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Diouf:
World must seize chance to boost agriculture
High
food prices not just threat but opportunity
Rome
- FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf today called on the
international community not only to take immediate action
to de-fuse the current world food emergency but also to seize
the opportunities offered by higher food prices and prevent
similar dramatic situations occurring in the future.
In a statement published on the FAO website, Dr Diouf said,
“The time for re-launching agriculture is now and the
international community should not miss the opportunity.”
High food commodity prices called for a twin-track approach
featuring policies and programmes to assist the millions of
poor whose livelihoods were at risk, and steps to help farmers
in the developing world take advantage of the new situation.
“We must produce more food where it is urgently needed
to contain the impact of soaring prices on poor consumers,
and simultaneously boost productivity and expand production
to create more income and employment opportunities for the
rural poor,” Dr Diouf said.
“We have to ensure that small holder farmers have proper
access to land and water resources and essential inputs such
as seeds and fertilisers. This will enable them to increase
their supply response to higher prices, boosting their incomes,
improving their livelihoods, and ultimately benefiting consumers
as well,” Dr Diouf said.
The issue of food prices will be discussed on June 3-5 when
world leaders meet in Rome at FAO’s invitation to attend
a High Level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges
of Climate Change and Bioenergy. Guests whose presence at
the summit has already been confirmed include Presidents Sarkozy
of France and Lula of Brazil, and UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon.
While high food prices exacerbate food insecurity and create
social tensions there was a danger of the emergency overshadowing
the longer-term aspects, Dr Diouf warned.
“To ensure that small farmers and rural households benefit
from higher food prices, we need to create a favourable policy
environment that relaxes the constraints facing the private
sector, farmers and traders,” he added.
That would mean reversing the decline in the level of public
resources spent on agriculture and rural development and investing
more in agriculture, Dr Diouf said. Investments by the private
sector in agriculture and related sectors would be forthcoming
if appropriate investments in public goods were put in place
Besides historically low prices, farmers in the developing
world have had to battle constraints including lack of infrastructure
such as transport and communications, access to technology
and extension services and well-functioning marketing and
credit systems.
Lack of irrigation, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, was
another major problem that must be resolved. When food prices
soared in the 1970s many Asian governments chose to invest
in irrigation and agricultural research, and this set the
stage for rapid productivity growth that saved millions from
poverty and hunger, Dr Diouf recalled.
“A similar response is urgently needed today – particularly
in sub-Saharan Africa,” he added.
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