CFS:2004/4-Sup.5

I. REPORT OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH FAO REGIONAL CONFERENCE FOR EUROPE (ERC/04/REP)

SUMMARY OF MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS

Follow-up to the World Food Summit and World Food Summit: five years later

For the attention of Governments

The Conference underlined:

1. Regular monitoring of implementation of the goals of the World Food Summit (WFS) as an important part of the fight against hunger and malnutrition (para. 15 (a));

2. Agricultural development as an engine of economic growth and an essential component to reduce poverty and achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) (para. 15 (b));

3. The need to prioritize rural development and food security issues in national development strategies (para. 15 (d));

4. The importance of strengthening competitiveness of agriculture and non-agriculture sectors to raise rural incomes (para. 15(e));

5. Good governance, enhancing the capacity of governments and administrations, and the prevention of conflict as essential factors for achieving food security (para. 15(g));

6. The importance of land rights, land markets and an enabling environment for rural entrepreneurs, access to markets, credits, market information, advisory services and proper infrastructure (para. 15(i));

7. The importance of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture as a tool to support the conservation of plant genetic resources and to encourage benefit sharing (para. 15(q)).

For the attention of FAO

The Conference underlined:

8. The importance of FAO’s work, both normative and operational in the European Region to support policy assistance and capacity building (para. 15(p));

9. The leading role of FAO in the Collaborative Partnerships on Forests and the support of the Ministerial Conferences on the Protection of the Forests in Europe as well as the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests/Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (para. 15(r)).