FAO GOVERNING CONFERENCE ADOPTS 1996-1997 PROGRAMME OF WORK AND BUDGET
Press Release
FAO/3627
FAO GOVERNING CONFERENCE ADOPTS 1996-1997 PROGRAMME OF WORK AND BUDGET
19951031 ROME, 27 October (FAO) -- The governing Conference of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) adopted without opposition today a $650 million programme of work and budget for the organization for 1996-1997. In the vote in the plenary session of the Conference, three countries abstained, the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. In its report, the Conference expressed its "broad endorsement of the proposed priorities", as well as welcoming the substantial savings from the restructuring decisions adopted by the FAO Council, its interim governing body, and other streamlining measures introduced by the Director-General.The biennial Conference, which began on 20 October, is FAO supreme governing body, bringing together Agriculture Ministers and senior officials from FAO 176 members. The Conference met as FAO findings showed that agriculture production in 1994 increased only modestly, following virtual stagnation in 1993, and serious food shortages and emergencies continued to particularly affect the African continent, while a massive cereal deficit for 1995-1996 had been forecast for southern Africa. Further, a report prepared for the Conference said that external assistance to agriculture continued to decline at a time when many low-income agriculture-dependent countries faced increasing difficulties in achieving their full agricultural potential. Food aid flows also were reported to be continuing a downward trend since reaching their 1992-1993 peak.
In an opening address to the Conference, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf called for a new spirit of international cooperation and cautioned against resurging isolationism, increasing criticism of United Nations institutions and decreasing commitments for aid to development. He said that the rise of intolerance borne of past antagonisms would lead to a dangerous and pitiless world.
The mechanisms that allowed for the accumulation of wealth must be complemented by social and moral values, so that relations among countries would be founded on fraternity and a sense of belonging to one world village, said Dr. Diouf. Those values were the cornerstone of the FAO, the largest specialized United Nations agency, which marked the fiftieth anniversary of its founding in Quebec City on 16 October.
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Dr. Diouf referred to some calls for cuts in FAO's budgetandsidewas sensitive to the financial difficulties of certain member States and their concerns to find savings in order to reduce imbalances in national budgets. But, he warned, there was a minimum financial critical mass which was necessary to ensure the fundamental human right to food, as well as the sustainable management of the world's plant, animal, soil and water resources.
The Conference members had the opportunity to lead FAO to a successful future, essential for the 800 million people who did not have access to sufficient food. Or, he warned, they could lead FAO down the slippery slope of uncertain resources, which would be a dire prospect for the malnourished of the earth. Putting the cost of funding FAO's work in perspective, Dr. Diouf said FAO's present budget, to help free the world from hunger and malnutrition, was only the amount spent on dog and cat food for six days in nine developed countries.
Dr. Diouf had previously outlined the following as his priorities for the next two years: funding for the Special Programme on Food Production in Support of Food Security in Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries; continuation of action under the Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases for both the desert locust and animal health components; increased resource levels to plant and animal genetic resources, to permit follow-up to the Fourth International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources; increased funding for forestry to accelerate work on forest resources assessment and implementation of national forests action plans; and enhancement of the Global Information and Early Warning System, which monitors world food and agricultural production.
During the Conference, the annual FAO report, The State of Food and Agriculture 1995 was released. The 300-page report cautioned that the gains from the considerable expansion of trade had been extremely uneven and markets had been plagued by distortive intervention and protection. The Uruguay Round Agreement, for example, was a "momentous event for agricultural trade", but may have limited impact on world agricultural markets in the short term with "protectionism in old and new forms" likely to remain high unless further reductions were negotiated, the report stated.
On emerging issues, the report urged that regional trading arrangements open their markets to third countries, so as to contribute to a more liberal global trading environment. It also cautioned that "if the environment is to be protected, governments should have appropriate policies to modify the behaviour of producers, consumers and markets". Without such policies resource allocation could be in conflict with the objectives of sustainable development.
The report confirmed earlier indications of slow growth in global agricultural production and noted that continued serious food shortages and emergencies were likely to continue on the African continent. The report
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warned that Africa, where 15 countries currently required emergency food assistance, "remains the continent most seriously affected by food shortages".
The report's region by region review of agricultural policies found: Asia and the Pacific continued to outperform all other regions with gross domestic product (GDP) growth around 8 per cent, almost 12 per cent in China, while agricultural production was expanding by some 2 to 3 per cent a year and agriculture was still the driving economic force and major employer in many Asian countries; in Latin America, overall economic improvement had been accompanied by poorer performances in agriculture; in central and eastern Europe and the new independent States of the former Soviet Union high price supports would impose high costs on taxpayers and on low-income consumers; in the Near East and North Africa, regions of high food import dependence, ongoing peace negotiations had ushered in a wave of cautious optimism; and in sub-Saharan Africa, the current food supply situation was generally satisfactory in western and central Africa, with above-average harvests in most countries.
The report also examined the important, yet relatively neglected issue, of the impact of market-oriented reform on the consumer, in particular the impact of policy reform on consumer prices. Recognizing that reform initially often had a negative impact on the levels and patterns of food consumption among the poor, the report discussed how vulnerable households might be protected and emphasized the need for closer monitoring of changes in the welfare of various income groups related to reforms. The report contains a computer diskette in English, French and Spanish with a comprehensive set of annual statistics on agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors from some 150 countries, including data from 1961 to 1994.
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