Third UN
Conference on LDCs
5th Meeting (AM)
DEV/BRU/6
15
May 2001
ENHANCING AGRICULTURAL CAPACITY OF
LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ADDRESSED AT THEMATIC SESSION OF
BRUSSELS CONFERENCE
An interactive thematic session, entitled “Enhancing Productive
Capacities: The Agricultural Sector and Food Security”, was held this morning
on the second day of the Third United Nations Conference on Least Developed
Countries, being held in Brussels from 14 to 20 May.
The session, which included statements from six panellists and
interventions by delegations from the floor, examined the problems of, and the
prospects for, enhancing the agricultural productive capacities of least
developed countries (LDCs), including the interrelationship among agricultural
development, food security, rural development and poverty alleviation. The concrete actions that bilateral and
multilateral development partners could take to accelerate LDC agricultural
development and, in so doing, substantially reduce poverty and hunger were also
discussed.
One of the panellists, the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Lennart Bage, said it was important to assess not only the needs of the poor, but also their strengths. They were the experts on their own situation, and the empowerment of the poor was one of the central themes of the recent IFAD report on rural poverty. He also identified assets, technology, markets and institutions as the main ingredients for success.
Food security in LDCs should have high priority among the poverty-reduction programmes, another panellist, the Assistant Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), H. De Haen, said, stressing the crucial importance of investment in the agriculture sector. FAO analysis showed that if investments in primary agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa continued at their current level, those countries would fall almost 40 per cent short of the Millennium Declaration goal for reducing malnutrition by 2015. Thus, food security for all would involve huge additional resources.
During the interactive session, speakers emphasized that product prices had done nothing, but fall in the last decade and continued to do so. So, while more and more people were tilling the land, they were finding that they had less and less to eat. Why? It was also noted that southern agriculture had to compete with world agriculture, especially production from the northern countries, where there had been an explosion in activity. Could that go on? More specifically, a speaker asked, given the composition of the current playing field, was there a remedy that would allow poor people to find way out?
A number of speakers said that countries needed to make
agriculture a priority and a close partnership was needed among the State, the
private sector and the providers of funds.
In particular, the LDCs were looking to the Bretton Woods institutions
in order to achieve real results. Other
issues raised included: agricultural
planning and rural diversification; trends in production; marketing;
“deliverables”; access
to land and markets; links between agriculture and poverty; and transportation.
The panel also included: Baba Dioum, General Coordinator, Conference
of Ministers of Agriculture, West and Central Africa; Sartaj Aziz, former
Foreign and Finance Minister of Pakistan; D. Tripathy, Agriculture Division
Chief, African Development Bank (ADB) Group; and Stein Bie, Director-General,
International Service for National Agricultural Research.
Facilitators for the session were Eddy Boutmans, Secrétaire
d’État à la Coopération au Développement, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Belgium,
and Khandu Wangchuk, Minister for Trade and Industry, Bhutan.
Rubens Ricupero, Secretary-General of the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNTAD), also spoke, following the
interactive debate.
A thematic session on intellectual
property and development will be held at 3 p.m. today.
Background Paper
The Food and Agricultural Organization
(FAO) prepared a report for the session entitled The Role of Agriculture in the
Development of LDCs and Their Integration into the World Economy (document
A/CONF.191/BP/6), which describes a broad range of issues, such as: the current situation of agriculture,
including trends in production and consumption; the links among agricultural
growth, rural development and poverty; the external economic environment;
trends of least developed country (LDC) participation in world agricultural
trade; agricultural prospects in light of the World Trade Organization
agreements; and policies to develop agricultural potential.
The report states that agriculture is the
mainstay of the LDC economies, underpinning their food security, export earning
and rural development. Yet,
agricultural production for the domestic and export markets has lagged, related
to the many internal and external difficulties these countries face. The internal difficulties include low
productivity, rigid production and trade structures, a limited skills base,
short-life expectancy and low educational qualifications. At the same time, with the growing
integration of markets from globalization and trade liberalization, the LDC
economies have to operate in an increasingly competitive environment.
“Reversing this decline and integrating
LDCs into the world economy represent enormous challenges”, the report
states. But, most LDCs have enormous
untapped agricultural potential to meet the challenges, with considerable scope
for more effective use of resources and higher productivity. The paper goes on to highlight elements of a
strategy for LDCs that will help them exploit their agricultural potential.
It also makes recommendations for actions to spur agricultural
growth in the next decade, and proposes a number of priority measures for LDCs,
among them: maintaining sound
macroeconomic and trade policies; strengthening health and education services;
establishing an institutional environment that improves access to markets;
upgrading the marketing, transport and communication infrastructure; and
safeguarding natural resources. These
actions, it states, will be more effective if development partners increase
official development assistance (ODA), support the transfer of technology and
facilitate market access for LDC commodities.
Statements by Facilitators
EDDY BOUTMANS, Secrétaire d’État à la Coopération au Développement, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Belgium, said this morning’s debate must try to provide answers to the many questions raised by people in LDCs, whose lives and food security depended on agricultural production in an era of globalization. Some of the questions addressed such issues as the role of the agriculture in LDCs and access to world markets for products from countries whose economies were dependent upon agricultural production. Technical cooperation, agricultural research, mastery of new agricultural techniques were all issues that needed to be addressed.
KHANDU WANGCHUK, Minister for Trade and
Industry of Bhutan, also a facilitator, said agriculture in an era of
globalization was a sensitive area and one in which LDCs could find themselves
very vulnerable, particularly when one realized that the production of adequate
crops did not ensure adequate food security for all. Food security was not just about increased production, but also
access to and availability of food.
Enhanced management, distribution and marketing were needed to ensure
that the food supply addressed poverty needs in LDCs. As such, selective modernization of the agricultural industry
would be crucial to lifting production, income and marketing of food in the
LDCs. Further, the morning’s
discussions should cover the likely implications of globalization for
agriculture.
H. DE HAEN, Assistant Director-General of
the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said that the central task of the
Conference was to agree to reverse the trend of rising poverty and food
insecurity and decide what concrete action to undertake to help the 650 million
people living in the LDCs. Enhancing
agricultural production involved a broader set of policies than those related
directly to agriculture. Strong and
sustained agricultural growth was key to achieving sustainable development, for
more than two thirds of the poor lived in rural areas. An overall environment of peace and
stability, supportive institutions and policies and access to basic social
services were needed to reach development, but many LDCs lacked those
components. Among the success stories
in the fight against hunger were such countries as Benin and Mauritania, where
the incidence of malnourishment had fallen significantly.
He said future challenges included: competitiveness in export markets; a gradual
erosion of preference systems; and increasingly rigid international
standards. He stressed the crucial
importance of investment in the agricultural sector. The LDCs themselves needed to implement a set of strategies
targeting interventions for the poor and vulnerable. Food security in LDCs should have high priority in the
poverty-reduction programmes. FAO
analysis showed that if investments in primary agriculture in sub-Saharan
Africa were to be continued at the current level until 2015, those countries
would fall short of the 2015 goal for reduced malnutrition by almost 40 per
cent. Thus, food security for all would
involve huge additional resources.
He went on to say that development partners’ role should
include, but not be restricted, to the ODA.
However, since the 1980s, the proportion of finance to agriculture had
been declining. It was necessary to
find new and innovative sources of financing.
Least developed countries needed to be granted advantages in market
access, and the FAO was prepared to help those countries achieve greater food
security. A major opportunity to
demonstrate a renewed commitment for development would come in November 2001,
when the FAO would host a World Food Summit to review the implementation of the
first such event five years before, and to mobilize support for its plan of
action.
LENNART BAGE, President of the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD), said that there were many examples of
countries that had achieved significant development, and that meant that the
ambitious targets set by the international community in the eradication of
poverty were achievable. However,
reducing poverty by half in LDCs, especially in Africa, would require a much
higher level of investment than was currently available. Agriculture was not an end in itself -–
poverty eradication was the main target
-- but it was necessary to pay special attention to broad-based rural
development.
If the international community wanted to achieve the Millennium
targets, the current trends needed to be reversed, he continued. It was important not only to assess the
needs of the poor; it was important to assess their strengths. They were the experts on their own
situation, and the empowerment of the poor was one of the central themes of the
IFAD report on rural poverty. Better
access to health education and basic services were also stressed. The report identified assets, technology,
markets and institutions as the main ingredients needed for success.
Land reform was more important than ever, he said. There were new and promising initiatives for land reform in such countries as Brazil and the Philippines, and they needed to be emulated. Also, access to fair markets was of special importance for the rural poor. Rural producers should also receive aid to organize into groups, which could afford better access to production, knowledge and technology. Rural and agricultural development should once again become the centre of the development discussion. It was not the donors who could achieve development for the poor. The poor themselves, when given an opportunity, were strong and capable of raising their incomes and building more secure lives for themselves. General blueprints could not provide a solution –- programmes must be adapted to specific conditions.
BABA DIOUM, General Coordinator, Conference of Ministers of
Agriculture, West and Central Africa, said 34 of the LDCs were located south of
the Sahara in Africa, where the worst poverty was rampant and where many could
not feed themselves because of a lack of production and an inability to get
resources to people. If anything was to
be done, agriculture was the pivotal sector to be addressed. While many spoke of growth, what sort of
growth was being talked about? Was
agriculture going to respond to consumer demand at national, regional and
international levels? “We need to stand
aside for a moment and take note of the fact that agriculture has been marked
by contradictory performance”, he said.
There had been no political vision for agriculture. Related programmes had actually done damage,
rather than enhance the sector.
He said that access, poor organization,
and weak democracies were just some of the problems that needed to be
highlighted when considering how to bring agriculture into the mainstream. There was much talk of access for LDCs, yet
over the last 30 years preferential treatment had still not managed to lead
LDCs towards the open marketplace. The
global context was supposed to be characterized by openness, but what did that
mean without technology or commonly defined standards? Political will was also needed to create
investments on behalf of the people.
Demand must express the wishes of consumers. That called for producers who knew what the market wanted.
Noting that various international agreements had been signed, he
asked how LDCs could benefit from them when the regulations governing those
agreements were not clear-cut. He also
highlighted the need for equality and shared standards and said the latter
needed to be defined in a mutually beneficial manner.
SARTAJ AZIZ, former Foreign and
Finance Minister of Pakistan, said the most worrisome fact was the grim
reality that the growth rate of agricultural development in the LDCs was below
the rate of population growth. Per
capita food production in those countries was, therefore, negative. The LDCs’ share of the world’s agricultural
trade had fallen to 1.6 per cent. Low
levels of production, exports, imports and capacity had resulted in a food
security situation in the LDCs that was very serious. In addition, the number of malnourished had doubled -- from 116 million to 235 million.
He stressed that the potential of agricultural development in the LDCs was not being fully utilized, as many of those countries were not using even half of their land. Why was that potential not being used? he asked. One reason was a lack of investment. Agriculture must be transformed in order to reduce poverty and ensure food security. Debt relief would free financial resources for agricultural production. He added that poverty would not be reduced by projects alone, but by programmes, infrastructures and capacities.
D.
TRIPATHY,
Agriculture Division Chief, African Development Bank (ADB) Group, said that
while the resources from donors had been falling, the Group had tried to keep
its agricultural programmes at a steady level.
He stressed the need to ensure better collaboration among financial institutions,
donors and local people. Agricultural
planning and rural diversification needed to receive particular attention. Additional investments of at least 20 per
cent annually were needed in order the reverse the downfall in agricultural
production.
The African Development Fund had approved some $10.8 billion for different projects, he continued, much of which went to rural areas for agricultural purposes. As for credit policies, the LDCs had access to interest-free concessional resources. The Bank Group had significant experience in the LDCs, but long-term sustainability programmes needed to supplement initial investments. Rural participants now had more knowledge about new technology. When LDCs were given the opportunity to apply improved crop and animal husbandry, they had achieved remarkable results. The Bank was also emphasizing new areas of investment, supporting technological policy and other changes, emphasizing rural development. Since the 1980s, it had supported new practices in agriculture, irrigation and the use of fertilizers.
STEIN BIE, Director-General of the
International Service for National Agricultural Research, said that
agricultural development relied on agricultural research. Technology alone could not produce safer
food; it must be linked to policies and institutions. Many new technologies that could contribute to more sustainable
production were not really “rocket science”.
Most of the technologies that could be offered to poor farmers would not
attract protesters against gene engineering, either. However, there had been a sharp decline in agricultural research
at both national and international levels.
He went on to say that no country in recent history had managed
to increase its sustainable agricultural production without a sustainable
investment in agricultural research. He
was watching with growing despair how countries were closing down their
research facilities. Research was
increasingly directed at those who had the financial capacity to buy the end
products of research. Poor people just
did not have such purchasing power. The
issues of the poor were not addressed, because there was no money in it.
It was gratifying to see “some change of
heart” in the major research institutions towards the poor consumers in recent
years, however, he continued. It was
important to rethink the destruction of research capacities in countries. Capacity beyond the private sphere could
lead to important successes. It was
important to have the foresight and will to think 10 to 20 years ahead, for
there was no alternative. The
international research community stood ready to support national efforts in
sustainable development.
Interactive
Debate
During the interactive debate, speakers emphasized that access to food was a human rights issue. It was also stressed repeatedly that access to land and access to markets were among the key issues to be addressed at the current forum. Yet, some speakers warned that prior to seeking access to international markets, it was necessary to ensure access to local markets -– as one speaker pointed out, “Before feeding others, you need to feed yourself.” Many farmers in the LDCs had no access to their own markets and that issue needed to be addressed on a priority basis.
The issue of sub-Saharan Africa and increasing agricultural productivity in that region was another issue that received much attention. Attention was drawn to the fact that one of the factors preventing intensive development of agriculture in Africa was the Tsetse fly, which spread sleeping sickness in the area of highly fertile land. The impact of the disease prevented the transition from subsistence farming to more intensive forms of agriculture, and significant investments were needed to address that problem. One of the projects involved sterilization of the Tsetse flies, which, combined with more conventional methods, could lead to great success. Several urged a clear, coordinated plan for African Tsetse programmes.
In response to that call, one of the panellists warned that intervention in eradicating the Tsetse fly was not that simple, as it had to take further considerations into account. For instance: what would happen when the fly was gone? Who would own the land? Although not discouraging the approach advocated to eradicate the Tsetse fly, he urged participants to exercise caution, as such a major and complex challenge must be approached wisely.
One speaker highlighted the fact that product prices had done nothing, but fall in the last decade and continued to do so. So, while more and more people were tilling the land, they were in effect finding that they had less and less to eat. Why had that situation been allowed? It was also noted that southern agriculture had to compete with world agriculture, especially production from the northern countries, where there had been an explosion in activity. Could that go on? More specifically, given the composition of the current playing field, was there a remedy that would allow poor people to find way out?
Other speakers noted that in many LDCs, the problem was not about trade, but availability of products. While farmers were doing a good job, market access made their products too expensive. In some cases, it was cheaper to buy products from Europe than to bring them from five kilometres down the road. Transportation problems prevented huge amounts of food from being delivered. International programmes needed to address the problem of infrastructure.
Other speakers said that the problems of LDCs in Africa warranted the development of specific African models. Countries kept on using the same old models they had inherited from the colonial era. It was suggested that governments and parliamentarians in the LDCs ask themselves whether their operational models met the requirements of their specific countries, or whether they were simply throwbacks.
A panellist said that it was important to
determine the role of the State, the international players and the civil
society in the efforts to achieve access to land and agricultural
development. Cultural aspects and
natural specifics had to be borne in mind.
As for market access, improvement in production costs and the quality of
agricultural products were needed for the development of markets.
Speakers also stressed the link between
poverty and farming, for agriculture was the centre of many LDCs’
economies. Agriculture meant life in
those countries. For example, one
speaker said, agriculture was 70 per cent of the gross national product (GNP)
in the Sudan.
A speaker said that over the years agriculture
and poverty had been going hand in hand in the LDCs and restructuring problems
contributed to that situation.
Countries needed to make agriculture a priority and a close partnership
was needed among the State, the private sector and the providers of funds. In particular, the LDCs were looking to the
Bretton Woods institutions in order to achieve real results. It was important to change the focus and
look at long-term effects of policies and actions.
Special conditions in the LDCs needed to be taken into account
before making demands on them, a speaker said.
When LDCs liberalized their economies, they found it difficult to secure
financing to meet their development needs.
Environmental disasters and lack of technologies were among the
problems. More transparent programmes
were needed to allow LDCs to develop their economies.
A representative of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) addressed the question of trade versus agriculture and
development. In order to secure access
to international markets, it was important to ensure a stable supply of
products. The WTO rules permitted LDCs
to put in place price supports for farmers, and new rules were being negotiated
for the future. “Starting today”, it
was necessary for LDCs to get involved in those negotiations, for their outcome
would seriously affect their future.