G8 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting: Final Statement
20/04/2009
Agriculture and food security must be placed at the centre of the international agenda, and more incisive steps must be taken to counter world hunger, so as to increase the quantity and quality of food. Such are the goals forming the basis for the final statement issued by the first G8 Summit devoted to Agriculture , for which the ministers assembled for three days’ work in Cison di Valmarino, in the Province of Treviso.
The agriculture ministers’ document highlights the fact that the world is “still far short” of meeting the target set by the Millennium Declaration of halving the percentage of people living in poverty and malnutrition by the end of 2015. This means that ensuring access to sufficient quantities of water and food is crucial to sustainable development and to the future.
The document goes on to stress the importance of increasing public and private investment in sustainable agriculture and the need for sound agriculture policies and strategies for backing investment at the national, regional and global levels. It also calls for greater support for research, technology and innovation.
The agriculture ministers pledge to back the positive effects of globalisation and the opening up of the markets, highlighting the importance of an international farm produce trading system based on clear-cut rules, and to work towards “an ambitious, global, balanced conclusion to the Doha Round.”
Turning to the world food reserves issue, the Agriculture G8’s statement emphasises that the ministers “will continue to explore several options for a coordinated approach to the management of stocks.” The ministers consequently call on the sector’s chief organisations to “examine whether a reserves system might be effective in coping with humanitarian emergencies or be used to contain price volatility.” The statement also notes that farmers need adequate mechanisms for dealing with market risks and crises.
The ministers also undertake to press forward with international organisation reform and say that they expect the summit on La Maddalena to take “another step forward” in the approach to the agriculture and food security issues and in fostering the global partnership.
Speaking at the final press conference, Italian Agriculture Policies Minister Luca Zaia highlighted a number of passages in the final statement that had been approved thanks to the fundamental role played by the Italian duty presidency. They included the acknowledgement of the importance of small and family-run farming businesses: “This is a major advance for a country like ours,” Mr. Zaia said. “The Summit has acknowledged this basic principle underlying our farm policy and will call for it to be acknowledged by the heads of state and government as well, thus laying the foundations for a new form of world agriculture capable of turning know-how from the past into a sound basis for building a new future of growth and equal opportunity”.
Agriculture Minister's Meeting: Final Declaration
(pdf file format)
Agriculture Minister's Meeting: Presidential Statement
(pdf file format)
Press release by Minister Zaia
(pdf file format)
