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Conference on Sustainable Food Security For All By 2020 Bonn, Germany, 4-6 September 2001 |
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Photos
and RealAudio from: Tuesday, 4 Sep 
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Johannes Rau, President of Germany, noted a reduction in the percentage of undernourished people in developing countries from 30% to 18% during the past 20 years, and the tripling of food production since 1950. However, he cautioned that the problem of chronic hunger has yet to be solved, with 24,000 people dying each day from the consequences of hunger – three-quarters of these being pre-school children. He said achieving the 1996 World Food Summit’s goal of reducing by half the number of malnourished by 2015 would require an enormous effort, including further increasing food production, increasing official development assistance towards the goal of 0.7 percent of GDP, changing international trade rules, and supporting international debt relief. Highlighting the problems faced by Africa, he supported the new African Initiative. He said this conference could provide impetus for making the global public aware of the scandal of global hunger and poverty, and placing the issue at the top of the international agenda. |
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Geoff Miller, Chair of IFPRI’s Board of Trustees, said participants must address the fact that 800 million people lack the food they need to lead healthy and productive lives. He said this conference would also provide an opportunity for exchange of ideas between IFPRI and its collaborators. He thanked the German Government and city of Bonn for their hospitality, and thanked other conference sponsors as well. |
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Apolo R. Nsibambi, Prime Minister of Uganda, highlighted a lack of sound food policies and internal weaknesses in developing countries, calling for investment in market development and promotion, post-harvest handling, and effective market-oriented distribution systems. He identified subsidies and a marketplace biased against illiterate farmers as external factors contributing to food insecurity, noting that surplus food donated by developed countries reduces pressure for adoption of sound food policies and destroys incentives for local farmers to produce food. He also called for a concrete timetable to phase-out subsidies and level the playing field among farmers. |
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Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, recognized concerns associated with globalization and stressed the need for an equitable world trade order involving participatory and inclusive decision-making. She drew attention to several key issues, including development finance, land tenure, elimination of trade barriers and subsidies on exports, risk management and regulatory structures, and sovereignty over plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.
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Per Pinstrup-Andersen, Director General, IFPRI, noted that under business-as-usual scenarios there would be only limited progress on food security by 2020. He also observed that much progress in previous decades had been at the expense of the environment. He identified a number of prerequisites for achieving food security, including promotion of pro-poor growth, empowerment of the poor and effective provision of public goods, and according food security a far higher priority. He noted that that some of the actions needed, such as healthcare and appropriate technologies, must take into account the changing global environment. | |
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William Meyers, Director, Agriculture and Economic Analysis Division, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, recalled the goals and commitments of the 1996 World Food Summit and presented statistics suggesting that success in reducing undernourishment is related to increasing levels of real GDP per capita growth rates and agricultural production per capita growth rates, as well as peace and social stability, in individual countries. |
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Rajul
Pandya-Lorch, Head of IFPRI�s 2020 Vision Initiative, stressed that
the purpose of this conference is to consider the implications of
several new forces on global food security, and reassess the plan of
action towards Sustainable Food Security for all by 2020. She expressed
the hope that participants could inform and educate each other, and that
this would lead to concrete action. |
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David
Beckmann, President of Bread for the World, said lack of progress is
due to lack of attention to the problem, as demonstrated by
declining foreign aid budgets. He said IFPRI�s 2020 vision documents
demonstrate what needs to be done to accelerate progress at a relatively
low cost. Beckmann noted growing public support for reducing poverty and
hunger, and urged others present to join in the international coalition
against hunger, targeting in particular the next G-8 Summit. |
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Session
Chair Angela Thoko Didiza, South African Minister for Agriculture
and Land Affairs, said ongoing re-evaluation of policies is necessary to
tackle this problem. She highlighted the new African Initiative, which
identifies key actions needed to improve the situation in Africa.
She then introduced the keynote speakers for this session. |
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David Dalrymple, Student, USA, compared the lives of children in developing countries with those of developed countries, focusing on the widespread hunger and illiteracy of developing countries. He said developed countries should not ignore developing countries� problems, and urged the transfer of agricultural and computer technologies. |
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John Bongaarts, Head of World Food Security and Rural Development with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, chaired this session on demographic, health and nutrition forces: changing population profiles and needs. He introduced the keynote speakers on the topics of demography, nutrition, dietary changes and HIV/AIDS. | |
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Michael Lipton, Research Professor of Economics at Sussex University�s Poverty Research Unit, noted the paradox of increased recognition of the need to assist rural and agriculture problems, while relevant aid is collapsing and donors and domestic governments focus less on rural development. He underscored governments� role in promoting land redistribution, and also highlighted rural water supply problems. He noted that without additional action, the 2015 target will not be achieved. |
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Left, Information display, World Vision | |
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Links |  |
 Conference
on Sustainable Food Security For All By 2020 (Conference website) |
International
Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) |
