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Rice in Global Markets and Sustainable Production Systems Conference Opens Thursday, Feb. 12 |
WASHINGTON and ROME, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Intensification of rice
production in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner is
essential for food security, particularly in Asia and Africa, the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said today.
FAO is hosting an international conference at its headquarters in Rome 12-
13 February 2004, entitled Rice in Global Markets and Sustainable Production
Systems, which seeks to mobilize the international community to confront the
most pressing production constraints and marketing issues facing the global
rice sector.
The Conference is a part of the International Year of Rice 2004 (IYR)
awareness and action campaign, which was declared by the United Nations
General Assembly in December 2002. FAO, as the organizing agency for IYR
implementation, views the year as a vehicle for achieving the first of the
eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which call for a 50 percent
reduction of hunger and poverty by 2015.
Rice is the staple food for over half of the world's population. FAO
projections show that, by 2030, total demand for rice will be 38 percent
higher than the annual amounts produced between 1997 and 1999. In order to
meet future demand, new methodologies and production technologies are
necessary because land and water resources are under threat.
Of the 840 million people still suffering from chronic hunger, more than
50 percent live in areas dependent on rice production for food, income and
employment. Because rice does not contain all the elements necessary for a
balanced diet, a key aspect of the IYR is to encourage rice producers to
intensify the rice production system and fully exploit their capacity to raise
fish and livestock. According to FAO, intensified rice systems will benefit
the nutrition and livelihoods of the rice-dependent community, while
supporting biodiversity and encouraging the sustainable management of natural
resources.
Poor rural farmers account for 80 percent of all rice producers. More
than 2 billion people in developing nations depend on the rice-based system
for their economic livelihood. According to the IYR Secretariat, this
population is generally trapped in poverty because of the inability to tap the
potential for agro-intensification, economic policies that favor rice
consumers and decreasing support for public rice research. In the past few
years, countries have also been confronted with falling prices, an increased
competition for markets and a changing policy environment.
This week's Conference will discuss the challenges posed by the new
economic and policy settings. It will highlight efforts that are being made
at the national and international levels to overcome major production
constraints and will discuss opportunities for increased efficiency and
sustainability within the rice-based system. The Conference will also
confront issues related to the potential of science and new technologies, such
as biotechnology, to improve the efficiency of rice production and will focus
on the need to preserve and protect the wide range of genetic resources hosted
by rice-based systems.
Dr. Louise Fresco, Assistant Director General to the FAO Agriculture
Department, believes that rice-based systems provide "a prism through which
the interconnected relationships between agriculture, food security, poverty
alleviation, and sustainable development issues can be clearly understood."
The strategy of the Year of Rice is to use the Year as a catalyst for
country-driven programs throughout the world. Dr. Fresco stressed that the
Year's success is dependent upon global collaboration and international
ownership. "The implications of rice-development directly affect a wide range
of stakeholders, from rural farmers and the urban poor to the scientific
community and international policy makers, thus rendering the Year a rare
opportunity for the global community to work together towards fulfilling the
Millennium Goals and the objectives of the World Food Summit. This is an
action campaign -- a chance for us to make good on our promise to the billions
of people for whom 'rice is life.'"
The 2004 campaign will seek to propel increased support to the sustainable
development of the rice-based production systems to go beyond 2004.
Scientific and photographic contests will be held, and regional and
international conferences have been planned around the world. Details can be
found at http://www.rice2004.org.
