Country statements and general debate on the food and agriculture situation in the region
Report on FAO activities in the region, 1994-952
World food summit
Sustainable agricultural development in Europe with particular focus on the Mediterranean area
Structural reform process in central and eastern European countries
12. The Conference reviewed the food and agriculture situation in the Region. Statements were made by the delegations of Israel, the European Union, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Hungary, Cyprus, Iceland, Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Switzerland, Norway, Malta and Albania. In their statements delegations drew particular attention to the following:
- recent trends in European Union agriculture;- the steps being taken by a number of countries outside the European Union to align their agricultural policies with those of the Union;
- the need for and action being taken to increase agricultural competitiveness in the countries of the Region;
- the difficulties and the progress being made by countries which formerly had centrally planned economies with agricultural privatisation and the overall transformation of their agricultural sectors to market systems;
- the concern of countries in transition to move ahead rapidly with agricultural restructuring;
- the importance of the countries in transition attach to receiving assistance in agriculture and rural development during their process of transformation, particularly from FAO, and the importance these countries attach to the FAO Sub-Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe, Budapest, providing them with appropriate and concrete support;
- the potential of the countries in transition to increase their agricultural production;
- the adverse effect of drought in some southern parts of the Region, in spite of recent rains;
- the importance of economically, ecologically and socially sustainable agriculture;
- the need to give careful attention to the sound management of the Region's forest and fishery resources;
- the importance of balanced nutrition; and
- the need to take account of the multi-faceted role of agriculture.
[2 ERC/96/2]
13. In reviewing the report submitted by the Secretariat, the Conference:
- recommended that future reports should provide quantitative data regarding resources allocated to the Region under the Regular Programme and from extra-budgetary sources, as well as a qualitative assessment of resource utilization on which recommendations on future direction could be based;- recommended that every effort should be made to bring the Sub-Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe in Budapest into full operation as rapidly as possible; and
- welcomed the offers of financial support made by some Member Countries to strengthen the Organization's activities in priority areas such as forest conservation, rural energy and agricultural research.
14. Taking account of the financial prospects and noting the priority areas in the Secretariat's report, delegations indicated the importance they attached to:
i) assistance to Member Countries in the CEE Subregion in policy analysis;ii) support for research activities in the CEE Subregion;
iii) support for the livestock sector in the CEE Subregion;
iv) assistance in improving agrarian structures in Central and Eastern Europe;
v) support for strengthening capacity to ensure better nutrition practices;
vi) advice on diversifying the rural economic base to provide alternative, non-farm sources of income to rural populations; and
vii) help in safeguarding the quality and standards of food and farm products and promoting measures to prevent the expansion of contagious diseases.
15. The Conference fully supported the measures taken by the Secretariat to ensure coordination with other international organizations such as OECD, the European Community and the World Bank as well as with other bilateral programmes active in the Region.
[3 ERC/96/3, ERC/96/4 and ERC/96/4-Sup.1]
16. With a view to contributing a European Regional perspective to the Summit preparation, the Conference considered documents ERC/96/3 "Towards Universal Food Security: Draft of a Policy Statement and Plan of Action", ERC/96/4 "World Food Summit: Food Security Situation and Issues in Europe" and noted ERC/96/4-Sup.1 "Food for All Campaign".
17. The Conference considered it would be premature to make any commitments of a global nature at this regional level, and therefore decided not to consider Part III of ERC/96/4. The European Union stated its wish to have discussions with other European countries on the elaboration of common European views on food security in the Region in order to give an input to the Inter-sessional Working Group of the Committee on World Food Security.
18. The Conference recognized that certain countries within the Region faced food security problems. The Region as a whole made a significant contribution to food security throughout the world, despite the fact that vulnerable groups occurred in the Region.
19. Emphasis was placed on making progress with food and agricultural production in countries in transition to market economies. Steps being taken to expand intra-regional agricultural trade were highlighted. The Conference also identified food safety and sound nutrition as areas of importance.
20. The Conference considered a number of issues should be given greater emphasis in the draft Summit documents and drew particular attention to the following:
- the over-riding need for much greater attention to be given to the fundamental problem of poverty alleviation and access to food;- governments have responsibility for and must ensure a framework conducive to food security;
- the need for full and active participation of people and their organizations in formulating and implementing food security policies and actions;
- the empowerment of women in view of the central role they play as managers of natural resources and as food producers;
- the critical importance of addressing demographic issues;
- the importance of addressing household-level food security as an essential building block in achieving food for all;
- the multiple functions of agriculture with an emphasis on sustainable agriculture - as an engine of growth, in fighting poverty, in providing employment in rural areas and so improving access to food, in resource conservation and in slowing the rural - urban migration;
- the urgency of action to maintain and enhance the natural resource base of agriculture, fisheries and forestry of all regions of the world;
- the sustainable management of water resources, availability of water and dissemination of appropriate technologies for the efficient use of water;
- the substantive role of sustainable fisheries and forestry in food security;
- reinforcing and broadening research on food production systems with an emphasis on sustainable management of natural resources; and
- providing food aid where appropriate without discouraging national production and commercial structures.
21. The Conference recognized the importance for food security of a well-functioning liberal trade system at local, national, regional and international levels. However, a number of delegations cautioned that trade liberalization by itself would not be sufficient to achieve food security and ecological and social objectives, particularly in disadvantaged areas.
22. Delegations drew attention to the need to refer to agreements reached in other international fora and highlighted the importance of substantive contributions which are expected from the Leipzig FAO Conference on Plant Genetic Resources for food and agriculture. Steps needed to be taken by Member States and the UN system to ensure the World Food Summit preparation and its subsequent follow-up formed an integral part of the Conference Action Plan (i.e. the UN system assistance for the integrated follow-up to the major UN conferences since 1990).
23. The Conference recognized that the Inter-sessional Working Group of the Committee on World Food Security had been entrusted with the task of taking forward preparation of the Summit Policy Statement and Plan of Action. It accordingly directed that its report should be provided to the Inter-sessional Working Group.
24. The Conference underlined that further steps be taken to fully involve other relevant organizations of the United Nations system in Summit preparations. It particularly emphasized the importance of their active participation in the meetings of the Inter-sessional Working Group and stressed the need for further UN system consultations within appropriate existing inter-agency mechanisms.
25. The Conference welcomed the outcome of the FAO/Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) Consultation which took place immediately prior to the Regional Conference as a valuable input to its debate. It noted and supported transmission of the Consultation Report to the Inter-sessional Working Group of the Committee on World Food Security.
[4 ERC/96/5]
26. As an introduction, Professor Pasternak of the Ben-Gurion University of Negev gave a presentation of Israel's experience in the management and use of scarce water resources, including the use of saline and recycled water for irrigation and development of drought-resistant crops.
27. In discussion, attention was drawn to the following:
- the value of countries in the Mediterranean area sharing information, technology and experiences regarding sustainable agricultural development, water, and related questions, recognizing the valuable role that FAO could play in this context;- the need for strengthening cooperative research programmes;
- the importance of sustainable water management and control in the Mediterranean area and the need for sound choices in the use of water between and within sectors; the importance of forestry and forest management in the Mediterranean area and the problem of damage caused by forest fires;
- the problems caused by protracted drought and dry summer seasons;
- the variations in ecological conditions within Mediterranean countries;
- the importance of identifying and addressing nutritional problems in Mediterranean countries.
[5 ERC/96/7]
28. The Conference reviewed the Progress Report prepared by the Secretariat and highlighted the following:
- the value of the technical and financial assistance from the European Community in support of CEE reforms as well as of bilateral support and of support from FAO;- the importance to CEE countries in their transformation processes of capital inflows;
- the action being taken by CEE countries to comply with GATT Uruguay Round requirements as well as the action being taken by these countries to benefit from export opportunities;
- the importance of developing off-farm employment opportunities in rural areas;
- the importance of meeting quality and other requirements of export markets; and
- the need for FAO to tailor its assistance to the needs of the CEE countries.
