Depending on who you poll, the recent World Food Summit in Rome that was put together by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) ended indisappointment because the participating nations did not make “any specific pledges to help the world’s poorest farmers.”
FAO chief Jacques Diouf was quoted by the Business Standard as stating, “To my regret the official declaration adopted by the Summit this past Monday contains neither measurable targets nor specific deadlines which would have made it easier to monitor implementation [.]” According to the FAO, agriculture is responsible for the incomes of 70 percent of impoverished peoples worldwide.
Some of the disappointment directed towards the summit also deals with the fact that few heads of state from the world’s largest nations chose to attend. For instance, rather than President Obama or US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack attending, Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan led the US efforts in Rome.
Still, the summit did yield some commitments to tackling the issue of world hunger.
“At the Summit, world leaders unanimously adopted a declaration pledging renewed commitment to eradicate hunger from the face of the earth sustainably and at the earliest date.Countries had agreed to four significant commitments: to renew efforts to achieve the First Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger by 2015, to reverse the downward trend in domestic and international funding for agriculture, food security and rural development in developing countries. The commitments also included a decision to promote new investments in agricultural production in developing countries, and improve international coordination through broadened participation by the public and private sector.”
For his part, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pointed out the challenges and described the current situation as “unacceptable.” Ban noted that six million children die every year from hunger despite the fact that enough food is produced annually on the planet to feed the entire global population. Both the UN and the United States have committed to helping end hunger worldwide by improving agricultural production in developing nations to make those countries more self-sufficient when it comes to providing food to its citizens.
Based on the reactions coming from Rome, addressing the fact that one billion people in the world are undernourished (out of a total population of six billion) may require the FAO to more closely monitor the situation and continue to put pressure on countries to help address the issue.
To read the Business Standard article click here.
Posted: 11/23/09
