Highlights from the World Summit on Food Security

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World Summit on Food Security (WSFS)

16-18 November 2009 | Rome, Italy

Tuesday, 17 November 2009

View of Rome from the venue.

The third World Summit on Food Security continued on 17 November 2009 at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome, Italy. Throughout the day, heads of delegations from 82 countries and organizations made statements. Two parallel round tables also took place: in the morning round table, delegates addressed the implementation of the reform of global governance of food security; during the afternoon round table, they discussed the challenges imposed by climate change adaptation and mitigation on agriculture and food security.

High-Level Segment

The dais at the beginning of Tuesday’s proceedings.

Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of Congo, called on the Summit to implement an emergency plan for countries suffering from food shortages.

Robert Gabriel Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe, said his country adopted a biofuels strategy using marginalized lands.

Malam Bacai Sanhá, President of Guinea-Bissau, urged a positive outcome for the Doha negotiations.

Fernando Armindo Lugo Méndez, President of Paraguay, highlighted the role of women in agriculture.

Adam Sy, Secretary General of the Presidency of Mauritania

Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, Prime Minister of Fiji

Jaume Bartumeu Cassany, Head of the Government of Andorra

Tigran Sargsyan, Prime Minister of Armenia

Participants during the general debate.

Abbas El Fassi, Prime Minister of Morocco, emphasized the need to invest heavily in agriculture.

Jim Marurai, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, said the world is becoming “too accepting of the word hunger.”

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey, encouraged resource allocation to the agricultural sector.

Ulises Rosales del Toro, Minister of Agriculture and Vice President, Cuba, identified systemic reasons as the main cause of the current global crisis.

Beverley Oda, Minister for International Cooperation of Canada

Gerda Verburg, Minister for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality of the Netherlands

Eva Kjer Hansen, Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries of Denmark

Sirkka-Liisa Anttila, Minister for Agriculture and Forestry of Finland

Tomislav Vidosevic, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Croatia to FAO

Gladys Francisca Urbaneja Durán, Ambassador of Venezuela

Sadeq Khalilian, Minister of Jihad and Agriculture of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Jacques Chasteau de Balyon, Ambassador and Permanent Representative Designate of Mauritius

Manfred Bötsch, Secretary of State for Agriculture of Switzerland

Cecilia Obono Ndong, Ambassador of Equatorial Guinea to Italy

Mahamat Saleh Annadif, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the African Union Commission in Brussels

Lily Caravantes, Secretary of the Ministry of Food and Nutrition Security of Guatemala

Round Table 2: Global Governance Reforms for Food Security

L-R: Pat Mooney, Executive Director, Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration; Maria del Carmen Squeff, Alternate Permanent Representative of Argentina to FAO; Mariann Fischer Boel, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development; Guilherme Cassel, Minister for Agrarian Development, Brazil; Uma Lele, Special Adviser, M.S. Swaminathan Foundation; and Tesfai Tecle, Special Adviser to Kofi Annan, Chair of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa

Pat Mooney, Executive Director, Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration, said the next few years are critical for FAO leadership.

Mariann Fischer Boel, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, highlighted the role of climate change, infrastructure, investments and partnerships.

Uma Lele, Special Adviser, M.S. Swaminathan Foundation, welcomed a trend to bring in new actors in particular the civily society.

Maria del Carmen Squeff, Alternate Permanent Representative of Argentina to FAO, urged flexibility in the reformed governance system.

Co-Chair Guilherme Cassel, Minister for Agrarian Development, Brazil, stated that with increased multilateralism, this is a decisive time in FAO.

Tesfai Tecle, Special adviser to Kofi Annan, Chair of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, called for streamlined global governance.


Participants during the discussion.

Round Table 2 participants.

Round Table 3: Impacts of Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation on Agriculture and Food Security

L-R: Shivaji Pandey, Director Plant Production and Protection Division, FAO; Florin Vladu, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); Mahmoud Solh, Director General, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA); Co-Chair Tony Burke, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Australia; Co-Chair Hasina Wajed, Prime Minister of Bangladesh; Matia Chowdhury, Minister of Agriculture, Bangladesh; M.S. Swaminathan, President, M.S. Swaminathan Foundation; Ger Bergkamp, Director General, World Water Council; and Alexander Müller, Assistant Director-General, Natural Resources Management and Environment Department, FAO

Co-Chair Hasina Wajed, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, called for enhanced cooperation of the most vulnerable countries.

M.S. Swaminathan, President, M.S. Swaminathan Foundation, discussed experiences with India’s proactive adaptation planning.

Ger Bergkamp, Director General, World Water Council, identified “high mountain regions dependent on glacier water” as one area for early action.

Mahmoud Solh, Director General, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)

Florin Vladu, UNFCCC

Co-Chair Tony Burke, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Australia


Participants during the discussion.

Participants during the Round Table.

RAI recorded the session.

Participants listening to Hasina Wajed’s speech.

Around the Summit

L-R: Fred Snijders, FAO, Alexandra Conliffe and Simon Wolf, IISD

L-R: Kimberly Sullivan, FAO, and Alexandra Conliffe, IISD

A typical traffic jam in Rome.

Fontana di Trevi

Fontana del Tritone

Daily web coverage (click on the following links to see our daily web pages)

16 November - 17 November - 18 November

Related Links

FAO resources
Meeting website
Provisional programme
Documents
Pre-Summit events
Connected events
Round tables

IISD RS resources
IISD RS coverage of the Development and Climate Days at UNFCCC COP 14, 6-7 December 2008, Poznań, Poland
IISD RS coverage of the High-Level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy, 3-5 June 2008, FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy
IISD RS coverage of the Global Renewable Energy Forum, 18-21 May 2008, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil
IISD RS coverage of the International Conference on Renewable Energy in Africa, 16-18 April 2008, Dakar, Senegal
IISD RS coverage of the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference 2008 (WIREC 2008), 4-6 March 2008, Washington, DC, United States of America
IISD RS summary report of the Seventh Meeting of the Global Forum on Sustainable Energy (GFSE-7) - “Energy Efficiency for Developing Countries”, 21-23 November 2007, Vienna, Austria (HTML - PDF)
IISD RS coverage of the First High-level Biofuels Seminar in Africa, 30 July - 1 August 2007, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Linkages Update - Bi-weekly international environment and sustainable development news
MEA Bulletin - Newsletter on key MEAs and their secretariats
Climate Change Policy & Practice - News and information on the actions of international organizations in responding to the problem of global climate change
African Regional Coverage


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