Regional approach to food security essential - President
Api Wawamu Rata Nagamu programme Lanka’s answer to
crisis:
President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday called for a regional approach
to food security within a global framework. “This is essential, since
food habits and production are region specific in nature. I would like
to request the FAO to initiate a global mechanism for developing
regional buffer stocks of staple food.
We, in the SAARC region are home to nearly one fifth of the world
population. A regional buffer stock of staple food will take pressure
off governments in the SAARC enabling them to concentrate on other
issues such as reducing poverty and enhancing the quality of life of
their peoples,” he told the UN Food Summit in Rome.
“As much as we are concerned about food security, attention must also
be given towards enhancing productivity in the entire agriculture,
fisheries and livestock sector,” he added.
The President’s address in full: “I greatly value this opportunity to
present Sri Lanka’s views on the crisis in global food supply that has
taken center stage in world affairs.
It is a crisis with the potential to have a crippling effect on the
smaller, less developed countries with restrictions on the availability
of arable land and financial resources. A crisis in food becomes all the
more serious as it impacts most severely on the most vulnerable sections
of a community, - namely, those living in poverty who constitute around
one billion of the world’s population.
As a global community we need to act fast and take short term
emergency measures to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable
sections of our people do not go hungry.
It is regretted that warnings of this crisis, although seen, were
largely ignored, until it assumed today’s magnitude. It is a crisis that
has come from the growing demand for fuel, the failure to act in time on
climate change, the ravages of terrorism, and problems of distribution.
Sri Lanka, like many other developing countries, is affected by all
of these factors - namely - the total dependence on imported fuel;
success in agriculture being dependent on changing weather patterns; and
problems of storage and distribution.
We are also faced with the fourth factor where food production is
made difficult or even hazardous due to the threat of terrorism. Much
arable land has been neglected due to land mines being laid by
terrorists for over two decades.
Crisis
While a combination of all these factors, no doubt, has resulted in
the present crisis, there is also another set of factors, - socio -
political in nature, - to which I would like to direct our attention.
Let me explain by drawing on the experience of my own country, which is
not very different from that of many other developing countries of the
world.
Before the economy of our country was opened to the play of global
market forces, the focus of social and economic development was the
rural sector. The granaries of the nation which produced the food for
our people, consisting of thousands of villages where 77% of the people
live today, were then the main focus of economic development and
concern.
Rural incomes, rural well being, rural infrastructure, rural
transport, rural health, rural education and other rural services
constituted the main goals and objectives of social development.
Development was focused on enhancing the productivity, well being and
dignity of the peasant and small farmer who produced the food for our
people.
With the advent of the open economy, the focus of development
activity shifted - in stages no doubt - from the village to the town. It
shifted from that larger part of the country where rural people toiled
to produce food for us all, to the urban centres of commerce and
industry where goods and services are produced largely for export to
high income countries.
The international economic pressures of that time coupled with some
domestic political compulsions made us, as a country, shift our focus of
development and concern, away from the rural economy and rural society,
away from agriculture and food production to manufacture, commerce and
services, away from a concern for the dignity and well being of those
who produce the food for our people to a concern for those who came to
the cities and towns to be engaged in non - farm employment.
Market forces
We opened our doors so wide to the global market forces, that while
we reaped several of the benefits of globalisation, we failed at the
same time to protect several of our national interests, - in particular,
those relating to our food security - from the negative impact of the
global market.
The earlier development goal of self reliance in food which we had
almost reached, and in some years even exceeded, was severely weakened
as my country gradually opened even the production and supply of our
food requirements to the free play of global and domestic market forces.
The country progressively dismantled its buffer stocks of rice and
wheat flour - a then abiding feature of our food security - which
cushioned the food supply from the shocks and uncertainties of crop
failures on the one side and price fluctuations on the other.
As the State for all practical purposes started reneging on its
responsibility for providing food to the people at an affordable price,
the supply and price of food became more or less a market
responsibility.
I will not elaborate too much on the reasons for this crisis. We all
know that global food stocks have reached an all time low and prices
have escalated to unexpected levels. Sadly the world is conditioned by
forces which are beyond the control of poor countries. From a situation
of an excess of food supplies, only a few years ago, we have entered an
era of shortages.
We needed a change in our policy on development. We have therefore
launched an integrated national drive called ‘Api Vavamu Rata Nagamu’
meaning, ‘Grow more food towards prosperity’, through which all arable
lands in the country are being brought under cultivation. At the same
time, during the last two years, we have provided a substantial
fertilizer subsidy to rice farmers, at a huge cost to the government, to
increase farm productivity.
Bold initiative
This is continuing despite ever increasing global fertilizer prices
and I must say that this bold initiative has paid significant dividends
in terms of enhanced production. We are giving land to farmers who do
not have land for cultivation.
We have already initiated a number of multi - purpose irrigation
schemes to transform otherwise dry land into fertile agricultural
settlements.
Seed production programmes in the country have been strengthened to
ensure that good quality seeds are available to farmers at cheaper
prices, as well as to increase overall seed production in the country.
We have also strengthened our market network for agricultural produce
by re-establishing the Paddy Marketing Board to purchase paddy from
farmers at a guaranteed price.
While focusing more specifically on agriculture and food production,
we are also implementing a Village Upliftment Programme - ‘Gama Neguma’.
Through this programme we hope to see all villages of our country
emerge as micro centres of growth on modern lines while retaining the
impressive strengths and features of rural life.
My government seeks to ensure that our country’s villages which
produce food for our people will have electricity, a common
telecommunication system, drinking water, irrigation water for the rice
fields, access roads, infrastructure, schools with adequate resources,
electronic knowledge centres known as ‘Nena Salas’ or e-libraries,
health centres, market centres, paddy stores, fertilizer stores, rice
mills, pre-schools, play grounds, a village forest, and other amenities
and factories to generate off farm and non-farm employment.
We will continue to give the highest priority to increased
agriculture, dairy farming and fisheries to face up to the challenge of
ensuring adequate food for our people. Yet, being an island nation, we
are faced with the threats to food security from high oil prices and the
changing patterns of cultivation abroad - with bio-fuels made more
attractive than food crops.
In the prevailing competition between food and fuel, Sri Lanka is
firm in the decision that no land that can be used for food will be used
for bio-fuel whatever the commercial attraction may be. It is our belief
that food for the people should have the highest priority, and not the
running of gas-guzzling vehicles.
Integrated drive
At national level therefore, even before the issue of global food
security had reached a crisis level, my government had already launched
an integrated drive towards ensuring our country’s food security. But
while we act at national level, we need to recognise the fact that in
the highly interconnected world of today the causes of the world’s food
crisis have to be confronted at regional and global levels as well.
While focusing on specific issues relating to the food crisis, we
shall welcome the FAO to monitor - systematically and continuously - the
production of food in the world. By doing so, FAO will be able to
forecast shortfalls and price fluctuations well in advance so that
countries and regions can act well in time to mitigate their adverse
effects on the people, and a crisis is prevented from suddenly staring
them in the face.
It is our considered position that a regional approach to food
security within a global framework is essential, since food habits and
production are region specific in nature. I would like to request the
FAO to initiate a global mechanism for developing regional buffer stocks
of staple food.
We, in the SAARC region are home to nearly one fifth of the world
population. A regional buffer stock of staple food will take pressure
off governments in the SAARC enabling them to concentrate on other
issues such as reducing poverty and enhancing the quality of life of
their peoples.
A regional buffer stock would also cushion individual countries
against the fluctuations in food production, caused by the uncertainties
of the weather made worse by recent climatic changes. And for regions
that may lack adequate financial capacity for such a project,
international support will be required.
These buffer stocks could be maintained nationally or by regional
agencies but be funded internationally. We can explore different
options, including through instruments generated by international
financial institutions, for funding such mechanisms.
Surplus
In the midst of all these, I believe there are some countries in the
world which have been able to build a surplus of staple foods.
These countries are affluent and therefore should move towards
helping build the regional buffer stocks by contributing through supply
at low cost. That will be a good start and also will help to build a
meaningful global cooperation towards reducing the vulnerability of many
small developing countries.
Creating a regional buffer stock would be meaningful only if adequate
food stocks could be moved to needy countries in a short time. In the
past we have witnessed instances where adequate shipping space or other
means of transport had been hard to come by.
Low freight, minimal handling charges and of course the waiving off
of country specific Customs and other duties when such emergency food
stocks are being exported is crucially important if we are to make this
suggestion workable.
Impediment
I recognise that buffer stocks became an unpopular concept since the
New International Economic Order of the seventies. But the changed
global circumstances, in particular the grim fingers of hunger, require
changed approaches for the sake of humanity.
One impediment experienced by the farmers in my country is the severe
shortage of plant seed and other planting material. As this is common to
many other developing countries, it must be remedied fast with the help
of the international organisations.
The establishment of seed banks with state of the art technology is
one solution to this problem. In the fisheries sector, there is a
serious concern because our ocean’s harvest is being poached by foreign
fishing vessels thereby reducing the supply for our people.
Most important of all, I strongly commend to the world leaders
gathered here to seriously consider the setting up of a Global Food
Crisis Fund that will have contributions from all countries and from
large business organizations that transcend geographical boundaries, and
from financial institutions, arms manufacturers and philanthropists of
the world, among others.
The mechanics of such a fund will have to be worked out in keeping
with the goal of assisting countries faced with serious dangers to food
security and also in funding initiatives for greater food production.
We are also of the view that in addition to such a Global Food Crisis
Fund or working together with it, there should be Regional Food Security
Funds drawing the financial and technology resources within a region to
expand food production, improve storage and distribution and also come
to the assistance of regional neighbours that may need help in the event
of a food crisis as we see emerging today.
In conclusion, let me thank the UN Secretary General and the FAO for
bringing this conference together and affording us an opportunity to
share our views and experiences across the globe.
My country will support you to develop a global action plan to face
the crisis in the short run while at the same time to prevent a food
crisis of this nature from recurring in the future.
May the Triple Gem Bless You All.
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