By Jacques Diouf and - -
ROME, Jun 1 2005 (IPS)

Almost nine years since heads of state and governments representing 186 countries gathered at the World Food Summit pledged to half hunger by 2015, progress is insufficient, writes Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In this analysis, Diouf writes that in three of the four developing regions, more people were undernourished in 2000-2002 than in 1995-1997. Only Latin America and the Caribbean achieved a modest reduction in the number of hungry people. While the main responsibility for addressing poverty and food insecurity in the developing countries remains with the countries themselves, their efforts can only be fruitful within a favourable international environment. Indeed, we have seen expressions of solidarity and strong commitment to address the problem of food insecurity and poverty. Unfortunately, there is still a notable gap between commitments and action. The urgent measures that need to be taken at the international level include: creation of a fair and equitable international trading environment and the reduction and cancellation of the debt burden of the poorest developing countries. The recent announcement by the G8 finance ministers to write off more than USD 40 billion of debts of 18 African countries is a step in the right direction. But we still need to enhance international development assistance in conformity with relevant international commitments and to reverse the negative trend of resource allocation to the agriculture sector.

Almost nine years have elapsed since heads of state and governments representing 186 countries gathered at the World Food Summit (WFS) in Rome in November 1996 and solemnly pledged their political will and commitment to eradicate hunger, with an immediate view to reducing the number of undernourished people by half no later than 2015. At the Millennium Summit, in September 2002, more than 155 countries endorsed the objective of the WFS.

Regrettably, we have not progressed enough towards the WFS objective. In three of the four developing regions, more people were undernourished in 2000-2002 than in 1995-1997. Only Latin America and the Caribbean achieved a modest reduction in the number of hungry people.

Our latest estimates indicate that 852 million people worldwide were undernourished in 2000-2002 — 815 million in developing countries, 28 million in the countries in transition, and 9 million in the industrialized countries.

The slow overall progress nevertheless conceals both positive and negative developments. On the positive side, more than thirty developing countries, with a total population of over 2.2 billion people, have reduced the prevalence of under-nourishment by 25 percent and have made significant progress towards achieving the WFS target. These countries show that rapid progress is possible and thereby give us reason for hope.

Also on the positive side, even if we exclude China and India, which contributed significantly to the overall progress made during the 1990s, the rest of the developing countries together saw a stabilization in the number of undernourished people during the second half of the last decade. At the same time, the proportion of undernourished people in the population of these countries declined from 20 percent to 18 percent.

The change in trends in Sub-Saharan Africa was particularly encouraging. Indeed, during the second half of the decade, the rate of increase in the number of undernourished people in the region slowed from 5 million per year to 1 million per year, and the proportion of undernourished fell from 36 to 33 percent.

However, while the positive developments give us some reason for optimism, a large number of countries have seen no progress and often a worsening of hunger since the WFS base period. While the successful countries show that we can do better in our fight against hunger, the situation of the latter countries –along with the inadequate overall progress – underline that we must do better in the fight against hunger.

The persistently high levels of undernourishment worldwide not only constitute a morally intolerable situation; they also impose heavy costs. Hunger and undernutrition diminish the ability of human beings to learn, develop their abilities, and work. Many risk remaining in a poverty trap. The latest FAO report about world food insecurity underlines that undernourishment and deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals cost more than 5 million children their lives every year; and that every child affected by chronic hunger stands to lose 5-10 percent in lifetime earnings.

So far, overall progress in reducing chronic hunger has fallen behind the pace required to cut the number of hungry people by half by 2015. The situation calls for more focussed and concerted action.

In the thirty countries that showed progress against hunger, agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased at an average annual rate of 3.2 percent over the 1990s, compared to an average of 2.2 percent for the developing countries as a whole. This underlines the importance, in the developing countries, of giving absolute priority to sustainable agricultural growth and on focussing on raising the productivity of small farmers.

Also, ensuring basic democratic and human rights, good governance, and people’s participation in the political, social, and economic spheres are essential conditions for political stability and for implementing effective strategies to eradicate poverty and food insecurity. Unfortunately, the number of food emergencies caused by conflicts and natural disasters every year has more than doubled over the past two decades. By the end of 2004, there were 35 countries requiring emergency food assistance as a consequence of food supply crises arising from conflicts, droughts, economic crises or from a combination of these factors.

While the main responsibility for addressing poverty and food insecurity in the developing countries remains with the countries themselves, their efforts can only be fruitful within a favourable international environment. Indeed, we have seen expressions of solidarity and strong commitment to address the problem of food insecurity and poverty. Unfortunately, there is still a notable gap between commitments and action.

The urgent measures that need to be taken at the international level include: creation of a fair and equitable international trading environment and the reduction and cancellation of the debt burden of the poorest developing countries. The recent announcement by the G8 finance ministers to write off more than USD 40 billion of the debt of 18 African countries, in a move led by British prime minister Tony Blair, is a step in the right direction.

But we still need to enhance international development assistance in conformity with relevant international commitments and to reverse the negative trend of resource allocation to the agriculture sector, to ensure in particular adequate investment in water control and rural infrastructure. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)

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