1st world summit on agriculture planned

A first-ever World Summit on Agriculture aimed at fighting global hunger will be organized by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said yesterday.

De Venecia said FAO director-general Jacques Diouf personally accepted his proposed "world summit on agriculture" among parliaments in five continents. It calls for "parliaments of the world" to mobilize their resources to fight hunger.

No date has been set yet for the summit.

"I am happy to announce that Director Diouf agreed to the summit. He told me that we will organize together the meeting of parliaments and parliamentarians," De Venecia said after their luncheon meeting yesterday, wherein he presented Diouf with the Congressional Medal of Achievement, the Philippine Congress’ highest award.

The FAO is one of the largest specialized agencies in the UN system. It is mandated to raise the people’s level of nutrition and standard of living, improve agricultural productivity, and improve the condition of rural populations.

Diouf told the select crowd of diplomats, senior government leaders and FAO representatives that "political leaders are showing the way in global efforts to fight hunger and raise agricultural productivity."

"Human beings cannot be left hungry. It is our moral obligation to eliminate hunger," De Venecia quoted Diouf as saying.

De Venecia said Diouf also told them that he values the role of parliaments in providing the resources to fight hunger.

"The food and agriculture organization under Diouf’s leadership should call a world summit on agriculture to compel countries to allocate resources for the development of rural areas," De Venecia said.

He said that before Congress went into recess on Feb. 6, the House of Representatives approved the 15-year extension of the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) of 1997 of which he was the principal author, citing that "food security is a top priority of the Arroyo government."

De Venecia said that the AFMA’s extension was a powerful initiative of the House and underlies President Arroyo’s commitment to provide continuing appropriations to modernize rural areas and expand the country’s irrigation network to increase agricultural productivity.

He cited that under the Arroyo administration, the hybrid rice variety known as "Gloria rice" and hybrid corn — now propagated locally — have virtually doubled domestic rice and corn production, dramatically advancing the country’s bid for food sufficiency.

"Because of the propagation of the hybrid seeds, Philippine rice imports dropped to half-a-million tons annually, down from one million tons in previous years," De Venecia said.