THE FULL MAN IS FRIEND TO THE HUNGRY MAN

In the post-crisis period the problem of price increases and a deficit of basic foodstuffs has again become acute, and it is the countries of the "third world" who are most affected by these processes. A session of the European Agricultural Commission and the 28th regional conference of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which was held in Baku around the 20th April, was devoted to achieving the global task of a "world without hunger".

Problem No 1 in the world

According to UN statistics, the number of people suffering from hunger on the planet has reached nearly one billion. The food shortage in the world's poorest countries was made worse by the fact that in the last 12 to 18 months food prices reached their highest point since the beginning of the post-crisis period. And a reduction in the food basket because of the increased cost of living is happening not only in the traditionally poor countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, but even in a number of regions of southern and eastern Europe, as well as the countries of the former Soviet Union. In the opinion of international experts, the increase in prices and reduction in food production volumes are linked with the conservative policy of agrarian banks and a reduction in the budget subsidies of farmers in the poorly-developed states. The rapid increase in population in major cities, as well as more frequent natural disasters and a depletion in the potential of prime quality land, have also had their effect.

The trouble-free and intensively developing countries of Europe, North and Latin America, South-east Asia and Oceania have been discussing for a number of years the need to take active measures to solve the problem of hunger in the poorer regions of the world. In particular, the FAO is recommending that the developed states allocate up to $30bn each year from their budgets to develop the agrarian sector of the poor countries, and also to abolish domestic agricultural subsidies and liberalize the world food trade. The more prosperous countries are also being asked to act as donors to the poorest countries in mastering extensive methods of economic management and to invest more vigorously in providing intensive, resource-saving farming technology.

Finally, in order to make more effective use of the resources of the FAO, the question of the radical reform of this organization, especially in the decentralization of its regional sections, strengthening the participation of national governments in shaping the mechanisms of activity and the long-term policy of the Committee for World Food Safety (CWFS), has been placed on the agenda.

The current activities and regional policy of the UN and the European Union on food security questions were discussed during an international forum held in Baku recently. The 28th Regional Conference of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization was held in Baku from 19 to 20 April. The day before some of the delegates joined in a discussion of questions of food security at a session of the European Commission for Agriculture, which was also held in Baku.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who addressed the opening of the international forum, spoke about agrarian reforms carried out in the last 15 years that have helped the country to provide itself with 80-90% of its basic food requirements. He said that the intensive development of the food industry had enabled Azerbaijan to increase its food exports several times over, and not only within the countries of the former Soviet Union, but also to gradually open markets in Europe, North America and Asia. In recent years the Azerbaijani government's agrarian policy has been aimed at preventing the "import" of food inflation and to become as self-sufficient in food as possible. A state programme to provide the people of the country with a reliable supply of food up to 2015 has been implemented since August 2008 with this in mind. All this is helping the agrarian sector to develop in the required direction.

At the same time, the overall world situation in this sphere is a long way from the norm. "According to the FAO, the number of people in the world suffering from hunger is now 925 million. These problems could be even worse by the middle of the century when mankind will be faced with the problem of feeding an extra two billion people," FAO's director-general Jose Graziano da Silva pointed out. A reduction in the food basket because of the high cost of living has happened not only in the poorest states of Africa and Asia, but also in the countries of Central Asia and the South Caucasus which are rich in hydrocarbons and human resources. According to the FAO's latest figures, the level of malnutrition in our region is 26%, but an estimate of the poverty level varies from 30 to 77%.

Give us our daily bread

Of course, there are different ways of looking at these statistics. For example, problems of malnutrition and poverty are graded differently in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia or, on the other hand, in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan with their immeasurably higher standard of living. Basing themselves on the statistics for 2005 - 2007, the FAO a year ago included Azerbaijan in the list of states with the lowest level of hunger - less than 5%.

"Our country's successes in achieving food security have been given a high assessment by the FAO and, what is more, this organization has already included Azerbaijan in its list of donor-states. We will take part in concluding deals and the funding of projects in third countries, providing food security at a regional level. Part of the funds for implementing such projects will be allocated by the FAO and another by our government," Azerbaijan's Agriculture Minister Ismat Abbasov said.

One of the outcomes of the international forum was the signing on 20 April of an agreement on cooperation between Azerbaijan and the UN Food Agricultural Organization. According to the agreements reached, cooperation between the FAO and our country will embrace the sphere of fishing, the fight against the spread of diseases in horticulture and those spread by animals. The joint projects will also cover the sphere of safeguarding people's health, drawing up standard regulations in support of farms, extending the participation of farmers in the trading process and simplifying the commercial distribution of their products.

The opening of a Regional Office of the FAO, which will be aimed at not only implementing projects in our country, but will also assist Azerbaijan in developing technical partnership with neighbouring countries with the support of the UN structure, is also planned in Azerbaijan.

Running through almost all the speeches by the national delegations was the subject of improving the effectiveness of the FAO's activities in solving questions of hunger and the extensive development of agriculture. Among other things, they spoke about supporting small farms and cooperatives, overcoming all barriers in the sphere of production and access to sales markets. And, of course, the adaptation of new technology to improve crop yield which, in Central Asia and the South Caucasus in some cases is 40% less than its potential. An increase in yield will unquestionably lead to a reduction in the level of rural poverty, but a balanced and cautious approach is necessary in this question. Thus, in the European Union, where there is a traditionally high level of use of toxic chemicals and non-organic fertilizers, their use will increase by a minimum of 20% within 30-35 years.

"However, the uncontrolled increase in the use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture will lead to pollution of subterranean waters and an accumulation of dangerous waste products in the system of production and sales of agricultural produce. Already today in 12 states of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia about 200,000 tonnes of pesticide waste has been concentrated in the soil, which comprises approximately 40% of the planet's volume of non-recyclable toxic chemicals," FAO's director-general Jose Graziano da Silva stressed. Together with the EU and other partners, the FAO will assist states of the region in questions of the safe management of chemical waste products. At the same time, a key trend of the FAO's is to boost the intensification of the production of small farms not through increasing cultivated land but by using new innovative and more stable approaches, without exposing the vulnerable ecosystem and limited natural resources to unnecessary risks.

One can only hope that all the measures undertaken by the world community will in the next two decades help to rid mankind of the threat of hunger. The hope is there, the guarantee of which is the success of agrarian reform and the current state of the Azerbaijani food industry which has succeeded, as dozens of developing countries also have, in solving the problem of food security.