9 July 1987

37th plenary meeting

Food and agricultural problems

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling General Assembly resolutions 3201 (S-VI) and 3202 (S-VI) of 1 May 1974, containing the Declaration and the Programme of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, 3281 (XXIX) of 12 December 1974, containing the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States, 3362 (S-VII) of 16 September 1975 on development and international economic co-operation, 35/56 of 5 December 1980, containing the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade, 39/174 of 17 December 1984 and 40/205 of 17 December 1985 on the implementation of the Substantial New Programme of Action for the 1980s for the Least Developed Countries and 41/191 of 8 December 1986 on food and agricultural problems,

Reaffirming the Universal Declaration on the Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition adopted by the World Food Conference,

Stressing the imperative need to keep food and agricultural issues at the centre of global attention,

Reaffirming the United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development 1986-1990, in which the African countries and the international community committed themselves, inter alia, to giving priority attention and increased resources to the rehabilitation and development of food and agriculture in Africa,

Reaffirming that the right to food is a universal human right which should be guaranteed to all people and, in that context, believing in the general principle that food should not be used as an instrument of political pressure, either at the national or at the international level,

Reaffirming also that the maintenance of peace and security and the strengthening of international co-operation in food and agriculture are important for improved economic conditions and enhanced food security,

Reaffirming that for most developing countries self-reliance in food and agriculture constitues an important objective,

Recognizing the urgent need for substantial progress in stimulating food production in developing countries, and that the international agricultural commodity policies have an important bearing on the attainment of that objective,

Reaffirming that agriculture has a central impact on other sectors of the economies of the developing countries,

Concerned that growing protectionism, the decline in commodity prices, the deterioration in terms of trade and limited access to markets have had a negative effect on the situation of international agricultural trade, particularly for developing countries,

Welcoming the growing international consensus since the special ministerial session of the Contracting Parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade held at Punta del Este, Uruguay, from 15 to 20 September 1986, in favour of agricultural trade reform at the earliest possible time,

1. Notes with concern that hunger and malnutrition have been increasing since the World Food Conference in 1974, that the number of people suffering from hunger and malnutrition has grown in the l980s and that the central objective of the World Food Conference remains largely unfulfilled;

2. Takes note with appreciation of the oral report made by the Executive Director of the World Food Council, on behalf of the Secretary-General, on the liberalization of international agricultural trade;

3. Welcomes the conclusions and recommendations adopted at the thirteenth session of the World Food Council, held at Beijing from 8 to 11 June 1987;

4. Endorses the Beijing Declaration of the World Food Council, contained in the annex to the present resolution, as a reaffirmation of the commitment of the world community to the eradication of hunger and malnutrition and as a framework to accelerate action to attain that objective;

5. Calls upon Governments and international assistance agencies to redouble national and regional food strategy efforts as part of comprehensive economic and social action to eliminate hunger and poverty;

6. Recognizes that developing countries pursuing self-reliance may be obliged to adopt policies that can protect their agricultural production;

7. Reaffirms that support measures for agricultural exports, together with other protectionist practices that certain developed countries apply in the agricultural sector, contribute to an accumulation of excess stocks on the world market and that depressed international prices do not serve the purposes of world food security in that the domestic output of developing countries may be eliminated from local and international markets;

8. Calls for the prompt and full implementation of the Integrated Programme for Commodities, particularly in view of the close link between the fall in commodity export earnings and the accumulation of debt;

9. Appeals to all States that have not yet done so to ratify the Agreement Establishing the Common Fund for Commodities;

10. Welcomes the measures taken by African Governments to stimulate agriculture and food production in implementation of their commitments under the United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development 1986-1990;

11. Expresses its appreciation to those developed countries that have taken specific measures in support of African efforts towards recovery and development under the Programme of Action;

12. Expresses concern that the expected foreign resources in support of African efforts at recovery and development made in accordance with the commitments of the international community under the Programme of Action have not so far materialized, and urges the international community to expedite its support for these efforts and to consider this problem further during the mid-term review and appraisal of the implementation of the Programme of Action at the forty-third session of the General Assembly;

13. Recognizes the need for more domestic and international financial resources for science, technology and agricultural training within Africa, including the support needed to tackle the massive problem of reorienting and greatly strengthening African agricultural research and production systems and to develop and strengthen its indigenous scientific and technological capability and bring about a transition from extractive to regenerative agricultural practices;

14. Welcomes the efforts made by some members of the international community to support the fight against the locust and grasshopper infestation in Africa, and commends the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for its co-ordinating role and for establishing the Emergency Centre for Locust Operations;

15. Welcomes the encouraging progress in efforts made in support of the food and agriculture sector in many developing countries and calls on the international community to accelerate assistance for those efforts;

16. Calls upon all countries to use the opportunity of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, which is of decisive importance, to pursue vigorously the liberalization of agricultural trade and necessary policy reforms, taking into account all the general principles governing those negotiations, including the principle of differential and more favourable treatment, embodied in part IV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and related instruments;

17. Takes note of the recommendations of the interregional meeting organized by the United Nations Development Programme and the World Food

Council at Lome in May 1987, which identify priority areas for the enhancement of South-South co-operation in food and agriculture, and calls upon Governments and national, regional and interregional organizations to work together more closely to strengthen regional and interregional food and agriculture programmes;

18. Calls upon all countries to make a greater effort to participate actively in the negotiations on the third replenishment of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and urges all contributors to the Fund to make additional efforts to contribute to the resources of the Fund with a view to ensuring the highest possible level of replenishment while preserving the institution and its unique structure;

19. Reiterates its urgent appeal to the few donor countries that have not already done so to make a contribution to the Fund's Special Programme for Sub-Saharan African Countries Affected by Drought and Desertification, and invites the international community to make a further financial effort so that the $300 million target of the Fund can be reached at the earliest possible date;

20. Urges all States to make every effort to contribute to the World Food Programme so that it can attain, in a timely fashion, its target of $1.4 billion for the period 1989-1990, as approved by the governing body of the Programme and the Committee on Food Aid Policies and Programmes;

21. Invites the regional development banks, the regional commissions, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and donor countries to facilitate practical arrangements to accelerate financing and technical and economic co-operation among developing countries, giving particular attention to the expansion of tripartite arrangements through which developing countries would help to finance South-South co-operative action;

22. Urges Governments to ensure and enhance the participation of women in the formulation and implementation of national food policies, plans and projects, in view of the importance accorded to food and the acknowledged role of women farmers in food production, marketing and family nutrition and in view of the consensus achieved on the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women;

23. Welcomes the programme of work of the World Food Council for the biennium 1988-1989 referred to in the report of the Council on the work of its thirteenth session, and requests the World Food Council to implement it;

24. Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the World Food Council and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, to submit to the Economic and Social Council, at its second regular session of 1988, a comprehensive report on the trends in the international market for agricultural products, together with suggestions on ways and means of increasing the share of developing countries in international agricultural trade;

25. Requests the Secretary-General to make a further oral report on the liberalization of international agricultural trade to the Economic and Social Council at its second regular session of 1988 and to the General Assembly at its forty-third session.

ANNEX

Beijing Declaration of the World Food Council

We, the Ministers of the World Food Council convened in Beijing in June 1987,

Draw the attention of all peoples to the growing number of human lives lost to hunger and malnutrition, one of the worst scourges in the world.

Thirteen years after the World Food Conference, although total food production has increased, the number of undernourished men, women and children in the world has risen.

This untenable situation has deep historical root causes and complex social and economic factors.

In the face of this disorder, which is affecting innocent human beings,

We once again proclaim that access to food constitutes a human right which must be defended by Governments, peoples and the international community;

We affirm, in the light of the experience of a number of developing countries, that humanity can feed itself if it adopts the proper means;

We proclaim that these means depend on the political will of Governments and the international community to win the common battle against hunger;

We acknowledge that the development of agricultural production requires a favourable international climate and is contingent upon the convergence of financial, economic and social policies implemented by each country within the framework of the concept of national food strategies put forward by the international community.

Moreover, we are convinced that agriculture represents a vital sector for establishing a social, economic and financial equilibrium in the developing countries.

Indeed, the debts incurred by many developing countries, especially the least developed countries, must not result in increased poverty for rural populations.

Therefore,

We call upon those responsible for national economic adjustment programmes to give priority to the requirements of integrated rural development as they affect the living conditions of both rural and urban populations;

We urge the developed countries and major financing bodies to take into consideration the great difficulties of developing countries to repay their debts and to set up the necessary financial instruments for national economic recovery;

We urge those responsible for trade negotiations to re-establish a healthy and equitable exchange of agricultural products and to allow the fair participation of developing countries;

We believe that Governments and the international organizations must further encourage regional and South-South co-operation, particularly in support of food production, agro-industries, trade, management and institution-building;

We affirm that the support of the countries of the North for the peoples of the developing South remains essential;

We recognize that peace and stability are essential for the development of agricultural production; and

We proclaim our intention to join together and, in our united strength and interest, eliminate the scourge of hunger forever.

Beijing, 11 June 1987