30TH SESSION OF THE FAO COMMITTEE ON WORLD FOOD

UNCLAS ROME 003841

SIPDIS


FROM THE U.S. MISSION TO THE UN AGENCIES IN ROME

USDA FAS FOR U/S BOST, JBUTLER, MCHAMBLISS, LREICH
STATE FOR IO DAS MILLER, IO/EDA, OES/E, E, EB;
AID FOR EGAT, DCHA/OFDA, DCHA/FFP
PASS USTR AND PEACE CORPS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR AORC ETRD EAID PHUM FAO
SUBJECT: 30TH SESSION OF THE FAO COMMITTEE ON WORLD FOOD
SECURITY, 20-23 SEPTEMBER 2004

REF: (A) ROME 2810; (B) USUN NEW YORK 2189,
(C) ROME 3669; (D) ROME 3681


1. Summary. The annual session of FAO's Committee on
World Food Security (CFS) discussed the world food
security situation and follow-up to the World Food Summit
(WFS),noting uneven progress among countries and
regions. The Committee:

-- asked that a working group of experts be convened to
discuss options for improving the WFS reporting format;

-- agreed to hold a stakeholder dialogue at the next CFS
meeting (in May 2005) to prepare for a 2006 Special Forum
to review WFS progress;

-- heard a progress report on the International Alliance
Against Hunger; and

-- unanimously approved a set of "Voluntary Guidelines to
Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to
Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security."


2. Among the related activities for CFS delegates were
an Oversight Panel that reviewed progress by FAO's
Special Program for Food Security, and a USG-sponsored
side event that highlighted the G8 commitments to help
increase agricultural productivity in Africa. In plenary
statements and other discussions, the U.S. delegation
emphasized the role of good governance, rule of law,
integration into the global economy, increased
productivity, and HIV/AIDS prevention in solving problems
of food insecurity. End summary.

OVERVIEW


3. The CFS held its 30th Session on September 20-23,
2004, at FAO Headquarters in Rome. The CFS is a forum
within the United Nations system for discussing world
food security and is responsible for monitoring progress
toward the international commitment made at the WFS in
1996 to halve the number of undernourished by 2015.


4. The US delegation was led by Eric Bost, Under
Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, U.S.

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Department of Agriculture (USDA),and Ambassador Tony P.
Hall of the U.S. Mission to the UN Agencies for Food and
Agriculture. Also on the delegation were David Hegwood,
Willem Brakel and Earl Gast of the U.S. Mission;
Francesca Bravo and Brenda Lisi, USDA; and Robert Harris
and Sharon Kotok, State Department.


5. The session was attended by delegates from 105 out of
116 members of the Committee, and by representatives and
observers from UN agencies and intergovernmental and
international nongovernmental organizations. Regular
business involved considering an annual report on the
assessment of the world food security situation and a
biennial progress report on WFS follow-up.


6. Election of the CFS Chair and Vice-Chair. The
Committee elected Mr. Salif Diallo, Minister of
Agriculture (Burkina Faso) as Chairperson (although he
did not attend because of ill health) and Mr. Soren
Skafte (Denmark),Mr. Yahya Al Araimy (Oman),Mr. Anton
Kohler (Switzerland),and Mr. Alvaro Aguilar Prado
(Guatemala) as Vice-Chairpersons for the 2004-2005
biennium.

USG STATEMENTS


7. In his remarks, Ambassador Hall encouraged FAO and
CFS to take a more analytic and strategic approach to
assessment reports linking observed food security data to
the policy environment, actions taken, resources spent
and the shortfalls of what is needed. He pointed out
that about 70% of the developing world lives in countries
that are on track toward meeting international poverty
reduction goals. Where progress has been insufficient,
it most often has been in states whose leaders have not
embraced good governance, the rule of law, and
integration into the global economy, or where conflict
and state failure have made that choice impossible.
Success in these states, the Ambassador noted, is not a
matter of donor funds. He also highlighted USG
contributions towards meeting the WFS goal, such as U.S.


spending on school feeding programs in the developing
world, programs to increase agricultural productivity,
the Millennium Challenge Account, and the President's
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.


8. In other interventions, U/S Bost and other U.S.
delegation members: (a) offered practical suggestions on
how to improve and simplify the existing format for
national reporting on progress in implementing WFS goals;
(b) noted the unique contribution of an alliance to
orchestrate civil society and private sector efforts with
those of government to address hunger and poverty; and
(c) stressed that a lasting solution to poverty and
hunger requires the difficult work of improving domestic
policies and institutions, increasing productivity,
protecting private assets and incomes, providing
appropriate market incentives for food production and
distribution, fostering economic growth, and ensuring
peace ad stability.

CFS CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDAQIONS


9. Assessment of World Food Qecurity Situation. The CFS
noted the uneven rogress in the fight against food
insecurity mong countries and regions. It reaffirmed
tQat strategies aimed at poverty and hunger r%dered in the broader Delegates welcomed FQ
of trade in its latest arecommended
that this bQements in future
reportProgress Reporting Foely share` porting requirements
wert`o@ty Information (FIVIMS). Delega number
of proposals `e format, including: reducrequency of reporting; avoication of
information ops by using the above-mentid
databases and formulating a set of key indicators;
focusing on priority issues; and including new indicators
on water and other natural resources. The Committee took
note of these proposals and agreed that the Secretariat
should convene a regionally balanced working group of
experts to review various options. Following such
review, the Secretariat should prepare a revised format
for consideration by the CFS Bureau.


11. FIVIMS. The Committee, at the suggestion of the
U.S. delegation, made the recommendation that FAO
continue to enhance FIVIMS and cooperation among its
partners in order to improve its assessment of world food
security. Delegates, including the United States,
recommended that FIVIMS work should inform selection of
food security indicators of the WFS reporting as well as
development of an appropriate analytical methodology and
framework. It was also recommended that the CFS
Secretariat work more closely with the FIVIMS Secretariat

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in that regard.


12. Special Forum in 2006 to Review WFS Progress. The
Committee reaffirmed the WFS decision to convene, in 2006
and within existing resources, a Special Forum within the
32nd Session of the CFS to undertake a progress
assessment of the implementation of the WFS Plan of
Action. This would include a mid-term review of progress
toward the target of halving the number of malnourished
people by 2015. The CFS also agreed to hold, within
available resources, a multi-stakeholder dialogue during
the next CFS meeting (May 2005) to prepare for the 2006
Special Forum. This dialogue -- which was proposed by
Brazil -- would involve governments, international
organizations and civil society. NGO participation would
be in accordance with FAO policies and ECOSOC Resolution
1996/31 on the Consultative Relationship between the UN
and NGOs.


13. International Alliance Against Hunger (IAAH). The
CFS considered a progress report regarding the IAAH. The
Committee called on governments and all others concerned


with combating hunger, to continue to use all means
possible, including National Alliances in their
countries, to fight hunger, but cautioned against
duplication of efforts and proliferation of meetings.
The Committee found the interactive website and register
of IAAH member activities to be efficient ways to make
connections and share information among food security
stakeholders. It agreed on the voluntary nature of the
Alliance and favored a cost-effective operation. Some
delegates requested more information on the cost of the
proposed IAAH annual meeting.

"RIGHT TO FOOD" VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES


14. The CFS approved the "Voluntary Guidelines to
Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to
Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security."
These guidelines were foreseen in the 1996 World Food
Summit Plan of Action and were under negotiation by an
Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) for the past two
years (ref A). IGWG delegates -- most of them also CFS
delegation members -- met in an informal "friends of the
chair" format concurrently with the CFS to conclude the
negotiation of the Guidelines.


15. In the last round of the IGWG, the U.S. delegation
achieved all USG objectives. Most notably, we were able
to resolve language on the law of war in a way approved
by the Departments of State and Defense, language on
unilateral measures that was modeled on standard language
found in non-binding multilateral declarations (such as
the World Summit on Sustainable Development and World
Summit on the Information Society),and language on the
international dimension that mirrored existing non-
binding language negotiated in various multilateral fora.


16. A final IGWG session was convened in the middle of
the CFS proceedings on 23 September to adopt the
Guidelines and formally transmit them to the CFS. The
last IGWG report and final text of the guidelines will be
available at www.fao.org shortly. The United States was
able to join consensus, but submitted a written statement
for the record that included the following clarification:

[quote]
In joining in the adoption of these Voluntary
Guidelines, the United States does not
recognize any change in the current state of
conventional or customary international law
regarding rights related to food. The United
States believes that the attainment of any
"right to adequate food" or "fundamental
freedom to be free from hunger" is a goal or
aspiration to be realized progressively that
does not give rise to any international
obligations nor diminish the responsibilities
of national governments toward their
citizens.
[end quote]

OTHER ISSUES RAISED


17. "Summit of World Leaders for Action Against Hunger
and Poverty." The Brazilian delegation at the CFS
actively promoted the September 20 meeting of leaders and
officials at UN Headquarters in New York (ref B). In the
CFS Drafting Committee, the U.S. delegation was
successful in restraining Brazilian attempts to
characterize the New York "Summit" and ensuing
Declaration within the CFS report in a manner that would
convey broader international acceptance than was actually
the case.


18. Africa Locust and Caribbean Hurricane Crises.
Special attention was drawn by many delegations to the
locust crisis afflicting vast swathes of western and
northern Africa, although this was not formally on the
agenda. U.S. Mission had been active in the weeks prior
to the CFS to call greater attention to this problem and
to deficiencies in FAO's response thus far (refs C, D).
Some delegates highlighted the food security implications
of the destruction caused in recent weeks by Jeanne and
other hurricanes in the Caribbean region. These
discussions prompted the Committee to recommend that FAO
include "immediate threats to food security" as an agenda
item at future CFS meetings.


ADDITIONAL RELATED EVENTS


19. CFS Lecture. Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug
delivered a lecture to the CFS on "The Green Revolution -
An Unfinished Agenda." Dr. Borlaug highlighted the
importance of agricultural research for increasing
productivity and sustainable use of land and water
resources, the role of biotechnology in further
nutritional and productivity gains, and the importance of
leadership skills for scientists to ensure adoption of
promising technology.


20. G8 Initiative Side Event. U.S. Mission organized a
panel discussion on the G8 commitments to Africa with a
special focus on increasing agricultural productivity
through capacity building (septel).


21. Other Side Events. A "High-Level Dialogue with
Civil Society Leaders and Member Countries' National
Alliance Leaders on the Development of the IAAH as a
Leading Global, Political and Moral Force to End Hunger"
was held. There was also a Seminar on Actions and
Initiatives for Food Security.


22. Special Program for Food Security (SPFS) Oversight
Panel. U.S. delegates were also observers at the SPFS
Oversight Panel, which met concurrently with CFS on 20-21
September. SPFS is an FAO program aimed at increasing
food production in low-income, food-deficit countries by
emphasizing national ownership, public participation,
technology transfer, social equity, sustainability and
South-South cooperation. The Panel commended the
progress made since SPFS began ten years ago. It
supported moving 30 countries from the pilot phase to
national-level programs, and recommended dropping the
pilot phase in newly applying countries. The Panel
requested additional detail on criteria used to determine
which countries are ready for up-scaling to a national
program, and called for stronger linkages with research
institutions. It also recommended more emphasis on high-
risk groups such as women, and creation of "productive
safety nets" by stimulating production for local markets.

CLEVERLEY


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2004ROME03841 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED