"Trade expansion is the most powerful economic development engine of all and a critical tool for hastening the global development process. We have the best opportunity in a generation to liberalize agricultural trade for the benefit of developing and developed countries alike," said Ann Veneman, United States Secretary of Agriculture, expressing the commitment of the U.S. government to provide broad leadership in agricultural trade negotiations.
Over the past two decades, the global economy has become much more integrated, with dramatic increases in trade, investments and capital flows. During the same period, the world as a whole has become more prosperous and well fed. Meanwhile, about one quarter of the world's population lives in absolute poverty, and hunger and poverty are increasing in sub-Saharan Africa. IFPRI's symposium, "Making Globalization Work for the Poor," examined the causes of, and solutions to these problems
In addition to Veneman, the event's high-level speakers included Sartaj Aziz, former Finance and Foreign Minister of Pakistan, and Professor M.S. Swaminathan, cited by Time Magazine as one of the 20 most influential Asians of the 20th Century.
Aziz called for deeper debt relief for developing countries, implementation of commitments to reduce agricultural subsidies, and increases in aid from wealthy countries to finance poverty reduction. He also urged greater flexibility on the part of international financial institutions, which "thrust upon the developing countries a standard adjustment policy to achieve macroeconomic stability, which imposes heavy economic and social costs."
"Unless these drastic changes are made fairly quickly and decisively," Aziz contended, "the present global system will further impoverish the already poor, pushing them to desperation and even terrorism."
"More than 3 billion people struggling to survive with an income of less than US$2 per day are crying for peace and equitable economic development," asserted Swaminathan. "A few million farm families in industrialized countries, supported by heavy inputs of technology, capital and subsidy, compete with over a billion small farmers, having little access to technology, credit and infrastructure. This will not help to make free trade an instrument of poverty eradication." Swaminathan, the recipient of the first World Food Prize, is widely credited as the scientific leader of the green revolution for his contributions to the agricultural renaissance of India.
The event was organized to honor Per Pinstrup-Andersen, 2001 World Food Prize Laureate, and former director general of IFPRI.
"Unless properly guided, globalization will bypass - or harm - large segments of the world's poor," said Pinstrup-Andersen. "Millions of farmers in developing countries could escape poverty if they were permitted to compete with American, European, and Japanese farmers on equal terms. Instead, they have to compete with the U.S. and E.U. treasuries, which can afford to provide massive subsidies. That's neither fair nor good economics."
"This symposium comes at a critical time. The United Nations millennium goal to cut hunger in half is not achievable with current business-as-usual policies and priorities. The impending famines in the Horn of Africa and southern Africa are regional tragedies and a global embarrassment. The recent World Summit on Sustainable Development set ambitious goals that cry for action. The WTO negotiations offer enormous potential, but require a visible agenda to benefit the poor, based on new alliances, including China and India," noted Joachim von Braun, the director general of IFPRI.
For more information, contact:
m.rubinstein@cgiar.org
m.pietrowski@cgiar.org
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty. IFPRI is one of 15 Future Harvest Centers and receives its principal funding from 58 governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations known as the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.