FAO warns of severe Asia food crisis
FAO warns of severe Asia food crisis
MANILA (Reuter): A senior United Nations official yesterday warned that a severe food crisis was building up in the booming Asia-Pacific region and could undermine its economic progress.
The main threat lay in the unchecked destruction of agricultural systems -- from over-exploited fisheries to denuded forests and diminished croplands, A.Z.M. Obaidullah Khan, of the Food and Agriculture Organization, said.
These are all signs of a gathering storm, the UN body's chief regional representative told delegates from 35 countries in Manila for the 22nd FAO regional conference.
Malaysia's Agriculture Minister Datuk Seri Sanusi Junid also warned of declining regional food resources.
He said Asia's food output had stagnated since 1990 and blamed this on war in Afghanistan and Cambodia, floods in China and India and an earthquake in Iran.
"These trends will further worsen the supply of food and agriculture production in 1995-96 if carryover stocks for 1995 are small and harvests for the 1994-995 season are adversely affected," Sanusi said.
Obaidullah Khan said funds for agricultural research and development were being cut back while demand for food was projected to soar.
He said by 2020 demand for rice would have risen from today's 520 million tons a year to 800 million as both populations and incomes rise.
"We all seek to prevent a new food crisis erupting in the early 21st century," Obaidullah Khan said. "This could unravel all the hard-won gains of this region."
FAO director-general Jacques Diouf expressed concern over declining external aid to agriculture investments.
This fell from US$12 billion in 1980 to $10 billion in 1990 while the world population grew by 20 percent, he said.
A major reason cited by financing institutions for the decline was the lack of bankable projects presented to them, he said.
He said the Manila meeting would focus on food security because there were 800 million in the world who did not have enough to eat.