GENERAL DISCUSSION (continued)
DEBAT GENERAL (suite)
DEBATE GENERAL (continuación)

There has also been progress in world trade. However the indebtedness of many developing countries continues to.be a difficult and pressing problem. Recently therefore my country has waived the debts of a number of developing countries with a low GNP from public development cooperation for a total of DM 4 billion. It was not easy for us to do this, but we are making special efforts, in spite of our limited financial possibilities, to ease the burden on the most seriously affected developing countries and to assist them effectively in their self-reliance efforts.

The situation in Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be a concern to us, but there is hope for this sore afflicted region.

The early warning of the Director-General of FAO, Mr Saouma, and the appeals of the United Nations did not remain without response. Many governments came to the aid of the needy people through increased food and emergency aid, through transport and distribution aid, and through measures for the rehabilitation of their own agriculture and food economy. My country has had an important share in this especially through NGOs. The President of my country, Herr von Weizsäcker, convinced himself personally of the effectiveness of such aid measures in Sudan.

I would like to congratulate my African colleagues on their clear political will that food and agriculture be given priority, and I also welcome the recent declaration of the African heads of state and government that in the future 25 percent of all public investment should go to agriculture, thus giving due account to the key role of agriculture in overall economic development. But it is also important that deeds should follow words and it is consequent that during this Conference we will have to consider the question of adequate producer prices and other adequate incentives to increase agricultural production.

In 1984 the Federal Republic of Germany supported the developing countries in their self-reliance efforts by granting an amount of 7,9 billion DM alone of ODA. We have long given priority to rural development in that cooperation. Its share in 1984 went up to 26 percent.

According to the motto “aid and trade” my country has further expanded its trade with developing countries. Last year 16 percent of our total imports came from developing countries. Their value augmented to 70 billion DM, and among which could be found a growing share of semi-processed and processed goods. The value of agricultural imports of the Federal Republic of Germany (55 billion DM) in 1984 also increased markedly. About half of these came from non-EEC countries. Developing countries again had a share of 55 percent in those imports. This confirms the open door policy pursued by my country. Increasing agricultural protectionism as imputed in the Conference document on international agricultural adjustment is therefore - as far as my country is concerned - out of the question.

The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany welcomes the results of the 1984 World Fisheries Conference. The development and adequate management of the living resources of the sea can undoubtedly improve the food situation in many countries. Moreover, I believe that inland fisheries should in the future contribute to a much greater extent to food security.

I have an open mind to the proposal by the Director-General that the international community should, at this Conference when celebrating the 40 years anniversary of the FAO, reaffirm its determination to combat hunger.

In the Programme of Work and Budget proposed by the Director-General for 1986/87 priority is given to the promotion of plant and animal production as well as to rural development. Without neglecting any regions, Africa is a priority, and as a matter of principle I welcome this thrust. With regard to all programmatic and financial policy decisions, however, we undoubtedly agree that for all actions the principle of the greatest possible economy must also apply to international organizations. I consider the conservation and rational use of plant genetic resources to, also be part of our efforts towards a better ecological balance. However, the activities of FAO in that field should not affect the initiative and rights of private breeders; this would only hamper progress and impede further developments. Our aim is to avoid overlapping with other institutions and to come to a really universal cooperation through the accession of further countries. The same applies to the Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides.

Finally, I welcome our new members, the Cook Islands and the Solomon Islands. I extend to them words of welcome from my Government. I would like to recollect that if we also include the International Institute for Agriculture already set up in 1905 in Rome, we can now look back on eighty years of international cooperation in the agricultural sector.

I would like to thank the Director-General, Dr Saouma, and his staff for the good preparation for this Conference. Mr Chairman, I wish you the best of luck in chairing this important Conference, and us all a good Conference result. The international community will not measure this result by the words spoken or printed here - paper does not feed people - but by the actions which follow our decisions.

M. EL-KURDY (Syria) (original language Arabic): Allow me firstly to congratulate warmly the Chairman of our Conference on the warranted trust shown in him. I would also like to congratulate all the delegations for their excellent choice and for their cooperation, and I wish this Conference every success in its proceedings. The delegation of my country will make every effort in our cooperation towards the success we all wish to this Conference, and to this Organization in general.

Also, I wish to welcome the new members - the Cook Islands and the Solomon Islands - who will participate in the struggle for development and for the elimination of hunger and poverty throughout the world.

I congratulate this Organization, its delegations, its Director-General and its Secretariat on this very important occasion, the 40th Anniversary of FAO, because the whole world needs the activities of FAO. The whole world needs to benefit from the great experience of FAO which, in fact, has been mentioned by our Director-General, Dr Saouma, in his very important statement in which he dotted the “i”s with great courage, sincerity and credibility, by mentioning the guidelines which should be followed in order to achieve true scientific progress in both sectors - plants and animal resources - involving the agricultural resources of countries. I would like to congratulate the Director-General on the universality of his statement and for his deep understanding of the problems of our time. I am convinced that the Organization is guided by a dynamic and scientific spirit, and that it will follow the right path.

The Republic of Syria considers itself to be an active element in achieving the objectives of this Organization. We consider that policies for improving agricultural and food production are in line with the objectives clearly laid down in the general Conferences. They give priority to the role of the agricultural sector in development by mobilizing every possibility to achieve this aim and involve the agricultural producers in planning. Planning plays a vital role in rural development, as also do women. Plans have been drawn up to achieve these objectives through the mobilizatíon of resources, i would say that great efforts were made by the government, popular and professional organizations in my country in the fifth Five Year Plan for economic and social development 1981-85. The planning and financial policies and training programmes took appropriate directions in order to improve production by using limited resources, while taking account of the need to defend our country from external dangers.

We had to take into consideration the effects of climate on agricultural production. During the five-year period, our country carried out further steps towards self-sufficiency in a number of areas such as grains, horticulture, fruit, potatoes, white meat, eggs and other products. At present, we are working on the sixth Five-Year Plan for economic and social development 1986-90, and we are fully aware of the importance of the food problem on the national, regional and international level.

We will make use of every resource we have on the basis of the views of our leader, President Assad, and I quote him: “We should in the area of agricultural development proceed very seriously and apply the plans drawn up very seriously also. We must work out new ambitious plans because the agricultural potentials of Syria are very great and we have to place them in the general context of production conditions”.

On the basis of the aspirations of our people, we will do what we can to achieve self-sufficiency by adopting a policy based on the following goals: 1) to affirm the role of human resources and their participation in agricultural production from the small farm or village, the smallest economic and industrial units, to the town, and the whole country; 2) to increase the cultivated acreage, to reduce the non-irrigated areas; 3) to increase irrigated areas by using water resources through land reclamation and irrigation programmes; 4) to mechanize agriculture and to use modern technological methods; 5) to increase the productivity of animal resources, to improve health care and to use artificial insemination methods; 6) to build road infrastructure, to exploit water resources, and to encourage social advancement of rural communities; 7) to increase the production of fodder; 8) to give a greater importance to investments and to supply production input; 9) to improve genetic resources and animal species; 10) to improve agriculture in all its sectors, animal and plants; 11) to encourage the use of replacement energy resources such as wind and sun, because Syria is a rich country in solar energy and in wind energy; 12) to plan and cooperate between different sectors on the basis of replacement energy resources; 13) to encourage the adoption of a balanced policy for pricing; 14) to improve inputs by increasing yields and thus agricultural output as a whole; 15) to give greater importance to producers, starting with the workers right up to the engineers, through training and social programmes in these sectors of the population, and to give priority to these because without them we cannot achieve our goal at all. We shall therefore seek to carry out our agricultural development. We are able to produce a greater range of agricultural and food products, and are able to achieve food security. We will go even further and secure surpluses for barter exchanges providing we can invest our resources adequately. Our food security is linked to our national and political security which is constantly threatened by Imperialism and Zionism. The occupation of some of our land by Israel and its constant endeavours to destroy our political security and therefore our food security bears witness to this. As for us, we are forced to defend our very existence. Mr President, the Arab Syrian Republic as a member of the international community strives for the well-being of mankind. We look to the future hoping to carry out our development programmes, and to achieve food security for the benefit of all. We therefore declare our support for the wise policy adopted by FAO which seeks to increase agricultural production throughout the world. We support the projects and programmes of FAO, and the field programmes to be found in the Programme of Work and Budget for the next biennium. These are in line with our aspirations, and with the possibilities of the Organization. We would also like to voice our support for the World Food Programme and hope to reach the pledged target.

I would like to say something about the Technical Cooperation Programme. In the last few years this has shown itself to be an innovative instrument for the achievement of the objectives of development. The studies carried out by the Organization with regard to basic pricing policy are very important in implementing agricultural development strategy quantitatively and qualitatively. Food security is the responsibility of all mankind. It is indeed a noble aim. All of us should be able at any time to produce enough to satisfy our own basic needs, which is why we think the world food security compact is a constructive step towards collaboration and solidarity, be it between developing and developed countries, groups, or individuals, to attain the human goals which it embodies. As for agricultural technology, to which FAO seeks to improve access by developing countries, we should welcome the efforts of the Organization, its Council, as well as various committees, for the technical studies that have been carried out.

For example, I should mention the study, preparation and amendment of the Code of Conduct for the Distribution and Use of Pesticides, and the drawing up of voluntary rules for all those active in the field of pesticides - industry, trade users, and so on - so as to prevent their adverse effects on human health or the environment. Thus we hope that pesticide producers will abide by the recourse dates laid down in this code of conduct and lay down guidelines to ensure their optimal and safe use for the benefit of mankind. We greatly appreciate the studies carried out and working papers prepared on the projected bank of plant genetic resources and the efforts being made by the Organization to carry out this project, the programmes of work involving fisheries and the setting up of an international fund for the development of forestry to prevent its degradation.

The seriousness of the studies carried out on the world agricultural census, these technical achievements are of enormous utility. We should like to pay tribute to the giant task performed by all those concerned in this Organization to this end.

While talking about these achievements, I would like to say that all this could not have been done without the wise and courageous leadership of Dr Saouma, the Director-General of this Organization to whom we pay tribute here. Future generations will never forget your excellent work nor your devotion to the service of mankind at a critical moment in our history.

Before concluding I would like once again to talk about the achievements of the Damascus Regional Bureau and its collaboration with the technical and agricultural organs as well as with all the Ministries of State and their institutions. It has an excellent record of following, and there has been good project performance in Syria. These were very useful projects which have been crowited with success. Permit me once again in this connection to thank the Director-General of this Organization and those responsible for the Regional Bureau.

Mr Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your attention. I wish FAO and its useful and constructive conferences every success.

I would like to express the wish that peace, equality, well-being and justice will prevail for all.

LE PRESIDENT: Je remercie l’Honorable délégué de la Syrie. Cependant, en vertu du mandat que vous m’avez confié, il me semble nécessaire d’appeler votre attention sur le fait que, au cours de nos débats qui sont concentrés sur des problèmes concrets de faim et d’alimentation du monde, nous devons éviter toute politisation quelconque et toute référence, pour ne pas dire toute attaque directe, contre un pays membre de l’Organisation.

C. CORREIA (Guinée-Bissau) (langue originale portugaise): Permettez que mes premières paroles soient pour féliciter M. Jean-Baptiste Yonke pour sa brillante élection cornme président de la 23ème Conférence générale de la FAO; cette élection témoigne la confiance que cette auguste assemblée met dans sa compétence et dans son sens de la justice et de l’intégrité, qualités nécessaires au succès de cette conférence qui marque le quarantième anniversaire de notre chère Organisation.

Monsieur le Président, j’aimerais aussi réitérer à M. Edouard Saouma, Directeur général de la FAO, notre ferme appui pour la façon dont il a conduit avec efficacité les destinées de la FAO et pour le nouveau dynamisme qu’il y a introduit au cours de ces dernières années.

Nous ne pouvons manquer de relever ici, à l’occasion du quarantième anniversaire de sa fondation, le rôle important que la FAO a joué dans la résolution des problèmes de l’agriculture et de l’alimentation du monde entier et, en particulier, de notre continent.

Dans notre pays, cette date a été commémorée en l’honorable présence du Camarade Secrétaire général du PAIGC, Président du Conseil d’Etat, João Bernardo Vieira à l’occasion de la Journée mondiale de l’alimentation.

Il a été alors particulièrement remarqué le rôle que la FAO a joué en Guinée-Bissau depuis que notre pays est membre de cette Organisation, et plus précisément dans les études et financement des projets agricoles et aide alimentaire.

Pour cela nous voulons une fois de plus ici, devant: cette grande assemblée, réaffirmer à la FAO la confiance que nous mettons dans sa capacité à continuer à jouer un rôle important dans le développement agricole du monde entier, en particulier dans le continent africain, où la situation s’est aggravée ces dernières années.

Monsieur le Président, la coīncidence de la réalisation de cette 23ème Conférence avec le 40ème anniversaire de la FAO nous conduit à penser à la nécessité pour tous les membres ici présents de ne pas épargner leurs efforts pour le succès de cette Conférence.

Les thèmes de débat par leur importance et leur pertinence ne nous laissent pas douter des décisions opportunes qui seront prises et de leur application pratique en vue d’une meilleure équité dans la distribution des ressources économiques mondiales.

Ma délégation veut profiter de cette occasion pour féliciter cette Organisation pour son attention aux problèmes forestiers dans le monde, attention qui s’est traduite par la désignation de cette année comme Année internationale de la forêt.

C’est pour appeler l’attention et alerter la conscience collective et individuelle ainsi que pour obtenir un appui pour la sauvegarde des forêts et faire mieux connaître son rôle dans le développement rural que la FAO a déclaré l’année 1985 “Année internationale de la forêt”. L’institution du “Mois de l’arbre” dans notre pays et les activités réalisées ont été considérées par notre Gouvernement comme notre contribution à l’Année internationale de la forêt. Cette première année d’application des décisions du gouvernement sur le “Mois de l’arbre” a été un success incontestable.

Les surfaces initialement prévues furent largement dépassées.

Cet effort reflète notre détermination à lutter contre la désertification et les feux de brousse.

On notera aussi l’accueil que cette initiative a rencontré au sein des masses populaires et des travailleurs qui ont en fait été l’élément moteur dans l’exécution des décisions du gouvernement. Au cours des prochaines années, ce “Mois de l’arbre” sera chaque fois plus ambitieux, illustrant ainsi la contribution massive de notre peuple dans la lutte contre la dégradation de l’environnement. Nous espérons que les institutions internationales nous apporteront leur appui dans cette lutte pour la protection de l’équilibre écologique de notre pays.

Nous voulons encore, avant d’aborder quelques points de l’ordre du jour de cette Conférence, saluer l’entrée au sein de notre Organisation des nouveaux pays: les îles Cook et les îles Salomon, en espérant que leur présence contribuera à l’élargissement de cette Conférence.

Monsieur le Président, le thème central de cette conférence étant la situation de l’alimentation et de l’agriculture dans le monde, notre délégation ne peut pas ne pas faire quelques commentaires sur le cas spécifique du continent africain auquel nous appartenons.

Une fois de plus, le problème de la situation alimentaire et, en particulier de la faim dans certaines parties du monde, doit être abordé. Il y a onze ans que la Conférence mondiale des Nations Unies sur l’alimentation s’est réunie dans la belle cité de Rome, conférence historique surgie d’une crise, dont les délibérations reflétaient la détermination des dirigeants mondiaux à lutter fermement pour dénouer la crise et construire un monde sans faim et sans malnutrition.

Mais, malheureusement, onze ans après, la crise subsiste et s’aggrave. En effet, pour notre continent la situation actuelle est mauvaise. Pour illustrer cette constatation, nous pouvons recourir au rapport annuel de la FAO de 1984 qui nous dit que cette année la production mondiale de céréales a augmenté de 8,5 pour cent, mais que pour les 21 pays africains moins avancés la nécessité de l’importation de céréales est passée de 7,2 millions de tonnes en 1983 à 11,8 millions de tonnes en 1984 et sera sensiblement du même ordre cette année. Nous pouvons encore ajouter que pour la période 1970-80, si nous comparons la production des céréales et l’augmentation de la population, cette production a baissé de 10 pour cent, ce qui signifie que l’Afrique, prise dans son ensemble, produit aujourd’hui proportionnellement moins qu’il y a dix ans.

En 1985, six nouveaux pays d’Afrique - Burundi, Kenya, Maroc, Niger, Rwanda et Soudan - se sont ajoutés à la liste des quinze pays qui avaient déjà éprouvé des pénuries alimentaires “exceptionnelles” l’an dernier. Cette année, la FAO a estimé que 7 000 000 personnes étaient menacées de famine en Ethiopie, soit 1 500 000 de plus que l’an passé. L’appel à la communauté internationale a été, cette année et pour ce pays, de 1,5 million de tonnes de céréales, alors qu’il n’était que de 449 000 tonnes en 1984.

Les pays de la bande sahélienne sont aussi durement touchés, l’aide au Niger a dû passer de 31 000 tonnes en 1984 à 600 000 tonnes en 1985. Elle a dû doubler au Mali. Le Soudan, qui possédait au debut de l’année 1984 des stocks bien garnis, a dû faire appel à la communauté international en 1985 (565 000 tonnes de céréales).

Il est done nécessaire de rompre le plus rapidement possible ce cycle infernal; faible production alimentaire génératrice de malnutrition, de moindre résistance à la maladie, de réduction de la capacité de travail, de dépendance face à la communauté internationale, de dépenses en devises pour alimenter les cités urbaines, de réduction de la capacité d’autofinancement des investissements productifs, tous ces éléments qui limitent notre capacité de production, y compris la production alimentaire. C’est le défi que nous devons relever.

Cette année, pour l’Afrique occidentale, les conditions climatiques ont été plus favorables, ce qui permet d’espérer une meilleure production de céréales. En ce qui concerne mon pays, le début tardif des pluies, qui ont eu un mois de retard, a provoqué certaines perturbations dans le milieu rural, mais nous espérons dépasser la production de 1984 et réduire le déficit alimentaire qui est cette année de 35 000 tonnes, malgré les attaques des sauterelles qui ont détruit près de 40 pour cent de la production dans certains cas, principalement dans la région nord de notre pays. L’absence de moyens pour combattre cette calamité a beaucoup limité notre capacité d’intervention, rendant possible que ce fléau cause encore plus de dommages. Nous allons devoir de nouveau recourir à l’aide internationale pour colmater le déficit alimentaire et, pour cela, nous lançons déjà un appel à la communauté pour qu’elle aide notre peuple qui, dans cette campagne, développe d’énormes efforts pour accomplir ce qui a été programme.

Monsieur le Président, quant au problème du budget pour 1986-87, face à l’importance de cette question et tenant compte que la FAO, organisme des Nations Unies créé spécialement pour s’occuper des problèmes d’alimentation et d’agriculture, ne pourra répondre efficacement à nos demandes croissantes si le budget continue à obtenir la théorie de croissance zéro, ainsi que le préconisent certains pays, notre délégation regrette que le budget pour les deux prochaines années soit insuffisant pour la complète réalisation des obligations, appuie cependant le montant proposé ainsi que les stratégies, les priorités et les programmes de travail inhérent au budget 1986-87.

En ce qui concerne le programme de travail dans les domaines de l’agriculture et de l’alimentation, nous voudrions féliciter le Comité de l’agriculture pour sa contribution à la présentation de ce document. Nous relevons encore l’accent qu’il met sur le développement des cultures alimentaires, sur l’approvisionnement en facteur de production des petits agriculteurs, sur l’enseignement, la formation et la vulgarisation et surtout le rôle des cultures secondaires pour la nutrition et la sécurité alimentaire.

Quant au Code international de conduite pour la distribution des pesticides, notre délégation veut rendre hommage aux efforts dévolus dans le sens de l’élaboration de ce code, en plein accord avec ses objectifs fondamentaux et avec le projet de résolution concernant ce sujet.

Notre pays, considéré comme un des plus gravement affectés, ne peut pas ne pas souligner l’aide que le Programme alimentaire mondial lui a consacrée. Pour cela nous voudrions lancer un appel aux pays donateurs à ne pas diminuer leur contribution à cet organisme, afin qu’il puisse répondre efficacement aux sollicitations qui lui sont faites. Nous en profitons aussi pour donner notre plein accord à la philosophie de l’aide alimentaire pour le développement.

Le Pacte mondial de sécurité alimentaire est une preuve de plus des préoccupations de la FAO quant aux problèmes d’alimentation du monde entier.

Pour cela, notre délégation veut réaffirmer son total appui et son engagement à ce Pacte et veut lancer un appel à tous les pays qui, pour une raison ou une autre, s’en sont dissociés, afin qu’ils profitent de la célébration du quarantième Anniversaire de la FAO pour rectifier leur position et contribuer ainsi à une digne célébration de cet événement.

Monsieur le Président, la Guinée-Bissau est un petit pays, pauvre, sans grandes ressources, et se débat dans d’immenses difficultés. Malgré cette situation, aggravée par les problèmes de sécheresse qui dévaste notre sous-région, notre parti et notre gouvernement n’ont pas économisé leurs efforts dans le but d’altérer cette réalité et de mettre notre peuple sur le chemin d’un développement autocentré ayant pour base l’agriculture.

Amilcar Cabral disait que l’agriculture est l’économie de la Guinée-Bissau, car sans elle il n’existe ni commerce ni industrie.

Cette orientation se reflète dans notre premier plan quadriennal de développement socio-éconotnique 1983/86, qui place l’agriculture au centre des efforts de développement en vue d’assurer, comme première priorité, la satisfaction des néçessités essentielles de la population, en particulier l’autosuffisance alimentaire.

Réactiver l’économie en cherchant les conditions normales d’échange dans le.domaine commercial, et en cherchant aussi à mettre à la disposition des paysans les biens qui leur sont essentiels pour augmenter leur production.

Obtenir l’autosuffisance alimentaire et le développement des produits d’exportation, en mobilisant toutes les potentialités du secteur agricole.

Pour le premier aspect, l’autosuffisance alimentaire, notre action repose prioritairement sur le riz, le maïs, le sorgho et le mil, délaissant les tubercules, surtout le manioc. C’est ainsi que se développent des efforts considérables dans divers centres, soit pour la production des semences amé-liorées et des propagules, soit pour l’introduction de nouvelles variétés plus appropriées à la diminution et aux irrégularités des pluies, facteurs qui rendent difficile à l’extrême notre agriculture et nous mènent à profiter des petites vallées pour réduire les effets néfastes de la sécheresse.

L’introduction graduelle de l’irrigation à l’aide de la construction de barrages et de digues va nous permettre d’améliorer notre agriculture et d’atteindre notre objectif d’autosuffisance alimentaire.

Quant aux cultures commerciales, nous continuerons la campagne pour l’augmentation de la production d’arachide, de coton et surtout de noix de cajou et de palmistes.

La frutticulture a mérité une attention spéciale. Nous espérons pour bientôt l’introduction du Centre fruticole, destiné à la production des plantes et de propagules.

Nous comptons maintenir cette orientation dans l’élaboration de notre second Plan de développement économique et social, afin de permettre le développement désiré de notre agriculture, base de toute notre économie.

Mais pour atteindre cet objectif, il nous faut mieux appréhender, mieux connaître notre monde rural. C’est pourquoi nous sollicitons une nouvelle fois la FAO afin qu’elle contribue à soutenir nos efforts quant à la création d’un service statistique agricole national, qui pourra être la base d’un programme de recensement agricole en 1990.

La pêche, richesse d’une valeur inestimable tant au plan économique qu’au plan alimentaire, est une des preoccupations de notre gouvernement. Ainsi notre pays a activement participé à la Conférence mondiale de la FAO sur l’aménagement et le développement de la pêche.

Nous souhaitons attirer l’attention sur les efforts faits par la FAO dans ce domaine, tout particu-lièrement quant à l’application des principales resolutions issues de cette conférence, comme la Stratégie pour l’aménagement et le développement de la pêche et les programmes d’action.

Monsieur le Président, pour terminer, notre délégation voudrait une fois de plus renouveler ses chaleureuses félicitations à la FAO pour son quarantième anniversaire, en espérant qu’avec une nouvelle dynamique et des moyens qui devront être mis à sa disposition, nous puissions récupérer le retard des dix dernières années et atteindre les objectifs du document “Agriculture -Horizon 2000”, qui sont d’en finir avec la faim et la malnutrition dans le monde.

Nous voulons aussi féliciter le Secrétariat de cette conférence pour l’excellente organisation grâce à laquelle il a rendu plus brillant encore ce quarantième anniversaire de l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture.

B. SINGH (India): It is a matter of privilege and happiness for me to address the Twenty-third session of the FAO Conference which marks the completion of 40 years. FAO has done pioneering work for improvement of world agriculture and eradication of hunger and malnutrition from the.face of the world. Under your stewardship, Mr Edouard Saouma, these efforts have been brought into sharper focus in the recent years. I offer my warmest felicitations to the FAO on completion of 40 years of glorious service in the pursuit of the basic needs of the human race.

I would like to congratulate you, Mr Chairman, on your unanimous election and for your wise leadership. I also wish to thank all members for electing me as one of the Vice-Chairmen of this Conference.

We find ourselves in a unique and highly paradoxical situation insofar as world food and agriculture is concerned. There is hunger, starvation and malnutrition in the midst of plenty. Agriculture in Che less developed countries has to face severe constraints of lack of resources, declining terms of trade, mounting protectionism and crippling effects of staggering indebtedness. With the efforts of National governments and above all the toil of our own farmers strongly backed by our agricultural scientists and assisted by FAO and other international and bilateral agencies the global food supplies have in the last decade more than kept pace with the population growth. However, the present world food grains reserves should not make us complacent about the future. These gains in production and productivity have not been uniform all over the world and in a number of developing..countries the situation is far from satisfactory; even critical. The developing countries as a group who were net exporters of food in the 70s have now become net importers. Mounting population pressure and reckless exploitation of natural endowments have taken a heavy toll resulting in a declining trend in agricultural production.

To arrest this trend it is of paramount importance to provide suitable infrastructure, institutions, resources, research back-up and remunerative prices to the producers.

The Director-General of Food and Agriculture Organization; Dr Saouma, in his statement yesterday has depicted a graphic picture of the situation and has also underlined a number of remedial measures, including the need for greater international support for development of agriculture, forests and fisheries in the developing countries.

Yesterday, His Excellency the President of Peru in his highly inspiring and thought-provoking McDougall Memorial Lecture drew attention to the harm that can be done to a nation’s economy if the locally adapted crops as well as rural areas are neglected. Mahatma Gandhi used to remind us in India that India dies if our villages die,and the soul of India resides in our villages and that if the drain of brains and funds from the villages to the cities is allowed to continue, rural economies will stagnate and the unplanned migration of rural poor to the cities will become a serious problem.

We in India have made significant gains in agricultural production in the last three decades. Our food output has increased from 51 million tons in 1950 to over 152 million tons in 1983-84. This increase in food production has been possible through a combination of research support, introduction of soil and water management, development of drought resistant and high yielding varieties of seeds and improvement in the input delivery system coupled with price support and procurement measures.

We are convinced that future gains in agricultural production in our country would come by increasing productivity of small and marginal farming units, especially under rain-fed agricultural conditions. We also have to re-emphasize the importance of crops which are grown in these areas and which are largely consumed by the poorer sections. We also propose to attach more importance to the post-harvest management aspects in order to increase added value available to the farmers as well as to reduce post-harvest losses.

We have also taken steps to improve the access of the poor to food through a variety of rural development schemes for alleviating poverty, providing rural employment and improving income levels of the rural poor. In this task, involvement of women continues to be the centre of focus of our integrated rural development programmes.

The management of our natural resources in the form of soil and water has been receiving constant attention. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi has stressed the need for reorienting land use patterns

based on sound principles of ecology and economics. For this purpose the Government of India has set up a National Land Use Board, and a National Land Resources Conservation and Development Commission. These bodies should help farmers to grow crops which will do best in the given agro-ecological conditions in our areas. In the forestry sector our programmes and policies have emphasized greater participation of the rural communities in forestry programmes and we plan to bring five million hectares of degraded and waste lands under permanent vegetative cover every year.

Over this period Indian agriculture has acquired a certain degree of resilience and it is no more exposed to the vagaries of weather to the same extent. I must tell our African brothers and sisters that they will certainly overcome their current difficulties on the food production front very soon just as we in India have been abletodoso. Droughts, floods and other natural aberrations affect some parts of our large country almost every year. We have, therefore, long experience in the management of drought and other natural calamities. We concentrate during such periods not only on providing relief and rehabilitation measures for the human and animal population but also on launching compensatory production programmes to offset to the extent possible losses to crops. Through these steps we manage to reduce the total drop in food production considerably even during years of aberrant weather.

In order to share our long experience in drought and disaster management with our friends in the developing countries we are establishing an Institute of Disaster Management. We will be happy to offer to all who may be interested opportunities in this Institute to study our experience in disaster prevention and management.

Let me share a few more thoughts with this distinguished Assembly of the world agriculture leaders and scientists. Our late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in her McDougall Memorial Lecture in this very Hall in 1981 described numerous steps that have led to a big change in Indian agriculture and which are now serving as milestones to our planners when she is no more with us. She rightly stressed that there is no miracle in agricultural development and that only hard and well planned work can help a country achieve the desired rate of agricultural growth. In our own experience farmers will deliver the goods if they are enabled to do so through effective and scientific extension support programmes and Government policies, particularly in input and output pricing. Assuring a fair and remunerative price to farmers has been the corner-stone of our policy. Since we have to simultaneously stimulate greater production by small farmers and greater- consumption by the rural and urban poor, fixing procurement prices for agricultural commodities becomes a complex exercise. We have now assured a basic minimum price not only for wheat, rice, maize and other cereals but also for millets, oilseeds, pulses, coconut, jute, cotton, potatoes and onions. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi attaches such a great importance to pricing policies that, on his suggestion, our Agricultural Prices Commission has recently been restructured as a Commission on Agriculture Cost and Prices. Our aim is to promote the terms of trade which are favourable to the rural population.

We strongly subscribe to the ideas of Dr Swaminathan, who is the pioneer of the green revolution in India and, for that matter, in Asia, with regard to various constructive steps that he enumerated in his report this morning.

We recognize that while appropriate policies and programmes pursued by developing countries themselves would be in the long run basic to greater agriculture production and success of food to the poor, developing countries in the present economic, financial and trade environment cannot achieve these goals by themselves alone. They more than ever at this juncture require greater understanding and cooperation from the developed world. Their untapped potential in agriculture, forestry and fisheries cannot be realised without a substantial fresh inflow of resources and technology. We feel that initiatives like the World Food Security Compact and the Code of Conduct on Pesticides are. steps in the right direction to promote international cooperation in agriculture. We would like to strongly urge the international community to rededicate itself to the noble objectives of the Food and Agriculture Organization.

Permit me to conclude my statement by recalling the words of our great leader Indira Gandhi contained in her last message to the Food and Agriculture Organization in this very Hall and I quote:

“Recognition that human actions determine the future of the raw material of life must awaken us to our responsibilities. Through education we must re-establish the sacred dimensions that view the resources of the world - the air and space, the earth, water, plants, animals - as a common heritage to nurture and use frugally. Life can survive only through deep awareness of the globe as one and a sharing óf the earth’s riches in harmony, without unsettling the equilibrium of disturbing natural laws.”

G.J.M. BRAKS (Pays-Bas): C’est un grand privilege pour moi d’adresser la parole à cette reunion plénière de la FAO sous votre excellente présidence. En tout premier lieu je voudrais m’associer de tout coeur aux nombreuses félicitations, bien méritées, qui ont été adressées à notre Organisation à l’occasion de son 40ème anniversaire.

Je souhaite la bienvenue aux membres nouveaux: les lies Cook et les lies Salomon.

Monsieur le Président, il y a deux ans, j’ai exprimé à cette même tribune à quel point la situation alimentaire dramatique dans un grandnombre de pays préoccupait le gouvernement néerlandais.

La FAO contribue essentiellement à faire avancer la solution des problèmes dans le tiers monde. Mais sans volonté politique, sans coopération et sans solidarité, aucune organisation n’est capable d’éliminer la faim et la malnutrition. D’autre part, sans la présence d’une organisation efficace, même les plus nobles aspirations sont condamnées à l’échec.

Consacrant un grand effort au développement de l’agriculture dans le monde, les Pays-Bas sont connus comme grand partisan de la FAO. Mais il reste pour nous tous une tâche importante à accomplir. Dans le cadre il est fort important que nos decisions soient prises par consensus.

En effet, des décisions prises par majorité contribuent à peine à la réalisation de nos objectifs - objectifs qui ne peuvent être réalises que par une action de concert. A cet égard, j’ai l’intention de développer en coopération avec les autres pays membres, dans les mois qui viennent, des projets de procédures qui envisagent d’obtenir ce consensus indispensable. Il faut poursuivre nos efforts en faveur du developpement agricole, base et moteur à notre avis de tout progrès économique.

La coopération, dans le cadre national, entre pays et entre organisations-, internationales, est une condition essentielle à cet effet. Pour cette raison, j’ai été particulièrement content d’apprendre que la FAO et le PAM se sont mis d’accord sur de nouvelles modalités de coopération.

Beaucoup de pays, notamment en Afrique, font face à des problèmes très specifiques. Pour les identifier et pour les résoudre, des programmes sur mesure sont nécessaires. Dans ce contexte, la FAO a, en effet, la fonction d’un “courtier honnête”, un médiateur pragmatique et expert. Je souscris à cette fonction. Nous, à notre tour, devons juger le programme de travail et le budget de la FAO avec le même sens de pragmatisme. Si d’une part la rigueur financière est nécessaire, il n’en reste pas moins indispensable que la FAO continue à disposer d’un équipement suffisant pour pouvoir mener une action efficace elle-même.

Monsieur le President, le lien qui nous unit ici est notre souci commun pour le secteur agricole dans le monde. Notre responsabilité n’en est pas une de celui qui donne et de l’autre part quelqu’un qui reçoit. Notre interdépendance nous oblige à tenir compte de nos intérêts mutuels. La politique néerlandaise reste orientée vers l’accroissement de la sécurité alimentaire locale par le renforcement des structures de production. Il s’agit surtout d’encourager les mesures ayant un effet structurel. A titre d’exemple, je mentionne la formation professionnelle des agriculteurs, l’organisation de la transformation et de la commercialisation et surtout des prix à la production suffisamment élevés.

Beaucoup de pays en voie de développement ont déjà mis au point des stratégies alimentaires en vue d’intensifier leur production. Et beaucoup de pays donateurs, parmi lesquels les Pays-Bas, appuient ce processus. Grâce à des strategies alimentaires adéquates, certains pays asiatiques sent même devenus des exportateurs de produits agricoles aujourd’hui.

Mais, en dépit de tous les efforts, la situation actuelle dans un grand nombre de pays africains est toujours alarmante. Et hélas, la pénurie alimentaire frappe encore des régions en Amérique latine et en Asie. Les mesures destinées à améliorer les structures ne produiront de l’effet qu’à moyen terme. Et ce terme sera d’autant plus long que les impératifs écologiques seront également pris en compte. Pensez seulement aux problèmes que posent l’erosion et la déforestation. D’autre part pour pallier aux besoins alimentaires à court terme, l’aide alimentaire reste un instrument néces-saire. Cette aide alimentaire doit être fournie à des conditions bien déterminées. Il s’agit en effet de ne pas briser les potentialités de la production.locale et de ne pas aggraver la dépendance alimentaire.

Monsieur le Président, nous savons tous que la situation alimentaire dans le monde est bien para-doxale: faim et malnutrition dans de grandes parties de la terre contre excédents sans cesse croissants dans d’autres parties du monde. Ces deux problèmes sont une préoccupation majeure du Gouvernement néerlandais et de bien d’autres. La solution de ce paradoxe paraît évidente à première vue: écouler les excédents, gratuitement ou à des prix très réduits, dans les regions déficitaires par la voie du marché mondial. Je n’hesite pas à dire aujourd’hui’que c’est un semblant de solution qui nous conduirait de mal en pis. Ce serait la fuite devant les responsabilités; ce serait aussi méconnaître l’importance du marché mondial pour les pays engages dans les échanges mondiaux.

Cette importance varie, il est vrai, selon les produits et selon les pays. Assumer sa part des responsabilités pour le fonctionnement du marché mondial, cela signifie avant tout le respect des regies du jeu par les participants au commerce mondial. Ces règies sont fixées, en grande partie, par le GATT. Sauf quelques exceptions inévitables, elles s’appliquent également au commerce agricole. En complement aux règies du GATT, des règies particulières dans le cadre d’ accords internationaux sur les produits de base sont justifiées.

Quant aux exceptions inévitables aux rèles du GATT, celles-ci sont en général justifiées par la place toute particulière que l’agriculture occupe dans chaque pays. L’agriculture doit, en effet, subvenir au besoin le plus élémentaire des hommes: la nourriture. Ce rôle ne se discute pas. La politique agricole de chaque pays vise done à assurer l’approvisionnement alimentaire. La production agricole reste toujours sujette aux caprices de lá nature. Cela résulte dans un désé-quilibre fréquent entre l’offre et la demande, se traduisant tantôt par des déficits tantôt par des excédents.

Cette situation provoque des fluctuations de prix parfois très considerables. L’intérêt des producteurs et des consommateurs, par contre, est la stabilité des prix.

Enfin, il y a l’aspect socio-économique: afin de maintenir la production agricole, il faut que l’agriculteur puisse tirer un revenu équitable de son activité. Pour ces motifs, les gouvernements ont tendance à intervenir dans le secteur agricole, par exemple. sous la forme de soutien du marché ou d’amélioration des structures de production.

Alors il existe toujours une friction entre la politique du revenu et du commerce. Ces deux poli-tiques sont difficiles à combiner pour tous les pays.

Quand nous voulons une libération de commerce plus grande, nous devons accepter aussi qu’une telle politique donne des limitations à la politique du revenu. Ces limitations sont données également dans le cadre du GATT. Les règies du GATT donnent certaines exceptions qui, à mon avis, sont parfaitement justifiées.

Mais, Monsieur le Président, en ce qui concerne le commerce agricole, les exceptions risquent de devenir la règie. Voilà pourquoi le Comité du commerce des produits agricoles du GATT a formulé des recommandations pour soumettre le commerce agricole plus strictement aux règies du GATT. Leur objectif est de faire progresser la libéralisation des échanges de ces produits.

Les conclusions de ce Comité constitueront probablement le thème central des prochaines négociations du GATT, pour autant qu’elles concernent également l’agriculture.

Il est évident que la Communauté éuropéenne - le plus grand importateur et le deuxième exportateur de produits agricoles dans le monde – participera à ces négociations. Consciente de sa responsa-bilité, elle consentira sans le moindre doute un grand effort à l’amélioration du climat commercial international.

On se tromperait done de croire que la Commission éuropéenne s’engagera dans ces négociations avec la même réticence qu’elle a eue dans le passé. Tenant compte de ses responsabilités, une telle réticence ne serait pas à sa place, à mon avis.

Pour respecter le temps, je demanderai aux délégués de lire les dernières pages de mon intervention et je vais conclure en répétant à nouveau les suggestions que je vous adresse, M. le Président. Je terminerai en disant que l’approvisionnement alimentaire du monde est de notre responsabilité, mais pas seulement pour aujourd’hui, surtout pour demain.

C.J. MOYLE (New Zealand): I welcome the opportunity to make a statement on behalf of the people of New Zealand. I must say at the outset however, that my comments may be more closely coloured by my own responsibilities and frustrations as a minister of agriculture and fisheries than is usual in such an address.

I am encouraged to talk directly after discussions with some of you in a similar position to mine. We know that no minister of agriculture today can be concerned only with agricultural production. We must fit systems of production into the larger tasks of processing, and of rural development into the still larger task of sharing development between countries and into the awesome task of trading agricultural produce in international markets.

Many of these markets pay lip service to the economic principles of free trade, but reject each such principle when it is time to put it into practice.

I will return later in my address to the potential chaos of international marketing in agricultural produce.

I would first like to record New Zealand’s special concern for the developing island states of the Pacific Region. Understandably, I think, most of our aid is directed to these neighbours of ours, with special emphasis on agricultural development. In common with other developing countries, these island states have limited natural resources and high population pressures, and still have much work in front of them in developing their technical and economic infrastructures while safeguarding their cultural values. These relatively small countries are handicapped by their isolation and high transport costs. We believe they need help in compensating for these disadvantages.

Of some $NZ115 million allocated to our overseas development assistance in 1985-86, 70 percent is being distributed on a bilateral basis, and some 80 percent of this is targeted for South Pacific Island States. I quote these statistics to illustrate the thrust of our responsibilities as we see them, and to ask that international agencies do not overlook these smaller communities in developing their more broadly-based programmes.

Most important though, I must point out that in our shared development with the South Pacific Island States, we have provided assistance with shipping, with marketing facilities, and with especially-tailored arrangements for marketing tropical agricultural products in New Zealand. We believe that agricultural development must be linked to practical marketing opportunities.

I do recognize - especially as we join in reviewing 40 years of hard and sustained work in this significant year of the FAO’s history - that FAO’s vision must extend well past our remote corner of the globe. Inevitably, recent disastrous variations in climate, and the cruel loss of life associated with these changes, have focused much of the Oganization’s attention on the imperatives of increasing food production in many African countries.

It has not been possible for us in New Zealand, remote as we are, to be unaware of Africa’s needs. The New Zealand people, both through official channels and in more spontaneous ways, have responded with help for a variety of projects. In recent changes signalling a significant widening of

New Zealand’s concerns, the government to which I belong has moved to establish direct diplomatic links with a number of countries - particularly those of the Commonwealth - on the African continent. We look forward confidently, and with some excitement, to the further development of these relationships.

Consequently New Zealand welcomes the emphasis in the current FAO Programme on improving food-producing systems in Africa, together with the programme’s emphasis on food information and early warning systems.

We in New Zealand have built up a quite formidable expertise in many aspects of land-based productivity, particularly as far as pastoral agriculture and forestry are concerned. We will continue to explore ways in which that expertise can be shared. We accept that some expertise must be delivered in response to emergency situations, but we are more attracted to opportunities to work with African partners on specific projects that help them towards long-term self-sufficiency.

Mr Chairman, there is much in the technical record of the FAO that I can readily support, and indeed, admire. The FAO’s record in helping to alleviate the food crisis in Africa speaks for itself. I have been impressed by the identification of special projects in the programme for the rehabilitation of agriculture in Africa. I am sure this is helping individual responses by FAO members to fit together in a positive and complementary.way.

We also strongly support the proposed international code of conduct for the distribution and use of pesticides that has been brought before this Conference. We will continue to support the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. We value our participation in Codex Committees, especially the Codex Committee on Meat Hygiene, which we have had the honour to host since its inception.

Mr Chairman, in its 40 years of service, the FAO has clearly recorded considerable and commendable technical success. It can anticipate further success from the technical applications now being put in place.

But unless, as members of this world forum know, we widen our current approach, FAO must fail, despite past successes.

FAO’s major objectives of sufficiency, adequacy, security, and efficiency of food supplies; and its objective of domestic stability, simply will not be met, unless we are prepared to devote enough attention to its parallel objectives of quality of access and purchasing power; stability in trade opportunities; and international pricing policies that recognize comparative advantages.

Technological skills applied to stimulating agricultural production will not help FAO succeed if we have not the shared wit or will to devise systems that allow agricultural produce to move more equitably from producer to consumer.

It is no use encouraging farmers to stay on the land if their produce is to be denied access to international markets.

My Government does not believe that you can out-think private enterprise in picking winners. We believe that this is the role of the marketplace. If one producer has a comparative advantage over another, he should be able to put better quality goods on the market at a lower price. If everyone is free to go about producing what they can do best, the better producers will be encouraged to continue, and the consumners will benefit.

Only the marketplace can provide justice for both the producer and the consumer. The alternative to free-marketing is an ever-increasing complexity of transfer payments and restrictions and conditions that spawn still more complex side-effects, as government intention distorts all the signals that should tell the producer what the consumer wants. The productive energy of farmers, processors and exporters becomes diverted away from giving advantages to consumers; and towards lobbying government policies to glean advantages for themselves.

We in New Zealand have moved dramatically in the last year to withdraw government intervention from agricultural policy.

We have reviewed the level of government assistance to major industries, both agricultural and non-agricultural.

Despite our low level of intervention by developed country standards, we have phased out remaining input subsidies, farm credit subsidies and soft loans in the agricultural sector. On the non-agricultural side we are phasing out import licensing and are reducing tariff rates. We are aiming to develop those activities that we can do best, and which can compete profitably on international markets. We hope not only for the output and the income growth that will benefit our own people, but also to provide a continuing supply of competitively priced, high quality products for the rest of the world.

These policies have not been introduced without pain. But our farmers of the future will be producing for the market. They will be more efficient competitors on any market where comparative products are sold, provided they are not denied access to international markets by protectionist policies. Protectionism is particularly frustrating when barriers are put up by countries more than strong enough, resilient enough, and wealthy enough to stand at least a little of the heat of healthy competition.

If I, on behalf of New Zealand, am expressing some of the frustration and concern that protectionist barriers to agricultural trade can cause, members of FAO must pause and consider how much more pain protectionism can cause small island states and developing countries. We all depend critically for export income on specialist agricultural products but are being denied reasonable opportunities to earn foreign exchange. Without foreign exchange the debt burden of the developing countries has become unsustainable.

I know that this dreary scenario should perhaps be more appropriately discussed in the forum of the GATT. I am bound to say, however, that we have so far found GATT a consistent disappointment as far as agricultural producers are concerned, and as I have already pointed out, we cannot discuss systems of agricultural production without looking at each whole system, involving production, processing, rural development and marketing. We simply must show a real will to come to grips with problems in international marketing. To fail, is to place the whole international economic structure in jeopardy.

Mr Chairman, FAO has many successes of which we can be be proud. This forum is pre-eminent as a centre for developing policies and programmes aimed at greater production in agriculture, and for training people to realise the potential of their own agriculture. We have every right to enjoy some measure of self-satisfaction for these successes.

But like any managers of any system anywhere, we must also stand accountable for what we have yet to do.

Certainly, we must help each nation to produce what food they can, exploiting whatever comparative advantages they enjoy. But we can not ask farmers for increased production if we cannot move their products in world trade. We cannot expect increased production in countries shackled with a agonizing burden of external debt. In the long term, a world market, as free as possible from intervention, is the only reality that will best serve the best interests of both the developed and the developing nations. I am aware of the type of pressure faced by my counterparts in industrialised nations as they choose to move away from the principle of comparative advantage. I can understand how and why protectionism has come to dominate their policies. But I must challenge the developed industrial nations to examine where government interventions in the market place must eventually lead. And I must urge them to reconsider the morality of exporting their problems of structural readjustment to lesser developed countries.

Increased food production in the developing countries and a climate for economic growth, including trade growth in the international community as a whole, should complement one another. With our agricultural base, New Zealand has an understanding of both developed and developing economies. We hope this Conference will provide the opportunities to discuss future patterns of agricultural development and assistance, and I hope we all share the aims of greater economic growth, freer international marketing and better prospects for all agricultural producers in the world.

A. PETKOV (Bulgaria) (original language Bulgarian): May I begin by congratulating Mr Jean Baptiste Yonke on his election to the post of Chairman of the present session, as well as his deputies, and wishing them successful and fruitful work so that the Twenty-third session of the FAO General Conference can achieve its highly responsible and humane objectives. My delegation stands ready to accord- you full assistance and constructive cooperation, for the solution of the questions facing us at this session.

May I also extend cordial greetings to the new fully-fledged members of FAO - the Cook Islands and the Solomon Islands.

In 1985 mankind marked the 40th anniversary of some memorable events in world history which led to major changes in the life of the people. Forty years have elapsed since the great victory over German fascism and Japanese militarism was won with the decisive contribution of the Soviet army. During the Second World War, when the heaviest battles were being waged, an idea took shape, that after the war a world organization be set up to work to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”.

The forty-year-long existence of the United Nations has proved its vitality, opportuneness and indispensability for the consolidation of peace and the establishment of peaceful coexistence among all nations. The Organization has accorded an important place to international economic cooperation as well. The UN Charter expressly states that the Organization should contribute to strengthening and developing the economic relations among all countries, that is, to promote “higher standards of living, full employment and conditions of economic and social progress and development”. Allow me.T to quote a part of the Message of the President of the State Council of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria Todor Zivkov, addressed to the UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar on the occasion of the remarkable anniversary: “The participation of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria in the activities of the United Nations is in full conformity with its consistent and constructive foreign policy, based on the principles of peaceful coexistence among states with different social systems and aimed at strengthening peace and security, developing broad and mutually advantageous cooperation”. It is common conviction that in the- nuclear and space age there is not a single global problem of our time that could be solved to the liking of only one state or one group of states. The achievement of any results in the economic, social, ecological and other fields would be unthinkable without broad international cooperation and the participation of all states on an equal and mutually-beneficial basis.

We would also like to voice our serious concern over the aggravated international situation caused by the unreasonable arms expenditure in the world, the creation of new weapons for mass destruction and the threat of militarization of space. We are convinced that everybody must realize that the world could not exist without peace on earth and that the prevention of a nuclear catastrophe is the paramount objective facing humanity. A number of scientists from the USSR, USA and other states have proved recently that the thermo-nuclear cataclysm would result in irreversible ecological consequences. This is to corroborate once again the fact that the build-up of arms for mass destruction constitutes the over-riding threat to humanity and life on earth. It is our firm belief that the termination of the arms race will free enormous financial, material and human resources, a part of which could be utilized for the development of world agriculture so there would be no more starving or undernourished people.

For 40 years the Food and Agriculture Organization remains a hope for mankind in uniting the efforts of all nations directed to the elimination of hunger and malnutrition and the settlement of a new international order on a just and democratic basis. In its forty-year history FAO has achieved big successes, rightly called to mind by the speakers at this rostrum.

The People’s Republic of Bulgaria joined the Organization in 1967 and has been taking an active part ever since in its work to combat hunger in the world. FAO has promoted the development of lines of research and production which were new to us and our region. Within the framework of FAO we on our part render assistance and share Bulgarian experience, knowledge and technology with interested countries and agricultural specialists. The People’s Republic of Bulgaria has grounds to be satisfied with its cooperation with FAO. Highly appreciating the importance of the Organization and its objectives, our country will continue to participate actively in the work for the well-being of mankind and in the name of peace on earth.

The People’s Republic of Bulgaria is a small country with relatively limited natural, water and soil resources. The arable land amounts to only 0,5 hectares per capita, and the climate is temperate and continental with frequent variations. At the latest session of the FAO Conference held in 1983, I informed you of the effects of a severe drought in my country at that time. Since then drought has become a constant companion of the Bulgarian people, affecting not only agricultural production, but other economic sectors as well. The present year is unprecedented with its record of unfavourable climatic conditions; it is the driest of the last one hundred years.

Forty years ago such a natural disaster would have inflicted innumerable sufferings on the people. But nowadays, due to the established socialist structure of our agrarian economy, food for people and livestock, as well as incomes of agricultural producers are guaranteed.

The concentration of agricultural production in the cooperatives has created the necessary conditions for the optimal mobilization of production factors. Small-scale agriculture could hardly provide short-notice possibilities, in case the need was systematic, for the most efficient utilization of water resources. Within forty years of socialist development the People’s Republic of Bulgaria has succeeded in setting up a large network of irrigation facilities, using surface and sub-soil waters. In order to counter the consequences of such natural disasters in the future, this irrigation system, covering now over 25 percent of the arable land, will considerably increase next year with the application of up-to-date efficient methods of irrigation. To that end a special programme was worked out and approved by the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party and the Bulgarian Government.

I took the liberty of presenting this short outline of the problems and the search for solutions in Bulgarian agriculture because one of the main goals of this session is to review the state of security with regard to the possibilities of feeding mankind and, most of all, to review the grave situation in Africa. We are ready to share our experience with those interested in their endeavours to combat drought and promote the development of agriculture. We see the main role of FAO as one of organizing the transfer of experience and knowledge so that hunger and chronic malnutrition can be eliminated.

The grave economic situation of some developing countries on the African continent remains at the centre of attention of the economic bodies and organizations within the UN family. This is not accidental. Despite the efforts made by the international community to alleviate the critical situation in Africa, the peoples on this continent: continue to go through one of the hardest crises in their history. Judging by the data contained in the FAO documents and presented for our attention, the situation in the African countries remains very serious indeed”. The gross national product per capita continues to fall, and the production of foodstuffs continues to decrease. The trade of these states is thrown out of gear. Their foreign debts grow. All these factors, combined with the persistent unfavourable climatic conditions in some regions of the continent, further exacerbate the problems of starvation, diseases and destitution for millions of Africans. Over 500 million women, men and children suffer from starvation and continuous malnutrition. About 25 million children of up to 5 years of age are starving. Hundreds of thousands of other children stand on the brink of starvation.

Is it not paradoxical that this continent, for all its vast natural resources and potential, remains the most underdeveloped part of the world in economic terms? We believe that the African countries could overcome their backwardness within a relatively short period if they received truly selfless assistance for the development of their production capacities in agriculture. The way out should also be sought in the structural transformation of the African economies, in the democratic restructuring of international economic relations, and in the efforts to secure equality for all developing states in the world economy.

At the recent economic fora within the framework of the UNO, FAO and the World Food Council, my country stated its deep concern over the hardships that afflicted the African peoples. I take this opportunity to reiterate our support for all initiatives of the United Nations as well as those of individual countries, international governmental and non-governmental organizations aimed at providing selfless assistance to the African peoples. This assistance is of vital importance to forestall the tragedy of millions of people. The People’s Republic of Bulgaria backs the positive initiative of the UN Secretary-General to convene an international conference on the critical situation in Africa.

But then, Mr Chairman, we should ask ourselves another question - would this assistance suffice, however big it might be, to solve the problems of the African countries in a cardinal way? Are the natural disasters which have afflicted the African continent during the last few years the real cause of the sharp aggravation of these problems?

The acute economic crisis of the African countries is rooted in their colonial past, as was noted by a number of reports. Ruthless colonial exploitation underlies the backward economic structure of the African continent and the limited possibilities of the states to cope on their own with the economic problems facing them.

It was rightly pointed out in a number of documents from various bodies and agencies within the UN family that the worsened conditions of international economic cooperation continue to adversely affect the economies of the developing countries and especially the economies of the African states. The protectionist policy, the imposition of various economic measures and sanctions in international economic relations have a disastrous effect on these states.

It is important to realize that this policy does not correspond with the interests of the African states and is at variance with the sincere aspirations of the progressive international community to help the peoples in Africa overcome their economic difficulties. Its objective is to use the aggravated economic situation of these countries in order to increase their economic and political dependence.

The People’s Republic of Bulgaria, along with the other socialist countries, supports actively and consistently all effective actions aimed at eliminating exploitation and inequality in international economic relations, by doing away with discriminatory measures and unequal exchanges in international trade and establishing an acceptable and economically justifiable correlation between the prices of raw materials and industrial products and foodstuffs.

At the session of the Political Consultative Committee held in October this year in Sofia, the Warsaw Treaty Organization member-states proclaimed themselves “for the normalization of international contacts in the field of economy, science and technology, for the removal of any artificial barriers and discriminatory restrictions, for measures to strengthen confidence in economic relations on a just and democratic basis, for the establishment of a new international economic order, for the liquidation of backwardness”.

We do not deny the great importance of the economic assistance rendered to the African countries. At the same time, however, we consider that this assistance will not be enough to reverse the critical situation in Africa if the necessary economic conditions to that end will not be secured. What assistance could we speak of if an end is not put to the continuous exodus of funds and resources from the developing countries which have to pay for enormous military purchases and for unjust, destructive interest rates on the increasing external debts. It should be noted that the increasing external debt is not running parallel to the extension of the production capacity, including the production of foodstuffs. On the contrary, the growth of the indebtedness is running parallel to the decrease in per capita production. In this very phenomenon, we see the unjust character of the present international economic order.

The People’s Republic of Bulgaria pursues a consistent policy of cooperation and extension of economic ties with the African and other developing countries in strict adherence to the principles of equality, mutual advantage and non-interference in internal affairs.

This is how we believe that the People’s Republic of Bulgaria realizes the ideas, the purposes and the tasks of our highly authoritative Organization.

In conclusion, may I underline, that the People’s Republic of Bulgaria will continue, within its possibilities, to support the endeavours of the international community and those of the peoples from the developing countries in overcoming their economic difficulties and winning their economic independence for the happiness and prosperity of present and future generations.

Thank you for your attention.

S.S. PIRZADA (Observer for the Organization of the Islamic Conference): It is a great privilege for me to be invited to participate in the General Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization, particularly on this historic occasion, when the FAO commemorates the 40th anniversary of its foundation.

Allow me, Mr Chairman, to begin by congratulating you on your unanimous election to preside over the General Conference. I would also like to extend my felicitations to the Bureau of the Conference on their election.

Mr Chairman, I would like to avail myself of this opportunity to pay a special tribute to His Excellency, Mr Edouard Saouma, the Director-General of the FAO, for the dynamic leadership he has provided to the Agency during his tenure. He has served the FAO and indeed the international community selflessly and with distinction during an extremely difficult period. His tireless efforts have contributed to the emergence of FAO as a symbol of international cooperation in the vital fields of food and agriculture. His frank and forthright report to the General Conference is a reflection of his belief that the problems facing the world community must be discussed openly and urgent solutions must be found before they become unmanageable.

The developing world - and all Islamic countries are developing countries - has been severely exposed to the vagaries of the international economic situation over the past decade. Their vulnerable and weak economies have been jolted in rapid succession by increased energy prices, increased costs of their imports of industrial and capital goods, decreasing prices for their exportable commodities,and spiralling inflation followed by a deep recession from which the world economy is even now in the process of recovering slowly. These crises, following upon the heels of each other, have crippled their fledgling efforts at attaining self-sustaining economic growth by upsetting and inhibiting their development plans. They have had to adopt severe adjustment measures in the face of high interest rates, fluctuations in international money markets, a rising tide of trade barriers and protectionist measures enforced by developed countries, as well as lowering of their export earnings, increases in their import bills, adverse terms of trade, stagnation of international assistance and accumulation of huge debt burdens. These adjustments have inevitably had a damaging effect on large sections of their populations, particularly those living in rural areas and engaged in agricultural production. The urgently required resources for essential investments in land development, infrastructure and the necessary inputs for increased production, namely improved seeds, water, electricity, farm implements, pesticides and fertilizers, have been lacking or have been insufficient. This has led to stagnation, and even reduced production in rural areas in many developing countries. The marginal increases in production achieved against such formidable odds by some developing countries, have often been offset: by explosive rates of population growth and increased nutritional requirements.

We live in an unhappy and unacceptable world where mountains of surplus butter and cereals are juxtaposed to extremes of poverty and starvation, where man is out to conquer space but has not been able to overcome the basic problems of survival on his own planet, where almost a thousand billion US dollars are wasted on arms and armaments and development assistance does not form even five percent of this collossal sum; where calls for diverting a small percentage of the immense expenditures on armaments to development of the underdeveloped have gone unheeded; where some countries have accumulated nuclear weapons of such awesome capacity that they can destroy the world over many times, but continue to acquire ever more sophisticated versions which can wreak even more destruction; where a constructive dialogue for restructuring international relations on the basis of justice and equity has been stalmated for years because of an absence of will on the part of some members of the industrialized world to agree to remove the inequities in the present system which tilts heavily in their favour. The list is interminable. We are all aware of the problems. We can see the threats that these contradictions pose to the international community. However, measures to resolve these glaring contradictions have been rare, sporadic and limited in scope. We must recognize and accept that prosperity, like peace, is indivisible and cannot forever be enjoyed by a few at the expense of the many.

Backwardness and poverty has become endemic to rural areas in most developing countries and appear to be self-perpetuating. The essential requirements to break out of the bonds of poverty that shackle our rural populations are both human and material. I believe that the major obstacle in the way of increased productivity in developing countries in the field of food and agriculture, as well as in other sectors of economic life, is illiteracy and ignorance. People in the developing world must be educated and made aware of the essential requirements of the modern farming techniques, farm implements, and efficient use of land, water, pesticides and fertilizers. People in developing countries are still using the most primitive methods and implements for farming. The productivity is therefore extremely low. A majority of the labour force in most developing countries is employed in the sector of agriculture, but cannot produce enough for their countries to be self-sufficient because of the absence of modern techniques and technology, which can only be learnt through education.

However, the important role of financial and material requirements cannot be underestimated. Resources are needed by the developing world not only to develop their human resources but also to provide them with the necessary infrastructure and the implements which would enable them to produce as well as market their produce.

We must enter a compact to expand agricultural production, increase stability of supplies and mprove access to food by the poor. FAO has sought to promote over the last decade national and international action to protect and assist the poor and vulnerable, nations as well as people. The World Food Security Compact would be an expression of the moral commitment of the leaders of both developed and developing countries to design national and international policies to banish hunger from our midst. At the national level, the developing countries must bear the primary responsibility for reappraising and improving domestic production policies and strategies. The developed countries, for their part, should take into consideration the interests of the world as a whole in their production and stocking decisions, improve access to their markets for developing countries exports, continue to provide generous emergency aid and give high priority to assisting developing countries financially and technologically in their efforts to overcome rural poverty.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference, since its foundation in 1969, and particularly since the Second Islamic Summit held in Lahore, Pakistan in 1974, has consistently adopted measures to promote economic cooperation among its Member States. The Conference has also espoused the demand of developing countries for the restructuring of international economic relations and for the establishement of a just and equitable New International Economic Order. In adopting these positions, the Islamic Conference has been guided by its objectives, derived from the eternal precepts of Islam, to promote international peace and progress, as well as economic and socia interaction among states and peoples on the basis of equality, justice and equity.

In 1981, the Third Islamic Summit Conference, held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, adopted a Plan of Action which gives the highest priority to food and agriculture. The Plan of Action calls upon member states, inter alia, to ensure food security, create regional food reserves, place greater emphasis on agro-based and agro-related industries, improve agricultural infrastructure and transport facilities, assist member countries affected by national calamities and devise ways and means po tackle such natural phenomena as desertification, deforestation, water-logging and salinity.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference was granted observer status by the United Nations in 1975. Since then the two Organizations and their Agencies have been working assiduously to promote and strengthen relations of cooperation for the benefit of their members. In this context, it gives me particular satisfaction to report that cooperation between FAO and the OIC has been remarkably close and beneficial. I am confident that the auspicious start thus made will lead to ever closer bonds of cooperation between the FAO and the OIC.

I would like to conclude by reminding ourselves that food and agriculture is but one sector of the social and economic life of nations. It does not stand in isolation. It requires constant interaction with other sectors of the economy, and must draw upon the human, material, scientific, technological and financial resources in order to’play its vital role in the process of development. The FAO’s work in the field of food and agriculture does, by necessity, touch upon the work of other agencies of the UN system. The strengthening of coordination among the Agencies without competition or the desire to encroach upon the role of others must prevail in the entire UN system, as well as other inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations. The organization of the Islamic Conference on behalf of all its members pledges itself anew to the achievement of the noble goals and ideals of the FAO, which are fully shared by the Islamic Conference. This is a monumental undertaking which would require patience, wisdom, courage, and understanding and I am confident that we will not fail.

The meeting rose at 17.30 hours
La séance est levée à 17 h 30
Se levanta la sesión a las 17.30 horas