By: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
Rome, 1970
"To review a world survey, presented by the Director-General of FAO, of the world food situation in relation to population and overall development, together with a proposed programme for future action."
Commission II of the first World Food Congress called for "the formulational of a world plan in quantitative terms...." Commission IV proposed that "a balance sheet should be prepared to list and make known the needs and resources available for the war on hunger."
These recommendations ed to the preparation by FAO of its Indicative World Plan for Agricultural Development which was presented to the FAO Conference in November, 1969.
Five areas for the future of FAO were drawn up:
Commissions V to VII would be asked to examine public sector support, private sector support and direct participation programmes.
Commission VIII was to consider mobilization of public opinion without which any action proposals emerging from the Congress would remain words.
For the World Congress, the Government of the Netherlands appealed to Netherlands industry for money to help in ensuring the attendance of people from developing nations. Their $200,000 brought 176 people to the Hague who could not otherwise come. 1800 participants were registered with 600 from developing countries.
AT the opening, Queen Juliana spoke followed by U Thant. he said, "Political thinking, vision and determination have not kept pace with the other rapid changes on earth...Governments spend $200 B a year on armaments..."
The Sectary General was followed by Lester B. Pearson who, as Chairman of the Quebec conference in November, 1945, had presided at the founding of FAO.
Dr. B.R. Sen, Director-General of FAO from 1956 to 1967, said that FAO was one of the first fruits of the new ideas on international cooperation which arose out of the second world war....
The first Director-General of FAO was Lord Boyd-Orr. Then Dr. B.R. Sen from India from 1956- to 1967 and A.H. Boerma from Holland.
Dr. Sen said in opening the discussion that IWP was a far-reaching document, providing a blueprint for development strategy looking forward to 1975 and 1985.
The IFA panel on population growth in relation to economic
development felt that population growth was the principal contributor to
the widening gap between rich and poor countries. In India, there were
20 million live births a year, "one and a half seconds, one baby." Sir
David owen said that although family planning was only one element in the
attack on poverty, it had been neglected in the past by the United nations.
He recommended that the Congress should recommend that more resources be
given tot he many NGOs active in this field.
Dr. Numata said man's environment was being rapidly degraded by the combination of population explosion, urbanization, industrialization and motorization. Pollution could replace disease and hunger in becoming the controlling factor in man's development.
The WORLD FOOD CONFERENCE - SELECTED MATERIALS FOR THE USE OF THE U.S. CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO THE WORLD FOOD CONFERENCE - Rome, Italy,
NOVEMBER 5 - 16, 1974 - Compiled for the Subcommittee on Foreign Agricultural Policy of the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, U.S. Senate, October 30, 1974.
Forward by Hubert Humphrey
"Recognizing the necessity of international cooperation in approaching the issue of world food security, Dr. Henry Kissinger, in his first address to the General Assembly of the UN as U.S. Secretary of State, proposed a UN conference on food to be held in November, 1974 following a suggestion that I posed at the Secretary' confirmation hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.