AGRICULTURE WEATHERING ECONOMIC CRISIS BETTER THAN OTHER SECTORS: UN-BACKED REPORT

Since food is a basic necessity, the agriculture sector has taken less of a hit than other industries as a result of the current economic crisis, according to a new report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

So long as the global economy begins its recovery within the next two to three years, the "Agriculture Outlook 2009-2018" – jointly released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – says that drops in agricultural prices and in the production and consumption of farm goods will likely be moderate.

The recession will dampen food prices, in turn easing pressure on cash-strapped consumers, it added.

While prices have fallen from their record highs in 2008, they are still high in many countries, and the new report projected that the prices of all farm commodities, except for beef and pork, will probably not fall back to their pre-2007-2008 averages.

Crops are estimated to cost 10-20 per cent more in the next decade, when adjusted for inflation, compared with the average for the 1996-2006 period, while vegetable oil prices are expected to surge 30 per cent.

The FAO-OECD study also said that the main forces underpinning agricultural commodity prices and markets over the medium-term are an expected economic recovery, renewed food demand growth on the part of developing countries and the emerging biofuel markets.

But it cautioned that extreme price volatility, as experienced last year, could occur again, given that commodity prices are increasingly tied to oil and energy costs, with environmental experts cautioning of erratic weather conditions.

The report points to access – and not availability – as a longer-term problem, stressing that poverty reduction and economic growth will be a large part of the solution.

It also called on governments to boost domestic agricultural development through infrastructure investment and incentivizing sustainable soil and water use, among other targeted policies.
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BAN URGES STEPS TO REVITALIZE AGRICULTURE, ENSURE FOOD SECURITY FOR ALL

BAN URGES STEPS TO REVITALIZE AGRICULTURE, ENSURE FOOD SECURITY FOR ALL
New York, May 13 2009 2:00PM
Warning that the global food crisis is far from over, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged Member States to agree on a set of decisions that will revitalize agriculture, support small farmers and promote food security for all.

"The food crisis is not yet behind us. Indeed, it may have widened its scope," Mr. Ban told the opening of the high-level segment of the Commission on Sustainable Development in New York.

The two-week session of the Commission, which began last week, is expected to culminate in policy decisions in areas such as agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertification and Africa.

Mr. Ban said that high food prices mean 100 million people in low-income countries are at risk of joining the ranks of the malnourished. As a result, the World Food Programme (WFP) will need to increase its budget from $500 million to $750 million to maintain its operations.

At the same time, he noted that there is broad-based international support for addressing this issue. In particular, he was pleased with the Commission's initiative to convene a ministerial roundtable on a sustainable green revolution for Africa.

"Investing in an African green revolution will serve not just food security but progress across all the Millennium Development Goals, including environmental sustainability," he said, referring to the set of anti-poverty targets global leaders have pledged to try to achieve by 2015, known as the MDGs.

"To achieve a Green Revolution, African farmers, must have access to land and security of tenure. They also need access to markets, technology and improved infrastructure," he stated, adding that this includes women farmers.

In the midst of a global recession, things can deteriorate "frighteningly fast," the Secretary-General pointed out, saying "it is but a short step from hunger to starvation, from disease to death."

The international community, he said, must offer short-term emergency measures to meet critical needs. But it must also make longer-term investments to promote food production and agricultural development, enhance food security and maintain and accelerate momentum towards the MDGs.

"The decisions taken here must help to revitalize agriculture and support the productivity and resilience of small farmers, in particular, to achieve food security for all," Mr. Ban told delegates.
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FOOD, CLIMATE AND FINANCIAL CRISES THREATEN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS – UN OFFICIAL

FOOD, CLIMATE AND FINANCIAL CRISES THREATEN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS – UN OFFICIAL
New York, Feb 23 2009 1:00PM
A range of challenges from food and financial crises to climate change are threatening global efforts to achieve development that is sustainable, or that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, a top United Nations official said today.

"These multi-dimensional challenges do not have purely economic solutions, nor purely social or environmental ones. They require integrated solutions that combine economic, social and environmental elements," Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang told a UN meeting on sustainable development that began today in New York.

He noted that food prices remain high, following on from last year's crisis, and the global financial and economic slowdown has exacerbated the situation.

"Forecasts suggest that this year could produce the worst economic record since the end of the Second World War," Mr. Sha said, noting that growth rates are falling everywhere, unemployment is rising, poverty is deepening, and hunger and malnutrition are on the increase.

In addition, the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (<"http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">MDGs) – the set of globally agreed anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline – is in "jeopardy."

On top of these challenges, the international community faces the threat of climate change, which if left unaddressed will, as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stated, only increase poverty and hardship, he noted.

"Now is the time for the champions of sustainable development to step forward," he exhorted the gathering, which is meeting in preparation for the 17th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, which is slated to hold its annual session in May.

All of the present crises put "a new responsibility on the Commission to provide the leadership and guidance that the world needs today," he added.

The themes on the Commission's agenda this year are agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertification, and Africa.

"Each provides an entry point for addressing the food crisis. Each is central to the pursuit of the MDGs. Each is affected adversely by climate change as well as the global recession," he stated. "And the policy response in each of these agenda areas can contribute to the solutions of these global challenges."
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