Activities of World Food Day (2009)

How many people are starving in the world? Since its establishment, FAO has conducted five "World Food Surveys" irregularly. The conclusion drawn from these survey data is that hunger has not been eliminated, but has been expanding. 1946 "The First World Food Survey" targeted 70 countries (accounting for 90% of the world's total population) before the Second World War, defined malnutrition as "the average daily calorie intake was less than 2,250 calories" and concluded that about half of the world's population was malnourished. 1952' s "Second World Food Survey" takes 70 countries from 1946 to 1948 after the end of World War II as the object, and draws the conclusion that the overall nutrition level is lower than that before the war, and all regions except North America, Europe and Oceania have not reached the benchmark level. 1963 The third world food survey targeted 80 countries from 1957 to 1959, and concluded that 60% of the population in developing countries were malnourished. 1977 the data of 1972 ~ 1974 were statistically analyzed in the fourth world food survey, and the survey scope was expanded to 162 countries. The conclusion is that 455 million people in the world are malnourished, and14 people in developing countries belong to this range, especially children and women. From the perspective of the deterioration of the world food situation, this is undoubtedly a warning.

1986 The results of the fifth world food survey were: 1 12 developing countries (except China and other socialist countries), 1979 ~ 198 1 year, with 335 ~ 449 million people. In the early 1980s, the United Nations Population Fund announced that the world grain output could feed 6 billion people. But at the same time, the world population is only about 4.5 billion, but 450 million people are starving. From 65438 to 0995, the world population increased to 5.7 billion, and the number of hungry people increased to 1 100 million. 1972, due to two consecutive years of abnormal climate, the world-wide grain harvest failed, and the former Soviet Union snapped up a large amount of grain, resulting in a world-wide food crisis. 1973 and 1974, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations held the first and second food congresses in order to draw the world's attention, especially that of the third world, to food and agricultural production. However, the problem has not been solved, and the world food situation is more severe. It is predicted that the world food will still tend to be in short supply in the 1980s. The resolution of the FAO Conference on World Food Day was made against the background of the increasingly sharp contradiction between world food supply and demand.

In 1996, FAO defined the theme of World Food Day as "Overcoming Hunger and Malnutrition", and in 1997, it defined the theme as "Investing in food security", aiming at mobilizing world forces, increasing agricultural input and enhancing the effective supply capacity of food. Many governments attach great importance to holding World Food Day. Some heads of state made speeches on this day, some countries held commemorative meetings and published commemorative articles, and some national scientific research institutions published scientific research results and held scientific seminars on food and agriculture to raise people's awareness of the importance of food and agriculture, thus promoting the development of food and forestry, animal husbandry and fishery.

The theme of World Food Day in 2009 is "Responding to the crisis and realizing food security", which emphasizes the serious plight of 654.38+0.2 billion people suffering from malnutrition in the world and the necessity of helping the hungry people in the current depressed economic environment. Since the 20th century, the world population growth rate has been accelerating, especially since World War II, which has doubled every 37 years. Coupled with the need of rapid economic growth, the food supply has been under unprecedented heavy pressure. During 1955- 1985, the world grain output more than doubled, but the cultivated land area only increased by 15% in the same period. These data illustrate two problems: first, the increase of grain output is not only due to the increase of cultivated land, but also through the excessive use of land; Second, due to the overuse of cultivated land, soil erosion and desertification have been caused, and finally some cultivated land has to be abandoned.

The fertility of the land is mainly maintained by the intermittent leisure of the land to regenerate nutrients. Due to the increase of population pressure, more food must be produced, and the area of fallow farmland must be reduced, making the soil more and more barren and even losing production capacity completely over time. In order to increase land fertility, applying a large number of inorganic fertilizers is one of the main technical means to increase grain production in the world today. However, the harm of chemical fertilizers to the environment has always been ignored. No chemical fertilizer applied in farmland can be fully absorbed and utilized by plants. The average utilization rate of chemical fertilizer for various crops is: nitrogen 40% ~ 50%; Phosphorus10% ~ 20%; 30% ~ 50% potassium. Excessive chemical fertilizer poses a great threat to the living environment of human beings.

1, chemical fertilizer pollution to water body

One of the most serious consequences caused by excessive nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus is eutrophication of water bodies. Eutrophication of water body is a natural process of water body aging, but chemical fertilizer has greatly accelerated this process. Another serious consequence is the pollution of groundwater. Nitrate and nitrite in chemical fertilizer move with the water flow in soil or enter groundwater through soil layer.

2. Soil pollution caused by chemical fertilizer

Long-term excessive and simple application of chemical fertilizers will acidify or alkalize the soil; In addition, some mineral raw materials and chemical raw materials used to make fertilizers contain a variety of heavy metals, radioactive substances and other harmful components, which enter the farmland with fertilization and cause soil pollution. For example, the application of phosphate fertilizer will inevitably bring harmful substances such as cadmium, strontium, fluorine, uranium, radium and thorium to the soil. Excessive application of phosphate fertilizer will make the cadmium content in soil dozens or even hundreds times higher than that in general soil. Some fertilizers also contain organic pollutants, such as ammonia water, which often contains a lot of phenol, especially ammonia water produced by waste gas from coking plant, with phenol content exceeding one thousandth, which causes phenol pollution in soil after application.

3, chemical fertilizer pollution to the atmosphere

The air pollution caused by chemical fertilizers is mainly caused by the decomposition of nitrogen fertilizer into ammonia and N2O during denitrification. Nitrogen oxide gas enters the atmosphere, which deteriorates the air quality. In particular, nitrous oxide gas is stable in the troposphere, can rise to the stratosphere, and has a double reaction with ozone under the photochemical action:

N2O+O3-& gt； Nitric oxide+oxygen

NO+02->； NO2 + O2

This reaction consumes ozone and destroys the ozone layer. It is speculated that by the year 2000, ozone will be reduced by 2% due to the application of nitrogen fertilizer.

4. Offshore organisms are threatened by chemical fertilizers.

The loss of a large number of chemical fertilizers provides rich nutritional conditions for the reproduction of "red tide organisms" and has become one of the main inducing reasons for the occurrence of marine red tides. The occurrence of red tide destroyed the ecosystem of the sea area, poisoning or killing fish and shellfish.

5. Fertilizer will also damage forests.

Many countries in western Europe have found that a large number of trees are dying in some agricultural planting areas far away from industrial areas and traffic trunk lines. The investigation confirmed that the irritant ammonia released by a large amount of nitrogen fertilizer is another "culprit" that leads to forest death besides acid rain.

After ammonia is absorbed by plant leaves, it will form basic ammonia ions, which will accumulate in plants, interfere with important metabolic processes, damage plant leaf cells and hinder plant photosynthesis and growth. In some cases, the leaves of plants will be damaged by ammonia, while in other cases, "ammonia poisoning" and a large area of leaves will die. The existence of ammonia and nitrogen oxides has a synergistic effect on plant damage and is highly toxic.

6, the impact of pesticides on the environment

In order to ensure food production and control pests and diseases, pesticides are widely used. According to the FAO survey, if pesticides are not used, half of the world's total grain output will be swallowed up by various diseases, insects and weeds. Pesticides were used, but only about 15% of the loss was recovered. Pesticides are not only beneficial to human beings, but also harmful to the environment.

There are about 500 kinds of pesticides in the world. With the extensive use of various pesticides, the result is often that pests and beneficial insects are eliminated together, and the drug resistance of pests is getting stronger and stronger, and finally the dosage has to be continuously increased. Only about 65,438+00-30% of pesticides really act on agricultural pests, about 20-30% enter the atmosphere and water, and about 50-60% remain in the soil.

Using pesticides in large quantities, or using the same pesticide for a long time, will make many pests resistant, and continuous use of pesticides will also kill beneficial insects and birds. Therefore, the unreasonable use of pesticides can not only completely solve the problem of agricultural pests and diseases, but also make many originally harmless or uncontrollable pests difficult to control. In this way, it is possible to increase the dosage of pesticides, form a vicious circle, and the damage and pollution to the ecological environment will gradually increase.

7. Effect of agricultural irrigation on soil

The importance and necessity of agricultural irrigation is well known. Let's look at the negative effects of irrigation. Agricultural irrigation accelerates soil erosion, leading to soil hardening and salinization.

8. Impact of agricultural irrigation on water environment

Through the erosion and leaching of farmland soil, irrigation water brings dirt particles, minerals, alkali salts, bacteria, viruses, pesticides, fertilizers and domestic sewage around the irrigation area into rivers or lakes through drainage ditches, which pollutes surface water, increases the salinity and turbidity of water and affects the contents of nutrients such as odor, PH value, temperature, nitrogen and phosphorus. Irrigation water will also pollute groundwater when it seeps into soil.

9. Impact of irrigation water on geological environment

Because irrigation water depends on groundwater to a great extent, and the recharge of groundwater is very slow, deep groundwater is usually considered as a non-renewable resource. Over-exploitation of groundwater leads to the decline of groundwater level, forming a large funnel area, resulting in ground subsidence and collapse, a large number of motor wells scrapped, and seawater intrusion in coastal areas.

Humans have racked their brains to increase food production. Since 1970s, the cultivation technique of plastic film mulching has appeared in the world, which has promoted the increase of grain production. However, it has caused the so-called "white pollution" of the agricultural ecological environment. Most of the plastic films used now are polymer compounds made of polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride, which are extremely difficult to decompose in nature. Fragments of residual film in soil can exist for 400 years. Excessive residual film will reduce the permeability and fertility of soil.

After all means have been exhausted, in order to get the food necessary for life, people continue to burn forests and reclaim cultivated land and pasture. About 200 million hectares of forests in the world have been reclaimed as cultivated land, and about 300 million people make a living from it. The ecological environment supported by forests is seriously threatened. Date, place and time: Monday, 65438+ 10/2.

/KOOC-0/0 Tuesday/KOOC-0/3 High-level expert forum "How to feed the world in 2050" Red Room 09: 30/KOOC-0/0 Monday/KOOC-0/2 World Food Day exhibition hosted by the International Alliance against Hunger (IAAH) opens in the atrium/KOOC-0/3: 00/KOOC. Iran Pavilion 15:00 10 Tuesday 13.

10 Wednesday 14 Fourth Session of the High-level External Committee on the Millennium Development Goals 09:00 10 Wednesday 14 Opening Plenary Meeting of the 35th Session of the Committee on World Food Security 10: 00 14, Committee on Food Security (Committee on Food Security) Entitled "Civil Society and the United Nations Forum: Current Situation and Future Challenges", Iran Hall14 Pietro da Cortona Hall11:3010 Thursday 15 "Looking at Food Politics in Crisis Times" Seminar Austria Hall10. 04: 30/KOLOC-0/0 Thursday/KOLOC-0/5 Classical Concert of World Food Day hosted by Greek Africa Foundation/Opera House in Rome Brancaccio/KOLOC-0/9: 00/KOLOC-0/0 Friday/KOLOC-0/6 Appointment Ceremony of FAO Goodwill Ambassador Muhammad V Hall 09: 00/KOLOC-0/0 650. Friday +06 Signing ceremony of cooperation agreements with Arab Broadcasting Union (ASBU), CIRTEF and COPEAM: Mohammed V Pavilion 10:00 65438+ Friday, 00, 16, official celebration ceremony of World Food Day, full hall 10:30 65438+ Friday. Awarded "Badge of Food Security and Climate Change Challenge": "Children in Action" Iran Pavilion/KOOC-0/2: 45 65438+/KOOC-0/October Friday/KOOC-0/6 Millennium Development Goals/Stand Up "/KOOC-0/.02" Action Atrium 65438+/KOOC- Kloc-0/4: 30 65438+1October Friday1October Friday 16 Friday, organized by the United States Mission to the United Nations in Rome, Iran14: 30 65438+/Kloc.

The 6th george mcgovern World Food Day Annual Speech: "The Future of Food" and the documentary "Fresh" Green Room 14:30 65438+ 10/6 Friday, hosted by FAO/Rome International Film Festival, attended by FAO Goodwill Ambassadors.

"Together, everything is possible" red carpet activity and the documentary "The Cove" ("The Bay") were shown in the Rome Concert Hall Sinopoli Hall15: 0010 Saturday 17 Closing Meeting of the Committee on World Food Security at 09: 3010/KLOC. 1Saturday, 24th October, 5438+ Terme di Caracalla organized by FAO Staff Cooperative18: 00 65438+1Sunday, 25th October, the 2nd Terme di Caracalla 9: 00 65438.

(new york) Activity Date: June 65438+1October 65438+June 2009.

Specific time:

10: 15 guests gather in the plenary hall.

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations opened the ceremony.

10: 35 broadcast the video/TV of World Food Day 2008, the theme of food fund-raising: World Food Security: "The Challenge of Climate Change and Bioenergy"

Speech by the Director General

10: 55 the director-general read out the appointment of H.E. Suzanne Mubarak, the first lady of Arab Egypt, and presented her with the World Food Day medal, certificate of honor and badge.

1 1: 00 Her Excellency suzan mubarak, First Lady of the Arab Republic of Egypt, accepted the appointment and delivered a keynote speech.

His Excellency Vincenzo scottie, Italian Deputy Foreign Minister.

His Excellency Lei Natuo Volante, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to FAO, read a message from Pope Benedict XVI.

1 1: 35 The Director-General presented the 2008 World Food Day Medal to the four first prize winners of the World Food Day Poster Competition sponsored by the United Nations Women's Association.

Video screening of FAO Goodwill Ambassador Program.

1 1: 50 Music performance: violinist Anila Cradja (piano fabiana claudino Biasini)

1 1: 55 The Director-General announced the end of the celebration ceremony to deal with the crisis and achieve food security (June 65438+1October 65438+June, plenary hall of FAO headquarters in Rome).

Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Today's situation shows that the global food system is very fragile. The number of malnourished people in the world exceeded 654.38+0 billion for the first time in history, an increase of about 654.38+0.5 billion, which means that 1 person in every six people in the world goes hungry every day. The increase in the number of hungry people is not the result of global crop failure, but the result of the current world economic crisis, which has reduced the income and employment opportunities of the poor and greatly reduced their ability to obtain food.

For this reason, World Food Day and TV food fund-raising activities chose "responding to the crisis and realizing food security" as the theme.

In several ways, today's crisis is unprecedented.

First of all, the crisis occurred after the global staple food prices plummeted in 2007-08.

The recent downward trend of international food commodity prices should not be regarded as the end of the food crisis. As of July 2009, among the 27 countries in sub-Saharan Africa monitored by FAO, 80%-90% of grain prices are still more than 25% higher than before the surge. In Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, the prices of 365,438+0 countries have been monitored, and 40%-80% of all food prices are still more than 25% higher than the pre-crisis level of food prices. In some countries, the prices of some products are still at the highest level in 2007, such as rice in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Kenya and Ecuador, millet and sorghum in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, and wheat in Bolivia and Pakistan.

Moreover, the production is also affected by the rising cost of inputs, such as the increase of fertilizer cost 1.76%, livestock feed cost 75% and seed cost 70%, which makes agricultural investment more difficult.

Secondly, this crisis is unprecedented, because with the increasing financial and commercial integration of developing countries into the world economy, the decline in global demand or supply and credit supply will directly affect developing countries.

Third, due to the universality of this crisis, the normal mechanism used by the government and families to deal with economic shocks has been overwhelmed. Currency devaluation is no longer a viable means. The International Monetary Fund warned us that foreign direct investment will drop by 32% in 2009. The reduction of employment in urban areas may force job seekers to return to rural areas.

In 2008, migrant remittances were about $300 billion, but may drop by 5% to 8% in 2009. Foreign aid to the poorest 7 1 countries is expected to drop by about 25%. Because many assets have been sold, they can no longer borrow, and rural families can no longer rely on selling assets to cushion the decline in consumption. In this gloomy situation, the volume of international trade is expected to drop by 5% to 9%, and the export prices of developing countries are expected to drop in 2009.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

The structural factors that led to the first crisis in 2007-08 still exist. Agricultural productivity is low. Many countries with the most food insecurity have high population growth rates. The supply of water resources and land ownership have caused major problems. The frequency of floods and droughts is higher than the long-term average.

We need to take immediate action.

In the short term, safety nets and social protection programs must be established or improved to benefit the most vulnerable groups. Alternatives include targeted food distribution plans, cash transfer plans, school feeding and maternal and child nutrition plans, and employment plans. Small farmers must obtain high-quality seeds, fertilizers, farm tools and agricultural machinery. This will help improve the food security of most small farmers, who do not have enough food produced and sold by themselves and have to buy it from the market to meet their food needs.

In the medium and long term, it is necessary to increase investment in agriculture, because investment has been insufficient for 20 years, which is the main reason why developing countries can't respond properly when they need to increase production.

Agriculture in developing countries needs $44 billion in official development assistance every year to help farmers.

The proportion of agriculture in total ODA decreased from 65,438+07% in 65,438+0980 to 3.8% in 2006, and now it is about 5%. Insufficient investment in agriculture is one of the root causes of the global food crisis, and it is also one of the difficulties for most developing countries to effectively deal with the crisis.

The investment level of 17% official development assistance saved Asia and Latin America from famine in1970s. Now we need the same level of resources to provide food for more than 654.38 billion hungry people and ensure that there will be enough food when the global population exceeds 9 billion in 2050. Similarly, developing countries need to invest a certain proportion of national budget in agriculture and rural development according to the contribution of agriculture to national GDP, employment and export income.

Compared with 2007, rich countries used 365 billion dollars to support agriculture at that time, and the world's annual military expenditure reached 6543.8 dollars+340 million dollars. In 2008-2009, trillions of dollars were immediately invested to support the financial industry, and the amount of official development assistance we need to invest in agricultural development is really very small.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Encouraging signals have appeared, which is promising. First of all, the policy focus of food-deficit developing countries has shifted to increasing the production of small farmers. The joint statement on global food security issued by the Group of Eight in L 'Aquila included a decision to raise $20 billion within three years to implement a comprehensive strategy focusing on small farmers. It is really gratifying to pay attention to small farmers, which FAO has been advocating for many years. I hope this commitment will really be turned into practical action. The second encouraging sign is that many countries have made progress in eradicating hunger. The number of malnourished people in Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Vietnam, Thailand and Turkey has greatly decreased. This means that we know what to do and how to do it. Generally speaking, we have programs, projects and plans, and we just wait for political determination and resources to implement them.

FAO has raised * * * US$ 389 million for projects in 93 countries since it launched the "Response to High Food Prices Plan" from June 5, 2007 to February 5, 2007. The European Union provided about $285 million in the WFP program.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

In addition to official development assistance, we should also look for innovative financing mechanisms, such as migrant remittances, and the international community should take this issue seriously. As I mentioned earlier, the total amount of remittances in 2008 reached 300 billion US dollars, and IFAD predicted that 30 billion to 60 billion US dollars of remittances each year were formal and informal savings and investments, mainly used in rural areas, including non-agricultural activities. Therefore, even if it is reduced, appropriate policies and institutional mechanisms should be formulated to strengthen the investment results of such large-scale resources and promote food security, agriculture and rural development.

Both central and local governments, including developed and developing countries, should support and supplement this private sector investment. Since more than half of the world's population already lives in urban areas, it is necessary to establish partnerships between local governments. By 2020, 75% of the population in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America will settle in cities; Of the nine metropolises with a population of over 20 million in the future, eight will be located in these three continents.

Therefore, we should constantly emphasize the urban agriculture and suburban agriculture activities in and around the city, which have triggered the competition for land, water, energy and labor, with the main purpose of meeting the needs of urban population by developing horticulture, animal husbandry, feed and dairy production, aquaculture and forestry.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

There are still a series of fundamental problems to be solved urgently, including governance issues. The world food security governance system lacks efficiency and coordination, and it is difficult to solve the food crisis and meet the new challenges that we will inevitably face in the future. The current reform of the Committee on World Food Security is a rare opportunity to strengthen the Committee on Food Security, improve its efficiency and effectiveness, and become the basis of the global partnership for agriculture and food security.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Crisis can bring opportunities, let us adjust the national economy and trigger a positive and lasting development process.

World Food Week and World Food Day in 2009 provide us with an opportunity to reflect on food insecurity and underdevelopment, and the people who suffer behind these conditions. We have the corresponding expertise to solve the hunger problem. We also have the ability to find funds to solve problems that we think are important. The global financial crisis is a good example.

It is hoped that at the Summit of Heads of State and Government on World Food Security, a broad consensus can be reached on the comprehensive and rapid elimination of global hunger, and the share of total development assistance for agriculture will be increased to 65,438+17% in 1980, and at the same time, effective governance of world food security will be implemented.

Thank you for your attention.