The State of Food and Agriculture, 1984

SPECIAL CHAPTERS In addition to the usual review of the recent world food and agriculture situation, each issue of this report from 1957 has included one or more special studies of problems of longer-term interest. Special chapters in earlier issues have covered the following subjects: 1957 Factors influencing the trend of food consumption Postwar changes in some institutional factors affecting agriculture 1958 Food and agricultural developments in Africa south of the Sahara The growth of forest industries and their impact on the world's forests 1959 Agricultural incomes and levels of living in countries at different stages of economic development Some general problems of agricultural development in less-developed countries in the light of postwar experience 1960 Programing for agricultural development 1961 Land reform and institutional change Agricultural extension, education and research in Africa, Asia and Latin America 1962 The role of forest industries in the attack on economic underdevelopment The livestock industry in less developed countries 1963 Basic factors affecting the growth of productivity in agriculture Fertilizer use: spearhead of agricultural development 1964 Protein nutrition: needs and prospects Synthetics and their effects on agricultural trade 1966 Agriculture and industrialization Rice in the world food economy 1967 Incentives and disincentives for farmers in developing countries The management of fishery resources 1968 Raisingagriculturalproductivityindeveloping countries throughtechnologicalim- provement Improved storage and its contribution to world food supplies 1969 Agriculturalmarketing improvement programmes: some lessons from recent experience Modernizing of institutions to promote forestry development 1970 Agriculture at the threshold of the Second Development Decade 1971 Water pollution and its effects on living aquatic resources and fisheries 1972 Education and training for development Accelerating agricultural research in the developing countries 1973 Agricultural employment in developing countries 1974 Population, food supply and agricultural development 1975 The Second United Nations Development Decade: mid-term review and appraisal 1976 Energy and agriculture 1977 The state of natural resources and the human environment for food and agriculture 1978 Problems and strategies in developing regions 1979 Forestry and rural development 1980 Marine fisheries in the new era of national jurisdiction 1981 Rural poverty in developing countries and means of poverty alleviat on 1982 Livestock production: a world perspective 1983 Women in developing agriculture THE STATE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE 1984 FAO Agriculture Series No. 18 e state ofoandariculture 1 84 World review: the ten years since the World Food Conference Urbanization, agriculture and food systems FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS ROME 1985 The statistical material in this publication has been prepared from the information available to FAO up to 1 March 1985. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. In some tables, the designations "developed" and "developing" economies are in- tended for statistical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgement about the stage reached by a particular country or area in the development process. Chapter 2, Urbanization: a growing challenge to agriculture and food systems in developing countries was prepared by the Policy Analysis Division in collaboration with the Agricultural Services Divi- sion, the Food Policy and Nutrition Division, the Statistics Division and members of the Population Programme of FAO. P-00 ISBN 92-5-102227-5 ISSN 0081-4539 FAO 1985 Printed in Italy Foreword We marked in 1984 the 10th Anniversary of the World Food Conference, which was convened to cope with the global shortage of cereals that erupt- edin the early 1970s. It was inevitable that on the anniversary, we should recallthe Conference'sbrave, well-intentioned pledge thatby 1984, "no man, woman or child should go to bed hungry".We note grimly, however, how far that pledge has yet to be met, in that in 1984 well over 30 million men, women and children, in 21 African countries, were directly threatened by starvation. Paradoxically, 1984 was also a year of agricultural abundance. World production of cereals rose between 9% and 10%, boosting estimated supplies, at the beginning of the 1984/85 season, to an all-time record level, while the skeletal figures of starvation victims in Africa became a recurring feature on television screens. More than ever before, it was obvious that increased global production alone would not automatically secure access to available food for those in greatest need. In terms of human anguish and the prospects of famine-sparked in- stability, Africa continued to be the focus of world attention in 1984. As early as mid-1983, FAO's Global Information and Early Warning System had issued its first alert, calling attention to the initial signs of an emerging crisis in Africa. It was then thatI promptly established a FAO/World Food Programme task force, to carry out surveillance, to provide regular reports, and to help in the mobilization of the necessary resources and assistance. In the course of the year, the worst drought of the century reached its peak, searing 21 countries, mostly in the Sahel, southern and eastern Africa. In some cases, the disruptions caused by crop failures were ex- acerbated by civil strife. Famine engulfed an estimated 20% of the population of Ethiopia, and entire ways of traditional living, which had endured for centuries in the Sahel, were on the verge of collapse. Hundreds of thousands of people died in these countries. The precise number will never be known. Those who survived formed lines of destitute refugees that made their way to feeding camps pitched on what were once fertile farms. Meanwhile, the world registered the largest production in- creases in coarse grains, edible oil and root crops, and warehouses were crammed with surplus sugar and dairy products. Faced with this situation, I urgently addressed appeals to the inter- national community at the FAO Conference, at the United Nations' General Assembly and elsewhere, using every available occasion to draw the attention of donors to the desperate plight of the African farmers and their families. The response has been generous. We saw,in 1984,an historically unprecedented outpouring of food aid to stricken areas. If aid deliveries are now falling short of needs,it is due in many cases to problems of logistics and administration, at the ports and in inland transport. The hard, costly lessons of the 1984 emergency are now better appreciated. Food supplies must be procured early. They must be pre-positioned, so they can be shipped rapidly. Recipient countries must clear logistical bottlenecks to ensure prompt delivery of food aid. Early and thorough actionis needed on these and other measures to find and speed food to the hungry. -v The world community's response and the lessons of the emergency prompted me to propose the adoption of a World Food Security Compact by FAO member countries. This statement of principles would articulate the spirit ofa civilized community rededicating itself to theideal of a world freed from hunger. The thrust of the compact is to make every effort to uproot the causes of hunger. This has special relevance to the food crisis in Africa, where neglect of agriculture for too long, as well as external factors, now threaten the economic and political integrity of many countries of the continent. If this crisis is to be defused, agriculture must be rebuilt. At the FAO Regional Conference on Africa, held in September 1984, African ministers responsible for food, agriculture and rural development issued the Harare Declaration. In this important document, they accepted the basic responsibility for adopting the difficult policy decisions needed to build the productive capacity of their devastated food and agricultural sectors. This move towards self-reliance lays a foundation for practical measures of internal reforms to prevent future famines. Yet the acceptance of responsibility for the necessary policy decisions can achieve little without adequate resources. FAO has striven to make a contribution tothis resource mobilization,not merely through exhortation to donors and preparing concrete projects for them to finance, but also by refocusing part of its modest Regular Programme and devoting savings in support of efforts aimed at rehabilitating Africa's agricultural sector. In March 1985, FAO prepared a package of 108 projects for donors to help African countries restart agricultural production. FAO is also undertaking, for consideration at the 1986 FAO Regional Conferencefor Africa, an in-depth review oflong-term development to remedy Africa's agricultural and food problems. The Organization con- tinuesto execute its large extra-budgetary investment and development programmes for that continent,as well as for other developing regions where the precarious balance between population and food production growth does not permit any sparing of effort. The magnitude of this crisis and its implications for the future may be appreciated betterif

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