RURAL YOUTH MUST BE ENLISTED IN MODERN, SUSTAINABLE FARMING SPEAKERS TELL WORLD FOOD DAY GATHERING

Press Release
OBV/116
SAG/62

RURAL YOUTH MUST BE ENLISTED IN MODERN, SUSTAINABLE FARMING SPEAKERS TELL WORLD FOOD DAY GATHERING

Young People Key to Multifaceted Food Security Programmes; Education Must Be Emphasized, Rural-Urban Migration Prevented

Food security at the level of the individual will continue to prevail unless the essential conditions for ensuring adequate food production, the ability to buy the requisite quantities of food, and the availability of clean drinking water, are fulfilled. So said agriculture expert M.S. Swaminathan, this afternoon at the nineteenth observance of World Food Day, adding that young people's involvement would be key to the achievement of those goals.

The theme for World Food Day 1999, "Youth against Hunger", is meant to provide a strategic opportunity for young people's involvement in the campaign to achieve food for all.

The M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, based in Madras, India, was established in 1988 with the mission of harnessing science and technology for economically sustainable and socially equitable development. Its Chairman and founder, M.S. Swaminathan, was the keynote speaker for today's observance of World Food Day at Headquarters. He is a world-renowned expert in crop genetics and sustainable agricultural development who has won awards from the World Food Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme. He is a past Chairman of the Food and Agriculture Organization Council and past President of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Mr. Swaminathan said the youth of today would shape the future of both food and human security in the early part of the next century. In future, it would be necessary to produce more food, agricultural commodities and irrigation water. That would call for an agricultural production strategy rooted in conservation, enhancement of natural resources and social and gender equity. It would also involve the adoption of precision farming technologies that would reduce production costs and ecological risks. Agriculture must become both intellectually satisfying and economically rewarding in order to attract educated youth, he said, suggesting that the new eco-farming procedures would foster the more extensive participation of young women and men.

The Director-General of the FAO, Jacques Diouf, said his organization sought to improve conditions for rural youth. Programmes for youth advancement should help them master modern technologies; enhance agricultural productivity; and mobilize resources allocated to them. Communication and leadership skills would enable them to play a decisive role in community groups.

- 1a - Press Release OBV/116 SAG/62 19 October 1999

Francesco Paolo Fulci (Italy), President of the Economic and Social Council, said if young people were to be a part of the solution in the fight against hunger, education must come first and foremost. The enormous potential of youth could not be squandered through neglect of their intellectual growth. If social safety nets and policies were not introduced to strengthen the role of the family in providing household security, there would be large-scale youth migration to big cities, where they could end up joining the ranks of criminals.

Abdallah Baali (Algeria), Vice-President of the General Assembly, speaking on behalf of Assembly President Theo-Ben Gurirab (Namibia), said the involvement of young people the fight against hunger would give them the opportunity to act as agents of history. Youth were open to innovation and could be mobilized for political, social and cultural goals.

Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Nitin Desai, speaking on behalf of Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette, said that World Food Day provided the opportunity to tell younger generations that today's world counted on them to create better conditions for life. It was therefore essential to give youth access to education and training and to take them seriously.

World Food Day Work Programme

World Food Day 1999 will be observed this afternoon at the United Nations, with the theme "Youth against Hunger", underlining the role of young people in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. The Day is meant to provide a strategic opportunity for their involvement in the campaign to achieve food for all.

The aim of World Food Day, proclaimed in 1979 by the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and endorsed by the Assembly the following year, is to heighten public awareness of the world food problem and strengthen solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty. The Day marks the date of the founding of the FAO in 1945.

Statements

FRANCESCO PAOLO FULCI (Italy), President of the Economic and Social Council, said that in a world with the technology to produce enough food to meet everyone’s needs, around 800 million people still continued to suffer from hunger. That trend could be reversed. Never before in history had there been such a tremendous level of awareness, commitment, technological and economic capacity to fight poverty. Oceans could now be turned into fresh water, while deserts could be transformed into fertile land. Why then was this progress not shared so that people could have better lives? The number of undernourished people in the developing nations had fallen by 40 million between 1992 and 1997, but that signified uneven progress, as the decrease was a trend in only a few countries.

He said that if young boys and girls were to be a part of the solution in the fight against hunger, education must come first and foremost. Their enormous potential could not be squandered through neglect of their intellectual growth. Social safety nets and policies needed to be introduced to strengthen the role of the family in providing household security. If that was not done, the result would be large-scale youth migration to big cities, where they could end up joining the ranks of criminals. Everything must be done to prevent that.

ABDALLAH BALI (Algeria), Vice-President of the General Assembly, speaking on behalf of Assembly President Theo-Ben Gurirab (Namibia), said that major famines and shortages had characterized the history of the world. Those factors, coupled with climatic conditions and armed conflict, had contributed to a lack of food security and rampant poverty. Armed conflicts and war must end; the human and financial resources used for destruction should be used for reconciliation, reconstruction and development. The fact that more than 150 countries observed World Food Day was a testimony to humanity's concerns about food and fundamental human rights.

He said the involvement of young people in World Food Day could enhance its success. Young people were one fifth of the world’s population. Including young people would give them the opportunity to act as agents of history. Youth faced a variety of problems. They often had no jobs and no access to vital facilities such as health care, education and credit. Nonetheless, they were still the hope for the future. Youth were open to innovations and could be mobilized for political, social and cultural goals. They were the real weapon against poverty and could contribute to the empowerment of the people. He called on all governments, institutions and various groups to join hands in the common fight against hunger and malnutrition, and reaffirmed his faith in the crucial role of the United Nations, as the repository of humanity’s conscience, in fostering social justice throughout the world.

NITIN DESAI, Under-Secretary-General for Social Affairs, speaking on behalf of Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette, said the observance of World Food Day had great significance, particularly in a world where, despite technological progress, a great number of people still suffered from hunger. He underlined the important role

played by youth, who should be associated in efforts to fight hunger and inadequate nutrition. He reviewed the negative consequences malnutrition had for children. Malnourished children were unable to contribute to the life of society. Moreover, the great majority of the next generation were living in developing countries, where malnutrition was relevant.

It was thus important to build a better future for the generations to come, he said. This observance was a way of telling the younger generation that today’s world counted on them to create better conditions for life. It was therefore essential to give youth access to education and training and to take them seriously. Only by working together would it be possible to reduce hunger. “We are prepared to do so”, he concluded.

JACQUES DIOUF, Director-General of the FAO, said that one of the main messages of the 1996 World Food Summit had been that the fight against hunger and malnutrition was not only for governments; civil society must also be engaged. Between 1990 and 1997, the number of chronically undernourished in developing countries had fallen by 40 million, despite a rise in the world population. However, the reduction had been achieved by the combined efforts of just 37 countries, which had collectively managed to reduce their undernourished populations by 100 million. Regrettably, the number had increased by 60 million elsewhere.

Unless significant steps were taken, under-nutrition could affect 30 per cent of the population of some countries by the year 2015, he continued. The situation was worrying even in the developed countries. More accelerated progress was required to reach the objective of the World Food Summit to reduce the number of undernourished to 400 million by 2015. That was exactly where the more than 1 billion people aged 15 to 24 came in. Youth of all social circumstances and in all countries could overturn the existing state of affairs if they were informed of all the aspects and consequences of hunger and malnutrition. The will of young people to devote their energy to the efforts to overcome hunger had been quite apparent at the International Youth Forum that had coincided with the Summit. Today, the network linking those young delegates in some 80 countries testified to their determination to enhance world food security.

In the developing countries, many of the 250 million working children and adolescents were employed in agriculture, he noted. Their efforts and sacrifices needed to be recognized, so that their position could be alleviated without undermining household food security. A disturbing trend was growing migration of rural youth to urban areas and other countries in search of a better life. Surveys confirmed that they were not only attracted by the “city lights”, but also held agriculture in low esteem. There was an urgent need to intensify programmes aimed at improving conditions of life for rural youth. That was a mission that the FAO was pursuing. A key feature of its programmes for the advancement of youth was promotion of actions to help rural populations master modern technologies and to enhance agricultural productivity in a sustainable manner.

The young needed to be taught to identify and formulate their requirements to be taken into account by public authorities, he said. Communication and leadership skills would enable them to play a decisive role in community groups. Also, the young were generally more willing than adults to accept and promote environmentally sound practices. Youth educational programmes on ecology should lead to large-scale practical applications. Rural youth networks should be encouraged to facilitate cooperation and exchange of information. The FAO was doing its utmost to develop those networks and regional organizations for the realization of the full potential of rural youth in support of world food security. The Organization’s medium-term plan for 2000- 2005 placed greater emphasis on rural youth.

M.S. SWAMINATHAN, Chairman of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, said that the concept of food security that had evolved in FAO forums over the past few decades had three major dimensions; availability of food, access to food and physical absorption of food. Thus, hunger had multiple dimensions, comprising both food and non-food factors. Unless the essential conditions for ensuring adequate food production, the ability to buy the requisite quantities of food and the availability of clean drinking water, were fulfilled, food insecurity at the level of the individual would continue to prevail. This year’s theme was a timely and important one, since the youth of today would shape the future of both food and human security in the early decades of the twenty-first century.

Proposing a nine-point action plan, he said that in the decades ahead, it would be necessary to produce more food and other agricultural commodities per unit of arable land and irrigation water. That would call for an “evergreen revolution” whose agricultural production strategy which was rooted in the principles of conservation, enhancement of natural resources, and social and gender equity. It would involve the adoption of precision farming technologies that reduced production costs and ecological risks. Experience had shown that educated youth would be attracted to farming as a profession only if agriculture became both intellectually satisfying and economically rewarding. The new eco-farming procedures would foster the more extensive participation of young women and men launching the evergreen revolution. If relevant provisions of the Conventions on biodiversity, climate change and desertification were translated into local action plans, educated youth could help to restore the biological potential of degraded land, adopt eco-technologies based on a blend of traditional wisdom and frontier science, and take precautionary steps to avoid the adverse impact of global climate change.

Youth in every village could assist in identifying the ultra-poor families who suffered from chronic malnutrition, he said. That would help in setting priorities for direct intervention. The youth should also help hungry and illiterate families learn about the various government and non-government programmes available to assist them. Moreover, food-for-work and similar programmes should be harnessed to overcome calorie deprivation. Youth could also play a vital role in eliminating “hidden hunger” caused by the deficiency of micro-nutrients in people’s diet. They should launch a social movement for keeping the environment clean through better sanitation and more efficient treatment and recycling of garbage and sewage water.

Turning to the issue of economic access to food, he said there were new opportunities for establishing urban green belts and linking rural producers and urban consumers in a symbiotic manner. Youth working against hunger should also pay special attention to programmes designed to assist children and pregnant and nursing women. Given the high incidence of low birth weights in developing countries, those countries should lose no further time in taking steps to eliminate maternal and foetal under- nutrition. Another area that needed attention was the reproductive health of women.

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