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.