Review of the State of Food and Agriculture: FAO Reform and Germany's commitment

Date:

19.11.09

Location:

Rome, FAO

Speaker:

State Secretary Gert Lindemann

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1. Food Security Governance

I am delighted to be able to present Germany’s position on the global food and agricultural situation, the work of the FAO and the FAO reform process. My words follow on from the speech by the Swedish EU Presidency, whose views we share.

We look back on an eventful year. In November 2008, the special session of the FAO Conference adopted the Immediate Plan of Action for FAO Renewal. This initiated the first phase of implementation of the recommendations presented by the Independent External Evaluation (IEE).

The conference was heavily influenced by the food-price crisis. We also feared that the global economic crisis would have a negative impact on the global food situation. Our fears have unfortunately been confirmed. The number of people suffering from hunger has risen to over one billion!

November 2008 saw the beginning of a great movement, a movement which has continued its momentum. The States of the world, scientists, farmers from all over the globe and numerous social groups have focused at all levels on the issue of how to feed a growing global population. I would like to mention in this regard the 1st Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Summit, the high-level conference in Madrid in January 2009, the G8 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting in Treviso, and the G8 and G20 summits in L’Aquila and Pittsburgh. The World Food Summit is the culmination of all these meetings.

They all underline the fact that agriculture and food security are right at the top of the international political agenda.

Long-term and intensive political commitment is the only way in which it will be possible to feed a growing global population in conditions made even more difficult by climate change.

By establishing the "Global Partnership for Agriculture and Food Security", the World Food Summit has signalled the dawn of a new structure of international cooperation in global food security.

The Declaration adopted at the Summit states the central areas we must focus on. GER welcomes the five guiding principles on food security given in the Summit Declaration and above all the express confirmation of the right to food. Now it is a matter of breathing life into this Global Partnership and developing a cooperation network.

2. Role of the FAO

To this end it is essential for the international organisations to work closely together as partners. We need all of them. The FAO bears a particular responsibility in this regard. We agree that the FAO reform process must continue so that the FAO can perform its tasks effectively.

The new strategic framework and the medium-term plan have been presented. I am confident that we will adopt a sustainable Programme of Work and Budget 2010-11.

But we have not yet reached the end of the journey. The report by the Conference Committee for the Independent External Evaluation follow-up has been presented. A second phase of implementation awaits us. It is not just the FAO management which is called upon to support this process. The reform is a task which we – the Member Countries - must all undertake. Only if we all continue to fully support the reform process will this reform prove a lasting success. Germany therefore advocates distributing the cost of future implementation between all Member States. This will only succeed if we include all these costs in the regular budget, finance them all with funds from the assessed contributions and in this way create as much "ownership" of the reform process among the members as possible.

The Federal Government is also lending its support to renewing the Governing Bodies. We will not be able to reach any conclusion at present. However, we must continue discussions, in particular regarding the size and role of the FAO Council, in accordance with the recommendations of the Independent External Evaluation.

3. Acknowledgement of the reform efforts undertaken so far

The FAO member states and the management have done an enormous amount of work in the past ten months. Many reform measures have already been implemented. The FAO and its working groups deserve our recognition for this. All of us owe the Chairman Professor Noori and his deputies many thanks for chairing the Conference Committee superbly.

4. Outlook

The Independent External Evaluation ended by stating that "If the FAO did not exist, it would need to be invented". The reforms adopted at this conference, the reforms carried out to the CFS, and the Global Partnership established at this week’s Summit mean that we have now begun to reinvent the global structures in the governance of world food security. The Member Countries have proved that they can work together in a spirit of partnership.

Germany is confident that the new structure will prove a success. The work we have achieved so far and the mutual trust we have shown are foundations we can build on.

Thank you very much.