futuros, porque considera‐mos que esta Comisión debe recomendar que la descentralización continue y se complete adecuadamente.
Queremos referirnos brevemente a las oficinas de la FAO en los países, en primer lugar. Cuando los representantes de la FAO en nuestros países eran un factor del PMV, era obvio y hasta humano que no estuvieran en condiciones de sentirse directamente vinculados a nuestra Organización porque les pagaba otra Organización, porque eran funcionarios de otra Organización, y naturalmente, la posición que la FAO ocupaba en el seno del país era inferior y no estaba a la altura del respeto y del prestigio de nuestra Organización.
Hoy día, al iniciar el establecimiento de cuerpos de representantes de FAO, nuestros propios funcio‐narios de nuestra Organización, la FAO ha recuperado su propia identidad y ha logrado mantener una presencia viva -y permanente en nuestros países. Todos sabemos cómo son de importantes para nosotros las oficinas de FAO en nuestros Ministerios: inclusive para quienes trabajamos en Roma en esas oficinas son puntos de contactos valiosos, ofrecen una experiencia técnica a nuestros gobiernos y nos asisten muy válidamente para formular y ejecutar nuestros planes nacionales de desarrollo.
Creemos que las Oficinas de FAO en los países complementan la labor de nuestros gobiernos en rela‐ción con las asistencias de la FAO, y además, cumplen también la función de doble vía, puesto que tramitan a la Organización las informaciones sobre la situación de nuestra agricultura y nuestra alimentación. Además, las Oficinas de FAO en los países, como todos sabemos, sólo se establecen a solicitud de nuestros países, e inclusive pagamos parte de los gastos de aplicación o funcionamiento de esas Oficinas. Luego somos nosotros, los representantes de gobiernos, los que estamos en mejores condiciones para poder decir, como lo estamos aquí reiteradamente afirmando, que son útiles esas Oficinas, y que queremos, desde la FAO, seguirlas estableciendo en todos aquellos países que aun faltas y que lo soliciten y requieran.
Muchos de mis colegas ya se han referido a las Oficinas Regionales, y las intervenciones que ellos facilitan de la referencia de nuestras delegaciones en las Oficinas Regionales. Creemos que ha estado ya establecido, a través de los años, en los Organos Rectores, que esas Oficinas Regionales no pueden ajustarse a un modelo standard, sino que tienen que ser adaptadas a las condiciones, a
las posibilidades, a los recursos y a las características de cada región. Y en este caso también, obviamente, somos nosotros, los representantes de gobiernos de aquellos países donde funcionan las Oficinas regionales, los que estamos en posición mucho más adecuada para saber en realidad cuál es la importancia de esas Oficinas. Sería ingenuo, señor Presidente, pretender asignarnos nosotros la pretension de que si esas Oficinas Regionales no fueran utiles desearíamos tenerlas solo por el lujo de creer que contamos en nuestra Region con una de esas Oficinas.
Nos ha llamado la atención una posición bastante curiosa e incoherente de algunos colegas en el seno de esta Comisión cuando han dicho que si hay Oficinas de países ya no se necesitan las Oficinas Regionales. Si aceptáramos ese concepto sería hacernos cómplices de la desvertebración de la política de centralización, porque las Oficinas de la FAO en los países estarían como ruedas sueltas en el contexto de cada región, sin que haya un punto de apoyo regional a esa Oficina nuestra, que significa el enfoque global, porque conoce las situaciones, las condiciones, las cas racterísticas y los hechos que están ocurriendo en todo el contexto de la región.
Ya uno de nuestros colegas anteriores, creo que el de Tailandia, se refería también a la importancia de las Oficinas Regionales en la cooperación técnica entre los países en vías de desarrollo.
Es obvio que las Oficinas Regionales están en magnífica posición logística para implementar el PCT, porque conocen las instituciones y los técnicos de nuestros países, porque pueden utilizar mejor esas experiencias y estos técnicos, porque conocen las características de nuestros Estados y, por lo tanto, pueden situarlas dentro del conjunto de cada región.
Señor Presidente: es indudable que en las Oficinas Regionales se ha logrado una red de cooperación, particularmente en América Latina y el Caribe, a través de la cual se comparte entre los países las tecnologías apropiadas y además se formulan y ejecutan inclusive programas de cooperación técnica en el marco regional y las Oficinas Regionales han contribuido a movilizar recursos extra-presupuestarios, lo cual es esencialmente importante ahora cuando todos estamos lamentando la reducción de recursos del PNUD.
De manera que desearíamos pedir a nuestros colegas que no nos hagan regresar al pasado, que no insistan en la supresión y ni siquiera en la debilitación de las Oficinas Regionales porque esas siguen contando con el más pleno apoyo de los gobiernos de países en desarrollo, como lo ha demostrado el debate en curso.
Sobre el Programa de Cooperación Técnica, señor Presidente, yo creo que la delegación de Colombia puede sumarse a lo que han dicho otros colegas: que es un Programa innovador. Fue propuesto por nuestro actual Director General. Es ágil, tiene efecto multiplicador, llena muchos vacíos frente a la carencia de recursos del PNUD y sigue vigente el criterio del aumento de la producción alimentaria, lo cual es singularmente importante para los países en desarrollo.
En relación con el Programa para América Latina y el Caribe, nosotros creemos que está muy bien que ese Programa para nuestra región se siga basando en la consideración esencial de aumentar la producción. Desgraciadamente, América Latina y el Caribe, después de haber sido una región exportadora neta de alimentos durante muchos años, es ahora importadora neta de alimentos, no obstante el gran potencial de que disponemos en nuestra región.
A través del curso de este debate, señor Presidente, y con estas observaciones voy a concluir, me ha llamado la atención la obsesión, la forma obcecada como alguno de nuestros colegas ha insistido en la evaluación. Esa forma tan obstinada nos hace pensar que, más que búsqueda de eficiencia, significa desconfianza, o puede ser un pretexto para seguir negando los recursos indispensables que necesita nuestro país. Nosotros estamos de acuerdo en que existan evaluaciones técnicas, evaluaciones científicas, que hay hoy día computadores y aparatos mecánicos para realizar esa evaluación, pero creemos que mucho más importante que toda esa clase de evaluaciones es una evaluación práctica, realista y pragmática, que en el seno de esta Comisión la estamos haciendo nosotros como representantes de gobiernos. Aquí estamos en una gran mayoría los representantes de gobiernos de países en desarrollo, que estamos diciendo que somos felices con nuestras Oficinas Regionales, que consideramos de gran importancia las Oficinas en los países y que queremos que el Programa de Cooperación Técnica se refuerce. Esta es una verdadera evaluación. Esta realmente es una evaluación que tiene significado y que debe causar impacto en el Programa de Labores y Trabajos de nuestra Organización. Creemos que no se puede aceptar el principio propuesto aquí por rlgunos colegas de una evaluación continua, porque esto sería un desgaste, esto sería desviar les pocos recursos de que disponemos, y que, en cambio, podemos utilizar en actividades que sean de verdadero beneficio para nuestros países. Siempre admiramos la actitud constructiva de los países nórdicos; creemos que ellos han asumido una posición que podríamos compartir en cierta medida en cuanto a la necesidad y la conveniencia de que cada vez se trate de mejorar las comunicaciones entre las Oficinas Regionales y la Sede, entre las Oficinas Regionales y las Oficinas en los países. Todo eso es muy sano y positivo, pero desde luego en un marco muy objetivo.
En cambio, nos preocupa la declaración particularmente de dos países, ya a esto se refirió nuestro colega de Chana, en relación con una Resolución que ha sido aprobada en el seno de las Naciones Unidas sobre los objetivos a plazo medio.
Nosotros creemos que la FAO tiene sus propios órganos rectores y que de acuerdo con los textos básicos que están vigentes, que hemos contruido todos nosotros, los Comités del Programa y de Finanzas se ocupan de aquellos asuntos que le transfiere el Consejo o el Director General; de manera que no creemos que sea procedente referir a nuestros Comités del Programa y de Finanzas, importantes órganos asesores del Consejo, una cuestión que ha sido debatida en el seno de las Naciones Unidas y que allá debe continuar su curso.
Nosotros tenemos nuestra propia experiencia, nuestros propios conocimientos, nuestro mecanismo que funciona bien y no creemos, entonces, que debe ser utilizado de manera distinta.
H. MALTEZ (Panamá): En esta nuestra segunda intervención sobre el tema del Programa y Presupuesto, Panamá desea referirse específicamente al Programa de Cooperación Técnica.
Nos hemos percatado, no sin cierta sorpresa, sobre algún cuestionamiento hecho al Programa de Cooperación Técnica. Y decimos "con sorpresa" porque en el capítulo 4 del Programa de Labores y Presupuesto propuesto por el Director General para el proximo bienio, queda, a nuestro juicio, plenamente justificado lo referente a la índole de este Programa, así como lo referente a sus objetivos y su plan de acción.
Además, esta Delegación tiene que manifestar que Programas como el PCT contribuyen muy concretamente a darle agilidad de respuesta a Organizaciones como la FAO. Agilidad en las respuestas que demandan nuestros pueblos y gobiernos, que en no pocos casos no pueden esperar perezosas tramitaciones de asistencia. El punto 2 sobre índole del Programa claramente lo señala y el punto 3 nos habla sobre la relación e hincapié de los PCT en el aumento de la producción de alimentos, así como su relación con las actividades complementarias de la Conferencia Mundial sobre Reforma Agraria y Desarrollo Rural, la participación de la mujer en el desarrollo y la cooperación económica y técnica entre países en desarrollo.
Por otra parte, la evolución del Programa entre 1976 y 1982 nos demuestra que se ha hecho énfasis en la capacitación, urgencia, inversión y servicios de asesoramiento.
Es, pues, un hecho que los PCT son parte integrante de los programas técnicos y económicos de la Organización.
Otro aspecto a destacar en los PCT es que constituyen un medio de promover los esfuerzos de desarrollo de la fase de preinversión a la fase de inversión, así como que se ocupan cada vez más de actividades de fomento a las inversiones agrícolas por parte de los gobiernos u organizaciones de financiación.
También destacamos, por la importancia que le concedemos, la participación de los PCT en los proyectos interpaíses.
Señor Presidente: esta delegación conoce por experiencia nacional los beneficios que se obtienen del PCT e igualmente conoce del beneficio obtenido por un grupo de países, como es el caso por ejemplo de la Unión de Países Exportadores del Banano.
Como se ha dicho en estas reuniones, y tal como brillantemente lo ha hecho el distinguido Embajador de Colombia, cuando hemos tocado el tema de los PCT, que sobre los beneficios y las evaluaciones finales de estos proyectos conviene lógicamente escuchar la palabra de los Estados Miembros beneficiados de este ágil Programa de la FAO.
Es por todo esto que esta delegación se permite proponer que en el informe de esta Comisión quede claramente establecida la posición de los países beneficiados por el Programa de Cooperación Técnica de la FAO.
Tesema NEGASH (Ethiopia): We have endorsed fully the details of the Programme of Work and the level of the Budget in our previous intervention. At this juncture I will only briefly touch on one or two points.
The proposals for a possible need for external evaluation of the TCP project has been made by some delegates. The same delegates and all other delegates, without any exceptions in fact, have lauded the effectiveness and efficacy of the project. First I find it personally contradictory commending the TCP on the one hand and at the same time indicating the need for external evaluation. Secondly, in our opinion the main evaluators should be the beneficiaries, i.e. the developing nations themselves and the implementing agency, that is FAO. If delegates need the opinions of the beneficiaries we have time and again expressed without reservation how effective and important it has been. What FAO feels about it could be further explained by the Secretariat. Of course, I know that documents containing details of how and when these funds have been spent have been distributed. Beyond this,
for further auditors and bodies to knock on the doors of developing countries for evaluation of the TCP's projects would be regarded as no less than an infringement in the affairs of these countries and we are therefore strongly opposed to any such attempts.
The need for the FAO Regional Office and country offices have been echoed by several delegates. In the interests of time I would not wish to go into the details of the valuable role these offices play, since the Representative of Ghana has highlighted extensively what we in Africa feel about these offices. Our worry in fact is some of these offices are too weak to effectively discharge the responsibilities expected of them. The Regional Office for Africa and some of the country offices need to be strengthened. This concern and the need for strengthening the Regional Office for Africa have been mentioned by several African Ministers in their statements in the Plenary. We wish to echo here again this same concern and request FAO to stregthen this Office.
P. OLMO MORALES (Uruguay): En n'uestra segunda intervención deseamos ratificar la posición de nuestra delegación en cuanto al apoyo al Programa y Presupuesto presentado por la Secretaría.
En cuanto a los comentarios particulares, mi delegación atribuye especial atención a los programas que tienen que ver con los aspectos agrícolas y ganaderos, en especial en lo que tienen que ver con los aspectos de sanidad animal. Ha sido uno de los aspectos en los cuales la cooperación recibida por el Uruguay de parte de FAO ha tenido mayores beneficios, y en ese aspecto mi delegación ratifica su apoyo a la propuesta formulada en el documento C 83/3.
Quisiéramos detenernos ahora en el análisis de dos puntos que han merecido la atención de muchos de los colegas que me han precedido en el uso de la palabra, en particular en lo que tiene que ver con el Programa de Cooperación Tecnica y de los aspectos de descentralización del funcionamiento de nuestra Organización.
En lo que tiene que ver con el Programa de Cooperación Técnica, mi delegación comparte lo expresado por otros colegas en cuanto a la necesidad de reforzamiento de este Programa atendiendo a la insuficiencia de otras fuentes, pero mucho más que eso a los aspectos referidos a la atención de problemas graves y urgentes y con rapidez de respuesta que han afectado en distintos campos a la situación de los países en desarrollo.
Como prueba elocuente del apoyo de nuestro país a este Programa debo mencionar que desde 1981 el Uruguay ha dispuesto no solamente apoyar con contrapartida nacional los Programas de Cooperación Técnica, sino que, además, a nivel de la representación de FAO el Uruguay ha otorgado un fondo per‐manente de 40 000 dólares que se van reponiendo anualmente a esa cantidad para, justamente, la utilización en programas de Cooperación Técnica. Creemos que ese es un elemento elocuente de nuestro apoyo a este tipo de sistemas de cooperación, y además por los beneficios que se han reci‐bido en su ejecución.
En cuanto a los aspectos de descentralización, mi delegación mira con inquietud este problema, aunque no ha sido un problema nuevo en nuestras deliberaciones. En el anterior período de sesiones estuvo, más que nada, referida la discusión a los aspectos inherentes a las representaciones nacionales. En ese momento, en una discusión muy ardua del Programa y Presupuesto se plantearon por parte de los países desarrollados cuestionamientos con respecto al funcionamiento de las oficinas nacionales. En esta oportunidad el problema parece ubicarse en lo que tiene que ver con las Oficinas Regionales. Nuestra experiencia a través del contacto con la Oficina Regional para América Latina y El Caribe nos lleva a vocalizar la trascendencia de que las Oficinas Regionales mantengan su situación actual, y como lo decía el distinguido colega de Colombia, aún más, se vean fortale‐cidas. Su funcionamiento no es excluyente del funcionamiento de representaciones a nivel del país, todo lo contrario, han sido el complemento natural y lógico de las mismas. Pensamos que sería un tremendo error el creer que las oficinas nacionales pueden suplir las Oficinas Regionales; creo que sería para el presupuesto de la FAO mucho más gravoso tener la necesidad de que las oficinas nacionales cubran todos los aspectos y todos los temas que puedan ser cubiertos a nivel regional y en una forma complementaria según las necesidades acordes de cada región.
En el ámbito latinoamericano no solamente hemos tenido una experiencia en los ultimos años de los programas regionales en distintos campos, en el aspecto sancario, de producción, de reforma agraria y desarrollo rural, de comercialización, etc., sino que desde hace ya más de tres años el funcionamiento del sistema latinoamericano de redes de cooperación técnica le ha dado una nueva dimensión y un funcionamiento mucho más cercano a los países, a la propia Oficina Regional. En ese sentido la experiencia de las distintas redes, sean en el campo de la producción vegetal, en el campo de la producción de biogás, en los aspectos vinculados a la preservación de los recursos naturales, han permitido que a través de las instituciones nacionales de cada país se fortaleciera y efectivamente fuera viable la cooperación horizontal entre países en desarrollo.
En cuanto a los requerimientos planteados de evaluación y análisis, mi delegación comparte lo expresado por otros colegas y en particular por el distinguido colega de Colombia. Consideramos que lo que se ha expresado aquí es una evaluación exacta y fiel de lo que piensan los países con respecto a este tema, y, más aún, yo pienso que a nivel de los distintos países en desarrollo la realización de las Conferencias Regionales constituye cada dos años un elemento esencial en el análisis del funcionamiento de los programas de acción y de las actividades de cada Oficina Regional.
Mi delegación, y creo que las delegaciones de los países en desarrollo compartirán mi criterio, no tienen ningún obstáculo en que aquellos países desarrollados que deseen conocer el funcionamiento de las Oficinas Regionales participen, a nivel de observadores, en las distintas Conferencias Regionales para de esa manera tener un cabal y directo conocimiento de sus actividades.
Por todo lo expuesto, mi delegación considera que sería sumamente perjudicial para el funcionamiento de nuestra Organización, y en particular para las relaciones y la trascendencia que los países subdesarrollados otorgamos a la FAO, cualquier medida que signifique un retraimiento en el Programa de Cooperación Tecnica, o una supresión, o una situación de estancamiento a nivel de las Oficinas Regionales de las áreas en desarrollo.
H. CARANDANG (Philippines): The Philippines have participated in the work of the various subcommittees of the Council, the Regional Conferences and the Council itself, all of which have provided inputs to the elaboration of the Medium-Term Objectives and the Programme of Work and Budget. Now the Philippine delegation would like to make some general and specific comments on the various items of the Programme of Work and Budget.
The Philippine delegation is glad that the Research and Technology Development Division has been bolstered in the 1984-85 Programme of Work and Budget. We believe that the development of technology adapted to the local conditions of the country or the region with adequate delivery systems is a key element in the increased productivity, which in turn can increase income and reduce poverty and malnutrition. As each bureaucrat will testify, each programme is a compartment. Each bureaucrat is concerned with his own field of competence, so much so that sometimes he sees the trees but loses sight of the forest. We believe that the transfer of appropriate technology can serve as a unifying theme within the medium-term objectives of greater productivity and increase of income and access to food. Increases in productivity in Asia area testimony to this. An example of this is the increase in rice production which had been previously developed in the research institute, developed with an adequate delivery system and transferred to the farmer and which has been successfully propagated not only in one country but in all the different countries of the region.
We are glad that the Research and Technology Development Programme, 2.1.4, has been bolstered. We believe that, as recommended by the Committee on Agriculture, this will serve as a conduit between the CGIAR research institutes, the technical divisions of FAO and the different countries and the projects and the programmes.
With regard to programme 2.1.7, Food and Agricultural Information and Analysis, we are glad to see that the statistics-related activities formerly included in sub-programme 2.1.8.5, Agricultural Planning Assistance, have been transferred to sub-programme 2.1.7.4, Statistical Development. The transfer of these important activities which primarily concern development or improvement of food and agricultural statistics at the country level is welcomed and supported by my delegation.
We are also glad to see that the national demonstration centres for training of national statistical personnel on agricultural censuses and survey, including related statistical subjects, will be intensified and expanded. We hope that the preparation of the programme for the 1990 census on agriculture is now in progress, as this should be presented for approval of the 1985 FAO Conference. My delegation would like to know the status of the preparation of this programme.
We support the continuation in 1984-85 of the development of a national programme of socio-economic indicators as follow-up to the WCARRD Programme of Action for assisting developing countries in establishing systems of forecasting, particularly for food, to strengthen their food security.
We likewise support the expanded work in the assessment of crop and population supporting potentials of the land. In fact the Philippines, together with Malaysia and Thailand, has already done preparatory work consolidating climatic data for country level application of this project. In this the collaboration of the Regional Offices is essential.
The Philippines participates in a range of inter-country activities, including, for example, the preparation of the common ASEAN forestry policy, livestock projects and the population and rural development programmes in food security. In this area we believe that the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific plays an indispensable role. We therefore support the work of the Regional Offices and we do not share the views of those who expressed that the work of the Regional Offices should be curtailed, because we think that they do important work in the inter-country, inter-regional projects which my country believes in and participates actively in.
N.V.K. WERAGODA (Sri Lanka): I do not propose to get into a detailed discussion of the documents that are under consideration. I wish to say a few words on three issues which I consider important
First the Technical Cooperation Programme. The Sri Lanka delegation commends the Director-General in initiating a programme for providing FAO assistance to meet the immediate and urgent needs of the Member Nations. I am happy to say that Sri Lanka has greatly benefited from this programme in its catalytic effect in advancing urgent development needs of the country. Therefore the Sri Lanka delegation fully endorses the Technical Cooperation Programme as provided in the budget.
The second point I want to highlight is the proposal to create a separate Research and Technology Centre in FAO. This I think is a long-felt need to cater adequately to the needs of the developing countries. The centre will, I hope, be able to create the necessary research environment in the developing countries that could facilitate the dissemination of new technology to help in increased production. This would also help in providing the necessary infrastructure for adapting research and would help countries to adapt their traditional know-how to be in harmony with modern knowledge.
The third issue is about FAO Regional Offices. Different opinions have been expressed on the merits and demerits of the continued usefulness of the FAO Regional Offices. It has been suggested that in view of the availability of country offices, the role of Regional Offices should be reviewed with the objective of reducing allocations.
The Sri Lanka delegation feels very strongly that a regional FAO office should not only continue but its activities should be strengthened. We see no reason to sacrifice the Regional Offices for lack of funds on the argument that country offices are adequate. On the contrary, the usefulness and importance of Regional Offices is seen all the more now. Country offices, which are basically a small outfit, increasingly look to Regional Offices as a first point of reference for technical backstopping. Being nearer to the countries,technical backstopping by Regional Offices is necessarily more cost effective.
Another factor highlighting the need for a growing role for Regional Offices is the increasing importance of TCDC, The Regional Offices are in a unique position to assess the needs of developing countries and to match them with the capability of other countries in the Region. In the Asia and Pacific Region, the Regional Office has promoted and also services regional special bodies which undertake TCDC activities in sectors such as agricultural credit and food marketing. Again, the Regional Office provides necessary technical backstopping and secretariat support to various regional technical commissions in sectors such as food security, agricultural statistics, animal production, fisheries, forestry, etc.
Another factor highlighting the importance of the Regional Offices is the need for inter-agency cooperation within the UN system at the regional level.
We would like to point out that while food and agriculture has many problems which are country specific, there are also several aspects which are peculiar to individual regions. For instance, the Asia and Pacific Region accounts for nearly more than 90 per cent of paddy production. Hence problems of paddy production, processing and marketing are almost entirely the concern of that region. Therefore, the FAO Regional Office has a vital role in identifying such problems and assisting the countries by pooling successful experiences in dealing with such problems. If there are deficiencies in the working of the Regional Offices, then they should certainly be identified and rectified. But what is necessary, I think, is a closer collaboration in the implementation of a unified FAO programme, therefore, jointly or partly, by the Regional Offices and the country offices.
B.H. DJIBRIL (Bénin): Comme c'est la première fois que nous prenons la parole au niveau de cette Commission, nous voudrions tout d'abord, M. le Président, vous féliciter de votre élection et pour la manière efficace dont vous menez les débats.
Je voudrais intervenir sur trois points. D'abord sur le Programme de coopération technique, le PCT. Il est intervenu cette année dans notre pays de façon très efficace, dans une zone où 30 000 hectares de cultures étaient menacés de destruction, toute la région septentrionale de mon pays, le Bénin, était menacée de famine sinon de disette. Grâce à l'intervention rapide du PCT, le mois dernier, nous avons pu sauver toutes nos cultures. Je pense que ma délégation, mieux que toute autre, ne peut qu'apprécier l'efficacité du PCT. Nous pensons au contraire qu'il faudra renforcer ses ressources afin qu'il puisse mieux remplir sa fonction.
S'agissant du bureau régional de la FAO, je crois qu'au niveau du Plan d'action de Lagos, soutenu par tous les chefs d'Etat de l'OUA, la nécessité de la coopération régionale a été soulignée sans ambiguité. Nous pensons que le bureau régional de la FAO joue un rôle bien différent de celui de la représentation au niveau de chaque pays. S'agissant de l'Afrique, le bureau régional a des fonctions spécifiques par le fait de son intervention dans les organisations régionales africaines. De plus, il intervient pour appuyer certaines actions de la représentation FAO sur place.
Enfin le Programme de travail et budget reçoit l'appui sans réserve de ma delegation, et le Ministre du développement rural de mon pays, en intervenant tout à l'heure en plénière, a bien souligné ce point de vue. De plus, nous appuyons sans réserve le programme à moyen terme.
K. TRAORE (Guinée): Tout d'abord, M. le Président, nous vous félicitons pour votre élection à la présidence de notre importante Commission
Notre propos aura d'abord trait à la revue proposée sur les activités des bureaux locaux et des bureaux régionaux de la FAO. Le point de vue de ma délégation est que ces bureaux sont complémentaires. Le fait d'avoir sur place une représentation assure un meilleur suivi des projets par des personnes plus familières avec les problèmes de toute nature que l'on peut rencontrer sur le terrain, et nous pensons que ce genre de suivi est le garant d'une meilleure efficacité des actions sur le terrain.
Les activités des bureaux régionaux devraient, à notre avis, être renforcées pour mieux assister les représentations locales, sur le plan technique en particulier, ce qui est possible par un réaménagement judicieux du personnel entre autres.
Envisagé dans ce sens, le renforcement des bureaux régionaux apportera plus d'efficacité à notre action et le renforcement de ces bureaux s'inscrit en droite ligne, comme vient de le souligner la délégation du Bénin, sur les objectifs du Plan d'action de Lagos, et nous apprécions hautement le concours du bureau régional africain dans le cadre de sa réorganisation régionale notamment en vue de la mise en valeur du fleuve Zambie.
En ce qui concerne le PCT, nous pensons qu'il permet, par des actions ponctuelles, de résoudre des problèmes brûlants, et permet souvent aux gouvernements de conduire des actions efficaces et financièrement intéressantes par les économies que ces projets PCT font réaliser sur certaines opérations. Nous citerons entre autres exemples les résultats enregistrés par les projets PCT pendant les dernières flamblées de peste bovine dans de nombreux pays africains.
Pour conclure, ma délégation approuve les orientations du Programme 1984-85 et le niveau du budget afférent.
J.D. SANDY (Sierra Leone): Thank you, Mr Chairman. My Minister at Plenary did indicate salient support of the Programme of Work and Budget presented by the Director-General. He, however, expresses certain reservations about the effectiveness and fulfilment of the work programmes of developing countries. We have noted that there has been a minimal increase of 0,5 percent on the budget. This we understand has been done because of the present economic situation. We also understand that some developed countries would have preferred to see a zero budget increase. Be that as it may we, however, want to crave the indulgence of developed countries that our aspirations are many, and would want them to understand and be sympathetic to the cause of the developing countries. We only trust that the 0.5 percent will only be effective for this biennium, and perhaps in subsequent biennia that percentage would be increased.
With that, Mr Chairman, I have very few points to touch on. First of all, I would want to mention very briefly the view expressed on regional offices by the developed countries. My delegation is strongly opposed to the suggestion of a review with the hope of decreasing the function of the Regional Offices. The duties of the Regional Offices will not be diminished in any way by the creation of country offices. In fact, Mr Chairman, it is our opinion that the work that country offices should, in fact, do is look to Regional Offices as a first point of contact and reference for technical backstop, and you will note with the increased importance of TCDC the Regional Offices are in a unique position to assess the needs of developing countries, and to match that then with the capabilities of other countries within the region. The importance of the Regional Offices, therefore, cannot be overemphasized. With more decentralization of the Regional Economic Commission, the Regional Offices have an increasing role to serve as FAO's focal points of contact and collaboration It, therefore, seems strange to my delegation that while the West European countries have benefited a great deal from regional cooperation in the areas of agricultural policy and agricultural programmes, some of these countries seem to be advocating a contrary relationship for developing countries. We plead with them not to make suggestions, Mr Chairman, that will weaken or undermine the effectiveness of the FAO Regional Offices.
In that vein, Mr Chairman, I would like to comment very briefly on the suggestions that have been made on TCP. We, the developing countries, which benefit immensely from this Programme, request that whatever review is being made it should not affect the effectiveness of implementation of our programmes. Mr Chairman, you will note that we developing countries very often every year have certain programmes which we want to add to our old programmes, and if we do not have this TCP programme, Mr Chairman, I do not know how our national budgets will be able to effectively carry out its programmes. I would, therefore, plead with those who hold the view that TCP should be reviewed - it should be reviewed not with an. adverse effect on developing countries.
Mr Chairman, I wish to support my colleague from Ghana in connection with the suggestion of the Netherlands for the Finance and Programme Committees to examine the General Assembly Resolution 337/234. We do not think that it is necessary, as the Secretariat has already examined tnis Resolution. The Secretariat has put to the Governing Bodies items of interest to the FAO emanating from the General Assembly.
LI HYOK CHOL (Democratic People's Republic of Korea): Thank you, Mr Chairman. As in the first intervention we expressed our full support to the Programme of Work and Budget, at this very juncture I would like to express our position on two specific items.
The first is about the TCP. In helping the developing countries to attack many unforesseen emergency problems the TCP has played an important role in the past, and we are convinced that with increased TCP programme in the next biennium the Member States could benefit a lot from FAO. We consider TCP as one of the most effective and essential parts of the whole programme, and fully support the proposed increase of the Programme. As a member country who benefited in the past few years from TCP we highly appreciate the effectiveness and promptness of the Programme.
The next point is on the Regional Offices. We feel that the Regional Offices have a long way to go with important duties of identifying the actual situation problems of the region, and give most suitable guidance and assistance to solve the problems and promote the cooperation among the countries in the region.
With these few words our delegation would like to associate itself with those who supported the improvement and the strengthening of the Regional Offices. Thank you very much.
WIN HTIN (Burma): Mr Chairman, since this is the first intervention by the Burmese delegation we would like to congratulate you on your election as Chairman of this important Commission. We also would like to express our appreciation to the FAO Secretariat for the effort they have made for the preparation of this excellent document before us. Mr Chairman, the Burmese delegation supports the Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85.
I would like to make a specific remark with regard to the Regional Offices. The Burmese delegation shares similar wiews with the delegations from other developing countries such as India. Thailand, Ghana etc. herefore the Burmese delegation strongly supports the establishment and continuation of the Regional Offices
M. MOMBOULI (Congo): Lors de notre intervention d'avant-hier, nous vous avions assuré que nous soutenions le Programme de travail et budget 1984-85 présent par le Directeur général de la FAO.
Après l'audition des différentes déclarations faites jusqu'ici, nous sommes heureux de constater que la plupart des délégations appuient comme nous ce Programme de travail et budget de 1984-85 présenté par le Directeur général de la FAO.
En principe, nous n'aurions plus rien à ajouter à nos déclarations précédentes, mais ayant malheureusement enregistré quelques fausses notes concernant le rôle des Bureaux régionaux et le Programme de coopération technique de la part de quel jues délégations, nous ne pouvions demeurer indifférents. Concernant le PCT, il revêt à nos yei .</?/ une importance capitale, car pensons-nous, c'est le seul moyen pour faire en sorte que l'interdépendance entre les différentes nations ne soit pas vécue passivement par tous, mais se transforme en une autodépendance active et dynamique.
Concernant le rôle des bureaux régionaux, nous voulons réaffirmer qu'il ne peut plus être remis en cause, tout au contraire. Nous pensons qu'il faut lui donner les moyens nécessaires pour faire en sorte que ces bureaux deviennent de plus en plus dynamiques et soient plus proches des préoccupations de terrain.
Nous avons jeté un coup d'oeil sur l'ensemble des programmes proposés pour le biennium à venir. Nous nous rendons compte que ces programmes sont très nombreux et nécessitent des moyens fort importants. En même temps, nous nous rendons compte qu'il y a une sorte de contraction des participants à l'allocation des fonds nécessaires pour le financement des programmes.
Profitant de cette occasion, nous voudrions une fois de plus lancer un appel vibrant à tous les donateurs potentiels pour que toutes les ressources soient mises en oeuvre, que personne ne puisse ménager un effort pour appuyer davantage tous les programmes,et que les organes et les institutions qui oeuvrent pour lutter contre la faim et la misère puissent bénéficier de plus en plus des fonds nécessaires pour réaliser les programmes.
S. SCHUMM (Germany, Federal Republic of) (original language German),: Mr Chairman, first of all I would like to thank Mr Shah very much for the fact that he has so readily and competently answered our questions in connection with the budget. We are pleased to take up the suggestion that we should still clarify a few technical details on a bilateral basis also in order to save time.
My delegation in its General Statement before this Commission made relatively detailed comments on the Programme of Work and Budget. In so doing my delegation expressed the view that the sharpening of priorities undertaken by the Director-General is considered right. In this connection I would like to add that in the opinion of the German delegation the Work Programme covers all the essential tasks and responsibilities of the FAO
It is an advantage to take the floor towards the end of a discussion because you have a clear overview of the various views which have been expressed by previous speakers. We noted with satisfaction from the discussions that in principle we agree with the other member countries in our assessment. We have already mentioned in detail the areas whose suggested strengthening of activities we particularly welcome. These areas also include the expansion of the follow-up measures of the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development as provided for in Programme 2.1.5. in particular the strengthening of the role of women in the rural social and economic fields. Another area which finds our full support is the fact that on a regional level one of the focal points of the activities of the Organization will continue to be Africa
The attitude . held by my delegation on the TCP is shared by a number of other delegations who have already spoken and that is why I can refrain from referring to a number of detailed points in this connection. However, since in this connection UNDP and its important role as a central source of financing has been mentioned by several speakers, I would like to make the following brief comments:
The Federal Republic of Germany will increase next year contrary to the general trend its national contribution to the UNDP. This is proof of a policy consistent in itself. The field programmes of FAO will benefit from it indirectly. Since perhaps not all the delegates present here in Commission II were able to follow the discussions in Plenary I would like to briefly quote from the statement made by my Minister. Among other things he stated the following, and I quote: "We welcome the fact that it has been possible, despite a low real budget growth, to expand the Technical Programmes to promote agricultural production and rural development. This sharpening of priorities is, in my Government's view, a step in the right direction. We would like to encourage the Director-General in his intention to work towards an even greater efficiency in the work of the Organization"
To sum up let me state - questions and criticism on individual areas of the Programme of Work and Budget do not change the basic assessment - that the Director-General has submitted a balanced proposal which, both in its technical aspects and in its financial impact, takes into account the interests of all the Member States of the Organization.
T. AHMAD (Pakistan) : In our earlier intervention we gave our general comments on the Programme of Work and Budget and we expressed our strong support for the proposals contained in it. At this point I would merely like to comment on one or two specific issues. First, on research we highly endorse the emphasis on research in this Programme of Work and Budget and we strongly feel that what is required is the strengthening of research activities of FAO and particularly the linkages between FAO and national research systems. In this context we are happy to read in the Programme of Work and Budget that the Director-General proposes closer cooperation between national and regional research institutions. We feel this is very important, if the research institutions of developing countries are to be strengthened with the help of technical assistance from FAO.
We therefore strongly support the establishment of the new Research Division by merging the four existing units of the Research Development Centre.
The second issue on which we want to speak is TCP. We have spoken on this in our general statement. We feel the Technical Cooperation Programme of FAO is a unique source of technical assistance to developing countries and that the importance and impact of this programme have been almost universally recognized. There is very strong support to this Programme from all developing countries and, as is evident from the reports of the Regional Conferences, practically all Regional Conferences uot only supported and endorsed the TCP but desired and asked for additional resources in this Programme. Although the programme change is the same as anticipated by the Summary Programme of Work and Budget, yet we still feel a little concerned about the fact that the total percentage of the TCP in the Programme is lower than the 13.5 percent as envisaged in the Summary Programme of Work and Budget. We are firmly convinced that TCP actually does respond very efficiently to the needs of developing countries because of its short intervention and because it responds to the specific needs of the developing countries. It also elicits a positive response from the developing countries themselves for that reason and perhaps the best judges of such programmes are the recipient countrie.
Although I may be anticipating a little here, if we look at the Review of Field Programmes, on page 26 there is paragraph 2.1.0 which very particularly describes the impact of TCP and it says that TCP projects continue to be accorded generally higher performance rating as compared to Trust Funds and UNDP-supported projects. At the end of the paragraph it says that "TCP projects' usually receive more immediate attention by recipient governments" and I thought that perhaps is the host evaluation of a certain project or programme: that recipient countries respond immediately to them and give counterpart funds and administrative support for implementation and execution of these projects. And since TCP projects also respond to emergency needs of developing countries we feel that TCP funds should continue to be given high priority.
We also feel that the Director-General in his introductory statement was right, at page 11 of this document, in mentioning that the Director-General required no further convincing of the needs of developing Member Nations for more assistance under the TCP because we believe that the Director-General has responded to the needs of the developing countries in this particular area, particularly with reference to ail the developing countries expressed wishes which they articulated in various regional conferences and in various fora of FAO.
We are therefore of the opinion that perhaps the best evaluation done so far of this Programme is the response of the developing countries, and perhaps the fact that there is a constant demand for TCP resources.is in itself a proof of the efficacy of the Programme.
Now some brief remarks on Regional Offices. The thought has been expressed during the morning session that perhaps because of the field representative offices, there is no need for the Regional Offices. We beg to differ because we feel that the role and functions of the Regional Offices are very clearly defined and are absolutely different from those of the Field Representative offices. I was looking at some of these documents and they do have specific functions in member countries in relation to regional bodies, regional meetings and conferences. They again have specific functions in relation to inter-country projects and programmes; and then, of course, they have specific functions in relation to the Headquarters. I will not go through all these functions but some of them, we find, are of vital importance to developing countries, particularly the technical back-stopping and the promotion of TCDC.
Technical cooperation among developing countries by its very nature has to be promoted more at the level of regions than at the global level because only at that level can you have effective cooperation, and that can be done most effectively on a regional basis. In this context we strongly endorse the statement made earlier this afternoon by the delegate of Sri Lanka.
Similarly, the Regional Offices not only conduct the regional conferences which give a huge amount of feed back and input into the Programmes of Work and Budget; they also have acted as the focal point, as follow-up to the session. We therefore feel not only that the Regional Offices are doing very effective work; we are personally of the opinion that they should be strengthened and we particularly endorse what was said by so many delegates from Africa : that the Regional Office of Africa should be further strengthened so that its facilities can really be effective in that region. We find that almost invariably all members have agreed, for example, that Africa needs high attention. If that is so, we find it a little self-defeating to say that the mechanism to do so has to be weakened. We feel that the Regional Office in Africa is the correct vehicle for concentrating activities in Africa and that therefore that Office should be strengthened. Similarly, however, others should be made more effective and perhaps, ov' r a period of time, there should be more decentralization in this direction.
As far as expenditure on Regional Offices is concerned, we feel that it is very effective expenditure; and perhaps I may be allowed to ask a question from the Secretariat.I was under the impression that as far as the brick and mortar part of the Regional Offices is concerned, that is the responsibility of the Host Government of the country where the Regional Office is located and that the responsibility does not come from the FAO Regular Programme of Work and Budget itself. Of course, there would be expenditure on the administrative set up and so on but I thought the physical infrastructure had to be provided by the Host Government. If that is correct, then I think it would not be very tenable to say that there is expenditure on Regional Offices which is not really going to the field activities of FAO.We keep speaking of decentralization, not only in FAO but of activities at the regional and sub-regional level both in the agricultural sector and in other sectors. And if we do so then we need the administrative set up to undertake these activities.
It is therefore very important to have these Regional Offices and to strengthen them. Particularly in Asia and the Pacific region we have been strongly appreciating the activities of FAO in the Regional Office and setting up of Commissions on Food Security and others which have to be serviced by the Regional Offices. We shall therefore conclude by saying that we find them very effective, very useful and would wish them to be strengthened. We would also like to see more decentralization in this direction.
M. TRKULJA (Yugoslavia) : My delegation was very tempted to go deeply into most programmes and sub-programmes. but in view of the need for brevity I shall skip over most of the things I had intended to stress.
Natural resources : we have traditionally supported programme 2.1.1. and we specially value its stress on national institutions and the TCDC approach in general. We warmly welcome the steps taken recently to increase internal coordination through an inter-departmental working group on planning which incorporates all FAO land activities including forestry. We also attach very great importance and give our full support to the orientation farming system and to correct some past imbalances.
Furthermore, we attach importance to framework, especially as it has now spread through a number of developing countries' institutions, to our knowledge more than thirty. Concerning water development, within that orientation development is fully justified.
Crops : we welcome this very much. The Director-General was able to propose additional strengthening of the programme with reference to roots and tubers. While on crops, I would just touch on seeds, which represent one of the core activities of FAO within the programme. This was reviewed in depth some two years ago and we wish to express our full satisfaction with its overall thrust.
With regard to plant protection, we welcome very much the global strategy and hope it will lead to better coordinated FAO work in this field, on the code of conduct, on distribution and use of pesticides we wish FAO the very best and support this step.
Livestock : briefly we wish to express our traditional view that the whole programme is very well structured. In particular we support its orientation and core structure, i.e. disease control including African and animal trypanosomiasis, rinderpest, African swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease, various tick diseases and so forth. We very much welcome FAO's very close cooperation with various national and international institutions in this regard and also the very heavy reliance of the whole programme on national institutions from developing countries.
On research I have already spoken and we fully agree. It has been my delegation's traditional position that FAO should at least change its structure to better effect overall support. Now we are very happy that the Director-General also proposed some adjustment in the Organization's scheme, with the same aim. On rural development where a substantial part of training is located, we only want to stress that FAO should always be very much aware of its limited resources and needs to make a maximum possible impact. Having said this, I obviously refer to the need for the closest possible cooperation with national systems. We feel it is the only way to maximize FAO's impact.
With regard to the sub-programme related to women in agricultural production, we wish to indicate our full support and to echo the thought presented a few minutes ago in Plenary : that we have been very much satisfied with the cooperation already established with FAO and look forward to strengthening our cooperation with special reference to the follow-up action to the seminar held in Ljubliana. In addition, only two more points, very briefly.
We welcome the joint FAO/WHO work on the definition of energy protein requirements and the priority attached to the Fifth World Survey. On statistics : I can hardly overstate the importance of statistics. I have been disturbed by the views expressed in this regard. We feel that the statistical work of FAO really justifies even further relative strengthening. I am referring first of all to the national statistical systems which are the basis, and also in particular to the world census.
As for food and agriculture policies, I shall make a brief reference just to indicate our support for the orientation and study of agricultural prices and incentive policies. On fisheries, I cannot be specific but this has traditionally had the full support of the Yugoslav delegation. We have always felt it was very well structured and able to adjust to new realities. The Economic Zone Programme is full witness to that. Forestry : we feel that the whole programme has been streamlined in recent years and is now well oriented.
Briefly, on TCP : it is difficult to say anything new here but I hope that the traditional position of my delegation is quite well known. We do not regard TCP merely as a technical assistance programme. For us TCP is first of all a vitally needed flexibility margin to organizations such as FAO. In that regard, we enthusiastically continue to support the TCP. We do not believe external evaluation in general in this particular complex is valuable but in our understanding, in a number of interventions external evaluations have been stressed. Since the matter was discussed four years ago by the Conference and the Conference decided on evaluation structures as methods in the House, we still remain in the same position.
Now, Regional Offices : I am afraid there is still some misunderstanding in regard to the role and function of Regional Offices. We cannot see any link between regional and country offices because of the structures and concepts; the Regional Offices are totally different from FAO representation in countries.
I would only recall the very simple fact that in recent years the United Nations General Assembly has adopted a number of resolutions calling on the UN Systems to provide more regional support. In that light it really sounds quite strange, some idea that the Regional Offices of FAO should be downrated in the future.
B. PAREDES RANGEL (México) : El proposito de esta intervención es reiterar algunos de los puntos específicos que planteó la delegación de Mexico en su intervención antecedente.
Subrayamos entonces sólo los aspectos que consideramos de mayor importancia en función del tenor de los comentarios de esta sesión.
A juicio de la Delegación de México los programas de Cooperación Técnica han sido instrumentos útiles y funcionales para propiciar el desarrollo, que es el propósito prioritario de la FAO. En este sentido la agilidad y la flexibilidad de los PCT los constituyen como instrumentos que propician la resolución de problemas en el corto plazo y que enriquecen las expectativas de atención fundamental-rnent^ a los países en vías de desarrollo.
Por otra parte, la forma de operación de los PCT, la agilidad que les permite concurrir con mayor oportunidad a planteamientos de los países solicitantes y su funcionalidad para cubrir aspectos prioritarios nos llevan a destacar su importancia y el interés de la delegación de México porque se considere el planteamiento de incrementarlos, en su caso.
Además, entendiendo la conceptualización de la FAO en torno al desarrollo regional y la cooperación regional e interregional, esto debe reflejarse en una lógica de operación que lleve a cabo dicha conceptualización.
En ese sentido, la importancia de las Oficinas Regionales ha sido ya subrayada por diversas delegaciones. Es evidente que la naturaleza y alcance de sus funciones se diferencia de la naturaleza y alcance de las Oficinas de carácter nacional y la estructura de la FAO así tiene una lógica de descentralización que especialmente a los países en vías de desarrollo les interesa profundizar, dado que considerando a las Oficinas Regionales como un instrumento más para propiciar la cooperación regional y para preparar la prospectiva de proyectos regionales de desarrollo, este instrumento debe ser fortalecido.
Los aspectos de evaluación de los proyectos que ha establecido FAO cubren actualmente una serie de elementos que los hace válidos y suficientes. Creemos que la evaluación es un instrumento útil, pero no debe ser un instrumento que se utilice para justificar mecanismos rígidos que en lugar de estimular la adecuada operación de los proyectos los carguen de burocracia o de controles innecesarios.
Pensamos que la evaluación es simplemente un soporte más, y cuando el planteamiento del desarrollo está bien implementado de inicio es una de las líneas adicionales que pueden enriquecer su posibilidad de ejercicio correcto.
Estos comentarios son únicamente precisiones que la delegación de México considera útil insistir y subrayar.
M.E. RONDANZA DE FILIPPO (Argentina): Luego de escuchar las interesantes observaciones que se han efectuado al tratar el tema del Presupuesto, la delegación Argentina desea especialmente sumarse a algunos representantes que han señalado el porcentaje relativamente tan inferior de fondos que se asignan a América Latina.
Evidentemente es motivo de cierta preocupación que dicha región, con los serios problemas de pobreza y desnutrición que afronta, reciba, según las estimaciones del presupuesto 1984-85, solamente el 9,3 por ciento del total de los fondos.
Esta situación se viene reiterando en los últimos bienios con disminuciones progresivas que van del 13 por ciento en el período 1978-79 al 9,3 por ciento en el período actual.
Nuestra intención al manifestar esta inquietud es a efectos de que la misma sea tenida en cuenta en futuras asignaciones de recursos, aun cuando somos plenamente conscientes de las situaciones coyun-turales de emergencia que puedan afectar a otras áreas.
En otro orden de ideas la delegación de mi país desea destacar su especial apoyo a dos programas del Proyecto de Presupuesto: el primero es el 2.1.4 Fomento de la Investigación y la Tecnología dentro del programa principal de agricultura. Consideramos especialmente importantes los aspectos referidos a la conservación de suelos.
El segundo es el programa dedicado a Pesca, y dentro de él creemos adecuado que se priorice en materia de planificación pesquera en particular.
D. OLET (Uganda): The Ugandan delegation wishes to make brief remarks on specific chapters, namely chapters 2 and 4, both of which are extremely tailored for the benefit of developing countries, Uganda being one of them.
In chapter 2 the Ugandan delegation endorses the activities of the livestock programme and the corresponding element of the financial resources for 1984-85. We are particularly happy to note the increase on livestock and crops which is a common feature prevailing in Uganda and many other developing countries. This approach often results in multiplying effects. As regards Forestry, my delegation notes with appreciation the siting of two problems, namely growing fuelwood scarcity and the rapid rate of destruction and degradation of forests. In order to mitigate this phenomena we would require more assistance from FAO. We hope that subsequent Programmes of Work and Budget will attempt to accord more emphasis to this sector, like others.
In chapter 4 I can only summarize by saying that the level of the budget for TCP as presented in the Programme of Work and Budget is reasonably high enough to accommodate the pressing requirements of the Third World countries.
As far as the Regional Offices are concerned, we support their continuation because they have facilitated the smooth running of FAO.
A.R. PIRES (Cap-Vert): Ma délégation ne veut pas manquer l'occasion qui lui est donnée ce soir d'appuyer le Programme de travail et budget présentés par le Directeur général de la FAO; elle regrette toutefois que la croissance de ce budget ne soit que de 0,5 pour cent. Cette stagnation risque de signifier un recul si elle devait persister. Néanmoins, nous devons nous féliciter des économies qui ont été réalisées surtout sur les dépenses administratives, au profit d'un renfor‐cement des activités de terrain et notamment du PCT. Au Cap-Vert, nous avons toujours bénéficié de ce programme et nous estimons qu'il a joué un rôle très important et que le fonds de ce PCT devrait être augmenté. Nous estimons que le PCT est extrêmement utile pour tous les pays du tiers monde et sommes étonnés de voir combien de pays développés ont suggéré qu'une évaluation de ce PCT soit entreprise alors que les délégations du tiers monde unanimes soutiennent sans réserve ce Programme.
Il faut dire qu'il y a deux approches différentes de ce problème et que les pays du tiers monde subissent quotidiennement les effets de la faim, de la sécheresse,du sous-développement. Ils savent donc ce que c'est.
Qu'il me soit aussi permis de dire quelques mots sur l'agriculture régionale. Dans ce domaine, il ne faut pas oublier l'action de l'OUA et du Plan de Lagos qui définissent les grandes priorités.
Quant aux actions sur le plan régional, M. Michel Rocard, Ministre français de l'agriculture, dans son discours de mardi devant la séance plénière a lui-même indiqué que son pays appuie toutes les activités sous-régionales. Il a même évoqué l'action de la CEE à l'appui de son intervention.
Quelle suite aurait la proposition formulée par certains pays développés tendant à l'évaluation des activités des bureaux régionaux? Je rappelle que M. Kreisky a brillamment plaidé la cause du dialogue Nord-Sud. Or, quelle n'est point notre déception de constater que certains pays du Nord veulent remettre en cause certains acquis parmi les plus profitables.
e veux dire que la coopération régionale, pour ne pas parler de la coopération Sud-Sud, a un rôle fondamental à jouer. Les bureaux régionaux constituent un bon appui aux Etats Membres, et sont créés pour aider les Etats Membres qui le désirent, pour stimuler une coopération régionale, e; faire en sorte de développer la solidarité entre les pays et promouvoir un échange d'expériences.
CL. QUANCE (Director, Statistics Division): There were several comments and questions relating to statistics and particular statements of general support. These comments and questions have mainly related to four points; the Fifth World Food Survey, the 1990 World Census of Agriculture, the use of socio-economic indicators for managing agrarian reform and rural development and a combined concern for making FAO's statistics as complementary as possible for national statistical efforts and needs for policy analysis and concern, and the need for obtaining the balance between more data collection and such things as price policy analysis and other means of motivating rural people and resources. All of these points relate to kind of a inflection point in the statistical work of FAO. A culmination of countries' statistical capabilities, the shortage of UNDP and bilateral funding for statistical programmes, advances in other areas of statistical development, including computers and information technology, all call for significant changes in the areas of concern you have indicated.
First, with respect to the Fifth World Food Survey, and I believe here the delegate of Norway raised this point; we can extract this following statement from a Report of the Forty-fifth session of the Programme Committee which directly answers his question "the Programme Committee noted the survey would be completed in 1984 and published in 1985, that it would not consist of a simple updating of the Fourth World Food Survey but it would contain a more thorough analysis of the causes and consequences of undernutrition by utilizing most recent advances and knowledge of nutrient requirements, more information on food consumption and nutritional status and socio-economic determinants of undernutrition".
With respect to the 1990 World Census of Agricultural Programme, once each ten years FAO revises its Agricultural Census Programme manual. It assists Member Nations in hosting national demonstration centres for training country personnel in the planning and conducting of an agricultural census and it encourages country efforts for conducting an agricultural census, including the recruiting of field experts for UNDP and other census projects.
The 1980 World Census of Agriculture Programme refers to national agricultural censuses taken during the period 1976 to 1985, and the 1990 programme will cover the ten-year period from 1986 to 1995. As of this year 74 countries have conducted an agricultural census under the 1980 programme and by 1985 we expect an additional 15 censuses to provide a total of 89 countries conducting a census under this ten-year programme. This compares with 81 countries taking an agricultural census during 1966 to 1975 under what we called the 1970 World Census of Agriculture Programme. So there has been a slight increase in the number of countries taking agricultural censuses from one ten-year programme to the next. Thus this Programme continues to be the cornerstone of statistical development in food and agriculture. But the situation is changing. Many countries, including many developing countries, have developed a statistical capability to a very high level and are capable, with very limited FAO assistance, of planning and conducting any kind of census that they judge their country needs. Here FAO efforts are concentrated mainly on collecting methodology and data from these countries to assess the needs of the community and to encourage such countries to share their experiences through hosting national demonstration centres with other countries. But many other countries have not reached such a high threshold of self-sufficiency and statistical capability, due both to such countries tending to regard a census effort as a one-shot opportunity to collect basic statistics on food and agriculture and our own secretariat tendency to add more and more detail to each subsequent revision of the World Census of Agriculture Programme. We have experienced a significant number of agricultural censuses that fall far short of the mark and there are increasing demands for more current statistics of such things as prices, production, food consumption, access to rural services, resources, income and other socio-economic indicators on agrarian reform and rural development, not always best suited to be collected under an agricultural census, which is usually conducted every ten years.
Further, we do not seem to have obtained the right integration of policy concerns, statistical programmes, economic analysis and monitoring evaluation. Thus our plans are for the new World Census of Agriculture Programme to be developed in the context of an information system for decision making in food and agriculture. Further, the census programme will encourage a flexible approach under which a country will evaluate its statistical needs for policy purposes and then design a multi-year programme, including the agricultural censuses and annual surveys to complement each in providing basic data. We would also encourage countries to devise commodity supply utilization accounts, food balance sheets and economic accounts for agriculture, a system of price and production index numbers and a matrix of socio-economic indicators, especially for disadvantaged socio-economic groups of population, such as women and the landless. The current pause in the funding of large-scale statistical projects and the transition from the 1980 to the 1990 World Census of Agriculture Programme is giving FAO an excellent opportunity to revise and update the statistical development manuals and training materials and technical assistance guidelines. By 1985, when the 1990 World Census of Agriculture Programme is presented to this Conference, countries should be in a position to better review and evaluate the statistical needs of food and agriculture to develop or update a long-term development plan, and hopefully the UNDP and other funding organizations will be in a position to respond favourably to countries' needs in this area of statistical development, processing and analysis. Statistical development needs are certainly in need of more and better information.
J.P. BHATTACHARJEE (Director, Policy Analysis Division): A question has been asked about coordination of agricultural policy advice and planning assistance activities of FAO. My reply addresses directly to this question. FAO missions in the field of agricultural and rural development, as you will all understand, are carried out at the specific request of member governments. Food and agriculture strategy review missions and WCARRD review missions generally encompass more than one area of discipline and are therefore of a multi-disciplinary nature. There are of course missions which deal with a more narrowly defined area of activity, but these are missions undertaken at the specific request of a government and in particular some of these missions deal with advice and project monitoring and evaluation or nutrition intervention projects and fields like that.
You will appreciate that because of the diversity of the activities thus carried out the timing and nature of the missions depend on the request of the government and are influenced, since most of these missions are carried out with extra-budgetary funds, by the nature and conditions related to the different funding sources. Harmonization of different kinds of missions is done through a continuing process of consultation and in-house coordination in FAO. We have inter-divisional and inter-departmental arrangements for this purpose. Cooperation amongst the various units is ensured by the participation of experts in different disciplines in advisory missions and their partici‐pation in other missions as well, depending on the nature of the missions. For example, WCARRD follow-up missions seek to include experts who are involved in activities in such areas as policy and strategy formulation, planning, nutrition, women's participation in development and similar areas. Food and agricultural strategy missions receive inputs from experts in rural institutions, nutrition and other disciplines. It is in such ways that we try to ensure that the various segments of FAO expertise are appropriately incorporated in the policy advice that the missions provide to member governments on request. We keep under constant review the ways in which we can improve such coordination at the country level, and in this we naturally receive assistance from the FAO country representatives.
V.J. SHAH (Director, Office of Programme, Budget and Evaluation): As we come to the conclusion of this debate on the Director-General's proposed Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85, let me first reiterate on his behalf his regret that he could not be present during this important discussion in this Commission. However, I would like to assure you that he has wanted to follow very closely and with great interest your deliberations, and Mr West and I have kept him fully informed.
On behalf of the Director-General I would like to express thanks, his sincere appreciation for the warm support accorded by all delegations which took the floor on this item, and the ready consensus on the form, the content and the financial implications of his proposals.
There are very few points to which I need to address myself now in the final reply. There were two subjects which formed the basis for considerable discussion, almost during the entire day, and those were the subjects of the Technical Cooperation Programme and the role and the importance of regional offices. On both subjects delegations have expressed themselves fully and clearly and on both subjects there is very little for the Secretariat to say, In this sense it has been a true debate of the Conference, where Member Nations themselves as sovereign Member Nations have exchanged views and perceptions on their needs and requirements.
There was only one specific question about the Regional Offices. The delegate of Pakistan enquired from the Secretariat what were the facilities provided to Regional Offices by the host governments. The host governments provide, of course, the site, the building, the local facilities for the Regional Office, and also certain local staff. He was quite correct in making this assumption. The debate shows clearly the understanding of the Member Nations of the role and importance of the Regional Offices and their support for the Director-General's proposals.
On the Technical Cooperation Programme the debate has again received its own answers on the suggestions made as regards, for example, evaluation. May I just add one comment? There are some 2 000 projects under the Technical Cooperation Programme which will have been approved by the end of the year. The average size of the TCP project is now about $60 000 and the average duration is about 6 months. I think the Conference is fully able to draw its own conclusions on whether and in what way any evaluation of individual projects could be cost effective.
Mr Chairman, I will not presume any further on your time and patience. Thank you again, sir, very deeply on behalf of the Director-General.
CHAIRMAN: We have now come to the end of our discussion on this topic, Item 11 of the Conference Agenda. Very briefly, our discussions were cut into two portions. The first part was general statements on the Programme of Work and Budget, and then the detailed discussions on the different chapters. The delegations who spoke commented on the improvements that have been made in the format of the presentation of the Programme of Work and Budget, even though other delegations did indicate that there was room for more improvement. There was full agreement on strategies and priorities proposed by the Director-General. In particular there was full support for research and technology development; the focus on Africa; farming systems development; the
enlarged concept of world food security, and agricultural extension and rural institutions, and for implementation of these the policy of decentralization at the country level, and at the regional level, were widely supported.
The Technical Cooperation Programme was also at the level of general discussions widely supported. There was expression of satisfaction with the budget, despite the symbolic increase in the real programme growth. The technical and economic programmes would receive an increase of 3.6 percent. The Commission commended the Director-General's continued effort to enhance efficiency and economy. However, many members stressed that the administrative and support services were essential to the Organization's capacity to deliver technical assistance, and thus could not continue to be cut indefinitely.
There was a request for clarification by several delegations regarding the method of calculation of cost increases, and the Commission was generally satisfied that these were based on realistic and. prudent assumptions regarding developments in the coming biennium, and had been carefully reviewed and endorsed by the Finance Committees and the Council.
At the level of general discussions the Commission expressed full support for the Director-General's proposals, which were considered realistic and moderate in meeting the needs of Member Nations, while at the same time respecting the constraints on them. Nevertheless, many members hoped that this would not be considered a commitment and a precedent for zero growth in the future, and they would have preferred greater additional resources.
In conclusion, and in general terms, the Commission did endorse the Programme of Work and Budget.
In the final part of our discussions, the discussions received attention chapter by chapter. On Chapter 1 there was general support for the audit and inspection activities.
On Chapter 2 there was general support, and in particular as it was stated in the general discussions, on farming systems, including work on animal traction; water management and conservation; seeds, genetic resources and plant breeding; livestock development, with emphasis on animal diseases such as trypanosomiasis and rinderpest, and small family dairy development. National agricultural research programmes were stressed, including support for the new division, although some delegations did indicate that they regretted the fact that after the consolidation of reseach units in the Organization, the implication was increases in staff, whereas they would have expected a reduction in staff.
The WCARRD programme was supported, especially women as producers, and in the support of their activities marketing was heavily underlined.
Training at grassroots level was also stressed, and the importance of nutrition programmes. Agricultural information and policy development work at country level was emphasized, but especially on food production.
There was support for FAO's statistical work, particularly in assisting developing countries. In fisheries, particularly small-scale fisheries, aquaculture, inland fisheries, and fisheries information were stressed and there was strong support for the forthcoming World Conference on Fisheries Management and Development.
There were expressions of the wish for greater emphasis on forestry, in particular fuel wood and shifting cultivation and there was stress on the fight against desertification, the need for reafforestation, and work on environment, including coordination with institutions like the United Nations Environment Programme. There was, however, some dissatisfaction with the level of resources allocated to the forestry programme, and the hope was expressed that in future biennia this programme would receive greater attention.
On Chapter 3 there was support for the decentralization programme, both at the country and at the regional level although, as discussions began on the Regional Offices I looked at the distinguished delegate of the United Kingdom, who was among the first who started registering some reservations or indications of the need to evaluate these Offices, and as one delegate stressed that the evaluation was intended to make cuts in the allocation of resources, he shook his head, and I thought this meant that he had been misinterpreted, and I hope this is the case. He is still shaking his head, agreeing with me. There was a very lengthy debate, and I think many delegations expressed themselves very clearly on this matter, and what it indicated was that if anyone were ever to come up to suggest that' Regional Offices should be closed down then heaven would fall down on us.
It was also stressed that the roles of the Regional Offices, and those of the country offices could not be regarded as identical, therefore the two were not mutually exclusive. The need remained for the Regional Offices to be strengthened, having a very clear indication of their impact and effectiveness.
There were expressions of concern about the decline in the UNDP resources, and this brought considerable discussions of the Technical Cooperation Programme, Chapter 4. Again there seems to be a possibility of some misinterpretation. On the whole all delegations almost without exception did express their support and their understanding of the need for the TCP. However, some delegations did say that they wished it would not grow beyond the point to which it had grown. At the same time most stressed that the growth was satisfactory. In essence there was no departure in terms of the need for the programme, and in terms of how it should be utilized. However, some delegations felt that it was necessary to monitor the programme very carefully, to make sure it would continue to be properly utilized.
I should now finally say that I would like to express my congratulations and my thanks to all delegations that have participated in this Commission. I should specifically indicate that even though there were many very small delegations, which fact would not permit some people to participate in this Commission while Plenary was going and, of course, we know that they have to pay attention to their Ministers while they are here. Still we were able to get 85 delegations to intervene on this Commission in this discussion, and we have been able to receive 129 interventions, all of which were in support of the Programme of Work and Budget, and despite the two interruptions of our proceedings yesterday and today, I am happy to note that we have been able to finish only 25 minutes later than the scheduled time, and I think this is a record performance. For that I thank all the delegations very warmly, and I am sure that you would like me to convey through Mr Shah to the Director-General our gratitude that he had been able to present a very clear Programme to us, which we were able to accept and endorse and, therefore, that we would be getting a report of the Drafting Committee, which would indicate that we recommend that Conference should adopt this Programme of Work and Budget as presented.
On that note I should indicate that the Drafting Committee will meet on Saturday morning at 9.30 hours. There being no other business I finally want to thank you, and we will startpromptly at 9.30 hours tomorrow, to consider the other blue documents, namely the Review of the FieldProgrammes and Review of the Regular Programme. We have the Regular Programme first and then theField Programme afterwards.
The meeting rose at 18.15 hours
La seance est levée à 18 h 15
Se levanta la sesión a las 18.15 horas
