《世界粮食与农业：过去５０年的教训》

二十世纪90年代

摘译自FAO出版的《THE STATE  OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE 2000》一书

·新的政治、经济、贸易秩序

·自由化、全球化和金融动荡的出现。

·粮食安全——世界粮食峰会

·UNCEO（联合国环境与发展大会）——农业和农村可持续发展

·贸易——乌拉圭回合闭幕

冷战结束使人们对国际合作表示乐观，同时也使转型国家受到更大的关注。

80年代末到90年代初的几年间，全世界发生了可能是二战结束以来最重要的政治变革，包括前苏联和东欧共产主义的结束，人们期待着在国际关系上更紧密合作的新时代的到来，取代以前政治上和意识形态上的对立局面。

由于严重的经济问题、社会问题和体制问题，以前高度集权的计划经济体制转变为以市场为基础的经济体制，有些国家还出现了极端的政治事件。南斯拉夫和中非的某些国家出现了种族对抗。东欧经济和贸易结构的解体以及随后生产和分配制度的瓦解使农业粮食产业也未能幸免。其中一些国家出现必需品的严重短缺，成了国际援助的焦点，这些援助也包括粮食援助。即使这样，东欧的有些国家显现出适应新的形势的能力增强，和欧洲其它国家进行了更大的经济上和政治上的整合，有几个国家开始出现经济复苏的迹象。

二十世纪90年代，主要的工业化国家的经济活动出现不均衡的格局。尽管欧洲出现了由于经济增长缓慢所带来的政治问题和困境,出现了实行财政和货币准则的压力以及大多数国家出现的似乎不可能解决的失业问题，但是欧洲的一体化出现了好势头。而以前工业化国家中的明星——日本则出现了大萧条。与此形成鲜明对照的是美国进入了历史上从未有过的经济增长时期，而且失业率低，通货膨胀率低，贸易活跃。

二十世纪90年代对许多国家来说，仍是一个恢复期。尽管这10年中，前几年全球萧条状况仍然严重，但1991-1999年间GDP平均增长仍然在5%以上，1992-1996年连续5年超过6%。全球萧条状况是由异常严重的气候灾害（包括破坏性的厄尔尼诺现象）和一系列金融冲击所引起的。由于民主制度改革和经济改革开始取得了成效，使经济增长和粮食安全的大环境得到了改善，在非洲表现尤其明显。包括一些人口众多的大国在内的发展中国家开始在这个过程中受益，逐步解决了长期存在的饥饿和营养不良问题，亚洲经济的情况更是如此，出现了较长一段时期的增长和稳定局面。1997年东南亚爆发了严重的金融危机后，亚洲地区超乎寻常的经济增加被中断。金融危机开始只对该地区增长快的经济造成影响，随后对该区域内和区域外的其它国家产生了冲击。但是90年代末，亚洲的经济又快速地得到复苏。

1994年拉美国家和加勒比地区也遇到了和亚洲类似的金融危机，但随后出人意料地得到了恢复。1997年亚洲的金融危机又影响到这个地区。最近的发展表明，这个地区的大多数国家较好地应付了这场新的危机，这要归结于该地区经济基础的改善和过去十年所总结的经验教训。但是，危机仍然让该地区在经济增长和社会紧张状况方面付出了高昂的代价，尤其是巴西。同时，危机也显示了改革和地区一体化的威力。1995年以后，非洲大多数国家的经济都表现出明显的改善，特别是农业出口行业呈现持续增长。非洲经济出现转机和一些短暂的因素是不可分的，特别是1996/97期间较高的商品价格和CFA法郎区国家的货币贬值。《粮食与农业状况》强调，非洲地区不同寻常的长时间的和众多国家的经济改善表明，经济增长还有其它更多的根本原因在起作用，特别是改革政策和取消债务取得了进步。1999和2000年初仍然保持了较高的增长率（根据国际货币基金会的数据，这两年分别为3%和5%）。本刊注意到，要从非洲经济长期衰退的情况来看非洲经济的改善，经济衰退使该地区很多国家的经济和社会状况极端的恶化。

《粮食与农业状况》注意到近东国家的总体经济状况得到改善，所有国家都将其国民的营养水平提高到更令人满意的水平。当然也存在相当大的问题：农业增长缓慢，农业受气候因素、石油价格和其它商品价格波动以及该地区的冲突所影响而出现大幅度的波动。《粮食与农业状况》还注意到，有几个国家经过努力，实现了地区和平与合作及经济的和农业的全面改革。

在这个大背景下，本刊还回顾了与粮食安全直接相关的很多尚未解决的问题和发展中国家存在的风险：反复出现的粮食紧急情况和国内冲突，还和过去十几年一样的频繁和严重；很多国家的贫穷和社会紧张状况并没有减轻，这不仅只出现在农村地区，一些宏观经济得到显著改善的国家也有类似情况；自由化过程为经济增长打下了更坚实的基础，但也带来了显而易见的危机，这加重了国家内和国家间的收入和机会的不平等；很多国家尚未解决大量外债负担；金融市场自由化使金融动荡的风险日益增大。

营养与粮食安全

由粮农组织（FAO）和世界卫生组织（WHO）联合发起的国际营养大会于1992年12月在罗马召开。其动议源于意识到全世界8亿人口仍处于营养不良的状况，很多国家的营养不良状况没有得到减轻，相反还进一步恶化，有必要对其产生的原因、本质和受影响范围作进一步确定，以便找到协作策略和现实的目标，有必要促进国际团结和调动必要的资源。这次大会签署了《世界营养宣言》，见证了通过参与国的共同努力，确保全人类的持续营养健康的承诺。这次大会还签署了《全球营养行动计划》，该计划包含实现这一目标的政策、方案和行动。

由于意识到“世界营养大会”和其它事件并没能充分地调动政府高层在消除全球广泛的饥饿方面的政治承诺，1996年又召开了“世界粮食峰会”，这次峰会使全世界185个国家和欧盟的代表会聚一堂，很多人代表了其国家的最高政治层次，有的来自国际机构，有的是宗教领袖，还有1000个代表来自80个国家的非政府组织，参会代表总人数达10000人。尽管全世界仍有8亿人处于营养不良状况，这次峰会传递了一个基本的讯息，那就是世界粮食安全是一个可以实现的目标。

参会代表所采纳的《行动计划》重申了国际社会在消除发展中国家五分之一人口的饥饿和营养不良以及在20年内将全世界营养不良的人口减半的承诺。这次峰会还在几个重要方面取得了一致的看法:即饥饿和营养不良问题主要与贫困有关，而冲突或政治不稳定又进一步加剧了饥饿和营养不良，粮食安全不仅仅是确保粮食供应的问题，还要确保粮食能够获得和粮食供应稳定。为了实现到2015年将饥饿和营养不良人数减半的艰巨任务，需要国际社会、各个国家和社会各个阶层的共同努力。

《世界粮食安全罗马宣言》重申：“每个人都享有获取安全、营养的食品的权利和获取足够的粮食的权利，同时每个人都享有免受饥饿的基本权利”。《世界粮食峰会行动计划》包括7项承诺。

世界粮食峰会的承诺

1.    保证有效的政治、社会和经济环境。

2.    实施消除贫困和不平等的政策，改善所有人获取粮食的经济途径和自然途径。

3.    寻求参与性的可持续粮食生产和农村发展政策，以及高产地区和低产地区的粮食生产措施。

4.    确保有利于所有人的粮食安全的贸易政策。

5.    预防和防止自然灾害和人为灾害，满足暂时的和紧急的粮食需求。

6.    在高产和低产地区分配公有投资的和私人投资，培养人力资源，建立持续农业体系，促进农村发展。

7.实施、监督和跟踪“行动计划”。

环境、自然资源和气候变化

关于这些问题，90年代召开了几次重要的会议，其中：“联合国环境与发展大会”（UNCED）于1992年在内罗毕召开；“生物多样性大会”于1994年在巴哈马召开；开放的政府间林业专门小组（IPF）联合国可持续发展委员会创立，并于1995年在纽约召开第一次会议；“联合国反荒漠化大会”于1997年在罗马召开；“联合国气候变化框架会议”第三次大会于1997年在日本京都召开。

尽管联合国环境与发展大会引起了极大的关注，但结果差强人意。在一些关键的问题上还存在着极大的分歧，如减少二氧化碳排放量的时间表，生物多样化的可持续利用和平等使用；帮助发展中国家实施《21世纪行动计划》的专项资金的设立等方面。尽管如此，联合国环境与发展大会起到了警醒世界舆论和政策制订者的作用，为将来的行动提供了运作指南，同时还为倡导改变自然资源的利用方式提供了动力。本次大会除制订了《21世纪行动计划》外，其主要贡献还有（1）里约热内卢环境与发展宣言，这为各国实现可持续发展的全球伙伴关系所涉及的权利和义务制订了指导纲领；（2）各种类型的森林的管理、保护、可持续发展非法律意义上的联合的准则；（3）决定开始反荒漠化国际大会的磋商过程；（4）淡水资源行动的议事日程，这项日程主要源于1992年在德国都柏林召开的“水资源及环境大会”。

1992年召开的“联合国气候变化框架大会”清楚地意识到减少温室气体排放的必要性，一致同意排放量高的发达国家应在2000年使其二氧化碳排放量降低到1990年的水平，但是为某些国家提供了豁免权。

1997年的京都大会对这些问题进行了进一步的讨论，同时达成了一致意见：工业化国家作为一个整体应在2005年前使其二氧化碳排放量降低5.2%。在这项协议中加入了“灵活条款”，即允许发达国家间买卖其排放配额，从而鼓励减少排放量，使其成本效益最大化。1997年的《粮食与农业状况》还讨论了全球变暖的问题，主要涉及减少温室气体的政策对发展中国家及其农业的积极的和消极的影响。

在资源管理和环境领域，有关淡水的获取和利用问题引起了全球的关注，1992年召开了联合国环境与发展大会及都柏林水资源与环境大会，1990年在蒙特利尔召开了“非政府组织共同工作”会议。1993年的《粮食与农业状况》以“水政策和农业”为题对这一问题及农业发展和水资源利用背后的政策取向进行了剖析。书中提示，世界很多地方的水供给已经不足，农业是淡水的最大用户，而且其价值和效率相对较低。

1992年《粮食与农业状况》中“海洋渔业及海洋法：10年的变化”一章专门探讨了渔业的可持续性和经济问题。讨论了过去10年渔业的发展和将来的渔业管理所涉及的问题。本章讨论了在公开开采的情况下，渔业中的巨大浪费现象。第一次尝试性地估算了全球的捕鱼成本和财政收入，得出出人意料的结论：1989年全球海洋捕鱼船只的年运作成本比获取的财政总收入高220亿美元。该文引起了广泛的争论。

1994年12月，联合国环境署（UNEP）召开了“生物多样性大会”缔约国大会第一次会议。这次会议的宗旨是“保护生物多样性，生物多样性的可持续利用。公正平等地享有遗传资源的实惠”。这是第一次国际立法机构阐明了涉及科技合作的缔约各方的权利和义务。

在1995年的第三次会议期间，“可持续发展委员会”（CSD）建立了政府间林业专门小组（IPF），继续促进联合国环境与发展大会（UNCED）启动的政府间林业政策对话。联合国社会经济理事会（ECOSOC）于1997年在日内瓦召开的年度会议上确定建立了开放的政府间林业论坛（IFF），在其托管期末就政府间林业专门小组所遗留的几个突出问题进行对话。自此以后，政府间林业论坛举行了四次团体大会，最近一次于2000年1月31日至2月11日在纽约召开。

1997年在罗马举行了联合国反荒漠化大会，旨在推进管理旱地生态系统和管理发展援助资金的新政策。这次大会主要研究了旱地退化的问题。旱地退化是由包括过度垦植、过度放牧、森林砍伐、灌溉条件差以及国家或国际间激烈的冲突等经济因素和社会因素所引起的。仍有25亿人受到森林砍伐的直接影响，有近10亿人的生存受到威胁。帮助或扭转荒漠化过程的计划是这次大会的核心，共有110个国家在计划中签字。这次大会建立了国家级行动计划以研究荒漠化和干旱的潜在原因，同时寻找合适的预防措施。地区计划和亚地区计划有更精确的评价和实施方案，是国家行动计划的补充。

变化的国际贸易秩序

1994年4月在马拉喀什签署了《多边贸易协定（MTN）乌拉圭回合最后行动纲领》，这次回合达成了建立世界贸易组织（WTO）的协议，以世贸组织代替关贸总协定（GATT）。1995年的《粮食与农业状况》报道，从这些问题的重要性和七年艰苦的磋商的角度来看，按照市场准入和国内资金支持的下降和出口补贴的减少的标准，乌拉圭回合未能达到预期的效果。经过乌拉圭回合谈判后，农业保护主义仍然严重，而且可能还将继续以贸易的形式或将来的其它形式阻碍农业市场的发展。

1995年这期专门有一章分析了乌拉圭回合的成就和不足，特别提到了农业方面的协定。该章的标题是“农业贸易已进入了新世纪吗？”文章提出了与目前为新一轮多边贸易协定作准备有关的系列遗留问题，从而建议，随着解除对世界经济的控制，随着发展中国家在国际市场出现的频率越来越高，东欧和独联体及波罗的海国家转型后所呈现的新的世界贸易格局的形成，以及乌拉圭回合结束后世界市场和贸易规则的变化和世界贸易组织的创建，都预示着一个新时代的到来。但是，本文认为，由于各国的机遇和风险及损失的分配是不均衡的，这种公开的贸易制度仍有不公正的可能。

公开的贸易制度保证了农业贸易市场的日益一体化，但可能会将一些国家排除在获利的范围之外。

总结与评论

在这半个世纪中，我们见证了发展中所遇到的挑战，政策重心的变化，以及各国在促进社会福利和社会进步中的作用的激烈转变。在政策更替中，农业和粮食安全一直都没被放在优先考虑的位置，这表明对农业在社会经济发展中的不可替代的作用尚认识不够。当局对农业的忽视也反映了媒体的忽视，因而也大致反映了社会舆论对农业的忽视。虽然最近几十年被称为“信息时代”，但是只有当饥饿和粮食不安全引起的某个事件可以起到轰动效应时，饥饿和粮食的不安全问题才引起媒体的关注。令人惊奇的是，在过去50年间，人类在这方面取得的巨大成就未能引起人们的关注，如世界大饥荒的消退，尤其是在人口稠密的亚洲国家——这显示即使是极端的粮食不安全问题都是可以克服的。

现在我们进入了新千年，大家逐渐达成共识——在全世界范围内，消除贫困和粮食不安全性是人类得到一个安全公正的世界的关键因素。在国际经济一体化和相互依存的形势下，从更自由更开放的市场中受益的观点得到了认同。将难以预测各种复杂的因素相互作用中呈现的国际秩序是何种情形。最大的挑战将是如何将边缘化国家和处于劣势的国家整合到世界社会经济进程中，保证全世界共享自由化和全球化的好处。

THE 1990s

·Emergence of a new political, economic and trade order
.Liberalization, globalization and financial upheavals
.Food security - the World Food Summit
.UNCED - sustainable agricultural and rural development
.Trade - conclusion of the Uruguay Round

The years bridging the 1980s and 1990s marked what were possibly the most momentous political changes since the end of the Second World War. An extraordinary sequence of events heralded the effective end of communism in the USSR and Eastern Europe and raised expectations of a new era of closer collaboration in international relationships to replace the former political and ideological confrontation.

The end of the cold war brought optimism regarding international collaboration and greater attention to countries in transition.

The subsequent transformation of formerly centrally planned systems into market-based economic systems took place in the context of serious economic, social and institutional problems and, in some countries, dramatic political events. Ethnic and political tensions also developed and degenerated into devastating ethnic confrontations in former Yugoslavia as well as in some countries in central Africa. The dismantling of previous economic and trade structures and the ensuing disruptions in production and distribution systems did not spare the agrifood sector in Eastern Europe. Severe shortages of even the most essential products arose in some of these countries, creating a new focus of attention for international assistance, including food aid. Nevertheless, several countries of Eastern Europe showed a growing capacity to adjust to the new circumstances and entered into a process of greater economic and political integration with the rest of Europe. Several of them began to show convincing signs of recovery.

The 1990s showed an uneven pattern of economic activity among the major industrialized countries. Integration gained momentum in the EU, despite complex political issues and difficulties linked to slow economic growth, pressure to adhere to fiscal and monetary discipline and a seemingly intractable unemployment problem in much of the EU. Japan, formerly a star performer in the industrialized world, was hit by a serious recession from which it is still struggling to emerge. In contrast, in 1992 the United States entered into an unprecedented process of economic growth, accompanied by low unemployment and inflation and dynamic trade.

For many developing countries the 1990s were a period of recovery from the disastrous performances of the 1980s. Their overall GDP growth averaged more than 5 percent during the period 1991-1999 and exceeded 6 percent for five consecutive years (1992-1996) despite the global recessionary conditions prevailing during the early part of the decade and pronounced swings in growth rates. These were caused by conflicts, unusually severe climatic disasters (including a particularly destructive El Ni?o phenomenon ) and a series of financial shocks. The general environment for growth and food security was improved by a move towards democratic regimes, particularly in Africa, and a consolidation of economic reforms that began to yield long-awaited results. Many developing countries, including some of the largest and most populous, benefited from this process and made further inroads into the longstanding problems of hunger and malnutrition. This was particularly the case of Asian economies, seen for a long period as archetypes of dynamism and stability. However, the Asia region had its exceptional growth performances interrupted in 1997, following a severe financial crisis that erupted in Southeast Asia. Initially affecting several fast-growing economies in the subregion, the crisis transmitted destabilizing and recessionary shockwaves to other countries within and outside the region as a whole. By the end of the decade, however, economic recovery was rapidly gaining ground in Asia.

The Asian financial crisis also affected countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, which had already been hit by an earlier crisis of a similar nature (the Mexican crisis) in 1994, from which they had shown an unexpectedly firm recovery. Recent developments suggest that most of the region is absorbing the new crisis relatively well, a feat that can be attributed to improvements in economic fundamentals and lessons learned over the past decade. Nevertheless, the crisis has already involved considerable costs, particularly in Brazil, in terms of reduced economic growth and social stress, while it has also slowed the momentum of reform and regional integration. In Africa, much improved economic performances were recorded by a large number of countries since 1995, sustained in particular by a dynamic agri-export sector. While much of the turnaround was related to transient factors, in particular higher commodity prices during 1996/97 and the successful currency devaluation of countries in the CFA franc zone, The State of Food and Agriculture stressed that the unusual length of the improvement and its breadth across countries suggested that other more fundamental forces, in particular reform policies and progress in debt cancellation, may also have played a role. The still relatively high growth rates expected for 1999 and 2000 (more than 3 and 5 percent, respectively, according to IMF) tend to support this view. This publication also noted, however, that the improvement in Africa had to be seen in the context of a long period of regression that had brought many countries in the region to extreme levels of economic and social hardship.

As regards the Near East, The State of Food and Agriculture also noted generally improved economic conditionsduring the 1990s and progress by practically all countries in raising the nutritional standards of their populations to more satisfactory levels. This occurred despite considerable problems: a mediocre growth of the agricultural sector, pronounced swings in performances linked to climatic factors and fluctuations in petroleum and other commodity prices as well as conflicts in the region. The State of Food and Agriculture also noted, however, the increased efforts made towards achieving regional peace and cooperation and the comprehensive economic and agricultural reforms carried out in several countries.

Against this general background, the publication also reviewed a number of unsolved problems and risks for the developing world, with direct implications for food security: recurrent food emergencies and civil strife, which appeared as frequently and severely as in previous decades; unabated poverty and social stress in many countries, not least in rural areas, and even in countries registering a significant macroeconomic improvement; a process of liberalization that promised a sounder basis for growth but also involved clear risks of accentuating inequalities in incomes and opportunities among and within countries; a largely unresolved external debt burden affecting many countries; and increasing risks of financial upheavals arising from the liberalization of financial markets.

The International Conference on Nutrition, jointly sponsored by FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO), was held in Rome in December 1992. The initiative arose from the realization that about 800 million people in the world were undernourished and that the incidence of malnourishment was worsening rather than receding in many countries; the need for closer identification of the causes, nature and magnitude of the problem so as to define coordinated strategies and realistic objectives; and the need to enhance international solidarity and mobilize the necessary resources. The Conference issued the World Declaration on Nutrition, affirming the commitment of the participant states to work together to ensure sustained nutritional well-being for all people; and a global Plan of Action for Nutrition, containing recommendations for policies, programmes and activities aimed at the achievement of these objectives.

The awareness that the International Conference on Nutrition and other events and initiatives had not mobilized sufficient political commitment at the highest levels to remove the stigma of widespread hunger from the world prompted the convening of the World Food Summit in 1996. A major institutional event, it brought together delegations from 185 states and the EU, many of which were represented at the highest political level, as well as international institutions, religious leaders and more than 1 000 NGOs from 80 countries, totalling close to 10 000 participants. The Summit conveyed the fundamental message that, although more than 800 million people around the world still suffered from undernourishment, world food security was an achievable goal.

The Plan of Action adopted by the Summit participants reaffirmed the commitment of the international community to eradicating the hunger and malnutrition affecting about one fifth of the developing world's population, and specifically to halving the number of undernourished people in the world within a period of 20 years. The Summit also confirmed a consensus on several important points: that the problems of hunger and malnutrition are associated primarily with poverty and are intensified by conflict or political instability; and that food security is not just a matter of ensuring food supplies, but also of ensuring their availability and stability as well as access to them. To accomplish the complex task of halving the incidence of hunger by 2015, combined efforts were to be made at all levels of society: international, national and community.

The Rome Declaration on World Food Security reaffirmed the "right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger"; and the World Food Summit Plan of Action included seven commitments (see Box 17).

A number of meetings of major importance to these issues took place in the 1990s: the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), in Rio de Janeiro in 1992; the Convention on Biological Diversity, in the Bahamas in 1994; the creation by the UN Committee on Sustainable Development of an open-ended, ad hoc Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF), which held its first session in New York in 1995; the first session of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, in Rome in 1997; and the Third Conference of the Parties (COP-3) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, in Kyoto in 1997.

Although UNCED attracted considerable attention, the results fell short of the high expectations. Major differences persisted on such key issues as the time scale for reducing carbon dioxide emissions; the sustainable and equitable use of biodiversity; and the establishment of a Special Fund to assist developing countries in the implementation of its Agenda 21, the "plan of action for the twenty-first century". Nevertheless, UNCED did alert world opinion and policy-makers to the high stakes involved, and it provided operational guidelines for future action. It also contributed substantially to the forces advocating a change in the way natural resources are utilized. Apart from

Agenda 21, the main products of UNCED were: the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, laying down the guiding principles concerning the rights and duties of states to achieve a global partnership in sustainable development; two framework conventions - on climate change and on the conservation of biodiversity; a statement of non-legally binding principles for the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forest; a decision to start a negotiation process for an international convention to combat desertification; and an agenda for action on freshwater resources, arising mainly from the Conference on Water and the Environment, held in Dublin in 1992.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992 recognized the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and agreed that developed countries in the first place should aim at reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2000 and beyond, although caveats provided exemption for some countries.

The 1997 conference in Kyoto pursued these issues further and agreed that industrialized countries as a whole should decrease their emissions by an average of 5.2 percent by 2005. A "flexibility clause" was built into the agreement, allowing countries to trade emissions quotas among themselves to encourage reductions where they were most "cost effective". The issue of global warming was also discussed in The State of Food and Agriculture 1997, which focused on the implications, positive and negative, of greenhouse gas abatement policies for the developing countries and their agriculture.

In the field of resource management and environment, problems relating to freshwater availability and use also attracted global attention - UNCED and the Dublin Conference on Water and the Environment in 1992 and the 1990 Montreal meeting "NGOs Working Together". In 1993, the special chapterof The State of Food and Agriculture, entitled Water policies and agriculture, examined the problems and policy options behind agricultural development and water use. It noted thatwater was already in short supply in many areas of the world; that agriculture was by far the largest user of freshwater and that it was a relatively low-value, low-efficiency and highly subsidized user of the resource.

The 1992 special chapter, Marine fisheries and the law of the sea: a decade of change, focused on sustainability and economic issues in the area of fisheries. It discussed developments that had occurred in the previous ten years and their implications for the future management of fisheries.

The chapter discussed the massive waste in fisheries under conditions of open access. For the first time, it presented tentative global estimates of fishing costs and revenues, reaching the remarkable conclusion that the annual operating costs of the global marine fishing fleet in 1989 were approximately US$22 billion greater than the total revenues obtained. This chapter provoked a lively debate.

UNEP opened the first session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in November 1994. The objectives of the Conference were "the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of genetic resources". For the first time, an international legal instrument described the rights and obligations of the parties involved with regard to scientific, technical and technological cooperation.

During its third session in April 1995, the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) established the IPF to continue and stimulate the intergovernmental forest policy dialogue that had been initiated at UNCED.

Land cleared by fire for agricultural production Deforestation has been a major means of increasing arable land, with dramatic environmental consequences - FAO/13925

The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), in its annual substantive meeting in Geneva in July 1997, established the ad hoc, open-ended Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF)to continue the dialogue on a number of outstanding issues left by the IPF at the end of its mandate. Since then, the IFF has held four organizational meetings - the latest took place in New York from 31 January to 11 February 2000.

The first session of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification was held in Rome in 1997, with the intention of promoting a "fresh approach" to managing dryland ecosystems, as well as managing development aid flows which, in the past, have been a point of contention between aid agencies and recipients. The Convention was to address the major problems of dryland degradation, now caused by economic or social factors including overcultivation, overgrazing, deforestation and poor irrigation as well as violent national or international conflicts. More than 250 million people are directly affected by desertification and nearly 1 billion people are at risk. Programmes to help prevent or reverse the process of desertification were at the core of the Convention, which was signed by 110 countries. Action programmes at the national level were developed to "address the underlying causes of desertification and drought" and to identify appropriate prevention measures. The national action programmes are to be supplemented by regional and subregional programmes for more accurate assessments and implementation.

In April 1994, the Final Act of the Uruguay Round of MTNs was signed in Marrakesh. Launched in 1986, the Round concluded with an agreement to create the World Trade Organization (WTO) to replace GATT. The State of Food and Agriculture 1995 reported that, given the importance of the issues and the seven years of strenuous negotiations involved, the outcome of the Uruguay Round in terms of market access and reductions in domestic support and export subsidization fell short of what might have been expected. Agricultural protectionism remained high and was likely to continue to plague agricultural markets in traditional and new forms in the future.

The special chapter of the 1995 issue (Agricultural trade: entering a new era?) analysed the achievements and shortcomings of the Uruguay Round, with particular reference to the Agreement on Agriculture, and raised a number of questions that remain pertinent in the current context of preparations for a new round of MTNs. It suggested that a "new era" may be emerging with the deregulation of the world economy; the increasing presence of the developing countries in world markets, new trade patterns arising from the transformations in Eastern Europe and the CIS and Baltic states, and changes in world markets and trading rules following the conclusion of the Uruguay Round and the creation of the WTO. The chapter said there were risks, however, that this open trade regime would remain unjust, with an asymmetric distribution of opportunities and gains, risks and losses among countries.

The open trade regime promises the increasing integration of agricultural trade markets but threatens to exclude some countries from the gains.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The past half century has seen changing perceptions of what constitutes the main developmental challenges, shifting policy priorities and a dramatic transformation of the perceived role of the state in fostering welfare and social progress. In this evolving policy context, agriculture and food security have not always occupied a priority position, suggesting an inadequate awareness of the irreplaceable role of the agricultural sector in economic and social development. Such relative neglect on the part of the authorities has mirrored a similar neglect by the media and, therefore, by public opinion at large. Although recent decades have increasingly become known as the "information age", hunger and food insecurity have tended to attract media coverage and priority attention only when exceptional events bring to light their most dramatic manifestations. The same holds true for positive developments, which have "made the news" to a lesser degree still. Indeed, surprisingly little attention has been paid to what can be seen as the most significant achievement of humankind over the past 50 years: the major retreat of world hunger, particularly in densely populated Asian countries - demonstrating that even massive and extreme food insecurity situations can be overcome.

World hunger has been substantially reduced over the past 50 years as a result of a greater understanding of the problem as well as improved institutions and increased agricultural productivity.

Now that we have entered the new millennium, there is a growing consensus at the international level on the need to address poverty and food insecurity as critical factors in achieving a more just and safe world for all. This tendency is gaining ground in a context of international economic integration and interdependence, with a convergence of views on the potential benefits of freer and more open markets. The international order that will emerge from this complex interplay of factors and influences is difficult to foresee. One major challenge, discussed in the following sections of this chapter, will be to integrate marginalized and disadvantaged countries and populations into world economic and social progress and to ensure that the benefits of liberalization and globalization are shared by all.