SECRETARY-GENERAL, STRESSING KEY ROLE OF WOMEN IN GLOBAL WAR AGAINST HUNGER, URGES MORE INVESTMENT IN THEIR EDUCATION
Press Release
FAO/3651
OBV/18
SECRETARY-GENERAL, STRESSING KEY ROLE OF WOMEN IN GLOBAL WAR AGAINST HUNGER, URGES MORE INVESTMENT IN THEIR EDUCATION
19971021 World Food Day Ceremony Also Hears Appeal from FAO Director-General For More Action, 'Fewer Reports, Seminars and Intellectual Debates'Investing in human resources, particularly the education of women and girls, was just as vital as investment in irrigation systems, roads and other infrastructure, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said this afternoon, as he addressed a meeting on "Investing in Food Security".
At a ceremony commemorating the observance of World Food Day, 1997, the Secretary-General noted that women produced 80 per cent of the basic foodstuffs in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. Adding that in some regions of Africa 60 per cent of households were headed by women, he said that it was by now common wisdom that investing in the education of women and girls had the highest rate of return of any type of investment in development.
The Acting President of the General Assembly, Manuel Tello (Mexico), speaking on behalf of Hennadiy Udovenko, President of the Assembly, said hunger and malnutrition resulted in an average of 30,000 deaths a day, yet that terrible toll on humanity was often taken for granted. He said the proceedings of the current session of the Assembly included a discussion of international cooperation on issues related to world hunger, such as sustainable agricultural development, as well as social and political development. Democracy, peace and food security were interrelated.
The President of the Economic and Social Council, Vladimir Galuska (Czech Republic), said that if the issue of world hunger were not addressed today, it would become the dominating concern of the twenty-first century. "How can it be morally acceptable in today's world that so many people are unable to meet their basic needs for food in order to survive?", he asked.
The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Jacques Diouf, said the attainment of food security required specific achievements in developing countries. The international community would fail if it continued to focus on conferences, meetings, seminars and the production of reports by consultants. Intellectual debates could not solve the problem
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of the poor. There must be specific action in favour of farmers who needed to be encouraged and given the knowledge and means to access improved technology and better methods of storage and harvesting.
In his keynote address, Fritz Longchamp, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Culture of Haiti, speaking on behalf of the President of Haiti, Rene Preval, said it was unacceptable that 800 million people worldwide suffered from hunger and malnutrition. The World Hunger Summit held in Rome in November 1996, had sent out a call for action that had yet to be fully realized, he said.
In order to achieve the declared goal of cutting world hunger in half by the year 2015, Haiti had suggested that the funds made available by disarmament be diverted to the fight against hunger. Further, it had suggested that the international community, through specialized agencies, invest in agricultural research.
World Food Day Observance
A special ceremony to mark the annual observance of World Food Day was held today at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
The 1997 World Food Day was observed in more than 150 countries last Thursday (16 October). The theme chosen for this year's observances is "Investing in Food Security".
The aim of World Food Day -- proclaimed in 1979 by the Governing Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) -- is to heighten public awareness of the world's food problems and strengthen solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty. In 1980, the General Assembly endorsed observance of the Day by stating that "food is a requisite for human survival and well-being and a fundamental human necessity".
Statements
MANUEL TELLO (Mexico), Acting President of the General Assembly, speaking for Assembly President Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), told today's meeting that 800 million people in the world were chronically undernourished because they did not grow enough food to meet their physical needs. There were also 50 million victims of man-made and natural disasters who were threatened by acute hunger and required immediate assistance.
He said World Food Day was a reminder that hunger continued to be a scourge of humanity. The incidence of poverty continued to increase both in relative and absolute terms. About 26 per cent of the world's population lived in poverty and projections were that the figure would grow.
Hunger and malnutrition resulted in an average of 30,000 deaths a day, he continued, and this terrible toll on humanity was often taken for granted. It was important that food security for all must be achieved; its importance could never be overestimated.
He said proceedings at the current session of the General Assembly included a discussion of international cooperation on issues related to world hunger, such as sustainable agricultural development, as well as social and political development. Democracy, peace and food security were interrelated.
The new initiative of the Director-General of the FAO -- called "Telefood" -- was a means for making the public more aware of the dimensions of the hunger problem. It also made it possible to act on the problem. All sectors of civil society were called upon to carry on follow-up activities.
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He said investing in food security was one of the best ways to use the peace dividend. A "crumbling of peace and democracy" might result if the problems were not successfully addressed.
VLADIMIR GALUSKA (Czech Republic), President of the Economic and Social Council, said the issue of investment in food security was a fundamental issue facing society. Recalling that Czechoslovakia had been among the founding members of the FAO, he said the international community could appreciate how much that organization had achieved in more than 50 years of existence. Today, the world was capable of producing enough food for all its citizens, but sadly more than 800 million people remained chronically undernourished. That phenomenon was largely due to poverty. The needy were unable to purchase the food they needed, while at the same time they lacked the appropriate means to grow enough food locally.
He said he supported the convening of the World Food Summit to examine the question of world food security. If that issue were not addressed today, it would become the dominating concern of the twenty-first century. "How can it be morally acceptable in today's world that so many people are unable to meet their basic needs for food in order to survive?", he asked. The World Food Summit had sounded a clear warning to society that investment in food security was essential if the "dehumanization" that more than 800 million people faced every day was to be eliminated.
Investment in food security could and would take many forms because each region had its own particular challenges and priorities, he said. This year's World Food Day observance drew attention to the critical role investment must play in ensuring agricultural productivity and food security. Only a broad mobilization of all sectors of civil society would ensure that universal food security was achieved. The international community must act in unison at every level if it was to make a serious contribution towards achieving food security today and for future generations.
JAQUES DIOUF, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said the FAO had organized and hosted the World Food Summit last November to examine the food situation throughout the world and to guarantee food security. The representatives of 186 countries had adopted a plan of action that should make it possible to attain food security in the immediate future and to reduce the number of undernourished people by the year 2015. More than 800 million people throughout the world did not have the necessary minimum of food. Their activities were impeded by malnutrition and chronic undernutrition. The theme of World Food Day emphasized the need for increasing investments to attain food security for everyone. The realization of that objective would be through the significant increase in food production and increased access to food.
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Many were involved in the production of food and food distribution, including small farmers, traders, artisans and entrepreneurs, and a large proportion of them were women, earning less than $200 per month. The challenges they faced were not to be underestimated. By their work, modest savings and investments they assumed around three fourths of the efforts needed to achieve food security in the poorest countries in the world. Private investment in agriculture and ancillary activities must be encouraged.
He said that $166 billion were needed each year to make it possible to increase food production in developing countries over the next 15 years. That represented an increase of 23 per cent over the current level of investment.
If the proportion of official assistance (ODA) in financing public investment in the agricultural sector was to remain the same in the coming years, about $15 million dollars would be necessary each year to help the poorest countries achieve the required level. The ODA was well below what was needed, having fallen progressively over the last several years. Official assistance to agricultural development, which was $16 billion in 1988, had decreased to $10 billion in 1995, primarily to the detriment of the poorest countries which were predominantly rural. The FAO was working tirelessly with its financial partners to reverse that dangerous trend.
He said the adjustments of policies adopted in certain countries had already demonstrated beneficial effects. The challenges and priorities of investment for food security differed from country to country, but attention must be focused on women in all of those countries. Women were responsible for producing and delivering about 80 per cent of food in developing countries. Assuring that they had access to training, information about production, credit and transportation was basic to attaining food security.
He said the delivery of food also called for massive investment. The implementation of social programmes that would give the poorest access to food was also necessary. The FAO had launched a special programme for food security that involved 86 countries. The programme was based on experience accumulated by the organization over its 50-plus years of existence. The first stage lasted two to three years and involved pilot projects. The second stage was to assist governments in forming agricultural policies. Nineteen countries had begun pilot projects that were fully operational. The dynamic of the programme should be preserved at all costs. The World Bank, African Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and others had agreed to contribute to the programme. Several developed countries had agreed to contribute experienced technicians in their desire to promote South-South cooperation.
The attainment of food security required specific achievement in developing countries. The international community would fail if it continued
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to focus on conferences, meetings, seminars and the production of reports by consultants. Intellectual debates could not solve the problem of the poor. There must be specific action in favour of farmers who needed to be encouraged and given the knowledge and means to achieve access, improved technology and better methods of storage and harvesting.
The road that FAO must take was like the road travelled every day by small farmers. It was long and difficult but success was achievable.
Secretary-General KOFI ANNAN said that 800 million people in the world were chronically hungry. That number represented roughly one out of every seven people on earth, and included more than 200 million children under the age of five. Millions more were plagued by blindness, retarded growth and other ailments related to hunger and malnutrition. Twenty-nine countries, mostly in Africa, were experiencing food emergencies.
He said this year's World Food Day theme, "Investing in Food Security", highlighted the question of resources. Recent years had seen not only a decline in ODA, but also a drop in the share of aid for agriculture. Countries most threatened by food insecurity were not investing enough in the agricultural sector or in the rural economy. Those were disturbing trends.
Investment was not just a question of building irrigation systems, roads and other infrastructure, he said. Investing in human resources, particularly in the education of women and girls, was just as vital. Women produced up to 80 per cent of the basic foodstuffs in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. It was by now common wisdom that investing in the education of women and girls had the highest rate of return of any type of investment in development.
In the past 50 years, he went on, modern farming practices, advances in agricultural science and new applications of biotechnology had helped increase world food production at an unprecedented rate. This rate outpaced the doubling of the world population that had taken place over the same period, yet much remained to be done in the fight to eliminate hunger.
He noted that at the World Food Summit in Rome last November, world leaders had pledged to reduce the number of hungry and malnourished people by half by the year 2015. This was a practical, attainable target. Governments were called on to rise to this challenge. As their resources and expertise were indispensable, the private sector and civil society must be close partners in the effort.
He said the United Nations had worked since its inception to help break the vicious circle of hunger, malnutrition and poverty. The FAO, along with the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Bank, the UNDP, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had all been deeply involved. Today, in the
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spirit of United Nations reform, each had taken steps to improve its effectiveness and coordination. But, here too, there was more to be done.
The world had enough food, the Secretary-General said. What it lacked was the political will to ensure that all people had access to this bounty. No person should have to go to sleep hungry; no mother should have to starve herself to feed her children; no child should have to scavenge or beg so as to eat. Hunger should not be permitted to undermine society's hopes for the future, he said. The battle against hunger must be won.
Keynote Speech
FRITZ LONGCHAMP, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Culture of Haiti, speaking on behalf of Rene Preval, President of Haiti, said it was unacceptable that 800 million people worldwide suffered from hunger and malnutrition. Modern science and technology should be capable of increasing agricultural productivity.
The World Hunger Summit held in Rome in November 1996, had sent out a call for action that had yet to be fully realized. The objective of cutting world hunger in half by the year 2015 had been declared and all efforts to reach that goal must be undertaken. At the Rome Summit, Haiti had suggested that the funds made available by disarmament be diverted to the fight against hunger. Further, it had suggested that the international community, through specialized agencies, invest in agricultural research.
Investment by the public sector in agricultural research had long been awaited, he said. However, that had not yet satisfactorily happened, and in fact public investment in agricultural research had decreased. Crushing debt had often been a factor in that decrease. In order to reverse the trend, collaboration with the private sector should be undertaken. That collaboration should help to increase agricultural production, secure and stabilize food supplies and insure permanent availability of foodstuffs.
He said investing in agriculture meant investing in agricultural research. Supports and services must be made available. Training and education must be increased. The role of women must be supported. Popular participation must be strengthened. Access to resources for income-generating activities must be assured. Furthermore, an effective system of credit was called for.
A balanced policy of organization of markets was extremely important, he continued, adding that the role of civil society, and that of the small agricultural worker in particular, must be emphasized. The FAO was trying to assist low-income countries. Haiti had, in fact, benefited from the FAO programme. "Telefood", an initiative of the Director-General of the FAO, was an excellent example of planet-wide solidarity on the question of world hunger. * *** *