Situation of food and agriculture in Africa.

35. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE SECOND COMMITTEE
69. Situation of food and agriculture in Africa

The General Assembly, Noting with concern that, over the last two decades, the situation of food and agriculture in Africa has undergone a drastic deterioration, resulting in a decline of food production per capita and a reduction of average dietary standards below essential requirements, Recalling its resolutions 3201 (S-VI) and 3202 (S-VI) of 1 May 1974, containing the Declaration and the Programme of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, 3281 (XXIX) of 12 December 1974, containing the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States, and 3362 (S-VII) of 16 September 1975 on development and international economic co-operation, Recalling also the relevant decisions and the recommendations of the World Food Conference,[1] Gravely concerned at the critical food shortages currently affecting many countries in the African region, Recalling, in particular, Economic and Social Council resolution 1980/58 of 24 July 1980 relating to the report of the World Food Council on the work of its sixth ministerial session,[2] Taking into account the deep concern reflected in the decisions on the food situation and agriculture outlook in Africa adopted by the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations at its twentieth session,[3] Recognizing that the responsibility for the development of food and agricultural production ties primarily with the developing countries themselves and that there is an increasing effort and growing commitment by the developing countries to accelerate the development of their food and agricultural sectors, Stressing that the current shortages demonstrate the continued vulnerability of many countries in the region to food crises owing to, inter alia, crop failures, drought, soil erosion, low reserves and the high level of post-harvest losses, Recognizing the role of food-sector strategies, which emerged from the World Food Council, as a means for interested developing countries to adopt an integrated approach for increasing food production, improving consumption and attracting the necessary additional international resources, Regretting that food aid has not been adequate to cope with the serious food shortages in many African countries, Deeply concerned at the unabated encroachment of the desert in many countries of Africa, which has continued to accentuate the food problem on that continent, Recognizing the useful contribution that the effective execution of the Lagos Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Monrovia Strategy for the Economic Development of Africa[4] adopted on 29 April 1980 by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity at its second extraordinary session devoted to economic matters, held at Lagos on 28 and 29 April 1980, can make to the improvement of the food situation, in particular, and to rapid over-all development of Africa,

1. Takes note with satisfaction of the Lagos Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Monrovia Strategy for the Economic Development of Africa and, in particular, of the provisions related to food and agriculture;[5]

2. Urges all the countries of Africa to implement, in accordance with their national development programmes and priorities, measures to increase substantially their national food and agricultural production;

3. Calls upon the international community to continue to support efforts undertaken by African countries at the national, sub-regional and regional levels to increase food production through, inter alia, the provision, on a priority basis, of additional financial and technical assistance to Africa by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the African Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme and an increase in lending by the World Bank to the agricultural sector in Africa;

4. Appeals to the international community to provide urgently additional food aid to African countries to meet the current emergency needs in the region, particularly as called for by the Economic and Social Council in paragraph 7 of its resolution 1980/58;

5. Calls upon current and prospective donor countries to achieve without delay the minimum target of the Food Aid Convention of 1980,[6] of 10 million tons of cereal aid annually, as well as the minimum target of 500,000 tons of grains for the International Emergency Food Reserve, as agreed upon in the relevant decisions of the General Assembly;

6. Urges Governments and the international organizations concerned to provide the necessary technical, financial and food assistance to food security projects in the region, especially in the countries of the Sahel and the Sudano-Sahelian countries, in the framework of their own activities, including strengthening the Food Security Assistance Scheme of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations through the participation of current and prospective donors;

7. Urgently appeals to the international community to offer its immediate assistance for the effective suppression of the present upsurge of the African migratory locust, which, if not immediately controlled, may engulf a large part of the continent;

8. Urges the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to continue to play its leading role in the co-ordination of the locust control efforts in the region;

9. Recommends that the Programme for the Control of African Animal Trypanosomiasis and Related Development, endorsed by the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations at its twentieth session in its resolution 8/79 of 28 November 1979, should be implemented on an urgent basis under the over-all co-ordination of that organization and with the active financial and technical support of the international community;

10. Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the organs, organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, to co-operate with the Organization of African Unity in undertaking a study on the establishment of regional food trade and distribution organizations in Africa and to submit a report thereon to the General Assembly at its thirty-sixth session through the Economic and Social Council;

11. Urges all relevant organs, organizations and bodies of the United Nations system to intensify their activities in Africa to assist Governments, inter alia, in the areas of direct government participation in food production, agricultural processing, integrated research and extension services;

12. Also urges the international community to assist countries in the African region to achieve, between 1980 and 1985, the following goals:

(a) A significant improvement in their food situation and the laying of the foundations for the attainment of self-sufficiency in cereals, livestock and fish. products;

(b) Significant progress towards attaining a 50 per cent reduction in post-harvest losses, through, inter alia, the construction of storage facilities;

(c) An improved physical infrastructure to facilitate food distribution at the national, sub-regional and regional levels;

(d) Greater and effective agronomic research, with special emphasis on improved seeds and an adequate supply of fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals suitable for African conditions;

13. Further urges all relevant organs, organizations and bodies of the United Nations system to expand their training programmes in the building up of national capabilities for the preparation, execution, monitoring and evaluation of agricultural development projects;

14. Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Organization of African Unity and organs, organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, to submit a preliminary report on the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution to the General Assembly at its thirty-sixth session.

83rd plenary meeting
5 December 1980

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[1] See Report of the World Food Conference, Rome, 5-16 November 1974 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.75.II.A.3), chap. II. [2] Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 19 (A/35/)9). [3] See Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Report of the Conference of FAO, Twentieth Session, Rome, 10-28 November 1979 (C 79/REP and Corr.2), para. 33. [4] See A/S-11/14, annex I. [5] Ibid., chap. I. [6] See Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 19 (A/35/19), part one, para. 32. For the text of the Convention, see TD/WHEAT.6/13.