FAO ANNOUNCES EXTENSION OF `FOOD INTO CITIES' PROGRAMME

Press Release
FAO/3654

FAO ANNOUNCES EXTENSION OF `FOOD INTO CITIES' PROGRAMME

ROME, 13 November (FAO) -- Major extension of a programme to improve food supply and distribution in rapidly expanding cities of the developing world was announced today by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), coupled with an appeal for financial support from donors.

The first phase of the programme was launched in francophone countries of West Africa in 1995 and funded by France, Italy and the FAO itself. The FAO now plans to extend the programme, adapted to local needs and circumstances, to the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Near East, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and Central and Eastern Europe.

The FAO sees its "Food into Cities" initiative as an important part of its follow-up to last year's World Food Summit in Rome, which recognized the urgent need to improve the efficiency of food marketing systems and the links between food-producing and food-consuming areas.

By the latest estimate, 61 per cent of the world's population will be living in cities by 2025. In Africa, cities will account for nearly 60 per cent of the population, compared to only 20 per cent in the 1960s. In Latin America, although growth is not so fast, some 85 per cent of people will be in cities by 2025, and in Central and Eastern Europe, the proportion is expected to be 75 to 80 per cent.

The proposed extension of the "Food into Cities" programme was announced at a seminar during the current session of the FAO Conference in Rome. The coordinator of the programme, Olivio Argenti, said many institutions and donors had favourably noted the achievements of the first phase of the programme and had expressed their support for its expansion into new geographical areas. The future of the programme, its geographic coverage and its duration, as well as the extent and depth of its activities and, consequently, its results, would depend on the interest of beneficiary countries and on donor support.

The programme aims to bring together the interests and experience of a wide range of concerned bodies, including local authorities, central

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governments, chambers of commerce and groups from the agriculture, consumer, trader, producer and transport sectors, as well as non-governmental organizations, research and financial institutions, and wholesale and retail markets.

The role of the private sector is said to be important, since direct action by State institutions has provided incentives to invest, as well as a stable political and economic environment and opportunities to make profits.

An FAO official said the long-term objective of the programme was to benefit urban consumers, and especially the poorest, whose access to food in terms of price, volume, variety and quality should improve significantly. Small- and medium-scale traders and entrepreneurs should benefit through improved efficiency and competitiveness, and food producers should find themselves being better integrated into the market system. Greater efficiency in the marketing chain should also ensure better farm-gate prices for producers and, in turn, give a boost to food production volumes.

The programme focuses on information, research and planning, on training and coordination and working out policies, strategies and programmes to tackle individual circumstances. It also involves setting up a network for all involved to exchange information and experience and gives a high priority to raising levels of technical expertise among decision-makers and planners.

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