National Conference on Food and Nutritional Security

Fortaleza, Brazil, 6 July 2007

Mr Chairman,
Distinguished Ministers and Delegates,
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour and a privilege for me to address this third “National Conference on Food and Nutritional Security” at Fortaleza.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Brazilian National Food and Nutritional Security Council (CONSEA) on its excellent work.

CONSEA, two-thirds of whose membership are representatives of civil society, reports directly to the President of the Republic. It played a vital role in framing the Federal Law on Food and Nutritional Security enacted on 15 September 2006.

Furthermore, CONSEA operates as a National Alliance Against Hunger in Brazil, and in that capacity it has helped Haiti to establish its own National Alliance.

But what is the state of food security in Latin America and Brazil today?

In the Latin American and Caribbean region as a whole, the number of people suffering from hunger fell from 59 million to 52 million between 1990-92 and 2001-03, a 12% reduction. But although this result was positive, it is not sufficient, particularly because the progress made has not been evenly distributed. More substantial results have been achieved in South America and the Caribbean. Cuba, Guyana and Peru have already attained the World Food Summit target. Chile and Uruguay are very close to it, while in Ecuador and Jamaica the numbers of people suffering from hunger have fallen by about 25%, as has been the case in Brazil and Suriname. Progress has not been so positive, however, in Central America in terms both of numbers and in proportion to the victims of malnutrition and hunger.

FAO has assisted numerous countries in the region to enhance their capacities to achieve a sustainable reduction in hunger, mainly thanks to the Special Programme for Food Security.

In Mexico, for example, FAO has contributed to decentralised food security planning by seeking to reach out to the most marginalised zones.

In Central America, technologies to develop agroforestry on marginal lands have helped to improve the livelihoods of the local people, foster the conditions for sustainable natural resource management, and create a greater capacity to deal with natural disasters such as drought and floods.

Venezuela, Colombia and Bolivia have achieved good results with micro-gardens, and intensive legume production and organic farming projects.

In Nicaragua, work has focused on the evolution of poor rural families’ consumption models.

In Brazil, lastly, the numbers of people suffering from hunger fell by more than 4 million between 1990-92 and 2001-03. To further boost this trend, in 2003, under the leadership of President Lula, the government launched an ambitious programme to eradicate hunger in Brazil within five years, which in 2003 still affected 14.1 million Brazilians.

FAO was involved in this Zero Hunger programme from its inception. It has contributed to framing policies and action strategies, implementing a monitoring and evaluation system, and developing innovative participatory local planning methods.

FAO has learned very important lessons from this experience in Brazil and from the Zero Hunger programme. These lessons can be applied in other countries engaged in combating hunger. I should just like to mention a few of the more important lessons learned:

- the key to success is strong and sustained political commitment at the highest echelons of government;

- the implementation of specific programmes directly addressing the problem of hunger and the causes of hunger must be accompanied by programmes to underpin the development of agriculture and increase the incomes of small-scale producers;

- a multisectoral approach must be developed, targeted at rural infrastructure and water management, crop productivity, livestock, fish and aquaculture production, and food marketing and quality;

- it is essential actively and effectively to involve civil society in designing and implementing programmes.

The Zero Hunger Programme has attracted keen interest in Latin America.

This year, the President of Nicaragua, for example, launched the "Hambre Cero" Programme. In Colombia, the "JUNTOS" strategy has the same objective.

In September 2005, President Lula of Brazil and President Berger of Guatemala launched the "Hunger-Free Latin America and Caribbean by 2025" initiative, whose main purpose is to eradicate hunger and guarantee food, and food security, to all the people of Latin America and the Caribbean by 2025.

FAO is supporting this initiative by providing technical assistance for the three programme components through the FAO Regional Office. Thanks to a financial contribution from the Spanish government a special team has been put in place to support this initiative. Training and awareness-building workshops have been organised, and audiovisual materials have been developed for it.

But all these joint efforts to achieve food security must also take other problems into account, particularly rapid urbanisation.

In 1990 Latin America was already the most highly urbanised region in the developing world, with 72 per cent of the population living in towns.

FAO is working with its member countries to promote urban and periurban agriculture within the framework of the integrated development of towns and cities, to guarantee food production and distribution in a sustainable environment.

Another challenge to food security is the devastating effect of certain diseases. This is why food and nutritional security programmes must take these into account, providing information and contributing to awareness-building in order to reduce the spread and limit the impact of diseases.

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is essential to improve access to land and water, as well as to credit, in order to raise production and improve household food security.

The International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development was held on 6-10 March 2006 at Porto Alegre (Brazil). The debates and the final Declaration enabled the international community to refocus on the importance of land use and management-related issues, and on improving rural areas.

A Brazilian, Josué de Castro, and the author of The Geography of Hunger, was one of the first people to emphasize the linkage between improved land access and the struggle against hunger. FAO is contributing to the long-term actions of the Brazilian government to improve access to land by poor rural people.

Furthermore, agricultural production and food security will be confronted by new challenges over the coming decades. Climate change and the development of bioenergy sources are new worldwide challenges.

FAO is working on two levels: to define farmers' needs in a new environment, then to co operate with the scientific community and those responsible for development strategies and policies in this area.

FAO is encouraging an approach which strengthens the effectiveness and flexibility of farming methods under current conditions, while preparing farmers to cope with the likely long-term changes.

These are problems that need to be taken into consideration linked to the consumption of nitrogen fertilizer, animal species, methane emissions, varieties of plant species, etc.

With regard to bio-energy sources, biofuel development programmes are already well advanced. World production of biofuels (ethanol and biodiesel) now account for more than 2% of world petroleum use.

The increased demand for raw materials deriving from food crops for the production of biofuels, mainly for the transport industry, has impacted on the world markets and on the world prices of basic products. World sugar prices reveal a substantial statistical correlation with crude oil prices. Last February, these prices reached the highest level in the past 23 years. At the same time, cereals and oilseed prices tended to rise similarly.

The bioenergy debate is very complex. There is an agriculture debate, and there is also an industrial, commercial and energy-related debate. And there is also a problem of sustainable natural resource-use. Different situations in different countries therefore make it very difficult to reach an international consensus.

These, then, are the reasons why FAO has deployed great multidisciplinary efforts on these issues.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The purpose of Doha was to engage in a “round of development negotiations” to establish a more open, but also a more equitable, international trading régime.

The developing countries, and particularly the less advanced countries, were supposed to benefit from effective special and differentiated treatment. They were also supposed to receive “trading assistance” relating to rural infrastructure, agricultural productivity and their capacity to maintain health and plant health standards. Thus, they could increase the elasticity of their supply and improve their access to the international markets.

But the current difficulties in these negotiations, and notably the disagreement between the United States, the European Union, Brazil and India, run the risk of leading to a setback and giving rise to harmful consequences in the struggle against hunger and poverty.

FAO has contributed to the negotiating round by highlighting the consequences that the proposals being discussed might have on countries with different features and different interests. FAO's technical documents have been widely used by countries involved in the negotiations. Through its Framework Training Programme, FAO has enabled the Member States to make a more accurate analysis of the potential effects on food security of any further liberalisation of the agriculture trade.

Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

If the political will is there, and if we strive for greater justice for the poorest, we can create a just and hunger-free world.

Thank you for your kind attention.

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