Goal to squelch world hunger behind schedule

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Published: November 18, 1999

ROME, Italy – The United Nations’ war against world hunger is falling behind schedule, although some progress is being made, delegates to a UN food conference were told on the weekend.

In 1996 at a world food conference in Rome, member countries vowed to cut the number of chronically hungry people in half over 20 years, from 800 million in 1996 to 400 million by 2015.

It would require an annual average of 20 million people being taken off the hunger rolls. During the first three years of the campaign, according to Food and Agriculture Organization officials, the campaign barely managed to meet the one-year target.

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“We have made some progress in the fight against hunger by getting the number down by eight million a year,” FAO director general Jacques Diouf told a Nov. 13 news conference after being re-elected to a second six-year term. “We are happy with that but of course, we must do better. And we will.”

He said the pace of hunger eradication will pick up as FAO-directed development projects in food-deficit countries begin to bear fruit (and vegetables).

“I am not pessimistic,” he said. “My attitude is that this shows we have to do more. I believe we can accelerate it and some of the steps are in place. Like an airplane, even after it starts moving, it stays on the ground for awhile before it takes off.”

Country speeches at the FAO meeting reflected both pessimism and optimism about the war on world hunger, often depending on how well fed their citizens are.

U.S. agriculture secretary Dan Glickman insisted the goal could be met if only the world followed the American example – allowed “truly fair and free trade,” aggressively pursued more food production through use of science, and made an effort to reduce food waste.

“What we’ve done at home, we’d like to see replicated around the world,” he said.

Canadian agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief did not offer a formula but he too said the goal can be reached.

“There is still a tremendous amount of work to be done but again by working together, I know we can and will meet out world food summit goal,” he said. “Certainly, Canada stands ready to do its part.”

Decades behind

Finnish agriculture minister Kalevi Hemila, speaking for the country that holds the European Community presidency now, sounded more pessimistic. He said the pace of the war against hunger is unacceptably slow.

“At this speed, we will not meet the target until after the year 2040,” he told delegates. “This is unacceptable and we must be able to do better than that.”

The strongest voices came from delegates representing countries whose citizens are among the millions of chronically hungry.

A delegate from the small impoverished African country of Burkina Faso said more than half his people are under-nourished.

In Thailand, said agriculture minister Pongol Adireksarn, the country tried to move ahead quickly by producing food for world markets with acquired technology. The 1997 Asian financial crisis set the effort back and made the government realize there is no quick or imported solution to increasing production and work must concentrate on the hungry at home.

“The drive to competitiveness in the past has been done with too much haste,” he said. “Our main goal must be to work locally, to reach food security in each household.”

About the author

Barry Wilson

Barry Wilson is a former Ottawa correspondent for The Western Producer.

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