Hari NARAYAN RAJAURIYA (Nepal): At the outset, allow me, Mr Chairman, to extend, on behalf of the delegation from the Kingdom of Nepal and on my own, our heartfelt congratulations to you for being elected as the Chairman of this very important Conference being held in this historic city of Rome. Please accept our full assurance of cooperation during the course of the Conference. We earnestly hope that the Conference will be very productive and will be able to achieve fully its objectives. May I also take this opportunity to congratulate Dr Edouard Saouma for being re-elected as the Director-General of this Organization for another term. The Organization has made several outstanding achievements in the past during his previous terms despite the hardships faced by it. We are confident that his continued leadership of this eminent world Organization will result in further impetus to its activities.
In accordance with the noble wish of His Majesty the King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, to fulfill the basic needs of all the people by the year 2000 A.D., a major thrust is laid in all our development efforts from the current fiscal year of 1987-88 toward achieving this goal. Food, clothing, shelter, primary health care, education and security have been identified as the key elements of the basic needs basket. Based on the past trends and future potentials, specific targets have been set for each of the basic needs commodities and services such that the objectives of fulfilling all the basic needs of the entire population by the year 2000 would be adequately met. Among the basic needs identified above, food is no doubt the most essential item. Hence foodgrain production has been given top priority in our development plans and programmes. Foodgrains production target for the year 2000 has been set at 8.6 million metric tons which is almost twice the present level of production. Similarly, production targets have been set for potato and other supplementary food items such as fruits, vegetables, meat, milk and fish.
Main strategies to be adopted for achieving these targets are: (a) expansion and intensification of irrigated areas, (b) wider coverage of improved seeds, (c) increased application of fertilizers, (d) broader use of plant protection measures, (e) reorganization of agricultural research in order to make it more responsive to the farmers' problems, (f) strengthening of the agricultural extension service through the provision of production teams and by establishing service centres in each district, (g) improvement in the delivery mechanism for production inputs and services, (h) easy access to agricultural credit, (i) provision of remunerative price and marketing, (j) reduction of post-harvest losses, and (k) effective programme supervision, monitoring and evaluation. In addition, strategies to be pursued in the livestock sector include (a) expanded adoption of improved breeds, (b) wider adoption of better husbandry practices, (c) effective delivery of veterinary services, and (d) adequate provision of animal feeds, fodder and pasture.
Mr Chairman, in our commitment to the fulfillment of the basic needs in the food sector, we recognize that the efforts of the government alone will not be sufficient. Hence we have adopted the policy of encouraging the participation of the cooperative and private sectors in activities such as delivery of production inputs including the production and distribution of seeds, seedlings, planting materials, fish fingerlings and improved livestock and poultry. The cooperative and private sectors will also be involved in irrigation and water management, and in providing veterinary services, processing industries and marketing of agricultural products.
In order to ensure active participation of all the sections of the population in identifying, prioritizing, formulation and implementation of development plans, His Majesty's Government' of Nepal has adopted decentralization as a major policy strategy. Decentralization, which has been in vogue for the past three years, emphasizes the importance of local level planning based on the felt needs of the people and local potentials. The district serves as a focal point in carrying out all the development activities where the local political body, line agencies and the beneficiaries jointly work together in sharing the responsibility of achieving the set goals and targets.
In view of the predominance of small and marginal farmers in the country, our development strategy lays main emphasis on benefitting this vulnerable segment of the rural population. In this regard, the Small Farmers Development Programme has been recognized as a major vehicle toward uplifting the
general welfare of these people. Our experience in the development of small farmers in terms of organizing them into small self-help groups and engaging them in agricultural and other income generating activities has been very encouraging. This programme has now been expanded to benefit nearly 70 thousand small and marginal farm families throughout the country. In fact, it stands out as an evidence to the possibility of institution building at the local level to uplift the welfare of the specific target groups. We would be delighted to share this experience of ours with other friendly countries and international cooperating agencies.
In the fisheries sector, substantial progress has been made in generating appropriate technology for pond fish culture. However, due mainly to the resource constraint, we have not been able to tap the benefits of riverine fisheries despite its vast potential in the country's abundant rivers. We are therefore very eager to seek external assistance to develop riverine fisheries.
In the cooperative sector, the village cooperatives (sajhas) have been made more responsive to the needs of the small farmers. This is in line with our constitutional mandate that the cooperatives will serve as the economic linchpin of the Panchayat policy.
Mr Chairman, His Majesty's Government of Nepal has duly recognized the role of women in the development process. Women's-participation in agricultural development activities is all pervasive and crucial. Women need opportunities for learning better skills and access to new technology to make their participation more productive and rewarding. In this regard, my country has taken positive steps by creating a conducive institutional environment to facilitate better involvement of the women.
It gives me pleasure, Mr Chairman, to share with you that we have just concluded the Summit Meeting of the Heads of States or Governments of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), held in Kathmandu recently. One of the resolutions of the Kathmandu Declaration of SAARC is the proposal to establish a Regional Food Security Scheme for the seven member nations. I am confident that this regional scheme will serve as a pioneering work in our effort to establish a similar food reserve not only in the Asia Pacific Region, but also in a global context, under the aegis of FAO.
Mr Chairman, I hope that you are aware of the resource constraints faced by us in carrying out the challenging tasks we have committed ourselves to. While these commitments appear to be rather ambitious, given our meagre resource base and geophysical setting, we believe that we have no choice but to face this challenge in order to be able to provide the basic necessities of livelihood to our people. In this endeavour, we need generous support and assistance from friendly countries and international agencies to supplement our national effort in fulfilling the challenging task that lies ahead. In this regard, let me register our appreciation of FAO's continuous support and assistance which has been extremely fruitful. We look forward to the continuation and further expansion of this cooperation. We are also thankful to other international agencies and the governments of friendly countries for their cooperation and assistance.
Let me also mention here that the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP), which was established eight years ago in Bangladesh with active support from FAO, has made encouraging progress in carrying out research, training and information exchange activities related to rural development. We would like to see that support to this centre from FAO and other cooperating agencies will continue to be further strengthened and expanded in future.
A large part of Nepal and much of the territories in the Asia and the Pacific Region comprise high mountains and semi-arid or arid zones where farming is largely based on rainfed conditions. It is usually in these areas that the most vulnerable segments of the population struggle to eke out a living in the agroclimatically harsh and environmentally fragile condition. There are very few national and international agencies addressing themselves to this problem. As a consequence, very little research work and technology innovation activities have been carried out, leaving a wide gap in our knowledge regarding the constraints and potentials of those areas. The recognition of this problem had prompted us to propose to the international community some years ago the establishment of an International Centre for Hill and High Altitude Agriculture in the Region. I am happy to note that a modest beginning has been made in this regard by establishing the Regional Network for High Altitude Pasture. I urge the international community once again to broaden the scope of this Network to cover other aspects of agriculture in the high mountain region.
I am happy to report to this distinguished gathering that His Majesty's Government of Nepal has given top priority to the management and conservation of natural resources. To this effect, a long-term Master Plan for the forestry sector is being prepared in line with the Tropical Forestry Action Plan prepared by FAO. The main feature of this Master Plan will be the identification of the long-term policies, strategies and programmes for the forestry sector. We are also in the process of finalizing the Conservation Strategy for Nepal which will incorporate measures for a holistic management and conservation of the natural and cultural resources of the nation.
His Majesty's Government of Nepal continues to promote the participation of ; he local people in managing local forests through the expansion of the community forestry programme. Rules governing the transfer of management responsibility of forest lands to local communities have been simplified. We have made significant headway in the establishment of national parks and wildlife reserves by allocating seven percent of the total land area under the protected area system. Similarly, we plan to continue our programme for maintaining ecological balance in the hills and mountains through the expansion of watershed management activities.
Allow me now, Mr Chairman, to divert your attention to the Director-General's proposed Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-89. First of all, I share fully the Director-General's concern about the budgetary and financial problem faced by the Organization. Despite this difficulty, the Director-General has proposed to reallocate the Organization's resources to the technical and economic substance of the Organization's work by judiciously cutting the administrative expenditure. We fully endorse this proposal. At the same time, we would also like to urge the Member Nations, particularly those with developed economies, to be more generous in their resource commitment to enable the Organization to pursue its goal more adequately.
We appreciate the Director-General's proposition for reorienting parts of the Organization's programmes to respond to priorities arising from new scientific developments and events in the world at large. Furthermore, the proposal to promote applied research, training and TCDC in biotechnology both for animal reproduction and for feed resources to improve livestock production and health is highly appreciable. The Organization's emphasis on fulfilling the requirements of small-scale producers and disadvantaged rural groups including women is very much consistent with our own national priority and is hereby endorsed. We also appreciate the Organization's concern for environmental problems and its efforts to be in a better position to advise countries in establishing or strengthening their own mechanism for incorporating environmental components in developmental projects. We thus agree fully with the Director-General's Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-89.
Finally, Mr Chairman, I am very glad to have this opportunity to lead my country's delegation to this Conference. I sincerely wish success to this Conference under your able Chairmanship and hope that the Organization will be able to forge ahead with its noble objective of eliminating hunger and malnourishment among the vast majority of the rural population of the world.
Muhamroed GADO NASKO (Nigeria): I consider it a great honour and privi ledge for me and my delegation to participate in this crucial 24th Session of the FAO Conference. Mr Chairman, I wish to congratulate you on your election and that of the other members of your Bureau. We are confident that under your wise guidance the conference will come to successful and fruitful conclusions of its deliberations. Iwould also like to associate the Nigerian Delegation with the congratulations expressed by previous speakers for the re-election of the Director-General.
Mr Chairman, we have just received the shocking news of the death of the President of Niger. Late General Seyni Kountche will be remembered for his valuable contributions to agricultural development not only in his Country but also in the Sahel region. The Nigerian delegation wishes to express our heartfelt condolence to the delegation of the Republic of Niger. May his sòul rest in perfect peace.
The session is crucial because of a number of far-reaching decisions that have to be taken not only for the much-needed strengthening of the administration of this Organization itself, but also for the fact that the global community of nations that constitute its membership especially to the Third World countries have been going through some serious economic stock-taking and structural adjustments which have very significant agricultural sector implications.
Mr Chairman, in the early part of last year, the Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), produced Africa's submission to the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Africa's Economic and Social Crisis. This document was based on the earlier articulated Africa's Priority Programme for Economic Recovery (APPER) which was adopted by the OAU's Head of State and Government. The central role of agriculture was highlighted prominently in both documents and in the final presentation to the United Nations at the Special Session which approved "The United Nations Programme for Africa's Economic Recovery and Development (UNPAERD). May I, Mr Chairman, use this opportunity to solicit international support for this programme.
The broad areas of the agricultural programmes focused upon (i) increased food production (ii) arable land development and land improvement (iii) livestock and animal product development, (iv) mechanization (v) storage and marketing (vi) agricultural research and extension (vii) water resource management and low cost irrigation schemes, (viii) reafforestation programmes, drought and desertification control. The document also stressed the recognition of the rural peasant farmers and especially women food producers as genuine economic factors and beneficiaries.
Today, Mr Chairman, these areas are as relevant as they were then. I am glad to say that in Nigeria all efforts have and are being made to keep these programmes our goals. As a first step, we have formulated and produced an agricultural policy to last till the year 2000. The strategies and programmes to implement this policy have also been put in place. The present administration in Nigeria has been placing necessary focus on the small farmers through various government programmes which have more impact at the grassroots. Government has now accorded priority to food security programmes and has accordingly given increased support to on-farm storage programmes for small-scale farmers, a national buffer stock storage programme, and a strategic grains reserve programme. Another major approach to solving the food production problem in Nigeria is the deliberate attempt by the Government to encourage private sector participation in production, processing, storage and marketing. This approach has also led to a considerable improvement in export revenue from agricultural products. An Agricultural Insurance Scheme and a Small Farmers Credit Programme will soon be launched. The scheme will encourage the lending houses, banks, etc to give more loans to the agricultural sector and increase the productivity of our farmers.
With the Agricultural Policy reforms and the strategies to implement them, we have started to make considerable progress in the overall increase in food production. Needless to say, a lot more effort is needed to achieve our ultimate goal of self-sufficiency.
Mr Chairman, at this juncture let me make a few comments on some of the items on the agenda: (i) As a follow up to the FAO World Conference on Fisheries Management and Development held in Rome from 27th June to 6th July 1984, as well as the pre-COFI meetings held in May this year, my country has taken bold steps to formulate a fisheries development programme and strategies for its implementation in order to increase domestic fish production. The essential components of the programme are as follows:
- Small-scale fisheries development and inputs' supply;
- Proper fisheries management and development as well as strengthening of inspectorate and policing capabilities;
- Reduction of post-harvest losses with emphasis on promoting roles of women in fish handling, processing and marketing;
- Strengthening of fisheries information service;
- Development of vital fisheries infrastructure at strategic locations especially for small-scale fishermen in rural areas, and Industrial Fisheries in coastal states.
(ii) In the past few years, sub-saharan Africa has suffered enormous losses of food crops and livestock as a result of pests and diseases. Notable amongst these are grasshoppers, locusts, quelea birds, cassava mealy bug, green spider mites and Rinderpest of cattle. Since most of these pests' and diseases transcend national boundaries, there is need for concerted international effort to control them. In the West African Region in particular, the problem of locust/grasshoppers has reached alarming dimension especially since the dissolution of OICMA. My delegation appreciates the current efforts of the FAO to mobilize international support for emergency control measures. I would, however, wish to suggest that efforts be continued not only for energency control but for a long-term eradication campaign, including the strengthening of Regional Control Organizations. In Nigeria, we have pursued vigorously the Pan African Rinderpest Campaign and throughout this year there has been no confirmed outbreak of the disease. Rinderpest is still a threat as pockets of the disease have been identified in some African countries. We therefore call for continuous support of the Regional Campaign. We have also succeeded to eradicate tsetse flies in an area of 1 500 sq km under a pilot programme using sterile insect technique combined with impregnated screens and traps. The technology will now be applied on a larger scale.
(iii) My delegation supports the Programme of Work and Budget for the biennium 1988-1989. In doing so, we would emphasize continued support for such programmes that will ameliorate the food problems of developing countries, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, we have found the Technical
Cooperation Programme (TCP) useful and often vital in its catalytic effect. There is the need for Member Nations to provide adequately and timely the necessary resources for the successful implementation of the programme.
(iv) The Ministers of Agriculture at this Conference will be required to deal with very important policy matters such as the review of some aspects of the FAO's goals and operations. The position of Nigeria is that we will support any reforms if they would lead to the overall efficiency in the general performance of the Organization and in the execution of its programmes. The reforms should aim at giving the same high-ranking priority that was being given in the past to developing countries. However, we wish to suggest that the review for the reform should be undertaken by a panel of experts which will reflect the geographical spread of Member Nations.
We believe in the effectiveness of the FAO Country Representatives serving in designated member countries. It is through these offices that programmes are jointly executed and they represent the progress we have made so far in implementing the decentralization of FAO which we all agree is a good thing.
At this point, Mr Chairman, it is necessary to draw the attention of the World Community once again to the heavy debt burden of the African countries, which is making it extremely difficult for the affected countries to implement the structural adjustment programmes necessary to turn their economies around. An appeal is hereby being made to the industrialised countries to pay lair and just prices for the agricultural commodities of these countries and to remove all kinds of protectionism and trade barriers so that the developing countries can get easier access to the markets of the developed nations and improve their foreign exchange earnings.
In conclusion, I wish to join other delegations in expressing profound gratitude to the Government and the very good people of Italy for their warm hospitality. Mr Chairman, distinguished delegates, I thank you for your patience and attention.
Joo Ho KIM (Republic of Korea): It is my pleasure to have this opportunity to share and exchange views with member countries on the world food and agricultural problems on this occasion of the Twenty-fourth FAO Conference. On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Korea, my delegation wishes to extend congratulations to Your Excellency Faysal Abdel Razik Al-Khalid on your election as Chairman. In particular, I would like to express my warmest congratulations to Dr Saouma on your third consecutive election as Director-General.
The most serious problem involved in agriculture yet remaining to be solved may be specified as the imbalance of the food supply among regions. It is regrettable for us to note that many developing countries are now suffering from the shortage of food and malnutrition, while some developed countries are trying to manage excess food supply.
In addition to the food problem, the development of the rural sector through the improvement of farmers' income and quality of living has been another major goal of agricultural policy.
Mr Chairman, we fully recognize the FAO has played an important role in improving the world food situation and in developing the rural sector through the exchange of valuable experiences and views with each other. Thus, taking this opportunity, I would like to present the experiences and future direction of Korean agriculture.
Since the first Five-Year Economic Development Plan in 1962, Korea has placed emphasis on agricultural development with considerable financial support and development plans. These efforts have shifted Korean agriculture from a traditional farming structure to one of modernized farming. Despite this progress, Korea is still faced with some difficulties in the process of rapid economic development, as most of developed countries had experienced.
To overcome these difficulties, the Korean Government, with financial support of 2.1 billion dollars, launched the new Integrated Program for Rural Development in 1986, focusing on two major goals: improving agricultural productivity and rural welfare.
For the improvement of agricultural productivity, we have expanded investment for farm mechanization, irrigation and land consolidation. The Government established the Rural Development Fund, with an attempt to encourage farmers to expand their farm size by offering land-purchasing loans with low-interest and long-term repayment.
In connection with the expansion of investment in the agricultural infrastructure, I am very happy to report to the Conference that bumper crops have been realized for seven consecutivo years. Particularly, this year farmers are able to enjoy an abundant harvest, despite extremely unfavourable weather conditions such as heavy rain-fall and typhoons.
To compensate for the damages caused by the unexpected weather conditions, we are planning to introduce a crop insurance system after 1991 with an experimental stage of two to three years and research from 1979.
Agricultural forecasting services and contract farming systems for agricultural products will be further developed to enhance the efficiency of agricultural marketing, and to ensure price stability with the stabilization fund of 450 million dollars.
As introduced in the 23rd Session of the FAO, the Korean Government has provided active future farmers with financial support and technical assistance. At present, the number of the young farmers who hopefully will develop the rural sector is 40 thousand, one in each village. These young farmers, by transferring their knowledge and expertise to their neighbours, carry out the role of leading Korean agriculture and rural development. We constantly monitor this project to ensure maximum utilization of the most up-to-date technology.
Our Integrated Program is designed to give high priority to development of non-farm income sources and to the improvement of rural welfare in such areas as health care, education, transportation and others.
Recognizing the limit of the increase in farmers income through agricultural production, the Government is trying to raise the portion of non-farm income from 38 percent in 1986 to 50 percent in 1991. For this purpose, more than 100 industrial sites in rural areas will be constructed aiming at the creation of 140 thousand job opportunities.
In addition, in order to lessen the financial burden of farmers and fishermen, the Government has lowered interest rates of farming loans from around 11 to 8 percent which will reduce their interest payments burden substantially.
The issues of the solution to food problems as well as of the foreign debt problems of some developing countries resulting from unexpected insufficiency and poor resource endowment in the course of their economic development process have recently emerged as worldwide concerns.
Free trade is becoming a worldwide trend. Also, there are some concerns about the consideration as to the harmony between the foreign and domestic markets, especially for the lagging sector.
Mr Chairman and Distinguished Delegates,
I would like to briefly comment on the FAO roles and the direction of its administration. The elimination of starvation and poverty of mankind remains as the major goal of FAO. The main focus of FAO should be on getting rid of the various technical as well as institutional obstacles hampering international cooperation for agricultural production and rural development.
Accordingly, the Conference discussions should concentrate on detailed cooperation schemes for the transfer of advanced technology and capital from developed to developing countries.
In this context, the Korean Government has invited about 150 foreign trainees every year, while Korean experts actively participate in agricultural development of other countries under TCDC Programs initiated by the FAO.
Even though efforts of the FAO have gradually improved the world food situation, the results are not evenly reflected in all member countries, making our collaboration of utmost importance. Thus, it is timely and appropriate that this Conference adopt the Progress Report on WCARRD which suggests
guidelines and makes it possible for each country to evaluate the outcomes of past projects as well as establish future direction.
My Government, has the desire that the report include not only the necessary statistical information, but also the policy direction and means to realize accelerated agrarian reform and rural development.
I believe some change within the FAO budget is necessary for the maximum efficiency of FAO projects. I agree with the proposed FAO budget for 1988 and 1989 in which administration expenditures are reduced while project appropriations are increased. Also, I want to compliment the FAO efforts toward solving the financial difficulties.
Mr Chairman and Distinguished Delegates,
Before closing, the people and the Government of Korea wish to express their deepest appreciation to the member countries for their full support for the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. I sincerely hope all the delegates are able to visit Seoul for the Olympics next year, and to enjoy the Korean traditions and culture.
I look forward to seeing you in Seoul in the near future.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you distinguished delegate of the Republic of Korea, especially, I think, we will take to heart his last words. I would now invite the distinguished delegate of Dominica, his excellency the Minister of Agriculture, Trade, Fisheries and Tourism.
Charles A. MAYNARD (Dominica): It is once again an honour and privilege for me to be given the opportunity as head of the Delegation of the Commonwealth of Dominica to address this Forum, and I do this now particularly conscious of the fact that we are becoming rather accustomed to the fact that there are two Dominicas in this Forum, although sometimes our mail goes to Dominican Republic, and theirs comes to Dominica.
For all of us, this 24th Session of the FAO Conference holds a particular significance in that it allows us the opportunity to take stock of the global situation in agriculture, our own contributions to the development of the sector, to deliberate on the constraints and problems that may occur and to devise strategies and programmes whereby these may be addressed. More specifically we will focus our attention on the role that the FAO has played in this process, and its effectiveness in carrying out the mandates that have been given to it. All of us, large and small, have an important part to play in the proceedings of this Conference and are expected, as we have been doing, to indicate a clear commitment so that FAO can continue to be guided in its future programmes in the development of agriculture worldwide.
May I at this stage, like the other speakers before me, congratulate the Chairman on his election, and also may I congratulate the Director-General warmly on his re-election to office.
The Commonwealth of Dominica belongs to Latin America and the Caribbean Region. Two over-riding phenomena emerge from an evaluation of agricultural progress in this region: production trends and the persistence of poverty. These phenomena, I am sure, are not unique to the region and are common should we say to all Third World developing countries.
In the region, generally, growth has slowed in recent times, from 2.4 per cent in the 1970s to 2.1 per cent in the first five years of this decade. The implications of this are particularly serious in that this growth rate is not enough to meet the demand of a population increasing by 2.5 percent per year.
Mr Chairman the quest ion before us is, how does one stimulate growth in agricultural production of basic foods for domestic consumption and for exports.
Like all developing or under-developed countries, today there exist a number of common factors that need to be recognised and are worthwhile repeating.
In the English-speaking Caribbean Sub-region and in small island states, like the Commonwealth of Dominica, it is clear that the development process, with its emphasis on the development of "traditional" export crops, has left a growth balance of rural poverty. A poverty that is a result, in many cases of factors which are external and structural in nature, and associated with a critical shortage of physical and human capital and limited access to essential services. This is further aggravated by growing populations, an aging farmer population and unemployed youths with no access to past avenues for migration to more developed countries.
We are to survive in a situation where at least two major negative forces are to be overcome in developing strategies for stimulating growth in our agricultural sectors: firstly, the declining prices in the major traditional export crops, and secondly, the growing protectionism and international trade barriers that are constantly being established. This is especially true of the industrialised countries which began to substitute imports from third countries and to generate a surplus exported through the application of subsidies. It is clear that in such a situation, the opportunities for further growth in traditional export development crops are extremely limited.
But still it is expected that this sector be required to perform as the more reliable foreign exchange earner, given the limited natural resources at our disposal. It is considered most urgent that agriculture performs positively in generating foreign exchange and stimulating national growth, especially in the light of the.growing external indebtedness that becomes necessary to many of us if we are to provide our people with some of the basic infrastructure and essential services that would bring us into line with the aspirations of our people in this, the 20th century.
The economic strategies followed in our attempts to improve our national well-being have often centred on industrialisation. Strategies that may have been mistakenly introduced by foreign experts from developed countries with little knowledge of the traditional role of agriculture in our economies or by our own professionals who, because of force of circumstances, have been trained in institutions in countries outside our region. These strategies have to a large extent been unsuccessful and have only served to fuel our external indebtedness. It now behoves agriculture to correct this misconceived developmental strategy.
The question of foreign indebtedness must be addressed, however. There is clearly a need for external interventions on the part of the developed countries if agricultural growth is to be stimulated, for there exists pressure that can sometimes be placed by financing agencies that have forced some of our countries to adopt economic austerity policies with the result that trade surpluses have soared, while the level of economic activity has contracted. This in itself has stifled much of the initiatives in development of the agricultural sector.
It is in this disturbing environment we are being asked to stimulate, initiate and accelerate development in our agricultural sectors; that we are being asked to modernise our agriculture and to transform our systems from traditional exports.
While it is true to say that some headway has been made, it should also be recognised and accepted that simple governmental decisions may not be enough, as definite changes in attitude on the part of developed countries may be required in such areas as the external debt and protectionist measures in agricultural trade; for it is clear that we need time, at least a decade or more if we are to effectively transform our agriculture in the manner that is now being demanded of us. Transformation of our agricultural sectors essentially requires the introduction of new technologies, increasing access to credit inputs and the vigorous education of our farming communities. It is here that the role of the FAO is particularly required in this process of rapid development of our agricultural economies.
Technological change will need to be introduced at two distinct levels: change in the traditional systems that have been pursued in export crop development and a change in the system itself with the introduction of non-traditional export crops and farming systems. The first will address the problem of land utilisation and productivity, which are the only logical ways to combat the situation of declining prices and stimulating competitiveness; and secondly, the development of research and appropriate technologies in new crop introductions. Both will require essentially massive investment in research. The transfer of technology will be pivotal to the success of our efforts in realising the transformation and modernisation of our agricultural sectors.
The very spirit of our organisation (FAO) is predicated on the concept that member countries will facilitate the transfer of proven technologies from one situation to another. The evolution of TDC programmes and TCDC networks is as a direct response to this belief. However, we need to ask ourselves how successful have these really been especially for new Member States such as ourselves in the Caribbean.
Short-term transfers of proven technologies, indeed have their part to play, but it is absolutely necessary that this process must foster and sustain the capacity of recipient countries to continue the research work that will obviously be required to be done. Indigenous research is crucial to the continued process of transformation of our agricultural sectors. It is here that we need to assess the sustained impact of TDC programmes and FAO's response to this need.
An intimate knowledge of the resources available, human and natural, is absolutely required if appropriate technologies are to be developed. This can only be achieved if national or sub-regional research institutions (as may be more appropriate in the context of the English-speaking Caribbean) are developed. Research must be essentially a continuous process which can only be realistically achieved if national/regional institutions are established and supported to ensure a sustained capacity output. There is need, therefore, for urgent assistance in developing these indigenous capabilities. This is even more important as a facility for the training of local experts who are themselves the pillars on which the transfer of technology is to be effected.
The development of indigenous research, therefore, requires our most urgent attention. Admittedly, this may be an expensive investment given the facilities and staffing that will need to be supported; however, we cannot dismiss this investment purely on the costs factor for in the long term we will be effectively reducing dependence, and thus costs, on external expertise. I am not here suggesting that we should all "re-invent the wheel" but rather that every country/region should have a definite capacity to conduct its own indigenous research and to train its field technicians if a sustained and effective transfer of appropriate technology is to be developed.
Development of this professional capacity in research and technology transfer is a primary area of concern. In regions such as ours, there is a scarcity of trained manpower to perform these essential tasks. Training of personnel to professional levels of competence, is therefore crucial. I wish to stress "training to professional levels" and not the short-term exposures as may be suggested in the outward approach to technology transfer. There clearly must be the trained professional staff to absorb the information being transferred if networking systems are to be fully successful.
It is here, Mr Chairman, that the FAO will need to pay particular attention, as it has already been doing to facilitate, through its own programmes more extensive training of locals to professional levels if it is to effectively assist in the process of generation and transfer of technology. The FAO through its member countries should be well placed in promoting formal training programmes for sub-professionals in countries such as ours.
We recognise the numerous programmes that the FAO has already in place for technology transfer but because of our scarce skilled/trained manpower, we believe we are still unable to utilise these opportunities to the full. I should, Mr Chairman, make it clear that I am not here advocating the suspension of technical cooperation programmes and networks - they have served us very well -but rather a parallel programme in developing the absorptive capacity of our technicians to more meaningfully be able to participate in these important exercises, and to participate in these important developments.
I have spoken of the urgent need for the development of capabilities in technology generation in our countries, and of some of the requirements essential in making us more efficient recipients of external technology transfer, but we need perhaps to qualify the type of technology that we would wish to develop and make available to our farm communities. We have stressed that the technology must be appropriate to our local institutions, but further than this, we have been asked to transform and modernise our traditional farming systems. It is not accidental that the term "modernised" is being used here. "Modernisation" to us implies a radical change from the traditional attitudes to agriculture, a removal of the drudgeries that have been associated with farming and the introduction of appropriate mechanical aids and production inputs that will increase the efficiency of our farm labour and generate greater economic returns for our efforts.
If we are to stimulate the growth required of us, then we must urgently find ways to continue to attract our young people to farm work and to stem the growing numbers of unemployed now so common in their ranks. The speed at which this modernisation process will proceed is also dependent on the efficiency with which the tranlfer of technology will take place. Given our limited trained manpower resource, our extension services are already overstrained. High farmer-to-extension-officer ratios make a sustained farmer-contact difficult. This situation is even further aggravated by the small fnrming multiple cropping systems being pursued in our countries. Extension must be given the essential support it requires. If it is not possible to increase the number of its staff because of financial constraints, then appropriate teaching aids must be made available for its use.
Before I conclude, may I say a few brief words on the question of reform. It is essential that whatever reform takes place must be done in such a way as will protect the institution of FAO. Any reform must have regard to the one country, one vote concept, which is the essential basis of any international forum. It is also essential that we make this reform in tandem with the governing bodies of FAO. We would like to support the programme and budget of the Organization.
In closing, I am reminded of the tasks we have set ourselves in the alleviation of rural poverty in our countries, and in the development of our economies, as is so clearly articulated in the document, "The Peasant's Charter". We wish to thank FAO for the work it has already done for our people in the relatively short time we have been members of this Organization.
John Charles KERIN (Australia): There are four issues which I briefly address today. They are: international agricultural trade reform; food security and food aid; the role of women in development; and reform of FAO.
Access to international markets for low cost producers in developing countries is the key to their economic development. They are currently denied this access by the protectionist policies of some of the major developed countries. Aid and special deals on market access are not solutions, but economic crutches for economies crippled by lack of access to the major markets of the world. Rural poverty can only be resolved through the development of economically viable, independent self-supporting farming communities, capable of implementing sustainable farming systems.
Mr Chairman, this Conference is an opportunity to give further impetus to the international campaign for agricultural reform. FAO has an important role also in broadening the base of support for reform by increasing the emphasis, in its ongoing work programs, on policy aspects of agricultural adjustment and development.
FAO has done a great deal to improve the productivity of world agriculture, particularly in the developing countries. That achievement, however, has been increasingly undermined by the effects of agricultural protectionism. Developing countries are being deprived of export opportunities and foreign exchange on a scale which far outweighs development assistance expenditures from all sources. We need to get that message through at every opportunity if we are to build public awareness of, and support for, the agricultural reform issue.
Dr Jean Mayer commented on problems of net capital outflow from the developing countries, at a time when net capital inflow is urgently needed. The Director-General referred to the direct cost of the agricultural assistance policies of the United States, Japan and the European Community exceeding the total agricultural export income of the developing world. The figures involved in these statements underline the real issues and imbalances arising from the current agricultural marketing situation.
FAO can help the reform process with hard data on true costs of agricultural protectionism to the developing countriés. To take some simple examples: how much income are farmers in developing countries being denied by agricultural protectionism? How much are food prices to consumers in developed countries being artificially inflated? What are the levels of foreign exchange earnings being denied to developing country exporters and potential exports? To what extent are the economic growth rates of developing countries diminished by foregoing those potential levels of foreign exchange earnings?
FAO and OECD and the international financial institutions have developed some useful methodology for measuring such direct and indirect costs of agricultural protection. It is now time to put that methodology to work and to debate and to publicise those costs at every opportunity, in order to develop informed and broadly based support for agricultural reform.
It is clear, Mr Chairman, that agriculture policies are not working in the major developed countries. The objectives of agricultural support policies are asserted to be food security, stability of markets, reasonable prices to consumers, and maintenance of rural communities and fair living standards.
Food security has lost its relevance to the EC, the international market is not stable, consumers in the EC and Japan pay unnecessarily high prices to maintain supplies they do not need, rural communities are not being maintained in spite of subsidies; most support goes to the largest farmers; rural outmigration continues in response to technological change and the consequences of economic growth. Despite massive subsidisation, farm bankruptcies have continued.
The extent of the corruption of world agricultural markets, is illustrated by examples from the World Development Report for 1986. In Japan, farmers received eight times world prices for rice, sugar and butter. In the United States, farmers received three times the world prices for sugar and butter. In the European Community, farmers received between two and three times the world prices for sugar, beef and butter.
In these ways, Mr Chairman, the agricultural protectionism of a few has generated a crisis of global proportions.
Resolution of this crisis fundamentally required a significant attitudinal change, supported by analysis and exposure of the causes, so that political leadership can prevail over those self-interest groups which profit from agricultural protectionism.
Those of us who have leadership responsibilities in our own countries know that reform can only truly succeed if there is broadly based support for it.
Internationally, the process of attitudinal change towards agricultural reform will be complex and lengthy. It is, however, now on the international agenda.
Earlier this year the OECD Ministerial Council took stock of the damage being caused by excessive levels of agricultural support in some countries. OECD Minsters endorsed a set of principles for agricultural reform, surplus stock disposal and the decoupling of income support from production, with action to be based on a progressive and concerted reduction of agricultural support.
The thrust of the OECD approach was subsequently endorsed by the Heads of Government participating in the Venice Summit.
The Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Vancouver last month also agreed, in the Vancouver Declaration on World Trade, on the crucial need for reform of all trade distorting agricultural policies, both domestic and international.
Agriculture is firmly on the agenda of the Uruguay Round of the GATT Multilateral Trade Negotiations. The United States tabled its negotiating proposals for agriculture in July, and the European Community did so last month.
Unlike previous GATT Rounds, these major powers are being engaged by a new Group - the Cairns Group of Agricultural Fair Trading Countries. The Cairns Group accounts for one quarter of world agricultural exports. Its membership embraces countries form the East and the West, from the North and the South.
Three weeks ago, in Geneva, the Australian Prime Minister was privileged to present, on its behalf, the Group's negotiating proposal for the Uruguay Round. The Cairns Group proposal contains three elements:
A long-term objective of the elimination of subsidies and market barriers, within ten years at most; a framework for the rules and parameters necessary during the phase-down period and a set of priorities for change; and immediate relief from the worst subsidies and market distortions.
Unlike the proposals of the United States and the European Community, the Cairns Group proposal focusses in detail on the reform period, and the mechanisms required, to achieve a free and open agricultural trading system. It gives priority to phasing out those measures that most disrupt trade, and provides for the largest distorters to make the largest contribution to the reform.
Mr Chairman, I turn now to the issues of food aid and food security. Food aid is not a panacea to overcome structural food deficits. But it is essential to protect the most vulnerable people during periods of abnormal food shortages and periods of structural adjustment in agriculture. It can, nevertheless, be an effective tool for development.
I would like, in this regard, to commend FAO and its associated agencies for aspects of its work in these fields. In particular, FAO's Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture provides a valuable service in alerting the global community to possible or impending emergency food situations. The quality of this service has improved in recent years, with the strengthening of the system through more comprehensive field data collection, and increased use of agro-meteorological data and computer and satellite imaging technology.
Australia has found FAO's crop forecasting an extremely valuable aid in emergency, and other food aid, allocation decision-making.
Equally FAO data bases on global, country, and commodity-based agricultural production and trade are also valuable aids in planning and delivering food aid and food security assistance programs.
We value also the work undertaken by the World Food Programme, an agency closely associated with FAO, and drawing extensively on its expertise.
In the general context of assistance programmes, I would make a special plea for increased FAO technical and other assistance, based on FAO's global experience in assisting small island economies, to be made available to assisting agricultural development in the South West Pacific region.
Mr Chairman, I mentioned earlier the role of women in development. Women are the backbone of the world's agriculture and produce more than half of the world's food. Their role, however, is given far less recognition than it deserves in most of our countries.
FAO is playing a key role in raising that consciousness. For our part, we seek to ensure that our assistance to developing countries takes full and proper account of women's role in development. We appreciate that the problems facing women are complex, and often arise from social and historical factors and attitudes. Our goals must nevertheless remain one of full recognition, and an equal role, for women in the development process.
Finally, Mr Chairman, I turn to the condition of FAO itself. FAO's mandate remains as valid today as it did 42 years ago. As a founding member we have been strong supporters of its work.
There is nevertheless a clear need for a thorough review of the management and financial structures of the Organization. Program objectives and priorities need to be clearly delineated and responsive to changing needs. There must be effective coordination in program delivery.
More generally, Mr Chairman, the task and demands which could fall to FAO are unlimited. Objectives must be clearly defined, strategies agreed, and priorities, targets and methods of measurement of achievement identified, to ensure that maximum progress is made with limited resources available. This process must be coupled with the development of budgetary accounting and reporting processes, which make the operations of the organization clearly transparent and accountable.
Without these changes there is a risk that donor countries, faced with many priorities of their own, and confident of the transparency and accountability of their own organizations will drift to bilateral rather than multilateral programs. We are all faced with demands within high priority programs and services which we cannot meet in our national budgets.
We are concerned also that the draft Budget, does not reflect likely contributions or current deficits; and that countries which have honoured their commitments are being asked to make additional contributions, to accounts depleted by the unwillingness of others to pay.
We see no priorities in the draft Program, no allowance for likely contingencies. We think the Program fails to address current problems and postpones unpalatable decisions. It is incumbent on the Secretariat, in these difficult economic times, rigorously to examine ail facets of administrative costs and find ways to prune the Budget, just as the Australian, and other, Governments have been forced to do at home. We cannot, in these circumstances, support the draft Budget.
Mr Chairman, we have elected our Director-General. The campaign was, frankly, extensive, enervating and unsettling. We believe that Heads of UN Agencies should be limited to a maximum of two terms of office. It has, indeed, been the traditional practice of FAO to limit the number of terms. Such a limitation will help to provide stability and predictability for the incumbent, and regular infusion of new ideas and enthusiasms for the Organization. Australia will be proposing appropriate amendments to the Basic Texts for the next Conference.
In conclusion, Mr Chairman, it seems to my delegation that our Organization faces real challenges in the next biennium. We hope that it will emerge a more effective and authoritative body. An energetic, vital FAO nourished by a recommitted membership is as important now as at any time in the past 42 years.
Dean Russel LINDO (Belize): Mr President, Distinguished Colleagues, Observers, Ladies and Gentlemen: Sir, I wish to congratulate you on your unanimous election to this august global body, a credit to your illustrious self and your great country. May I assure -you of my Government's and country's support to you and your Committee and to the continuing efforts of FAO to resolve the critical food situation not only on the African Continent but also in so many other countries where people are suffering from lack of food, shelter and clothing.
I am most grateful for the opportunity to address my colleague Ministers and officials responsible for agriculture on a number of subjects which I consider to be crucial to the improvement and expansion of the agriculture sector in all countries, particularly in the developing countries where agricultural industries form the base of their economies.
We are all aware that the factors involved in determining successful agricultural production are many and varied. This is a truism for most countries, but particularly so in the third world. Governments in such countries face a never ending struggle dealing with inherent, local and also extraneous problems. These impact negatively and significantly on successful agricultural production.
The scenarios of these problems may differ from country to country, but usually include lack of land, water, credit, agricultural technology, storage and processing systems, and marketing. It is not my purpose to elaborate on each individual problem, for these are legion. But I do wish to single out one which affects most, if not all, third world countries - that is, marketing. Before I proceed to marketing however, I wish to discuss the vicissitudes confronting developing countries in international marketing. Allow me a few words on the all-important subject of post harvest technology.
Mr President, in this same forum two years ago much was said regarding the discipline of post harvest technology, and a considerable number of consultancies have been sponsored on this subject. I wish to repeat my concern about most of these studies: emphasis has been, and is, being placed on only exposing the nature, quality and extent of storage problems. The symptoms and weaknesses having been diagnosed, they stop short of attaining the final objective of assisting farmers at the field level to preserve more crops.
It is important that FAO and other assistance agencies redirect their economic assistance in post harvest technology to activities which culminate in the establishment and utilization of improved storage and processing facilities. May I at this point emphasize once more the need for training of local personnel in post harvest technology? And may I generally extol the virtue and wisdom of training farmers and extension agents in practical aspects of post harvest handling of agricultural produce?
I wish now to turn to the elusive subject of marketing out lining the difficulties experienced by most developing countries. Marketing, particularly in relation to export to developed countries, is commonly conducted in such a way as to provide some protection and preferential prices to goods from developing countries. Commodities such as sugar, citrus, bananas, honey are some of those which fall within this broad category and are often exported under a quota, with a protected or preferential price.
We need to ask ourselves "why is this so?" I am certain that there is no one single answer to the question, since each individual country has its individual problems. However, there are two major reasons which are common to many third world countries. These are: (1) the so-called inefficiency of production and (2) quality control.
It is my firm belief that the lack of export markets, or the need for third world countries to sell in the co-called protected markets, are not caused entirely by inefficiency of production or quality control. On the contrary, restrictive and even prohibitive conditions for importation instituted by some first world countries serve to selectively exclude or even prohibit the entry of agricultural commodities into their countries.
Examples of how this is done vary. They include barriers set up for technical and also for trade reasons. The recent zero tolerance level for ethylene dibromide (EDB) treatment òf fresh fruits, and the reduction in export quotas for sugar producing countries are but two examples of these artificial trade barriers. Overwhelming and convincing evidence has been submitted on behalf of exporting countries supporting claims that EDB is not as noxious as it has been reputed to be.
In addition - their competitiveness threatened - third world countries with their small, vulnerable economies, are forced into a self-defensive position to protect their own agricultural production because of policies originating from and adopted by developed countries resulting in the dumping of a wide variety of subsidiary agricultural products from developed countries onto the world market - examples of these being beef, beet sugar, orange concentrate, lamb, grains, butter and other milk products.
Very often, agrochemicals which have been banned in one country are vigorously marketed in another, usually in a third world country, These banned chemicals, when used, end up as residues in meats and crops. They also pollute the environment, causing harm to human and animal life in these unfortunate countries.
Mr President, with the dawn of every new day my country renews its efforts to overcome the obstacles which impede efficient agricultural production and quality enhancement. Efforts are also continuously being made to buffer the detrimental effect on our export of food commodities by actively seeking to remove all the trade barriers imposed by the importing countries. Our task masters however have not made our burden easy.
In this regard, I must say that my country does not stand alone in this struggle, since it has been receiving, and will continue to receive effective assistance and collaboration from international organizations, such as this prestigious one. The Food and Agricultural Organization has been very instrumental in the development of several projects aimed at increasing food production in developing countries.
Besides the several FAO agricultural and commodity networks operating in various countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, there are also the Technical Cooperation Projects. These projects are aimed at addressing specific problems in agricultural development. The success of these projects has not gone unnoticed as more and more requests are made for additional ones.
Belize for its part has only recently become an active participant in the programmes of FAO's Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (RLAC) which is located in Santiago de Chile. This has been facilitated especially through the networking programmes currently in place to address the three main sub-sectors of agriculture, forestry and fisheries. The administration of an FAO office such as RLAC must give cognizance to some significant problems caused by language disparity, cultural differences as well as geographical separation among countries and between the Latin American and Caribbean sub-regions. These factors impose significant communication difficulties which are further heightened by different levels of economic and technical expectations inherent in countries with different agricultural bases and standards of living.
My country would wish to highly commend FAO for its efforts to date aimed at putting in place procedures to address these difficult circumstances. We would wish also to request that these efforts continue and in fact be intensified. This could be achieved, for example, by further outposting of technical officers into the Caribbean sub-region as has been done in the case of fisheries and plant protection.
In developing administrative and technical procedures to support Belize, FAO has made certain accommodations to our historical legacy and geographical reality. Thus:
(i) although located in Central America, Belize is a member of the Caribbean Community Common Market (CARICOM), the only other mainland country being Guyana;
(ii) though exemplified by a small, fragile economy, Belize is not an island and has not necessarily benefited from lobbying on behalf of small island states;
(iii) though associated with the Caribbean economically and politically the FAO Representativo to Belize is located in Mexico, not in the Caribbean.
Mr President, at the risk of being invidious, I wish to commend the Director-General for the prompt manner in which he responded to my country's request for an official FAO Representative. This request was made to him here in Rome in November 1985. We had our representative in place within two months, and an excellent relationship has developed and been maintained since that time. I also wish to express my appreciation to the Director-General for his visit to Belize in August 1986 and his ready response to our requests for assistance. Over the last two years we have implemented at least seven technical cooperation programmes in Belize and have only recently signed an eighth.
At this point, Mr President, I would wish to express my country's support for the Technical Cooperation Programme, much as I did two years ago in this same forum. Whereas large development assistance programmes can be appreciated by most countries, such programmes require concomitant identification of counterpart funds, personnel and in-kind contributions which, in many cases small developing countries are hard-put to locate. The TCP, on the other hand, takes the form of small projects providing technical assistance and some equipment to address specific technical and structural/institutional problems - to which the FAO and cooperating countries can readily respond. The TCP also offers the opportunity to develop larger programmes for funding from alternative sources - programmes, I may add, which are properly prioritized and developed with participation of the cooperating countries. In supporting the TCP and requesting that it be further expanded, I wish to indicate that I do so not only on behalf of my country but also on a mandate from CARICOM in rny capacity as Chairman of the Standing Committee of Ministers Responsible for Agriculture.
It is because of these successes, that it is disappointing to learn that funding for the Food and Agriculture Organization has been drastically cut back through the failure of some member countries to pay their full contributions. This will obviously have a negative impact on on-going and planned projects in many regions. Is it that donor countries do not see it politic to provide funds to the Food and Agricultural Organization for use in the production of food items which may become competitive with their own? One would hate to impute malice aforethought in-this connection.
Such a premeditated act, if allowed to come to pass, would cause serious setbacks to the import substitution and crop diversification programmes already undertaken by many Third World countries. Instead of cutbacks in funding, consideration ought most seriously to be given to a real budgetary increase in order to make this Organization more capable of addressing the pressing needs of the developing world which should always be uppermost in the mind of this august body. Indeed, it is only with the greatest reluctance that Belize supports the Director-General's modest cost and real increases to the FAO Programme of Work and Budget for 1988/89.
I am not insinutating, Mr President, that this Organization alone can solve all the problems of underdevelopment in the Third World. Complementary assistance and collaboration is also required from other international and regional agencies and organizations such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the European Development Fund (EDF), the Overseas Development Administration (ODA) of the United Kingdom, the World Bank (WB), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the International Development Bank, and so on.
Mr President, if time will allow, I would seek the indulgence of this illustrious body to speak briefly on the subject of development and utilization of forest resources. This is a sector to which my country gives the highest priority encompassing as it does responsibility for environmental conservation. At the same time Belize is one of the most densely forested countries in Central America and the Caribbean.
The forestry problems facing the nations of the Caribbean countries are, as it is in most, if not all, developing territories, many. However, they may be divided into two categories. Those with a relative abundance of timber resources and which, incidentally, possess a small human population per unit area. These would include Guyana, Dominica and Belize. On the other hand the others have a scarcity of timber and a dense population such as Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.
In the CARICOM countries, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago produce lumber. However, only Belize and Guyana are net exporters of wood although they have the potential to increase their production substantially provided remunerative markets can be found for lesser known woods. All the other member states are net importers of wood. There is, therefore, a clear indication that Dominica, Guyana and Belize will have to make every effort to expand their forest industries' capacity; Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago must continue to establish plantations for the production of industrial wood in an effort to lessen imports of this commodity.
Another problem area which exists in most countires of the region is a dire shortage of fuel wood, particularly for the domestic needs of the rural areas.
Concurrently during the last decade or so, we have witnessed a significant increase in the awareness of all countries in the region to heed the need for developing long-term policies for environmental protection. Several studies have been conducted which led to the enactment of new legislation and the creation of many national parks and other protected areas. These actions will definitiely aid significantly in the fight against possible extinction of the great variety of flora and fauna in the region. However, within the context of environmental protection, the question of watershed management for many areas in the Caribbean and Latin America needs to be further addressed as firmly and as quickly as possible. This would ensure that the denudation of steep terrain is curtailed to an absolute minimum. My country, for its part, has indicated its concern for this area by a recent release of a Wildlife Policy Plan as well as its accession to FAO's Tropical Forestry Action Plan.
My government has placed on record its intention to coordinate institutions involved in all aspects of wildlife management, research and dissemination of information as a means towards achieving the objectives of the plan. One of the key objectives of the plan is the creation of a Conservation Department within our Forestry Department to assist with the administrative and other needs of wildlife activities as soon as government funds and appropriate personnel can be identified.
Mr President, before leaving this subject area I wish to make a special plea to developed countries to join with us in what, I am certain, would turn out to be a mutually beneficial programme for complete utilization of our vast resources of forestry products. While it is a known fact that only a tiny portion of the standing volume of woods in Belize could be classified as primary, such as mahogany, the wealth of our forestry resources is now in the form of lesser known hardwoods which are beautiful but faced with a limited market. At this point' I wish to take time out to recognize the considerable efforts of the United Kingdom Government to assist my country in establishing and developing the technology to enter this new market place.
In closing, I would like to indicate that my country, over the last couple of years, has made significant strides towards shifting its agricultural status from one of underdevelopment, towards a more dynamic and progressive one. My government will continue to collaborate with international development agencies and organizations in order to further enhance the developmental process already in place and to ensure such development in partnership with our trading partners and agencies such as FAO. We are therefore as a matter of enlightened self-interest supportive of any reforms to the Organization that would improve its effectiveness and impact, in assisting developing countries in general and Belize in particular. However, what we will not do is to subscribe to reforms that are on the prosent basic texts of FAO, predicated as they are on the principles of multilateralism, consensus and one country one vote. We will not be a party to any proposal which introduces a hidden form of bilateralism and enables a handful of richer count-ies to manage or to control the Organization.
I would like finally to thank our host country for their hospitality, and I would like to congratualate our eminent Director-General on his re-election to head this important international body for yet another term. I feel that in our valiant struggle to improve our agricultural economies we can continue to rely on the full cooperation of FAO. During the hard times ahead, may God extend his blessings to this Organization and all member countries.
João PEREIRA SILVA, Vice-Chairman of the Conference, took the chair
João PEREIRA SILVA, Vice-Président de la Conférence, assume la présidence
Ocupa la presidencia João PEREIRA SILVA, Vicepresidente de la Conferencia
CHAIRMAN: I thank the distinguished delgate of Belize for his statement. Before continuing our general debate, I have to inform you of a request from the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is not intending to deliver a statement orally but asks the permission. of the Conference to deliver this statement in writing so that it will be included in the Conference documents. If there is no objection...it is decided as such. I would now like to invite the distinguished delegate of Japan to deliver his. statement.
Sakue MATSUMOTO (Japan): Mr Chairman, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, I am greatly honoured to have this opportunity of representing the Japanese Government at this 24th Session of the FAO Conference and of exchanging views with the distinguished delegates of other member count ries.
I should like, first of all, to offer you, Your Excellency, my warmest congratulations on your election as Chairman.
I should also like to congratulate Your Excellency Mr Edouard Saouma on your reappointment as the Director-General.
Japan considers FAO's efforts to solve the food and agriculture problems extremely valuable and effective and strongly supports its activities. It is for this reason that Japan, which is the Organization's second largest contributor, always does its utmost to implement FAO resolutions and decisions agreed upon by consensus, desiring to fulfil its responsibilities as a member. I would like to take this opportunity to explain how Japan is following up on the resolutions and decisions recently adopted at FAO, such as Guidelines for International Agricultural Adjustment.
The Guidelines for International Agricultural Adjustment and the Action Plan adopted by the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development advocate a number of important tasks for solving food and agricultural problems in the developing countries.
While I am of the view that the food and agricultural problems of the developing countries are to be solved primarily by these countries' self-help efforts, the role of the international community in supporting those efforts is also important. Believing this, Japan has been promoting cooperation to assist solving agriculture and rural community problems in developing countries by giving such cooperation a prominent place in Japan's official development assistance. One result has been that the amount of Japanese ODA related to agriculture, forestry and fisheries increased from sixty-eight (68) million US dollars to seven hundred and sixty-two (762) million US dollars in the decade 1976 - 1985.
I should like to elaborate on this point now. In order to assist the efforts of food-deficit countries suffering from hunger and malnutrition to attain self-sufficiency in food, as called for by Guideline 2 and the World Food Security Compact, Japan gives priority to cooperation for increased food production. Japan has been providing such agricultural inputs as fertilizer, pesticides and machinery as Grant Aid for Increased Food Production, and is also extending financial and technical cooperation in this sector.
Japan also recognizes the transitional development tool, which targets for food aid as a transitional development tool, which Guideline 11 and the Food Security Compact call for. Japan's KR food aid has for a number of years substantially exceeded the minumum annual contribution, with increased appropriations for African countries. Japan has also been steadily expanding its contribution to the World Food Programme. Japan's food aid is all on a grant basis, with its food aid cereals all being produced by third countries. My country will continue to implement food aid in line with this policy direction.
Responding to Guideline 6, etc., Japan intends to extend cooperation which gives priority to diversification of agricultural production, including upland crops and animal husbandry, improvement of post-havest technologies, development and upgrading of distribution, processing and marketing and integrated development of agriculture and the rural community. Such cooperation will be directed mainly to the countries which have almost attained self-sufficiency in the main food grains.
Japan has thus been cooperating positively to implement the measures decided by FAO for the progress of the developing world, and is also resolved to further intensify its ODA efforts. In 1985, for example, Japan set its Third Medium-Term ODA Target, calling for the doubling of ODA in seven years and, having been steadily implementing that plan, has recently decided to advance implementation by at least two years. In additon, especially for sub-Saharan African countries and other least-developed countries, we are resolved to provide non-project-type grant assistance amounting to approximately 500 million US dollars over the next three years.
In promoting agricultural and rural development for the developing countries in its intensified ODA efforts, my country will attach increasing importance to maximizing cooperation effect, especially by emphasizing policy dialogue with recipient countries.
Guideline I for International Agricultural Adjustment calls for the agricultural policy of developed countries to aim at the most rational use of resources and to take.account of the need to ensure world food security, and the World Food Security Compact calls on the governments of all countries to accept the responsibility for assuring food security.
The principal objective of Japan's agricultural policy is to assure a basic food supply capacity within the country, with appropriate planning for the combination of domestic production with imports. In implementing this policy, Japan intends to improve the productivity of its agriculture to the greatest extent possible and also to reduce price differences between domestic and foreign agricultural products. To this end, my Government has, in principle, not raised the government support prices of the major agricultural products for ten years, and, especially, since last year has, in fact, lowered them. In this connection, Japan has cut the agricultural budget by seventeen percent (17%) over the last six years.
Both the Guidelines and the WCARRD Action Plan call on the developed countries to improve import access for food and agricultural products. Japan has been striving to improve market access to the greatest extent possible, by such means as easing of import restrictions and reduction of tariff rates. For example, under the Action Programme for Improving Market Access adopted in 1985, Japan abolished or reduced tariffs on about 1 850 items, of which 200 items are agricultural, forestry and fishery products. In particular, recognizing that expansion of exports of agricultural products is of great importance to the economies of developing countries, Japan reduced or abolished the tariffs on a substantial number of agricultural products which are imported from developing countries.
Japan, being the world's largest net importer of agricultural products, has been striving to expand and develop agricultural trade by means of such measures.
Moreover, Japan, which hopes most ardently that the GATT New Round will be a success, intends to contribute to participate positively in its negotiations so as to contribute to the promotion of agricultural trade and to the harmonious development of agriculture in every country.
Mr Chairman, I would now like to move on to forestry and fisheries, which are no less important than agriculture.
The shrinking of the world's tropical forests, which account for about fifty percent of the world's forests, has been very rapid in recent years, and it not only affects communities in those countries, but constitutes à global threat. I consider it necessary for the whole international community to deal promptly with this problem.
In this connection, I consider extremely valuable the FAO's leadership shown in establishing the Tropical Forestry Action Plan, and thereby promoting the formulation of country-level action of tropical forests. I am convinced that this scheme can be a very important framework for international cooperation in the years to come, and my country looks forward to intensification of such activities by FAO.
Around two-thirds of Japan's land area is covered by forests, ranging from subarctic forests to subtropical forests. We are making strenuous efforts to promote forestry in order to conserve land and the natural environment and to maintain and develop water resources, while assuring an appropriate supply of domestic timber. My country's experience in the area of forestry management and forestry policy would, I believe, contribute to developing countries' efforts in this sector.
Japan has already adopted the initiative of despatching experts to formulate country-level action plans, which FAO advocates, and intends to extend appropriate cooperation in this field, including financial arrangements.
My Government is also contributing positively to the International Tropical Timber Organization, which started its activities last year, by providing funds for its projects and in other ways.
Mr Chairman, fish resources are, needless to say, a very important source of protein which could be of great help in solving the world's food and nutrition problems. Japan, being the world's largest fishing country and engaging in fishing activity on a world-wide scale, has always been deeply interested in efforts to utilize the world fish resources positively and effectively for the benefit of mankind, while striving to preserve them.
My Government, therefore, earnestly hopes that the preservation and utilization of fish resources will be pursued appropriately, with FAO, playing a leading role. Japan, for its part, is determined to continue to make a positive contribution to such activities of FAO in the future.
My Government highly commends the Programmes of Action for Fisheries Management and Development agreed upon by the World Conference on Fisheries Management and Development. Responding, Japan has been contributing to the trust fund for the South Pacific Aquaculture Development Project, undertaken by FAO, also providing various forms of technical and financial assistance bilaterally, from both governmental and private resources, in this way, too, cooperating for the promotion of fisheries in developing countries.
Regarding FAO's recent report, which compiled comprehensive data on fish resources in the South-West Atlantic Ocean, my Government promptly took measures to regulate the number of its fishing vessels, with a view to conserving and rationally utilizing the resources in question.
My Government earnestly hopes that FAO will further encourage cooperation between coastal and distant-waters fishery countries to promote the preservation and utilization of the world's valuable fish resources.
FAO has, as I have mentioned, throughout the forty years since its foundation, been continuing concrete activities for the solution of world food and agricultural problems, with the cooperation of member countries. However, many problems still remain to be solved, and FAO is called upon to tackle them efficiently and effectively.
Particularly, it is becoming more and more important for all member countries that FAO shall accurately assess and analyze trends in world food and agriculture, promptly making the results of such analysis available to member countries.
Given the difficult financial situation of all member countries, FAO's activities should, however, be made yet more efficient. It seems clear that the time is ripe for a comprehensive review of FAO's role and its administrative and financial functions.
My Government is pleased to see that this session is taking up this matter as part of its agenda, and considers that it is appropriate for this session to set up a high-level group of experts to carry out such a review more thoroughly.
My Government hopes most ardently that taking account of the importance of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, FAO will continue to play a major role in solving food and agriculture problems. I would like to close this staement by stating that the Government of Japan will continue to participate actively in FAO's activities and will work together with other member countries for the solution of those problems.
Jen. (Hungary) (orginal language Hungarian): Mr Chairman, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen. It is my great pleasure to convey to this forum the best wishes of the Government of the Hungarian People's Republic and to congratulate the officers elected at this 24th Session of the Conference of FAO.
I should also like to extend my congratulations to the Director-General elected for a third term, a Director-General with whom we have already had a very good relationship. I wish him every success in his future activities.
Mr Chairman, it is with great expectations that my Government looks forward to this Session which I believe is of outstanding importance in the Organization's history. As it is known, on this year's World Food Day attention was focussed on the smallest and most vulnerable paricipants in food production with whom the farmers in my country are fully at one. The era of landlessness is still in the memories of the Hungarian farmers, and this is why they appreciate the achievements in our country. Among these may I mention the establishment of socialist large scale farms, cooperatives, and the simultaneously growing security of small-farmers. Mutual interdependency of farms of varying size has created new forms, where economic and social security covering each participant is considered as the key factor of permanence. The agrarian policy considering all these elements is one of its most important preconditions.
As chairman of the Group of Eastern European States in the United Nations, the representative of my Government made a joint statement together with some other socialist countries on the 16th October this year on the question of international economic security. The essence of the new approach consists of establishing conditions for constructive dialogue and mutually advantageous cooperation based on respect for one another's interest; this would be conducive to the development of stable and predictable economic relations, and the ensuring of greater equality of equal opportunity at the level of both individual countries and that of the world's economy. I am convinced that political will is one of the determining factors in this process.
Hungary is doing her very best to support basic views with practical deeds. To illustrate this may I state that following our promise made at the last World Fisheries Conference we have opened up the doors of our training institutes, and with the help of international cooperation we have successfully been implementing training under a project with international courses in aquaculture. Within this framework experts from a good number of developing countries can devlop their knowledge in this important field. Likewise, it is our pleasure to host professional meetings of the United Nations that are setting good examples for a close inter-agency cooperation. The coordinated activities of FAO and the Economic Commission for Europe of the United Nations have always played a great role in promoting European agricultural relations which are of utmost importance for us. It gives us great pleasure and honour that the international Symposium on Recent Developments of Biotechnology in Food and Feed production, the first one of its kind, will be held in Budapest in June 1988. In order to arrange for high level expertise and technology to become common property, we are making our best experts available to FAO, and as far as possible we are receiving a large number of experts from developing countries under FAO fellowships.
Mr Chairman, our notion of international cooperation does not only cover the transfer of expertise but it also extends to efforts for receiving it. Hungary, being one of the small Central European countries, has always put great emphasis on adapting the recommendations of international fora to her specific conditions. This is also the case with the guidelines and targets for International Agricultural Adjustment. It is well known that in Hungary we have been self-sufficient for a long
time, and my country has been a net agricultural exporter. Thus the major share of our national economy's resources is directed towards modernization of production structures, to the upgrading of the quality of products, and to improving competitiveness. In our experience the diversification of agricultural production, the strengthening of cooperative movements, the implementation of a well-balanced price and tax policy could be the best vehicle for this end. At the same time we are against exaggerated agricultural subsidies. Our intention is to make producers more interested in efficiency. It is in this spirit that the Hungarian Government has launched its Programme of Work for the years 1988-90, where the guiding principle for the agricultural sector is qualitative improvement. We have, however, to implement this programme bearing in mind the difficult economic and financial circumstances.
Now, as regards the troubles of the Organization. I wish to emphasize that despite all our efforts the tasks before us have become no less urgent. At a time when we cannot realistically count on the availability of more resources, the challenges that we face can only be met through proper identification of priorities and more efficient management. Based on these considerations we support the 1988-89 Programme of Work and Budget submitted to the Conference.
In our opinion the priorities given to training, soil and environmental protection, spreading the results of biotechnology, country and regional surveys on agrarian policy to forestry and fisheries development are absolutely appropriate. We agree with FAO's function as a source of technical and scientific information and with FAO remaining a champion of efforts to make the most recent results of technical scientific progress available to countries possessing less developed techniques and technologies. We deem the Technical Cooperation Programme to be a proper means to this end, too. Therefore, we consider it necessary to maintain the share of the TCP in FAO's budget.
FAO's mandate is not being limited only to implementing its own programme in the narrowest sense. We consider it important that FAO should participate in an advisory capacity in the GATT ongoing Uruguay round. Hungary's interest in the success of the talks is well known. My country is one of the founders of the Cairns Group and, echoing my Australian colleague, I should also like to emphasize that extending the agrarian problems of a country or of a region throughout the world would only result in the escalation of these same problems. This practice is contradicting the new concept of international economic security which has been mentioned.
Before concluding I would like to announce that the Hungarian Government is to make available to the UN/FAO World Food Programme food aid in kind. This will also be in the future.
It is my firm belief that without confidence and deeds we shall have no chance to achieve a better future. As far as deeds are concerned, FAO and its Member States bear a unique responsibility in achieving world food security which is the cornerstone of progress and of international security. Therefore, I wish unity and thus every success to the present Conference Session.
Jackson MAKWETA (Tanzania): Mr Chairman, Director-General in absentia, ladies and gentlemen, allow me on behalf of my delegation to congratulate you on having been elected to chair this 24th Session of the Conference of FAO. I am confident that under your guidance and leadership we will be able to achieve useful results by the end of the Conference.
At this juncture, on behalf of my delegation and of the people of Tanzania, may I congratulate Dr Saouma on his election as Director-General of FAO. I wish to renew our faith and confidence in his leadership of the Organization, and to assure him of our continued support in his work and in the noble task of FAO of freeing humanity from hunger and malnutrition.
In Tanzania, as in many other countries of Africa, agriculture is the backbone of the economy. Agriculture employs 90 percent of our people, and contributes about 75 percent of the export earnings and 50 percent of the Gross National Product. However, in the last decade performance in this sector has not been satisfactory. Consequently, the country could not realize its development objectives. One such development objective in the agricultural sector is to attain self-sufficiency in food, and to increase the production of cash crops. This objective is part of our economic recovery programme which is in its second year of implementation.
The measures taken to increase food production and cash crops, inter alia, include the operation of a timetable for input distribution and application. The timetable indicates when the inputs are to be delivered to the farmers, and identifies the institutions to undertake this task. A programme for the implementation of the national agricultural and livestock policy has been prepared; I am glad to inform members of this Conference that these efforts are beginning to bear fruit.
Similarly, our objective in the livestock sector is to increase meat, milk and other livestock products. To achieve these goals our recovery programme aims at intensifying such things as disease control. In this respect, I take the opportunity to thank donor countries and other agencies for their contributions of equipment, vaccines, drugs and vehicles to be applied in the national campaign against rinderpest.
Efforts are also being made to control environmental degradation including soil conservation, afforestation, modification of water catchment areas, lakes, and the improvement of the fishing industry. Whatever the cost, we must strive to achieve conservation-based agricultural development strategies. Either we do, or we perish.
In spite of the efforts mentioned above, the economy in general and agriculture in particular in Tanzania still face insurmountable problems. Among these are such things as the low level of farming technology, excessive harvest losses, diseases, natural catastrophes and inadequate and insufficient surveys. In addition, the performance of this sector is even further aggravated by an inadequate transport capacity to our rural poor, increased inadequate storage facilities, inflation, both domestic and external, protectionism and debt servicing. Like other developing countries, Tanzania has few resources to solve difficulties caused by immense foreign exchange problems.
Our annual requirement of fertilizer is 180 000 tons but we can produce only 50.000 tons. It is no exaggeration to say that in this regard the developing countries are confronted with a grievous situation. The rural poor continue to suffer from hunger and malnutrition and the general deterioration of the quality of life. National efforts, complemented by bilateral and/or multilateral assistance over past decades, have so far failed to advance the development process. Indeed, in most of these countries, meaningful rural and economic development has stopped.
In order to arrest and reverse this unsatisfactory and unacceptable situation, great efforts must be made. In the case of the developing countries appropriate economic and social policies must be put into force. For the international donor community, there is urgent need for a substantial increase in financial assistance and for improvement in the quality of such assistance.
What I am saying here is that the development process in the developing countries is essentially a cooperative process between those who need the assistance and those who are in a position to provide it. It is a process in which both parties have identified a common objective in the cause of furthering the progressive eradication of hunger, disease and ignorance in the world. To achieve this objective requires a common approach. For the FAO it is not enough to be sympathetic and responsive to the needs of the rural poor alone; it must act adequately and with speed. Budgetary and organizational procedures adopted by FAO must aim at achieving these goals. Any other reforms which seek to impose a specific ideological system are not called for and are a betrayal of the noble principles on which the Organization was founded.
Jorge BUSTAMANTE (Colombia): Señor Presidente, señores Ministros, señor Director General, señoras y se,ñores: En representación del Gobiorno de Colombia, constituye para mí un gran honor intervenir ante esta Conferencia, en un momento crítico de la cooperación internacional, cuando una acción dirigida contra el multilateralismo ha afectado considerablemente al funcionamiento de los Organismos Internacionales.
A partir de la mitad de la décade de los años setenta, "la coyuntura petrolera, que afectó considerablemente a las economías de muchos países, se reflejó en el decrecimiento de las contribuciones a los promgramas multilaterales. Desde el punto de vista político, a principios de los años ochenta se inició una campaña tendente a menoscabar los fundamentos mismos del sistema de las Naciones unidas, actitud que se ha mantenido y acentuado, hasta producir la crisis actual, en la que no se vislumbran posibilidades de recuperación a corto plazo.
Además, la actual crisis financiera, puesta en evidencia las últimas semanas, traerá, sin duda graves consecuencias a los países en desarrollo, con la necesidad de un replanteamiento de las cargas y responsabilidades de economías como Japón, República Federai de Aleman. ‘los Estados Unidos.
Sin embargo, vemos con relativo optimismo el futuro, al tomar nota del cambio de posiciones de una de las dos superpotencias mundiales, la Unión de Repúblicas Socialistas Soviéticas, que recientemente adoptó una actitud positiva y constructiva con relación al sistema de Naciones Unidas, hecho que podría significar el ingreso de esa gran nación en la FAO, lo cual consolidaría el carácter de universalidad de nuestra Organización.
La FAO no ha sido una excepción de los hechos anotados anteriormente, no obstante la importancia creciente de la agricultura y de la alimentación en las economías de los países en desarrollo.
Frente a esa realidad, el Gobierno de Colombia piensa que la FAO debe renovarse, revisar sus políticas y programas y actualizar sus métodos de trabajo, para reorientar más decididamente su labor en favor de los Estados beneficiarios.
Estos objetivos sólo podrán lograrse con el concurso común de todos los Estados Miembros, cuyos representantes deben estar en condiciones de cumplir una tarea más directa y sostenida, a bravós de la cual puedan influir realmente en la orientación y ejecución de los planes de nuestra Organización.
Los gobiernos de los Estados industrializados deben suministrar los recursos suficientes y los países en desarrollo deben conceder a la agricultura la más alta prioridad y las mayores asignaciones financieras posibles en sus planes nacionales de desarrollo.
Los países del Tercer Mundo vienen haciendo notables esfuerzos. Desafortunadamente, éstos no han sido suficientes; aún dependemos de la asistencia externa tècnicaly financiera, y en los campos de la agricultura y la alimentación, la FAO sigue siendo la Agencia líder del sistema. Pero sus trabajos no podrán adelantarse eficazmente si se le niegan las aportaciones financieras indispensables.
El Gobierno de Colombia piensa que la liberalización del comercio es factor fundamental en la solución de los problemas de la agricultura y de la alimentación.
Nuestro país pertenece al grupo CAIRNS, en el cual se halla asociado con otros países en desarrollo y desarrollados, en busca de la eliminación de los subsidios y de todas las prácticas que distorsionan el mercado de productos agrícolas.
El Gobierno de Colombia espera que todas las declaraciones y comunicados que al más alto nivel se han producido este año, no sean solamente textos de buenas intenciones, sino que se conviertan en realidad, para que mediante hechos concretos y específicos, particularmente en la Ronda de Uruguay, se logre la progresiva apertura de los importantes mercados de los Estados desarrollados, en favor de un libre comercio que facilite la exportación de nuestros productos agropecuarios.
El Gobierno de Colombia apoya plenamente el nivel del presupuesto para el bienio 1988-89 y pide a esta Conferencia que lo apruebe por unanimidad, como el mejor incentivo que podrá ofrecerse a la valiosa tarea que realiza esta Organización.
Sin embargo, pensamos que la difícil situación por la que se atraviesa exige que se proceda con realismo y objetividad. Si sabemos de antemano que no se podrá contar con todos los recursos del nivel presupuestario propuesto, será necesario e imprescindible que se establezcan prioridades alternativas, que indiquen lo que los Gobiernos desean y eviten así que, como en el bienio que se va a terminar, deban introducirse reajustes en los programas, con lamentables consecuencias para los países en desarrollo.
En el caso de Colombia, no obstante que en los últimos 30 años nuestra población casi se ha triplicado, podemos mostrar con orgullo cómo la producción del sector agrícola ha crecido a una tasa aún mayor.
Por ejemplo, en 1975, cuando la población total ascendía a 24 millones, el Producto Interno Bruto del sector agrícola se situó en 93 mil millones de pesos, con 8 millones y medio de Colombianos en las zonas rurales. Diez años más tarde en 1985, el PIB agrícola fué de 130 mil millones de pesos de 1975, o sea que la producción aumentó en un 40 por ciento en términos reales, en momentos en que la población rural permanecía estacionaria y los consumidores urbanos habían aumentado en 4 millones.
En cuanto a la economía en general, Colombia ha superado la dependencia que durante un siglo tuvimos de las exportaciones del café. Tan sólo hace '25 años el 90 por ciento de las exportaciones colombianas correspondían al café y las proyecciones para 1987 indican que ellas serán únicamente el 28 por ciento, y esperamos que para finales del siglo sean inferiores a un 15 por ciento.
En este año, por primera vez en 100 años, las exportaciones distintas al café y a los minerales, la mayoría de ellas agrícolas, sobrepasarán los ingresos provenientes del café.
No obstante lo anterior, el incremento de la producción agropecuaria de que antes he hablado, proviene en altísimo porcentaje de una minoría de propietarios o de modernos empresarios agrícolas; por eso es imperioso hacer posible que la mayor parte de los incrementos futuros ios aporte el sector campesino, garantizándose a los pequeños propietarios y minifundistas un crecimiento de su ingreso. En las condiciones prevalecientes, un incremento de la producción obtenido mayoritariamente por los empresarios trae consigo paradójicamente el empobrecimiento relativo del campesino ancestral y, en oportunidades, su empobrecimiento absoluto.
Los fenómenos anteriores no son únicos en Colombia. Nuestro país considera que la superación de la POBREZA ABSOLUTA debe ser nuestro objetivo prioritario; mientras exista pobreza, su erradicación debe ser la máxima prioridad, la obsesión nacional de cada país.
El Modelo Social que ha puesto en marcha nuestro Gobierno tiende a conciliar el crecimiento y la redistribución del ingreso, como fundamento básico en la lucha por la erradicación de la POBREZA ABSOLUTA.
En la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas del año pasado, el Presidente de la República de Colombia, VIRGILIO BARCO, dijo:
"Entre las múltiples amenazas a nuestro mundo, ninguna ha sido tan permanente como la pobreza absoluta, ningún otro problema requiere más rápida y más urgente acción que la pobreza absoluta."
El Gobierno de Colombia considera que la Alimentación es uno de los aspectos que más influye en la determinación de la Pobreza Absoluta. Pensamos que sobretodo debe preocupar profundamente a la comunidad internacional la nutrición de los niños en su primera edad, cuando comienzan a formarse los cerebros de las nuevas generaciones.
Por ello, en esas actividades, la FAO debe participar: pero de manera realmente activa y eficaz.
Los representantes del Gobierno colombiano seguiremos participando en la FAO y en los demás Organismos de las Naciones Unidas, guiados por principios inmodificables que han constituido la base de nuestra política exterior.
En nombre del Gobierno de Colombia felicitamos ai doctor EDOUARD SAOUMA, quien ha sido reelegido en un proceso democrático y le ofrecemos nuestra plena y decidida cooperación en la dirección de esta Organización, en momentos tan difíciles y trascendentales, que imponen la unidad de todos los Estados miembros.
Finalmente, Sr. Presidente, el Gobierno de Colombia ruega a los distinguidos representantes del fraterno país africano del Niger transmitir a su Gobierno el más profundo sentimiento de pesar por la desaparición del Ilustre Presidente del Niger.
Abdul Aziz AL—MUDBIL (Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of) (original language Arabic): In the name of God the compassionate, the merciful, Mr Chairman, Mr Director_the FAO, Distinguished Delegates, it is my pleasure to join the previous speakers in extending my heartfelt congratulations to the Chairman of the Conference, Brother Faisal Al-Khaled, and to his Vice-Chairman, for the confidence placed in their persons by the Conference. I wish to affirm to everybody our cooperation and commitment to spare no efforts in order to render this Conference successful and to reach the resolutions and outcomes that would be beneficial to all our parties.
I also wish to express to Dr Edouard Saouma the heartfelt congratulations of the delegation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on his reelection as Director-General of the FAO.
Mr Chairman, Distinguished Delegates, the world of today is governed by an unstable economic climate. The economic recovery which started at the beginning of the 1980s has gradually slowed down during the past two years, leaving behind negative effects on the economies of the developing countries. The demand on basic commodities has substantially declined. Prices have accordingly decreased. In
turn this has led to shrinkage in the foreign exchange earnings of those countries. Added to .all that there is the indebtness problem and the declining economic assistance at all levels. This situation has resulted in many difficulties being faced by some developing countries, a fact that weakened some of the development plans and programmes and accordingly curbed their ability to expand in the field of food production, vertically and horizontally, and hampered the importation of food stuff requirements.
In addition to the economic recession and the indebtness problem, the problem of balance of payment deficits has been quite prominent in some countries and has resulted in turn in deepening the protectionist policies and aggravating the tariff barriers. This led to a further restriction of the commodity flow through international trade channels. This situation also had a negative effect on the efficiency of the principle of relative economic advantage and on the optimum utilization of resources at the world level, and accordingly led to a deviation from specialization in production.
Most of the developing countries have exerted great efforts to absorb economic conditions. They had to tackle variables through the reform programmes they adopted to adjust their economies at the global and agricultural levels. However, in most cases these programmes were not quite fruitful because of the radical and sudden changes that occurred in the strategies of some developed count ries. From this forum the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has always called, and is still calling, for achieving self-reliance. We called on developing countries to commit themselves to develop their agricultural sector in order to meet the food needs of their population and to establish their own reserves. Thus they can ensure their food security. They can alleviate the effects of any deterioration of production of major crops in one season or another and have reserves of food and other commodities. In this way they can increase their share in world trade and provide them with the foreign exchange necessary for the implementation of development plans and the employment of modern technology. Accordingly they can increase productivity, decrease production costs and enhance their competitive capabilities. In fact, we were expecting that what has been called for by Saudi Arabia would be achieved through the guidelines included in the document on international agriculture, an adjustment adopted by your Conference held in 1975. Apparently nothing has been achieved. The raw material exports of some countries have been faced with barriers and obstacles and the terms of trade remained stagnant or have even deteriorated.
Mr Chairman and distinguished delegates, in a bid to achieve international integration and solidarity the delegation of Saudi Arabia appeals to the developed countries to increase their efforts to reform the deteriorating economic situation in such a way that would secure the just rights of developing countries. This could be achieved through liberalization of trade and by opening the way for the supply and demand forces to play their role without imposing policies that would aim at impeding the exchange of commodities and would demolish the system of liberal economies.
Moreover, the developed countries should facilitate the transfer of technologies that would increase agricultural production. They should also intensify the flow of financial resources which are necessary for development plans in the developing countries, through the channels of institutions working in this field.
The food surplus countries, and other developing countries, have deployed enormous efforts in order to provide food to the deprived sectors. The volume of food aid has caused a record in 1984/85, which amounted to 12.5 million tons of grains, in addition to the international food reserve for emergencies. However, these great efforts, and that generous trend of giving donations, will not be a radical solution to the problems. Besides, there is no guarantee that this will continue at the same level, because of the policies sometimes adopted which could lead to a decline in the reserves of most of the donor countries. Therefore, the Delegation of Saudi Arabia affirms once again that a radical and lasting solution lies in the economic policies and development plans of the developing countries, which should aim at increasing food productivity, and creating remunerative employment opportunities for their citizens. Thus, they can strengthen their purchasing power, and consequently facilitate their access to food if they are unable to produce it.
Within the context of our call for achieving self-reliance and accelerating development in the developing countries, and out of our firm belief in technical co-operation among developing countries, it may be ,appropriate to review briefly the results of the experience of Saudi Arabia in as far as self-reliance and food security reserves are concerned.
Despite the limited agricultural resources in both quality and quantity, Saudi Arabia, with the help and advice of His Majesty King Fahd Ben Abdul Aziz, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, we have been able through our serious efforts and sound planning to achieve self-sufficiency in most agricultural commodities, and to have a largo surplus for export, thus increasing the food supply in world markets. Wheat production has increased in Saudi Arabia from 3 000 tons in 1975 to 2.5 million tons in 1986. We exported about 1.5 million tons in 1987. The vegetable production, through the use of modern agricultural techniques, has amounted to 273 000 tons. The production of dates also increased from 200 000 tons in 1975 to over 500 000 tons in 1986. In the field of animal production, the animal husbandry farms are greatly developed as a result of an increase in green fodder and the policy of subsidising concentrated fodder. Thus, Saudi Arabia is about to achieve self-sufficiency in this field. The volume of dairy products increased from 1 800 tons in 1975 to 166 000 tons in 1987. Poultry industries have also flourished in Saudi Arabia. Egg production increased from 1 247 tons in 1975 to 137 000 tons in 1986, thus achieving a large surplus which has been exported to neighbouring countries. Likewise, our production of poultry meat increased from 14 291 tons in 1975 to 196 000 tons in 1986. As as result of the studies and systems of supporting small fishermen and the introduction of modern fishing techniques, Saudi Arabia has been able to achieve self-sufficiency in fish, and we do export our surplus of fish to a number of countries.
All these figures illustrate the fact that the experience of Saudi Arabia has been one of great success, and one that has become an example that gives confidence to other developing countries. Saudi Arabia, in co-operation with FAO , has suggested a large number of specialist and developing policy makers in the agricultural sector from over twenty countries, to take account of and to benefit form this successful experience according, of course, to the conditions and resources available to each country. I can see some of these people with us today.
In the field of ECDC, and out of our firm belief in the importance of solidarity with the international community and our deep sense of responsibility towards those suffering from deprivation, Saudi Arabia has always provided financial aid to development projects and plans in many countries throughout the world. This has been done through international financial institutions and the United Nations specialist agencies. At the forefront is the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and our contribution to IFAD today amounts to $334 million. We also contribute to the capital of many regional development funds, as well as the Islamic Development Bank. We also gave concrete assistance at the level of bilateral co-operation through the Saudi Development Fund, which extended loans to many countries to help develop their agricultural infrastructure and development.
As far as the supply of food and the fight against malnutrition is concerned, Saudi Arabia has constantly contributed to the World Food Programme, ever since its establishment. The total of our contributions to the WFP, until the biennium 1987/88, has amounted to $275 million, a part of which has been given in the form of dates of good quality produced by Saudi Arabia. Moreover, we have given donations from our wheat surplus to some countries, and we have assisted in alleviating the food crisis in Africa and in many cases of natural calamity in other countries.
Saudi Arabia is following with great interest the achievements of the FAO, and the great efforts which it deploys through the Programme of Work and Budget and field project's for the development and promotion of the agricultural sector at the level of the developing countries, with the aim of increasing productivity and fighting malnutrition and poverty, in addition to the conservation of the environment and the fight against desertification, particularly in some areas which have suffered greatly from desertification. The Delegation of Saudi Arabia hopes that the Organization will concentrate further on assistance to developing countries, so that they may achieve self-sufficiency.
The Delegation of Saudi Arabia has reviewed the Programme of Work and Budget as suggested for the biennium 1988-89, and appreciates the efforts exerted in preparing this document; we believe it is quite appropriate, and we support it in its totality. As for the details, we will discuss them during the different Committees.
Dear brothers, we would like to affirm once again the fact that Saudi Arabia supports the principle of development and renewal of this Organization in such a way that we increase its efficiency and productivity, which in turn would benefit the member countries, particularly the developing ones benefiting from technical programmes. From our own point of view, we believe that this would be realised only through the committees and official organs of the Organization, without having any alien factors which would hamper the achieving of these goals.
Before concluding, I would like to thank you all for your kind attention, and I trust that our deliberations will lead to a successful outcome that would be of great assistance to all those working in the agricultural field in all countries, and especially beneficial to small producers and and other deprived categories.
Robin YARROW (Fiji): May 1, Sir, through you, add to the congratulations to Dr Saouma on his re-election, as well as to yourself, Sir?
The Republic of Fiji is one of the most distant Member States of FAO, being situated in the South Pacific, directly on the 180th degree of longitude, the International Date Line. One could perhaps say that each new day begins in Fiji - in fact, as I speak, tomorrow, Thursday, is already dawning. Fiji, as you will be aware, has been experiencing difficult times over recent months. That Fiji is represented here at this Conference is indicative of the high regard which the Government holds for FAO.
Fiji is, of course, a small island state and while the difficulties of such states are known to most, their significance is perhaps not fully appreciated. These difficulties include isolation, fragmentation, small size and frequently a high susceptibility to natural disasters, particularly to cyclones. From those problems spring a number of consequential difficulties, for example a high dependence on a relatively few commodities, fragile economies and a general inability to benefit from the economies of scale. Moreover, because of the relatively narrow economic base of most island states, imports usually constitute a high proportion of GDP. Special measures are required to enable small island states to better contend with their constraints. In particular, assistance is necessary in further identifying and developing markets for commodities and products, for primary sector expansion must be market-led. Support is also needed in yield improvement as well as with processing in order to provide greater added value and employment.
In the marine sector, the island states must be further assisted to assume a progressively greater role in capture fisheries, particularly of the migratory species. For a number of states this sector easily constitutes the greatest resource base.
In the case of Fiji, there are some 350 islands comprising a land area of 2% of an EEZ (exclusive economic zone) of 1 million 3/km2. Less than 20%. of Fiji's land area is suited to sustained agriculture due to the rugged, volcanic terrain. Furthermore, Fiji is located within the most cyclone-prone area of the South Pacific Ocean and the frequency of severe cyclones over the last century has been 1.23 per year. The damage to agriculture and infrastructure from winds sometimes in excess of 200 km/hr coupled with rainfall intensities which are amongst the highest in the world, can be extreme. Often rehabilitation efforts are still in course when they are overtaken by the effects of a subsequent cyclone within months of the previous disaster.
Agriculture accounts for over 75% of domestic exports with sugar cane as the major crop - good production and processing systems have been developed over more than 100 years and the crop has high cyclone tolerance.
The broad agricultural strategy is to diversify, in addition to but not at the expense of sugar cane, and to strike a balance between import substitution on one hand and export agriculture on the other. In doing so, effort and resources are concentrated on priority commodities at which Fiji is a producer of comparative advantage, for example, tropical fruits. In particular high value, high quality specialised produce is focussed on with processing being adopted as far as is possible and always based on sound and remunerative market outlets.
The forestry sector is also important and comprises both native species for wood and veneer and exotics, the latter based largely on Caribbean pine for chip. Trees are also used as a means of catchment protection and extra effort is needed to reduce erosion and consequential siltation of both drainage/river systems and, of course, lagoons.
In the marine sector, considerable progress has been achieved in the inshore area and utilisation of the migratory'tunas and deep water snappers is proceeding well. However, aquaculture is very much in its infancy.
In closing my brief specific references to Fiji, Mr Chairman, may I acknowledge the valuable assistance provided by FAO. Assistance from other organizations, and I quote one as an example, in the area of agriculture research by the Australian Council for International Agricultural Research and from multilateral sources is also recognized.
Mr Chairman, may I now return briefly to the wider subject of the island states in general. There are some 22 such states among the group referred to as the Pacific Islands. They include over 1 200 islands with a total land area of 550 000 km² a sea area of 30 million km2 and a population of 5 million. The individual states arc all addressing their development problems with considerable meaningful assistance. FAO is well to the forefront in supportive programmes. Despite some good achievements by individual countries, overall progress in the agricultural sector has been disappointing. Productivity is low, food imports are still unacceptably high and cash incomes as well as exports of commodities have recorded only very modest increases, despite great potential.
It might be timely for the world's premier agricultural body to review this situation and to help devise programmes of further assistance to the Pacific Island states, possibly including some special initiatives.
Mr Chairman, I now revert to the Fisheries Sector in more detail because of its great importance and relevance - it is not always recognised that the Pacific Ocean alone exceeds the combined area of all the land masses.
In 1984, Fiji and most other member countries of the South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency, commonly referred to as FFA, participated in the World Conference on Fisheries. This conference was timely and represented an important step towards improving the development and management of the World's fisheries resources.
Since 1984 FFA member countries, which Fiji currently has the honour to chair, have adopted measures and launched initiatives aimed at achieving the goals set by the Conference, particularly in respect of the 5 action programmes that were designed. I am pleased to report that the South Pacific countries have made considerable progress in each of the programme areas. I would like to briefly touch on each of these and to highlight the ways in which the FFA member countries have sought to improve their indivual and collective self-reliance in fisheries, at both the regional and interregional levels.
As you know, Mr Chairman, the South Pacific Island states are heavily dependent on the sea and the need for proper planning management and development of fisheries is a major priority. With the support of FAO and other international agencies the South Pacific countries are improving their knowledge of fisheries biology, enhancing their fisheries legislation and generally developing a deeper understanding of the extent of their fisheries resources. FFA member countries are firmly committed to the technical aspects of improved fisheries management and use. I can assure you, Mr Chairman, that this commitment will remain uppermost in the thinking of South Pacific countries.
Every effort is being made to improve the socio-economic conditions of fishermen and their families, particularly in those island countries where there is little or no scope for agricultural development. To this end fishermen are being assisted to upgrade their skills and more efficient and appropriate gear and technology is being provided. Both the FFA and the relevant International and regional organizations are implementing programmes that will strengthen the position of small scale fishermen in particular. To complement these efforts improved fish handling practices are being fostered and the FFA has embarked on a major maketing study aimed at identifying new outlets for resources which have been lightly harvested to date.
In 1986 a major initiative in aquaculture was launched with FAO implementation and funding by the Government of Japan and is designed to assist S. Pacific countries develop their aquaculture activities. This regional action is timely because most S. Pacific countries are turning their attention increasingly to the opportunities available in aquaculture with both domestic and export markets in mind.
International fisheries trade is an area of prime concern for ail FFA member states. A variety of regional and international resources, for example, the FAO/INFOFISH marketing services, are being utilized to assist with obtaining better returns for .fish products.
In its most basic form, considerable trade in fisheries products is facilitated by the licencing of distant water fishing fleets by S. Pacific countries, principally those from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the Soviet Union. These fleets generally enjoy harmonious and cooperative relations with FFA member countries, and this relationship should continue.
Of major consequence in the area of distant-water fisheries was the conclusion earlier this year of an historic fisheries treaty between the FFA member countries and the USA.
Trade in processed fisheries products from the S. Pacific region is progressively increasing. Moreover, FFA member countries are improving their respective stakes in their domestic' industries, thereby strengthening their own economic positions.
Concurrent with this progress Mr Chairman, the S. Pacific countries have not neglected the important aspect of assisting to alleviate undernutrition through the provision of lower cost fisheries products, particularly to the more vulnerable groups of the population.
For reasons of geography coupled with the distribution of fisheries resources throughout the S. Pacific, countries regard regional cooperation as the cornerstone of their fisheries development and management strategies. While the record of S. Pacific fisheries cooperation is well known, Mr Chairman, countries in the region also see a need to extend their cooperative efforts more widely to an inter-regional basis. An initiative as recently as October this year has been a conference in the Philippines to discuss close fisheries ties with S. East Asian states and similar approaches are being pursued with some Latin American states with Pacific coastlines. It is these types of initiatives which typify the extent of the commitment of S. Pacific countries to the spirit and goals of the 1984 World Fisheries Conference. Contact has also been established with small island states in both the Indian Ocean and the Carribean.
In conclusion, Mr Chairman, I wish to stress that within our limited resources S. Pacific countries are actively pursuing the objectives and programmes set by the 1984 World Fisheries Conference. The generous assistance of international and regional bodies is acknowledged together with assistance provided by a wide range of countries outside the region. With continued assistance of this type coupled with the drive of S. Pacific countries to develop and manage their fisheries resources, I am optimistic that the overall well-being of Pacific Island people will be improved.
Patrick L. McKENZIE (Guyana): I wish to be associated with the congratulations to the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and to Dr Saourna on his re-election to the office of Director-General. My delegation is confident that he will continue the excellent management of the affairs of our Organization throughout his new term of office.
Late in 1983, Mr Ernst Stern, Senior Vice-President, Operations of the World Bank, said:, and I quote
"The developing countries obviously need, and will continue to need a substantial amount of external capital. We mustn't become unduly pessimistic as a result of the current difficulties which come at a time of the worst economic stagnation since the Second World War. For the future, it is important that all of us -the international institutions and especially the other lenders, official and private-understand the distinction between the difficulties countries have run into by reason of poor policies and inadequate management and the difficulties caused principally by external factors. My view is that the problems of many countries are due to external factors and that these debt servicing problems will become manageable when growth resumes".
I have taken the liberty to quote this high official of one of our most prestigious international institutions not so much because the general difficulties are not known but to underscore their continuing existence and to bear testimony to the worsening of the position as seen by Mr Stern four years ago.
Again Mr Chairman, this is not new.
- our mounting difficulty in increasing our foreign exchange earnings through export due to protectionist policies;
- our greater competition from many of the developed countries, partly due to advanced technology, partly due to economies of scale, but certainly due to the massive level of subsidisation to their produ;ers by the governments of most developed countries;
- our greatly reduced investment in agriculture and other important sectors, exacerbated by our monumental external debts.
Mr Chairman, bleak as this situation is, we have not given up and particularly for those of us who are agriculturally based, we continue to believe that agriculture is the key to our economic recovery, indeed we dare not believe anything else. To this end, we have done our homework. In agriculture, we have realigned pricing structures; we have improved the incentive framework for investment and innovâtiveness; we have improved incentives to farmers; we have been seeking advanced and appropriate technology, and we have had fair interest rates for the agricultural sector.
Yet, while we attempt to use the methods used by our friend of the developed world, methods that have brought them growth, we find that some of them now use a heavy political hand to thwart the very efforts they once espoused.
Mr Chairman, what I have said is true of the Caribbean as it is true of Latin America, but as a Caribbean man (using the work "man" in its universal sense) I feel a sense of affront and as a Minister responsible for agriculture, I feel a sense of guilt that as we enter the last twelve years to the beginning ot the 21st century, the agricultural sector in the Caribbean is still characterized, as it was 100 years ago, by an over-dependence on. sugar and bananas. In Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago, sugar ranges from 54 percent to 95 percent of the total agricultural exports while in Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines, banana exports account for between 22 percent and 82 percent of the total agricultural exports.
While the risk is high enough for one crop to be responsible for as much as 95 percent of the total 'agricultural exports in the case of six countries, and another to be responsible for as high as 82 percent of those exports in four other countries, let me say to you that the dominance is not the only problem; indeed, as an immediate issue, it is not the major problem. The very source of our dilemma is that both of these commodities - sugar and bananas - are, as put by Mr William Demas, Chairman of the Caribbean Development Bank - "produced at uncompetitively high prices of production and therefore depend for their survival on the continuation of preferential market access to the European Community and the United States markets". I need not remind you of the approaching saturation in the United Kingdom market for bananas, nor do I need to remind you of the untenable situation of the sugar industry because of natural and artificial sweeteners developed to supply what initially experts had directed us to believe, that cane sugar was excessively fattening, it was carcinogenic and that like sheep, we had to be led to the fountain of diet foods.
It is in this light of our history and the prevailing imperatives that we seek the modernization and diversificartion of agriculture. To do this, we need access to technology that would enable us to maximise output of our traditional products more cost-effectively, so as to retain a share of our prevailing markets and to establish linkages in new product lines from these traditional crops. We need to improve the biogenetics of the non-traditional crops so that we can meet the requirements of markets for fresh, processed and manufactured items. We need also to have adequate supplies of agricultural inputs: inputs of landclearing, draingage and irrigation, of land preparation, of harvesting and storage and inputs of packaging and shipping.
Mr Chairman, in the supply of these needs, notwithstanding the significant costs to our people, we have in general not merely paid lip service, nor have we depended solely on assistance from others. I accept that in spite of all we have done, in the low income countries we still have to jump the hurdle of absorptive capacity which in effect points to the lower level of the development of our human resources and those garnered externally.
Many of us have attached high priority to investments in basic and technical education, and in turn the development of the rural sector. My own country, Guyana, is but an example, where at the basic, technical and university levels, education according to our constitution is a right and we have made it free at all levels. These are heavy costs to be borne by such a poor country, but it points to our conviction that education leads to better absorption of technology, which in turn, with adequate policies, will lead to innovativeness and on to sustained growth.
Mr Chairman, each of the groupings of Latin America and the Caribbean has attempted to stem the tide of international difficulties affecting agriculture. ALADI and the Andean Group have had their interventions. CARICOM has developed and is now putting into implementable form a Regional Agricultural Plan; it has encouraged diversification; it has obtained financing from creditor countries; it has lifted trade within the area, and it has negotiated regional projects with international institutions. In spite of some questions on the effectiveness of multilateral action, we have found that it has served us well. Yet, there is a need for us in Latin America and the Caribbeans, as islands and continent, to give effect to the rediscovery of our shared historical ties and interests.
Mr Chairman, while acknowledging that administrative and other types of reforms are perhaps necessary for the health and effectiveness of any organization, i in keeping with the need for adjustment to changing demands and a changing environment, my delegation sees no need at this stage for a review of the long-term programme orientation of the FAO.
Indeed, Mr Chairman, administrative and other reforms that are currently in place have impacted in a significant way on the increasing effectiveness and efficiency of the Organization. We have all, no doubt, welcomed these reforms and the continuing thrust in this direction by the Organization. However, my delegation has some difficulty in approving proposals that will undoubtedly jeopardize such reform measures already in place and, furthermore, proposals that will not conform with the essential focus of the Organization. We agree with the draft Programme and Budget and are not opposed to the strengthening of the Field Programme, including the area of supervision. However, we would caution only the approach should be in the spirit of multilateralism.
I now wish, Mr Chairman, to address some brief remarks specifically to the developed countries. Latin America and the Caribbean, as a region, has tried to feed itself, even though we may not have been as successful when taken individually. We have not done this alone; it has been with your assistance. But, particularly for the smaller and the poorer countries, we get the feeling that we run the risk of being taken for granted. It is believed that we will produce or that we can afford to import whatever our needs are. This belief is unfounded, for in many cases we are still at high risk for any change in any cropping season. We ask your assistance in research in training, in investments. We ask your assistance in reasonable or concessional prices for agricultural inputs. We ask for ready access to your markets. In summary, we ask for a helping hand, not a handout.
Mr Chairman, a few nights ago as I sat overlooking. the River Tiber in this beautiful and historic city of Rome, I recalled the dialogue of Julius Caesar and Cassius on that very river. As Shakespeare tells it, Julius Caesar requested Cassius to swim across the Tiber, but part of the way Caesar apparently had difficulties so he cried out to Cassius "Help me, Cassius, or I sink". We as developing countries ask that we bridge the present difficulty by swimming together, complementing each other. As the weaker ones we may be faltering and so we cry like Caesar "Help me, or I sink". Only history will judge whether that help came and whether it came on time.
José Michel ANDRIANOELISON (Madagascar): Monsieur le Président, permettez-moi de joindre les félicitations de la délégation malgache pour votre brillante élection, à la voix de tous ceux qui se sont succédé à cette tribune. Je suis certain que, sous votre direction, notre session saura affronter avec succès tous les problèmes qui lui sont posés, et soyez assuré que la délégation malgache vous apportera son appui dans la mesure de ses modestes moyens.
Nos félicitations s'adressent aussi au Docteur SAOUMA que cette assemblée a reconduit au poste de Directeur général. Nos meilleurs voeux de succès et notre soutien permanent l'accompagneront tout au long de son troisième mandat.
Monsieur le Président, voilà deux ans qu'au sein de cette même enceinte, dans l'euphorie de la célébration de 40e anniversaire de notre Organisation, nous avons formulé le voeu de soutenir la FAO, de la renforcer afin qu'elle puisse répondre à ses objectifs essentiels.
Nous l'avions alors dotée d'un budget convenable; nous avons pris de nombreuses résolutions; les principaux obstacles identifiés qui entravent notre progression vers la victoire contre la faim, la malnutrition, le sous-développement semblaient alors moins insurmontables.
Actuellement, nous aurions pu être en droit de commencer à récolter les premiers fruits de notre labeur. Malheureusement tel n'est pas le cas. Nombre d'entre nous n'ont pas respecté le pacte! Dès 1986, les défaillances étaient nombreuses!
Et voilà que, sans doute pour éviter de reconnaître notre tort, peut-être de peur que nous soient reprochées nos lacunes, nous essayons de mettre en cause l'Organisation, lui trouvant tout à coup une multitude de défauts comme si nous cherchions à la punir de notre propre insuffisance.
Monsieur le Président, nous ne devons pas, nous n'avons pas le droit de mettre en péril une institution qui a fait et fera ses preuves.
C'est pourquoi la délégation malgache estime que nous devons écarter toute velléité de réforme de principe, de réforme politicienne pour le seul plaisir de modifier, de créer du nouveau. Dans la situation actuelle de l'économie mondiale, il serait criminel de notre part d'oublier que la FAO n'a pas été créée pour correspondre à nos idées quant à sa forme et ses procédures, mais pour répondre aux intérêts et aux besoins de millions de personnes dans les Etats Membres.
Monsieur le Président, restons rationnels, gardons les acquis de 42 années d'existence, continuons à persévérer dans le sens de l'amélioration des performances de notre Organisation. Consacrons notre temps pour étudier les sujets brûlants de l'heure: comment mettre de l'ordre dans le commerce mondial des produits agricoles, comment activer la mise en oeuvre du Programme spécial des Nations Unies pour l'Afrique, comment mobiliser plus de fonds pour dynamiser l'agriculture dans les pays en voie de développement, comment concrétiser les idées émises çà et là pour résoudre le problème de l'endettement de ces mêmes pays.
C'est en examinant ces questions que nous pourrions ensemble déterminer comment rendre la FAO encore plus efficace, quelles parties de sa structure doivent être renforcées, quels domaines de son activité nécessitent une évaluation.
Nous avons fait évaluer le Programme de coopération technique et nous avons été convaincus de son impact positif.
Au cours de la présente session, nous allons examiner les rapports concernant le programme d'assistance pour la sécurité alimentaire, le programme d'amélioration du secteur semencier, le programme d'action pour la lutte contre la trypanosomiase.
Nous devons continuer dans cette foulée et décider d'une priorité dans l'exécution des travaux d'évaluation pour le biennium suivant. Nous avons aussi à étudier la possibilité de renforcer certains services du Secrétariat, notamment le Centre d'investissement. En un mot, respectons l'édifice en place, restructurons là où le besoin s'en fait sentir, procédons par étapes. Les problèmes de trésorerie du biennium précédent ne sauraient être pris comme prétexte à une remise en cause désordonnée et irréfléchie des règles, des textes organiques que nous-mêmes avons élaborés, signés, ratifiés.
Ces propos m'amènent à évoquer le point 13 de notre ordre du jour, relatif au projet de Programme de travail et de budget 1988-89, ceci dans le cadre de la question fondamentale du financement du développement.
L'aide publique au développement a diminué, la croissance des engagements au profit de l'agriculture s'est ralentie, et le transfert financier des pays en voie de développement à leurs créanciers s'accélère. Les besoins sont connus. Pour la seule région africaine, l'apport extérieur nécessaire est évalué à 45 milliards de dollars de 1986 à 1990.
Face à cette situation, il nous paraît logique et indispensable que la Conférence commence par doter la FAO des moyens suffisants lui permettant de réaliser le programme qui lui est assigné.
Le projet de Programme de travail et de budget qui est soumis à notre approbation ne représente même pas le minimum requis. Avons-nous le droit de tergiverser encore pour son approbation? Encore une fois la recherche du consensus sera-t-elle vaine? Ne devons-nous pas plutôt, recenser les programmes sacrifiés lors du biennium précédent et examiner ensemble dans quelle mesure y remédier?
La délégation malgache estime que notre foi en l'Organisation, notre volonté commune de la soutenir, notre ferme engagement à remplir fidèlement les obligations librement consenties envers elle, constituent la seule assurance de son efficacité dans l'action. Nous devons mettre tout en oeuvre pour que le consensus puisse s'établir autour du projet de Programme de travail et de budget.
L'unanimité, ou au moins la large majorité qui soutiendra le Programme de travail et le budget sera l'expression de notre volonté à tous d'affronter avec succès la situation agricole, économique et monétaire désastreuse que traverse notre planète.
Si je ne suis référé qu'aux conclusions des assises du Comité des produits, il nous faut maintenant constater que, malgré le fait que 1986 ait été la 4ème année consécutive de croissance de l'économie mondiale, les cours des produits de base n'ont cessé de se détériorer; alors que les recettes d'exportations des pays industrialisés, dits à économie de marché, se sont accrues de 15%., celles des pays dits en voie de développement ont diminué de 4,5%.. Et nous savons tous que ces recettes de plus en plus maigres sont principalement destinées à honorer le service de la dette.
On peut se demander si les sacrifices inhumains, consentis par les populations pour que soient réalisées les mesures d'ajustement économique préconisées par le Fonds monétaire International et la Banque mondiale, peuvent empêcher la plupart des pays en voie de développement de s'acheminer vers la cessation de paiement.
La 24ème session de notre Conférence se tient dans ce climat plutôt morose, et j'espère que la contribution de la délégation malgache à nos travaux participera à transformer ce climat, à le rendre plus serein. A cet effet, j'aimerais clore mon intervention sur deux notes plus optimistes.
D'abord, ma délégation ne peut s'empêcher de se féliciter du fait que les négociations sur les perspectives d'un Accord même limité sur les armements nucléaires se poursuivent sous de bons augures, et que les perspectives de réconciliations nationales en Amérique centrale s'améliorent de jour en jour.
De telles mesures, une telle atmosphère, ne peuvent que favoriser le développement, améliorer le flux de ressources vers l'agriculture et faciliter le renflouement financier des Institutions spécialisées d'aide au développement.
Le deuxième point qui justifie mon optimisme mesuré, Monsieur le Président, concerne la situation agricole de mon pays. Conformément aux recommandations du Secrétariat, je serai le plus bref possible. La situation économique et financière de mon pays n'est certes pas brillante, même par rapport à celle des pays africains au même niveau de développement. Madagascar a signé en 1986-87 son sixième accord de confirmation avec le Fonds monétaire international et son troisième accord de crédit d'ajustement sectoriel avec la Banque mondiale. Mes collègues africains et d'Amérique latine imaginent sans peine le lot de contraintes, de tensions sociales et d'humiliation que cela implique.
L'optimisme qui m'habite vient du fait que la situation globale de l'agriculture malgache continue à s'améliorer depuis 1983 et permet d'espérer un niveau de croissance annuelle équivalente à la croissance démographique dans les années 1990.
Les résultats obtenus en 1986 et 1987 dans le secteur rizicole constituent pour nous un prélude à cette situation. I. 'accroissement á la production, l'amélioration des prix aux producteurs, la stabilisation des prix aux consommateurs pour cette denrée de première nécessité ont été obtenus grâce à la justesse de nos choix politiques, au courage et au travail de nos paysans et à l'appui d'insti tut ions d'aide bilatérale et multilatérale. Je citerai à cet effet le concours inestimable des experts de la FAO dans la mise en place du processus de régulation des prix du riz et l'organisation du département chargé de la Sécurité alimentaire, ainsi que l'apport massif du Programme alimentaire mondial pour soutenir jusqu'en 1990 notre action. Il est utile ici de signaler que cette action est menée conjointement avec la Banque mondiale, le Fonds monétaire international et les bailleurs de fonds bilatéraux.
Le problème du riz à Madagascar montre que la conjonction des mesures nécessaires d'ajustement économique et de dispositions visant à éviter l'aggravation de la pauvreté des populations les plus défavorisées peut réunir les pays et les organisations spécialisées autour du même consensus pour le développement.
Pour clore mon intervention, j'invite chaque Etat Membre à répondre au défi qui nous est.posé aujourd'hui comme hier par le courage, la compétence et la solidarité.
Notre préoccupation essentielle devra être d'unir nos résolutions respectives pour gagner toutes les batailles contre la pauvreté, la faim et la malnutrition. La FAO doit rester le lieu privilégié où chacun d'entre nous a le droit et le devoir de s'exprimer et de débattre des points de vue, certes différents, mais correspondant aux aspirations profondes de l'humanité. La coopération et la fraternité internationale restent la condition essentielle du développement. A nous d'y contribuer avec la détermination nécessaire.
Percival BRODERICK (Jamaica): It is incumbent upon me to add my share of the encomiums on your election, Mr Chairman, and that of the three Vice-Chairmen. Through your able guidance I know that you have been doing a good job, and will continue to do so.
Taking literally the comments of the Deputy Secretary-General when he said that if we had an unabridged text it would be very wise to summarize it as we are starting so late, I will attempt to summarize my speech as far as possible, because the evening is far spent.
We in the developing world continue to look to FAO for the provision of leadership in the area of technical co-operation geared towards increasing the level of technology and consequently food production in the developing countries. It is therefore with great pleasure that we welcome the re-election of Dr Edouard Saouma to guide the destiny of this august body over the next six years. His deep understanding of the critical issues related to world food production and world food security, particularly as they relate to developing countries, and his commitment to the search for solutions have been the hallmark of his administration to date. Therefore we are confident that this new mandate conferred on him will allow him to re-dedicate himself to the task and we pledge our firm support to his efforts.
The Jamaican delegation takes this opportunity also of congratulating Dr Jean Mayer on having so eloquently presented the McDougall lecture.
Turning now to a discussion of some of the more critical agenda items, I wish to comment briefly on the world food and agriculture situation and the state of food and agriculture.
The world food situation up to the end of 1986 appears to have significantly improved since we last met here in 1985. At that time cereal stocks stood at a record 431 million tons and the price of most internationally traded cereals had fallen. It is important however, to take cognizance of the fact that while the process of economic recovery has begun for most of developed world and, indeed, appears to be gaining momentum, most of the developing world is yet to experience any significant level of recovery particularly in the case of agricultural development. This view can be supported by r The fact. that food remains very unevenly distributed. It is estimated that .approximately 80/.'. of the world's surplus cereal stocks is concentrated in three industralized countries. In addition commodity prices, already seriously depressed, fell in real terms by an estimated 17% in 1986, and many stood at 40-year lows.
Many developing countries have therefore been faced with declining export earnings, a position which is further threatened by a growth in protectionism among the industrialized countries. Many countries have been forced to resort to additional borrowing and, in my own region of Latin America and the Caribbean, record levels of indebtedness have been reached. Indeed, we are aware that most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean continue to suffer from the effects of a most protracted crisis. The reasons for this are all well known.
These include: the sharp fall in real net capital inflows; soaring net external payments which rendered the region a net exporter of capital; high real interest rates aggravating unprecedented debt problems; and falling prices of primary commodities which crippled some of the region's main sources of income and foreign exchange.
In many countries within the region, we have had to implement painful adjustment measures often within the ambit of credit arranged witnin the IMF and which to a great extent focussed on reducing aggregate demand through fiscal measures and increasing the competitiveness of exports by currency realignments.
I am happy to report that in my country, Jamaica, the very painful period of structural adjustment has almost been completed and we now have in place an agricultural sector which is much more efficient and competitive. The objective of this adjustment, was to increase production, productivity and exports of agricultural products. Some strategies utilised included the provision of incentives to the sector to induce a greater level of production and productivity; the devaluation of the Jamaican dollar to make prices of exports more competitive, thus facilitating substantial increases in export of agricultural commodities; deregulation of the marketing boards in order to achieve greater efficiency, to improve their pricing policy, to divest their non-marketing activities to private interests and ultimately to increase production; the divestment of a number of government controlled projects and assets in order to introduce a greater level of efficiency into the operations involved, and finally, a more efficient use of land, including distribution to small farmers.
While the implementation of these policies has been generally successful, I would certainly not wish to give the impression that we have solved all our problems in the agricultural sector and I will discuss some of these under another agenda item.
Still on the agenda item of the world agricultural situation, my delegation wishes to focus at this point on the almost endemic problem which we in the developing world face as we seek to accelerate the development of our agricultural sectors. The persistence of the under-development of our agricultural sectors, raises fundamental questions about the efficiency of the agricultural development strategies being pursued on a global level. In particular it raises questions as to the appropriateness of the assistance being provided at the international level. Throughout the developing world, an ever-increasing number of projects are being designed, financed and implemented with the assistance of the donor community, yet the results are far less than desirable. Is it that we expect to see more positive results? Or is it a question that the technology which is being transferred on a more or less "standard" basis is inappropriate at the level of the individual countries? I would venture to say that it is not enough for us to turn up at conference after conference to bemoan the crises facing developing countries and to call for a wholesale increase in international technical assistance, whether financial or human. We feel that a review of the appropriateness of the type of assistance being given to the agricultural sector in the developing world and the making of concrete recommendations for revising this are deemed necessary. My delegation is of the view that the FAO by virtue of its knowledge and interest in agriculture can and should play a pivotal role in seeking to initiate such a review.
My delegation wishes to refer to another major agenda item, that of the WCARRD report. We are all cognizant of the fact that the WCARRD strategy seeks to involve the rural poor through programmes specifically directed to identified groups of beneficiaries in areas of concentrated rural poverty. We were somewhat disappointed by the FAO report on this agenda item which indicated that although such groups had been identified in most countries, few of them had actually designed and implemented programmes for such target groups. In my country, Jamaica, while convinced of the need to implement structural adjustment programmes we have not lost sight of the need for continuously seeking to identify and find solutions to problems which bedevil our small farming sector, through the development and implementation of appropriate programmes and projets. You will permit me, Mr Chairman, briefly to share with this distinguished gathering developments in our experience which relate to land and its use, a subject which we consider to be the basis to the agrarian reform process.
We have recognized that although successive governments have distributed lands to farmers under various land settlement programmes, the development of these lands were being seriously impeded by inadequate issuance of freehold titles to the land for the following reasons.
Firstly, many small farmers are unable to access loans which have been provided for agricultural development, the lack of titles in many instances preclude the granting of credit, even though we have tried ways of getting around this in the interim.
Secondly, a great deal of time and money is often spent going to court to settle boundary disputes because, without the title, the boundaries are often not clearly marked out.
Thirdly, proper long-term development of the land is often not undertaken because of the difficulties experienced in passing on land to heirs.
We have therefore developed a land titling project which will seek to improve conditions of tenure of agricultural land. The future of the agrarian reform in our country will redound, not only to the interest of the small farming sector, but also to the entire process of agricultural development.
Turning now to the proposed programme of work and budget, my delegation would like to congratulate the Director-General and the staff of FAO on the excellent job which has been done in the preparation of proposed work and budget. I say this against the background of the immense problems which have been experienced in effecting necessary adjustments to the budget and programme for the current biennium, brought about by the continued difficulties being experienced in financing.
We are satisfied that the proposed cost increases were calculated on the basis of the methodology approved by the finance committee and as such are unavoidable. My delegation is also satisfied that the programme priorities reflect the need to focus production effort on food deficit countries and to overall improved management on FAO's resources. In this regard we commend the approach of concentrating scarce resources on the technical work of the Organization and streamlining administrative expenses as much as possible. Against this background my delegation is of the view that the proposed real increase in the budget of 0.2 percent over the recosted budget represents a real effort to be as cost effective as possible without being inimical to the real work of the FAO. We therefore support the proposed budget of approximately US$ 451 million for the period 1988-89.
In closing, my delegation takes this opportunity of thanking the government and people of Italy for the hospitality extended to us and also the Director-General and FAO Secretariat for the very excellent arrangements which have been made for this Conference.
I must extend a particular thanks to my fellow delegates who have persisted through a very long day and who have sat through this very last presentation of the day. I say thank you to all for staying with us.
Geremew DEBELE (Ethiopia): On behalf of the government of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and that of my own, it is with great pleasure that I express my deeply felt honour for being on the programme of this strategically important Session of our Organization.
Although there remains much to be done to address the world food problem and with no intent to dwell on FAO's past performances, it is with great pride that my Government acknowledges the records of achievement of this Organization, an Organization that has survived for forty years contributing to human well-being.
The honorable Ministers and delegates participating in this Session are fully aware of the present world's food situation and the difficult challenges that lie ahead in making the most of our valuable resources with the aim of promoting food security by ensuring both adequacy in the supply of and access to food for all human beings. In this respect, the usefulness of this august body to examine crucial issues and advance future plans in the light of our experience, knowledge and international efforts cannnot be questioned.
Despite our numerous activities in the past to meet successfully the challenges of agricultural development and food security in all developing countries, we are still confronted with critical constraints that require our concerted regional and global efforts. These constraints in agricultural development which are strongly linked to several social, economic and political factors are not unknown to many of us here. In order to assess the regional and global magnitude of these development problems, I would, therefore, simply call to mind the major constraints upon which our efforts have focused to mitigate the problem, in my country.
The impediments to our productive rural economy have caused decline in agricultural yields,, occasioning cyclical famine, particularly in the course of the past decade. In the event, many people were placed directly at risk of starvation, many lost their means of production and were forced to abandon their homes. These periods of worst food crisis are times when we found ourselves in a precarious situation and our task was a collosal one, with the constraints outstripping our national aspirations and capabilities.
It would be in order to take time at this stage to pay tribute to the international donor community and other aid agencies for their generous responses to mitigate the worst effects of food shortages in Ethiopia and for the support, currently, in our recovery and 'development programmes with the aim of effecting a change in the agricultural sector. This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is not overstating the truth.
Here, I also wish to underline our appreciation to FAO's assistance that was combined with our national relief, rehabilitation and agricultural development programmes. We are also grateful to this Organization for its untiring efforts and cooperation in working with us actively in our monitoring scheme to assess the food situation in the country and draw attention of the international community to the findings.
The constraints which have caused the widening food gaps and massive food imports into the country and which eroded the comparatively favourable physical agricultural environment, are largely man-made and legacy of the past system.
The major root-causes which have greatly contributed to the present agricultural problems in the country are well documented. These include:- the vagaries of climate : low technology agriculture decimating the favorable production environment; illiteracy which stood at 97 percent in 1974; the nature of the traditional rural settlements in widely scattered and isolated homesteads and overpopulation in degraded/drought-prone areas; and injudicious use of natural resources, to name a few. Concurrently, one may allude here population policy, international agricultural commodity prices, locust swarms and other migrant pests, livestock diseases, debt servicing and indebtedness, in terms of constraints.
Within the context mentioned above and with top priority to reverse the decline in the agricultural sector by attacking and removing the root-causes, the government of the PDRE spared no effort to adopt the necessary policies and take some bold and imaginative measures, accordingly, to ensure a degree of food security for its people.
The country's agriculture which is given the highest priority, has its policies and strategies clearly identified and formulated in the national Ten-Year Perspective Development Plan and in the Three-Year Food Self-sufficiency Programme, launched in 1984 and 1987, respectively. In the short- and medium-term period we concentrate on key areas, such as attainment of food self-sufficiency, conservation of natural resources, and rural development with emphasis on irrigated agriculture and\ improved dry-land farming management techniques intensifying the farming practices in both existing and new farm lands in high potential areas.
In connection with irrigated agriculture, Ethiopia has water resource potential capable of harnessing over 3 million ha. of land. But what prevails in the country currently, is almost exclusive reliance on the rains, with irrigated farming very minimal or about 100 000 ha.
As part of our strategy for promoting economic growth through agricultural modernization, the Ethiopian Government has also embarked upon Resettlement and Villagization programmes.
When looking at the set tiennent patterns of Ethiopian farmers, severe land degradation on the highlands resulting from population pressure, over-grazing, exploitive farming practices and deforestation threaten the economic and social development of the country, making increasing numbers of Ethiopians vulnerable to droughts which would be automatically accompanied by cyclical famines. The highlands make up 44% of the total land area of the country. The severity of the drought and famine of recent years in Ethiopia can to a large extent, be attributed to the degradation of the country's highlands where 85% of the human population reside, 75% of the livestock subsist on and 95% of the regularly rainfed cropped lands are confined. The objective of the resettlement programme is to resettle people from overpopulated and degraded drought-prone areas in agriculturally viable lands to ensure proper utilization of natural and human resources for maximizing agricultural production with provision of input packages to attain food self-sufficiency. So far, over 500 000 people are resettled under the scheme. In the light of these considerations it would not be obscure to perceive the need and significance of the programme.
Similarly, the scattered settlement pattern of the rural community in which the homesteads are widely isolated, did not allow provision of basic inputs and social services. Under the villagization programme some 18% of the rural population or 6.5 million people are already villagized in less than three years and are now enjoying social services, such as school, health centres, transport facilities, electricity, grinding mills, credit, marketing centres, water supply to name but a few.
One other important point and laudable achievement in the course of the past decade and which we feel duty bound to report to the world community is our Literacy Campaign. Illiteracy, one of the impediments to increased output, which stood at a high level of 97% in 1974, has dropped to less than 30% now.
The issue of planned population policy is increasingly and rightfully coming to the forefront nowadays in the minds of policy-makers.
A World Bank report points out that in comparison with the fast population growth, the total annual growth of agricultural production in developing countries during the last decade was a little over 3% in Latin America and Asia, but only 1.4%, in Africa. The report further states that in 1986 some 730 million people suffered from a high level of malnutrition. This is shocking to human conscience specially when seen against the fact that there is enough food for everyone in the world, but there are more hungry people today than ever before because food is not easily available to those countries in need. A country's quarantee to withstand this problem is a determined effort for self-reliance to feed its people.
In order to feed the projected growing population and to expand export income in developing countries, it is understandable to conceive that local food production rates must satisfy adequately the growing demands for agricultural products, over time. In this connection one must understand that planned population policy cannot be viewed in isolation of general development policy. Development itself is the basis for an effective solution of population problems.
Particularly in Third World countries well established mass organizations in both urban centres and rural communities, with active participation of the people in the social, economic and political functions have significant power base in facilitating effective implementation of population policies. Moreover, regular censuses on population and housing, integration of population education into the school system and training of maternal/child care contribute greatly in bringing awareness of the values of the right family size relative to resources available to the family and the nation. In this regard Ethiopia has responded to the challenge by laying down the essential base to tackle the problem effectively.
Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Another impediment that has significant bearing to developing countries is international debt servicing which grew faster than external debts and exports in the 1980s. We know this is not news
but relevant to be raised in this instance in relation to its adverse impact in the economies of poor borrowing countries. We would like to stress at this juncture that it would be sensible for the international financial institutions and industrial countries to consider policy measures that would not be at the expense of the poor, and measures that would revitalize productive base of the poor borrowing countries.
In order to come out of the current food gap, the government of the PDR of Ethiopia is not under the illusion that this problem should be left to the assistance of international donor community. Outside assistance is supplementary to our national efforts, and we will continue our strenuous exertion to overcome the problem.
In this connection, despite the favourable rain during our cropping season of past. autumn, t he main rains during the following cropping season last summer have been below normal in both intensity and coverage in most parts of the central and northern highlands. With this in view and threats by locust swarms, we have undertaken to increase the national food security reserve from 50 000 tonnes to a total of 92 000 tonnes, and commercial purchase of 100 000 tonnes of food grains put through for emergency use in 1988.
Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the face of the present agricultural constraints in developing countries and the difficult problems ahead of us, I would like to stress here that we should give more of what we have given to FAO in the past to help grow more food and improve food security situations at all levels and have a better-fed world.
We have no doubt that as long as the soundness of international judgments exist, the pace for agricultural progress can be accelerated to satisfy our needs.
Concurrently, Mr Chairman, in view of the increasing demand for food which is not in proportion to population growth, food security by ensuring both supply of and access to food for all human beings would continue to be the major criterion by which our Organization (FAO) is measured. In this connection excellence of FAO to meet successfully the challenges ahead becomes more central than ever before to our individual and collective success and for our work to benefit mankind.
In conclusion, allow me to express our concurrence with the proposed FAO work programme and budget and support to the Director-General in his efforts to stimulate indispensable changes in world agriculture. 1/
RIGHT OF REPLY
DROIT DE REPONSE
DERECHO DE REPLICA
LE PRESIDENT: Avant de lever cette huitième séance plénière,je doís passer la parole à la délégation des Etats-Unis d'Amérique qui va exercer son droit de réponse selon la procédure acceptée par cette Conférence lors de sa première séance.
Joan Wallace DAWKINS (United States of America): The United States delegation regrets the inappropriate attack the delegate from Panama has made on the United States. It is a sad day when countries use floors such as the FAO to vent whatever frustrations they may feel at each other for reasons that have nothing to do with FAO and to the business for which we are assembled. Such attacks are not constructive and can lead to nothing useful. They distract us from the true focus of our work. The discussion of food and agricultural issues, important to the people of the world, deserve much more from our deliberations.
The meeting rose at 18.30 hours
La séance est levée à 18 h 30
Se levanta la sesión a las 18.30 horas
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1/ Statement inserted in the verbatim records on request
