19 November 2008: Speaking at the 35th Special Session of
the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Conference, taking place from 18-22
November 2008, in Rome, Italy, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf outlined a
strategy for a new global system for food security that would ensure that
production meets growing demand in the face of climate change and the need for
environmental conservation.

He proposed holding a World Food Summit in the
first half of 2009, to “lay the ground for a new system of governance of world
food security and an agricultural trade that offers farmers, in developed and
developing countries alike, the means of earning a decent living.” Among other
issues, the Summit should discuss how to generate the investments needed to
build rural infrastructure and increase agricultural productivity in the developing
world.
He suggested strengthening the FAO’s Committee on Food Security (CFS) to
monitor the international food situation, prevent international food crises,
and help develop and implement policies at all levels to ensure food security.
Diouf further proposed an international panel of experts building on existing
external advisory panels of experts in crop, livestock, fisheries, forestry and
socioeconomic aspects of food and agriculture, which could be modeled on the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The 35th Special Session of
the FAO Conference is considering the Immediate Plan of Action for FAO Renewal,
which aims to reform FAO governance structures to enable it, among other
things, to more effectively respond to global environmental challenges
affecting food and agriculture, such as increased water scarcity, loss of
biodiversity, extreme weather events and other effects of climate change. [FAO Press Release]
[Speech
by Director-General Jacques Diouf] [Draft Immediate Plan
of Action for FAO Renewal]