AJFNS Volume 2 No. 2 July 2002
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Some
Breastfeeding News
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Plant
Genetic Diversity and Malnutrition
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The
CGIAR Micronutrients Project: Executive Summary
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Fusion
and Nutrition in West Africa
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The
World Food Prize
|
It has been a long time since the last information letter. In the meantime, the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action, WABA, has been working hard in planning WABA Global Forum 2, an international event that will bring together the entire international breastfeeding "Community." Taking place in Arusha, Tanzania on 23-27 September 2002, it is organised in collaboration with the Commonwealth Regional Health Community Secretariat (CRHCS) and the Tanzanian Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC) with support from UNICEF, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The key Forum partners are International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) o La Leche League International (LLLI) o International Lactation Consultants Association (ILCA). Registration before July 15 costs US$600 (this includes transport, coffee breaks, lunch and dinner). If you would like a copy of the registration materials by email or regular mail, contact secr@waba.po.my.
WABA, together with UNICEF, are planning a technical meeting on HIV and infant feeding, just before Global Forum 2, on September 20-21. Registration for this will be US$200. Let WABA know if you would like to receive the registration materials when they are ready in the near future.
WABA has also just held a meeting for Asia on GIMS, the Global Initiative for Mother Support. Contact WABA if you would like a report of the proceedings or would like to know more about GIMS.
Breastfeeding: Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies is the topic of this year's World Breastfeeding Week. You can read about it on WABA's website http://www.waba.org.br/wbw2002.htm and contact WABA for the action folder, exhibit kit, etc.
Recent studies have further refined our knowledge on the association between breastfeeding in intelligence. Rao et al. (Effect of breastfeeding on cognitive development of infants born small for gestational age.Acta Paediatr. 2002;91(3):267-74.) conclude: "Duration of exclusive breastfeeding has a significant impact on cognitive development without compromising growth among children born SGA [small-for-gestational age]." Similarly, Mortensen et al. (The Association Between Duration of Breastfeeding and Adult Intelligence. JAMA 2002;287:2365-71) found slightly higher intelligence scores in adults who had been breast-fed longer, with many confounders controlled for.
Finally,
the International Confederation of Midwives has issued the press release
pasted in below regarding their stance on HIV and breastfeeding.
Coordinator, WABA Research Task Force
Email: ted.greiner@chello.se
Given the complexity of human physiology and of food composition, and therefore the difficulty of precisely identifying optimal diets, diversity provides an intrinsic buffer against uncertainties posed by lack of knowledge and of change. Plant foods represent the largest segment of dietary diversity [1]. Within this context, the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) is currently developing a global strategy to incorporate greater consideration of nutrition into its programs on conservation and use of plant genetic resources (PGR).
IPGRI, a member of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), has its headquarters in Rome with regional programs in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the Americas, Asia, the Pacific and Oceania, Europe, and Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA). The regional office for SSA is in Nairobi with a sub-regional office for West Africa in Cotonou, Benin.
Through its mandate IPGRI works to advance the conservation and use of genetic diversity for the well being of present and future generations. The Institute encourages, supports and undertakes activities to improve management of genetic resources worldwide so as to help eradicate poverty, increase food security and protect environment.
Africa's fundamental importance for global PGR conservation stems from its richness in natural resources. Out of some 150 food crops used in Africa, 115 are indigenous African species. Africa is the centre of origin of several important crops, for example coffee, oil palm, yams, cowpea and sorghum [1]. Some of the world's major regions of crop diversity are found in Africa.
IPGRI works to ensure that ccountries in sub-Saharan Africa are able to access, conserve and use their plant genetic resources through national program development, support to networks, information and documentation, development of PGR methods and approaches, training and education and policy of legislation.
Prioritization of human health and nutrition coincides with IPGRI's current strategy to place more emphasis on the use of plant genetic resources (PGR). From IPGRI's perspective, diversity both within (intra-specific) and among (inter-specific) species is essential to enhancing nutrition and health. Diversity of biological resources is linked to diversity in cultural traditions, knowledge systems, and dietary practices and preferences. Thus human needs and traditional ecology are fundamentally important for the management and use of plant genetic resources [2].
Developing Linkages between Nutrition-Health and PGR Conservation
With increased awareness of nutrition and health priorities in agriculture and environmental sciences, and conversely the role of plant biodiversity to the international health community, scientists and institutions engaged in agriculture, environmental conservation and health respectively can better address contemporary problems through creating and taking advantage of opportunities to interact and work jointly.
Defining
Nutrition and Health Priorities
Within health-related fields, plant biodiversity offers useful perspectives
on a number of issues of contemporary scientific and public health importance.
For example:
1) Micronutrient deficiency, including food-based strategies for addressing
multiple concurrent deficiencies [3].
2) Bioavailability of provitamin A, iron and other nutrients from fruits
and vegetables in addressing major micronutrient deficiencies in developing
regions [3].
3) Nutrition and disease. As nutrition mediates immune function, diet
and PGR have great relevance to addressing measles, HIV/AIDS and other
diseases.
4) Nutrition transition precipitating the emerging epidemics of diabetes
and CVD [2] as defined by lack of dietary diversity relative to increases
in energy. Hypoglycemic properties know from many plants used in traditional
diet and medicine [4] offer an important direction of investigation in
relation to diabetes and other aspects of the dietary transition.
5) Medicinal plants as physiological mediators of health. Traditional
concepts of health and healing often make minimal distinction between
plants consumed in diet and medicine. Products that are ingested routinely,
rather than those of specific pharmacological and curative interest comprise
a range of biodiversity that is neglected both in PGR and health [4].
Research
Directions and Relationships
Within the scope of these health priorities, a number of specific research
activities linking nutrition and PGR conservation emerge.
Genetic Resource Conservation and Use. The wealth of genetic diversity present in gene banks and farmers' fields comprises a resource from which breeders can address nutritional problems in a targeted manner. Recognized successes in biofortifying crops through selection or genetic modification, such as ß-carotene-rich sweet potatoes of the VITTA program or Quality Protein Maize produced by CIMMYT, offer viable examples of this approach.
Genetic diversity can also contribute to increasing productivity and marketability in species that have nutritional and health benefits that are in demand.
Laboratory analysis can identify crop varieties and minor crops with selective nutritional assets and extend the evaluation of the nutritional content of indigenous fruits and vegetables and wild edible species. Related studies on bioavailability, effects of preparation and processing on intraspecific variability, and non-nutrient phytochemical constituents [4] such as xanthophylls, and functional properties of plants for example glycemic indices, are needed.
Databases on composition with emphasis on intraspecific diversity are essential complements to laboratory evaluations.
Biofortification is a potential use of genetic diversity to address problems of undernutrition in specific clearly-defined contexts. Nutritionists must contribute to evaluations [5] of efficacy and to ensure new products do not undermine cultural and biological diversity, community self-sufficiency and health.
Formulation and compilation of criteria and indicators for evaluating consumer quality (eg. sensory, nutritional, culinary, toxicological and medicinal properties) are essential for PGR conservation.
Dietary diversity indices focused on plants can be developed with the rationale of further establishing the importance of PGR and as simple, low-cost indicators of nutritional status in developing country contexts [1,6].
On-farm
and community-based activities
Indigenous knowledge and culturally-defined values offer insights into
health-related properties as well as the context in which health-positive
behaviours and practices will be maintained and adopted. Participatory
programs oriented to maintain the genetic diversity of cultivated and
uncultivated plant species can bring together scientific information with
indigenous knowledge to improve nutrition and contribute to economic livelihood.
Nutrition and health also afford a valuable window on gender-specific
knowledge and points of view. Indigenous food processing practices can
direct studies on bioavailability.
Public
health
In collaboration with the healthcare sector plant diversity research can
define dietary solutions based on assessment of nutritional and health
needs [6]. In relation to problems of urbanization these can consist of
surveys on patterns of consumption of neglected and underutilized species
(NUSs) (e.g. African leafy vegetables) and local varieties with attention
to beliefs, attitudes and values concerning these plants. Innovative processing
and marketing of traditional species and varieties, and education activities
and cultural support programs on the benefits of consuming diversity of
fruits and vegetables are needed.
Policy
and Advocacy
Food selection and dietary diversity of malnourished people is determined
by the availability, cost, and cultural acceptability of foods. As local
food systems are increasingly integrated into regional and global markets,
diversity can be understood and deployed with attention to incentives
and constraints at institutional and economic levels. Success in encouraging
food crop diversity may depend on empowering farmers through participatory
plant breeding and agriculture support programs, providing them the means
to make informed choices, and structuring pricing policies and market
and commercial supports appropriately. Urban consumption may be influenced
by the same factors, by strengthening cultural traditions of diet, and
by modulation of urban agricultural patterns. IPGRI already engages in
activities where nutrition and health are, or could be, relevant components.
Additional undertakings in the developing nutrition-PGR strategy will
compliment IPGRI's existing expertise. While IPGRI's success in nutrition
and health will depend on defining the unique contributions that it can
make, it also requires collaboration with other organizations. IPGRI's
leadership can be in identifying and prioritizing research issues and
key species of regional and global importance, and in promoting and coordinating
activities. Consultation with current partners and a new expert advisory
group is an essential aspect of this initiative.
REFERENCES
1. Hoddinott
J and Y Yohannes Dietary Diversity as a Food Security Indicator. FCND
Discussion Paper No. 136. IFPRI, Washington. 2002.
2. Popkin BM, Horton S and S Kim The Nutrition Transition and Prevention
of Diet-related Diseases in Asia and the Pacific. Food Nutr. Bull. 2000;
22(suppl): 58.
3. Burlingame B What is a Nutrient? J. Food Comp. Anal. 2001; 14: 1.
4. Johns T and L Chapman Phytochemicals Ingested in Traditional Diets
and Medicines as Modulators of Energy Metabolism. In: Arnason JT and R
Mata (eds) Phytochemistry of Medicinal Plants, Recent Advances in Phytochemistry
29. Plenum Press, New York.1995.
5. King JC Evaluating the Impact of Plant Biofortification on Human Nutrition.
J. Nutr. 2002; 132: 511s-513s.
6. Hatløy A, Torheim LE and A Oshaug Food Variety - a Good Indicator
of Nutritional Adequacy of the Diet? A Case Study from an Urban Area in
Mali, West Africa. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 1998; 52:891-898.
Honorary
Fellow, Sub-Saharan Africa Group, International Plant Genetic Resources
Institute (IPGRI), c/o ICRAF, P.O. Box 30677, Nairobi, Kenya;
Professor, School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, Macdonald Campus,
McGill University, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, H9X 3V9, Canada. Email:
t.johns@cgiar.org; johns@macdonald.mcgill.ca
A New Paradigm for Agriculture
The goal of this project is to improve the health of poor people by breeding staple food crops that are rich in micronutrients and play a significant role in the diets of the poor. Micronutrient malnutrition – the result of diets poor in vitamins and minerals – affects more than half of the world’s population, especially pregnant women and children age 0-5. The costs of these deficiencies in terms of lives lost, forgone economic growth and poor quality of life are staggering.
The proposed Biofortification Challenge Program seeks to bring the full potential of agricultural and nutrition science to bear on the persistent problem of micronutrient malnutrition. The Program will improve staple foods as sources of micronutrients that are widely recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as limiting: iron, zinc, and vitamin A (or beta-carotene). The focus crops for the challenge program are staples consumed by the majority of the world’s poor in Africa, Asia, and Latin America: rice, wheat, maize, cassava, sweet potatoes, and common beans.
Micronutrient malnutrition persists despite the tireless efforts of the global public health community. To reach the Millennium Development Goal’s target to halving the proportion of undernourished people by 2015, new technologies and approaches are needed to work on the problem. To meet this challenge, the Biofortification Challenge Program proposes to implement a new paradigm that uses agriculture as an instrument for improving human health and nutrition, as well as for increasing agricultural productivity. This Program’s breeding efforts will focus on improving the micronutrient content of the staple foods people already eat, providing a relatively inexpensive, sustainable means of delivering micronutrients to the poor. This will reduce the number of more severely malnourished people who will still require treatment by complementary, but more costly, conventional methods. This biofortification approach provides a truly feasible means of reaching malnourished populations in relatively remote rural areas and delivering naturally fortified foods to people with limited access to supplements or to commercially marketed fortified foods. Thus, the breeding strategy will complement other successful ongoing interventions to reduce micronutrient malnutrition.
Once in place, the biofortified crop system is highly sustainable. A one-time investment in the breeding research proposed in this project will yield nutritionally improved varieties that will continue to be grown and consumed year after year, even if government attention and international funding for micronutrient issues fades. It is this multiplier aspect of plant breeding across time and distance that makes it so cost-effective.
Mineral-packed seeds ell themselves to farmers because, as recent research has shown, these trace minerals are important to plant nutrition as well. Healthy plants use inputs such as water, fertilizer, and soil trace minerals more efficiently so that the new seeds can be expected to be environmentally beneficial as well. Benefits for agricultur4al productivity and the environment are complementary aspects of breeding for trace mineral density, which further enhances the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of biofortification. These desirable agronomic traits will also contribute to local food security and greater adoption of biofortified crop varieties by poor farmers interested in increasing their income.
Biofortification: A Proven Concept
The development of nutrient-dense staple foods has been in the works for some time. Since 1995, scientists from the Future Harvest Centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and partner oganizations have been evaluating the feasibility of using modern breeding techniques to produce new varieties of staple crops with high zinc, iron, and beta-carotene content. Results to date suggest that biofortification is highly feasible. For most crops, scientists will be able to increase micronutrient densities through conventional breeding by a multiple of two for iron and zinc and by higher multiples for beta-carotene. At the end of this six-year pilot study, scientists agree that the biofortification strategy is feasible but that an expanded global research program is necessary to have the desired impact.
Governance and Program Oversight
The Challenge Program will be led by CIAT and IFPRI, with their Boards of Trustees having legal authority for the Program. A joint venture or similar agreement will clearly define how the two institutes work together and how they manage the Program. An external Program Advisory Committee (PAC) of experts is being form3d to recommend strategic research priorities, oversee project progress, and implement a transparent competitive grants process. Although PAC will not be a legal entity, it will have the authority of the CIAT and IFPRI Boards to undertake its mandate as an independent body.
An International Collaborative Effort
Under the proposed challenge program, activities will be undertaken by an international alliance of Future Harvest centers, universities in developed and developing countries, advanced research institutes (ARIs), national agricultural research systems (NARS), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), farmers’ organizations in developing countries; and private-sector partnerships. The Future Harvest Centers involved in this Program are world renown for their plant breeding expertise and extensive germplasm banks, strong ties to national agricultural extension programs, and links to the nutrition community. To achieve the goals and objectives of the project, new ways of working together, both within the CGIAR system and with external partners, are needed. Close collaboration with institutions outside the CGIAR that offer complementary scientific expertise, skills and experience not found within the CGIAR is critical to the success of the Program. The new Challenge Program mechanism will facilitate these more complex collaborative arrangements, strengthening the Program’s ability to deliver the biofortified varieties that will have a positive impact on the micronutrient status of hundreds of millions of the world’s poor.
Proceedings of an international conference that reviewed the findings of the CGIAR Micronutrients Project are published in the Food and Nutrition Bulletin, Vol. 21, No. 4, December 2000.
International Food Policy Institute (IFPRI), 2033 K Street, N.W., Washington D.C. 20006, USA. Email: IFPRI@cgiar.org Website: www.ifpri.org
Cenro International de Agricultura tropical (CIAT), Apartado Aereo 6713, Cali, Colombia. Email: ciat@cgiar.org
FUSION
AND NUTRITION IN WEST AFRICA: The Birth of the West African Health Organization (WAHO) with nutrition at the centre |
The West African Health Organization (WAHO), covering the 15 countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) , has been born out of the fusion of two prior regional health structures, and nutrition has been adopted as one of the pillars of its programs. This is the result many years of investment from a number of partners and member countries to put nutrition at the center of the development agenda in West Africa. The ECOWAS region covers a population of over 230 million - over one fourth of all of Africa, and countries with three working languages, English, French and Portuguese. The most recent Assembly of Health Ministers of WAHO, held in Bamako in November 2000, adopted nutrition as one of the pillars of the organization, and voted a budget line to support future nutrition focal point meetings and nutrition programs. At the summit of Heads of State of ECOWAS in Bamako in December 2000, a "health fair" was organized, including an exhibit on nutrition in the region.
Since 1995, USAID through the SARA, SANA and BASICS projects, has been supporting organization of annual meetings of nutrition focal points of the nine French-speaking countries of West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo). Over the years, the number of partners involved in supporting these focal points meetings has grown, as has the role of the focal points themselves. The nutrition focal points are the head nutrition authorities of their countries. These countries had been organized in the regional health structure called the Organisation de Coordination et de Cooperation pour la Lutte Contre les Grandes Endemies (OCCGE - Organization for Coordination and Cooperation for Control for Endemic Diseases). The OCCGE specialized centre, the Regional Centre for Food and Nutrition Research (French acronym CRAN), has taken the lead on organizing these meetings.
A decision by ECOWAS in 1987 and the 1993 evision of the ECOWAS treaty called for the fusion of regional health structures, which included the OCCGE and the West African Health Community (WAHC - covering Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and The Gambia) to create the West African Health Organization. Nutrition took a leadership role in successful implementation of this fusion. The nutrition community took the lead in organizing the first ECOWAS-wide nutrition meeting in Niamey, Niger, September 20-24, 1999 the first concrete activity to put the WAHO directives into application. The Prime Minister of Nigeropened the session and the closing ceremony was presided by the Niger Minister of Public Health. All the major stakeholders in future decisions about WAHO were present, including the General Secretary and Deputy General Secretary of the OCCGE, the Director of CRAN and the Executive Director of WAHC. Recommendations included calling on the leaders of ECOWAS to include nutrition as a priority in the future WAHO.
 |
ECOWAS Heads of State visit nutrition exhibition in Bamako, December 2000. l-r, Mohamed Ag Bendech (HKI), President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria, President Abdoulaye Wade, Senegal, President Alpha Oumar Konare, Mali (and current President of ECOWAS), vice President, Aisatou N'jie-Saidy, The Gambia |
This momentum was continued in the fifth focal points meeting, held in Bamako, Mali, September 25-29, 2000. The meeting included over 100 participants and was opened by the Minister of Health from Mali. A delegation from the conference held an audience with the Prime Minister of Mali to discuss the importance of nutrition in the development of the region, and the future of the focal points network. In 2000, Mali held the positions of president of the OCCGE and president of the ECOWAS and the Prime Minister assured the delegation of Mali's commitment to improving nutrition in Mali and the region.
WAHO's commitment to nutrition is rapidly being demonstrated. The first meeting of the Assembly of Health Ministers of WAHO (the board of directors of the organization) adopted the nutrition focal points recommendations; including the organization of the next focal point meeting in Ghana in September 2001 and placing nutrition as one of the pillars of the organization's regional initiatives. In addition, they voted a budget containing a line item to support the next focal point meeting and other nutrition activities in the region.
In order to garner increased political support for regional health and nutrition initiatives, WAHO organized a "health fair" for the ECOWAS summit of Heads of State organized in Bamako in December 2000, and one of the major exhibits was a nutrition stand, organized by Helen Keller International and a number of other partners. The stand drew a number of comments and questions from the visiting Heads of State and their delegations.
WAHO is based in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, at the former headquarters of the OCCGE. The former Executive Director of WAHC, Dr. Kabba T. Joiner, is the Director General, and Prof. Moussa A. Maïga, is the Deputy Director General.
The successful fusion of prior structures into the West African Health Organization represents a major opportunity for increasing the visibility of nutrition programs throughout the region. The nutrition focal points meetings have proven invaluable in exchanging lessons learned, providing technical updates and lobbying for nutrition programs. The WAHO, working under the direction of the regional political structure, ECOWAS, will provide a means to ensure high-level political participation in nutrition initiatives. ECOWAS has already issued a directive on iodization of salt for human consumption in the region and has organized synchronized National Immunization Days (NIDs), launched by the President of Mali, Alpha Oumar Konaré, who is the current President of ECOWAS. Vitamin A distribution was indeed in this NIDs in many countries.
The family of partners supporting the nutrition focal points meetings has grown over the years and now includes a number of USAID-funded projects (MOST, BASICS II, SARA, SANA and LINKAGES), UNICEF, the Micronutrient Initiative, the World Health Organization and Helen Keller International.
For
more information, contact:
Shawn K. Baker, Regional Director for Africa, Helen Keller International,
keller@intnet.ne
Mathias Hien, former Deputy Secretary General, OCCGE, mnhien@yahoo.fr
Mohamed Ag Bendech, Country Representative, Helen Keller International, Burkina
Faso
André Ouédraogo, Regional Nutrition Advisor, WHO, Harare (formerly
Director of CRAN)
Alfred Acakpo, Deputy Director, CRAN
January 15, 2001
The
ECOWAS includes Benin, Burkina Faso, Cap Verde, Cote
d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria,
Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. Mauritania was originally a member but withrew
in 1999.
The
address is:
WAHO Headquarters/OOAS Siège
01 BP 153
Bobo-Dioulasso 01
Burkina Faso
e-mail wahooas@fasonet.bf
Tel. (226) 97.57.72/97.57.75
Fax (226) 97.57.72
THE
WORLD FOOD PRIZE
*AJFNS wishes to acknowledge the co-operation and support of Judith Pim and Jan Douglas of the World Food Prize Foundation in providing this information for publication in AJFNS |
Dr. Norman E. Borlaug conceived of the idea for a World Food Prize after receiving The Nobel Peace Prize.
The $250,000 World Food Prize is awarded each October in Des Moines, Iowa, (Dr. Borlaug's home state) USA to recognize the significant achievements of individuals who have reduced poverty, hunger, and malnutrition by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world.
The Prize was established in 1986 and, in 1990, Des Moines Businessman and Philanthropist John Ruan assumed its sponsorship, providing a generous endowment and moving The World Food Prize Foundation to Des Moines. Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn currently serves as President of the Foundation.
Information about the World Food Prize Laureates and the annual programs conducted in conjunction with the Laureate Award Ceremony is available on the web at www.worldfoodprize.org, or by contacting Ambassador Quinn at:
The World Food Prize Foundation
1700 Ruan Center, 666 Grand Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa USA 50309
Phn: 515-245-3783; Fax: 515-245-3785
E-mail:wfp@worldfoodprize.org
An
Appeal by on
the occasion of the June 2002 |
 Dr. M.S. Swaminathan 1987, India |
 Dr. Muhammad Yunus 1994, Bangladesh |
 Mr. B. R. Barwale 1998, India |
 Dr. Verghese Kurien 1989, India |
 Dr. Hans R. Herren 1995, Switzerland |
 Dr. Walter Plowright 1999, England |
 Dr. John S. Niederhauser 1990, United States |
 Dr. Gurdev Khush 1996, India |
 Dr. Evangelina Villegas 2000, Mexico |
 Dr. Nevin S. Scrimshaw 1991, United States |
 Dr. Henry Beachell 1996, United States |
 Dr. Surinder K. Vasal 2000, India |
 H.E. He Kang 1993, China |
 Dr. Perry L. Adkisson 1997, United States |
 Dr. Per Pinstrup-Andersen 2001, Denmark |
 |
and
|
|
An Appeal by
The
15 World Food Prize Laureates
on
the occasion of the World Food Summit: Five Years Later
June 2002, Rome
WE, THE WORLD FOOD PRIZE LAUREATES, wish to stress the importance of
the conference, The World Food Summit: Five Years Later under the leadership
of Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations.
We recall that at the World Food Summit of 1996, Heads of State and Government from around the world pledged their political will and their joint and national commitment to achieving food security for all and to an ongoing effort to eradicate hunger in all countries. In the immediate view of those attending that 1996 Summit, the number of undernourished people should be reduced by half no later than 2015.
We note with dismay that, according to the latest information and analyses available, the number of undernourished people is falling only by about eight million a year, whereas it needs to fall by about 20 million a year if the World Food Summit target is to be achieved by 2015. Furthermore, while China achieved major reductions in the number of undernourished people during the 1990s, developing countries as a whole, excluding China, actually saw an increase in that number.
A continuation of the trend of the 1990s for the developing countries as a whole, excluding China, will result in a very significant increase rather than a decrease in the number of undernourished people. Nearly 90 million additional children are born each year, with more than 70 percent of them to poor and undernourished families.
This should be a major concern for everyone. Food, along with sanitary water and shelter, are the most vital of human needs; and the lack of food is a major barrier in achieving other human rights. Hunger is also often a cause and an effect of social instability and conflict. People debilitated by hunger are disposed to be less productive and more prone to infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS.
The world as a whole cannot enjoy durable peace, social stability and economic prosperity while hundreds of millions of people suffer from abject poverty and hunger.
The 15 th Anniversary World Food Prize Foundation Symposium on "Risks to the World Food Supply," held in Des Moines, Iowa, USA, October 18-19, 2001, addressed many of the crucial issues that must be dealt with if greater progress in reducing food insecurity is to be achieved. We also note the leadership provided by the 2001 World Food Prize Laureate Dr. Per Pinstrup-Andersen in formulating and implementing the 2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture and the Environment, which, together with the work of FAO and others, offers a solid blueprint for actions to address these problems.
Since the large majority of the poor and the hungry in developing countries live in rural areas and rely for their livelihood on agriculture, including livestock and animal industries, and on activities dependent on agriculture, development policies of these countries as well as donor assistance should give priority to sustainable productivity increases in agriculture and rural development, including essential infrastructure such as rural roads, electrification, and markets.
In the coming decades a technological transformation of agriculture will occur that will be constrained by resource limitations and whose environmental implications will pose questions concerning the sustainability of food production adequate to feed the ever-increasing human population. Therefore, it is imperative that we work together to strengthen the research and policy framework underpinning the necessary productivity increases in agriculture, livestock, and aquatic resources in an environmentally sustainable manner.
We
are greatly concerned that funding for international research centers and
public agricultural research programs is being cut back. It was efforts at
just such institutions-by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Norman E. Borlaug
and many World Food Prize Laureates-that produced the great gains in agricultural
production during the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, averting famine in many areas.
However, there is a danger of critically needed research capabilities being
seriously eroded due to inadequate funding. The transfer and utilization of
appropriate technologies and moving beyond traditional partnerships is also
essential.
In regard to free trading policies, fairness is needed to provide markets to the poorer nations. We would like to emphasize the need for greater market access to food and agricultural products from developing nations. Today, it is often the case that heavy subsidies in industrialized countries and the imposition of non-tariff barriers by rich nations are closing the doors to the products of poor countries.
The causes of hunger are many and complex. We have outlined some of these causes, such as low food production, distribution, poverty, sustainability, and environmental degradation. We have emphasized the need to establish the international cooperation to confront these problems and work toward solutions on a worldwide basis. We believe that none of these efforts will provide a long-range solution to the problem of hunger unless we also dedicate our efforts to programs to promote population stabilization. Without population stabilization, our dedication to the production and distribution of food will only postpone the problem of even greater hunger in the world.
We therefore appeal to national governments, bilateral and multilateral development agencies, national and regional funding institutions, UN system organizations, and other organizations attending the FAO Conference in Rome to focus their efforts on these parallel goals, with the greatest possible transparency in defining the objectives, programs, and rate of progress of the organizations in reaching their ends.