FAO/IFAD/WFP Joint Statement
18 January 2005

On the occasion of the launch of the Millennium Project report "Global Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals", the three Rome-based United Nations agencies (the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Fund for Agricultural Development and World Food Programme) affirm their full commitment and resolve to work together with other sister agencies, national governments, civil society and the private sector to realize the goals of the Millennium Declaration adopted globally in September 2000.

The three agencies note with particular concern the finding of the Millennium Project report that many countries, the majority of them in sub-Saharan Africa, will fall far short of achieving the accepted Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This includes the goal to reduce by half by 2015 the proportion of people suffering from hunger and poverty. The goal is in line with agreements reached at the 1996 World Food Summit.

Nevertheless, the three Rome-based agencies reconfirm that the MDGs can be realized by 2015if both the developing and the developed world take immediate action. Leaders and other stakeholders in the poorest countries must take the necessary steps to ensure good governance and sound economic planning. It falls tothe international community to take swift, strategic action to support them.

Indeed, we believe that there is no choice but to meet the goals. The cost of not taking urgent action – in terms of lives ruined, economic growth foregone and natural resources irretrievably depleted – is simply too high. More than 1.2 billion people still live in extreme poverty today: one in every five of the world's citizens. Over 850 million people in the world are chronically hungry – a number that is now on the rise after a decade of improvement. More than five million children die of causes directly related to malnutrition every year.

In addition to the chronic victims of hunger and poverty, there are the numbers affected by man-made or natural catastrophes. Subsequent to completion of the Millennium Project report, the world witnessed the devastation caused by the tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean, the full impact of which is, unfortunately, yet to unfold.

At today's event in Rome , we are focusing on the issues of hunger and poverty because they are at the heart of the many problems facing developing countries, and are critical to achievement of all the MDGs.

In a world that has abundant resources and can produce sufficient food to feed everyone, the extent of hunger is not only a moral outrage, but a manifestation of the world community's collective failure to put in place policies and programmes with long-term vision. Indeed, investment in hunger and poverty reduction is investment in development and in a future of global peace and prosperity. Poverty, hunger, inequality and disease lie at the root of political instability, civil war and state collapse. A world with extreme poverty is inherently a world of insecurity.

Three-quarters of those living in extreme poverty, about 900 million people, live in rural areas and depend on agriculture and related activities for their livelihoods. In many developing countries, the agricultural sector is the main employer, job creator and even export earner. Historically, in many parts of the world, agriculture has been the engine that has driven economic growth.

Yet, despite this, the share of public expenditure for agriculture and rural development is far from being commensurate with its importance in the economies of many developing countries, and official development assistance (ODA) for agriculture and the rural sector has fallen steadily since 1988. Today, only about 8% of bilateral ODA goes to rural development.

The same can be said for the lack of adequate investment in health and nutrition, income growth among the very poor, and appropriate safety nets to protect people (and productive economic investments) against the shocks of drought, flood and famine.Indeed, less than 0.5% of total ODA goes to food aid, which supports targeted interventions in rural areas to save lives and build livelihoods.

Insufficient attention is paid to the needs of rural farmers with small landholdings, especially women farmers, who are the majority of these. They support the poorest and hungriest, yet are often denied access to resources such as land, water, credit and markets. Farmers in many developing countries are not able to compete in selling their produce on local markets because these are flooded with cheap produce from subsidized producers in wealthier countries. Moreover, as a result of poverty and lack of appropriate technologies, farmers are often forced to use unsustainable cultivation practices that contribute to declining soil fertility.

The MDGs can only be realized when food-insecure, extremely poor people are supported in their struggle to emerge from hunger and poverty.

Among the worst-off are those affected by natural or conflict-related emergencies, including the refugees and displaced people we now see in The Sudan ( Darfur ) and Chad . Today, the number and scale of natural disasters have surged, as seen last year when the horrific tsunami swept through the Indian Ocean , floods destroyed parts of Haiti and Bangladesh , and locusts devastated West Africa and the Sahel . These people are forced to rely on humanitarian and food aid for sustenance and protection until they are in a position to rebuild their lives and societies. In areas prone to natural disasters, early warning systems, prevention and mitigation programmes are vital. Often, however, emergencies are caused by human action; we have witnessed an alarming increase of instances during the past decade. In either case, peace and stability are essential preconditions for achieving food security and sustainable prosperity.

Fortunately, developing and developed countries have recognized the urgency of ending hunger and poverty. At the 2002 International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey , Mexico , nations pledged to increase funding for development, and to some extent this has materialized. There has been a growth in overall aid of about 10% in real terms over the past four years. There are major initiatives to reduce the debt burden of developing countries. Despite several setbacks, trade ministers have promised to continue working towards reducing agricultural subsidies at global trade talks. Poor as well as wealthier countries in the world are committing additional resources to fight hunger and poverty.

Key commitments are in place. However, the challenge now is to ensure that commitments translate into more resources, and more effective use of resources.

As a response to the challenge of the MDGs, the three Rome-based UN agencies have enhanced their partnership and are re-energizing their collaboration. Jointly, the agencies are advocating a twin-track approach to combating hunger and poverty: on the one hand, in seeking to create a vibrant economy in which people can provide for themselves, they must have the building blocks for long-term sustainable growth, including improved infrastructure, sound natural resource management and increased access to jobs, education, land, water, credit, social services and organizations for the poor. This means investments in increasing productivity, in rural financial and service institutions and in markets, backed by major policy reforms.

On the other hand, direct, sustained and well-targeted assistance is often necessary to put food into hungry mouths today, prevent disease, send children to school, rebuild infrastructure shattered by armed conflicts, and reclaim natural resources eroded by generations of overuse. Here we are talking about simple, specific, tested interventions that we know work: bed nets to fight malaria; vaccinations to fight infectious disease; antiretroviral therapies to fight AIDS; water control, fertilizers, improved seed and agroforestry to raise crop yields; bore wells for safe drinking water; diesel generators for village electricity; school meals, food-for-work programmes,emergency help after natural disasters or war,andnutritional programmes for vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, small children andpeople living with AIDS. Investments in health, nutrition and mental capacity today allow people to become more active participants in the process of development tomorrow.

In 2002, the International Alliance Against Hunger – an outcome of the 2001 follow-up to the World Food Summit – was formed as a concrete joint follow-up on the problems of hunger and poverty. The Alliance brings together the strengths of a large number of different groups to define a roadmap for progress in eradicating hunger.

Through such programmes, we are striving to contribute to the challenge of achieving the MDGs. This amounts to a call to action, aimed at taking the concept of global partnership and making it a reality: working together to guarantee the world's citizens a basic human right – freedom from hunger and poverty.

That, we believe, is the way forward.