Statement by the President at the World Summit on Food Security

Rome, 16.11.2009  |  speech

Statement by Dr. Danilo Türk, President of the Republic of Slovenia, at the World Summit on Food Security
Rome, 16 November 2009

Mr. Chairman,
Mr. Secretary General,
Director General of Food and Agriculture Organization,
Distinguished Heads of States and Governments,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is obviously a great privilege and a great responsibility to take part in this important Summit on World Security (World Summit on Food Security). Let me start by expressing my and my country’s gratitude to you, Doctor Jacques Diouf, the Director-General of the FAO, for your tireless work and for the effort, which made this Summit possible. I would also like to express our gratitude to the three Rome based agencies (FAO, WFP and IFAD), which have substantially contributed to keeping the issue of food security as one of the highest on the global list of development priorities. There is no doubt that this issue is one of the priorities and there is no doubt that it belongs to the most important parts of the Millennium Development Goals, calling for the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. This Conference may not be able to agree on all the necessary targets for eradication of hunger, but it must still make progress. The Declaration, which was adopted earlier today, is an expression of that need and the will to make progress. And it is a minimum, as it was explained. Let us not forget that. We are talking about minima. And we are also talking at the time when the world is witnessing a tragic paradox - while an enormous attention is being paid to the banking sector and to the financial elites, the world food situation has remained inadequate and the attention it attracts is much below the level needed to reverse this situation. This Summit might help reversing the situation.

Obviously, much needs to be done and resources are needed. It is welcome that last summer the G-20 in L’Aquila decided to devote 20 billion dollars for food security over the next three years. But there are additional needs. One among them relates to the adequacy, effectiveness and the speed of policy measures that the current Summit is laying the foundations for and that will really matter. For the same reason, the reform of the whole system of governance of world food security as well as the strengthening of FAO and the entire UN system is needed. And that will require a great deal of political energy.

Madam Chairman,

I am not suggesting to speak about reforms in detail, but I would like to say a few words about the needed policy coherence and the need for the compatibility of measures that affect the realization of food security. First, we need to improve measures for vulnerability assessments, early warning systems to the emerging food crises and the subsequent quick responses. Situations like the one which we faced last year, should not recur. Second, we need to create socio-economic environment for the prevention of reoccurrences of food insecurities and effective introduction of target-specific social safety nets.

To be specific, such a system should ensure the horizontal policy coherence between sectors such as agriculture, economy, environment and relevant social issues. On the other hand, the assessment system based on the direct feedback from the field should prove invaluable for any necessary improvements and the adaptation of policies and measures to address the specific needs of the vulnerable populations.

Only when policy coherence is established we can expect overall positive effects in matters such as:

• Enhancement of agricultural production and increasing the farmers’ incomes;
• Efficient land management and facilitating land access to the vulnerable populations;
• Effective improvements in infrastructure of agricultural sector;
• Addressing the environmental concerns in light with increasing agricultural outputs;
• Improving market access for the producers; and
• Transfer of knowledge, good practices and technologies.

Such a framework would then allow setting of priorities of the global and national development levels and strategies to attract investments from private and public sectors.

When I am talking about this I would like to emphasize the importance of participation of the people affected. Slovenia cannot see a successful struggle against huger and extreme poverty without the involvement of directly affected populations and their inclusion in the design and implementation of the measures and policies concerned.

Madam Chairperson,

Coherence, of which I spoke, also requires balance. The agricultural policy-making will require balance between producing enough food for the growing population and adaptation of the agricultural production with the reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions in the conditions of the effects of the climate change. Let us not forget the warning and the appeal made earlier today by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who called for an effective final move towards a successful Conference in Copenhagen. The Rome based agencies can play an important role in retaining and enhancing the agricultural input, protecting the natural environment and implementation of the sustainable rural development and the development of agriculture. They have a contribution to make and we all have a contribution to make.

While understanding this fragile balance between different aspects of agricultural production we also have to stress the importance of increasing of the food production. The Declaration adopted today speaks about that and the Director-General of the FAO, Doctor Jacques Diouf, has very eloquently reminded us that the world needs to increase its food production by 70 percent globally and that in the developing countries the production has to be doubled. These are daunting tasks, this is a tall order, which can be achieved only with the assistance to the national strategies to enhance research, knowledge and technology transfer to seek specific solutions for both the eradication of hunger and extreme poverty and the answers to the various climate change issues. And above all, this will not happen without successful completion of the Doha Round of Trade Negotiations.

Sustainable development is the basic principle in agriculture and in rural development. It is our common understanding that the basic strategic purpose of agriculture – to produce food – is today understood broadly, far more broadly, as at the beginning. It includes retaining the productive potential of the land, land management, protection of the environment and natural resources, and providing potential for to development of rural populations. The international community must make its contribution to providing guidance through the necessary normative framework and through its institutions.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today even His Holiness, The Pope, who addressed this meeting, spoke about the importance of institutions. And Slovenia belongs to those who believe that the three Rome based organizations as the key agencies within the UN system for the struggle against hunger and poverty; FAO, WFP and IFAD within their mandates strategically cover all the key areas for the realization of food security. The additional structures will help and they have to be developed in a manner that would fully support the three agencies in Rome and the UN system as well as to mobilize the relevant cooperation by the donor and recipient countries.

Now in conclusion, Madam Chairperson,

This Summit and this Declaration are signs of the existing levels of political will and determination that exist in the world today. We may not be entirely satisfied with either of the two, with the level of political will and with the level of our common determination. But we expect that the expressed consensus today will contribute to the strengthening of the awareness that the realization of the right to food means the realization of the very fundament of all human rights, the fundament for the protection of global environment and for creation of conditions for our common survival. These are important tasks and our common political will needs to be strengthened. This is not the end of the road. It is only a phase calling for further effort.

So in this spirit, Madam Chairperson, I wish, once again, to express my gratitude and appreciation to all those who have prepared this Summit and all those who have taken trouble to come, to take part in it and I would hope that more representatives of highly developed countries will join in the process.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson.