NAM rejects use of food as leverage

NAM rejects use of food as leverage

JAKARTA (JP): The Non Aligned Movement (NAM) of developing
countries rejected the use of food aid as a means of political
and economic pressure yesterday.

After a two-day meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, NAM's agricultural
and food ministers said in a 20-point declaration that every
human being has the fundamental right to food and that efforts to
use food as an instrument of political and economic pressure
should be rejected.

The ministers also urged donor countries and international
institutions like the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and
the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to support "South-
South" cooperation in research and development programs aimed at
increasing food production for food security in developing
nations.

They acknowledged that every government is required to improve
the food security of its own people but stressed that low income
and food deficit countries, which total 78 according to the FAO,
need support from the international community.

The Bali meeting, opened by President Soeharto on Monday, was
attended by representatives from 62 countries, of which 53 are
NAM members.

Action programs

In the press conference that followed the meeting, Indonesian
Minister of Agriculture Sjarifudin Baharsjah was quoted by a
Kompas correspondent as saying that the ministerial meeting
produced action programs detailing steps of cooperation to secure
food supplies in developing countries for both short and long
terms.

The action programs include policy reform, improvement of
agricultural productivity, South-South technical cooperation,
agricultural research cooperation, cooperation between food
exporters and importers, special program for the improvement of
food production in Africa and food assistance for African
countries.

Under the policy reform, the ministers suggested that
developing countries put a high priority on spending for such
agricultural development programs as the construction of
irrigation facilities, roads, telecommunications systems, ports
and systems for food distribution.

Under a program for agriculture productivity improvement,
developing countries hope to improve training for farmers, adopt
apprenticeship programs, exchange experts and establish joint
ventures.

Developing countries in the South are also advised to set up
regional cooperation for the establishment of food and fertilizer
production facilities and for the development of human resources.

In research cooperation, developing countries can hold regular
meetings of researchers, establish research networks, exchange
research information and transfer technology among themselves.

The ministers suggested that developing countries establish
regional cooperation in food trade and bufferstocking to
guarantee continuous supplies and price stability.

They also agreed on a program to train agricultural planners,
policy makers and farmers in African countries to improve their
food production.

To help a number of African countries facing shortages of food
supplies and production, the ministers committed their support to
promote the introduction of grants for them.

In the meantime, Nana Sutresna, the chairman of NAM's
executive board, told Antara that the Bali Declaration will
strengthen the bargaining position of the NAM countries in facing
the developed nations, especially in food-related matters.

"Some donor countries like Germany and Japan have already
shown interest in financing internship programs for farmers and
agricultural experts from NAM countries to study Indonesia's
success," he said. (hdj/riz)