Sixty-fourth session
Item 62 of the provisional agenda
Agriculture development and food security
Summary
The impacts of the 2008 food crisis have been complex and far-reaching, increasing the number of hungry and undernourished people in the world and jeopardizing the progress made in achieving internationally agreed development goals. Climate change, energy needs, diminishing natural resources and ailing or outdated market systems all are factors that affect the ability to respond to the food security challenge in a strategic and systematic manner. The global consensus has produced a strategic framework for action that includes short-term amelioratory measures and long-term structural solutions, which need to be undertaken in the form of an integrated, sustainable development strategy. Such a strategy would build upon and sustain current initiatives to address the crisis and place it in the context of a comprehensive and coordinated response at all levels. Stimulating economic growth in rural areas will positively influence poverty reduction and food security. This could be achieved by enhancing agricultural productivity; making a sustainable green revolution a reality; promoting cooperation for mobilizing new and additional resources; and investing in rural infrastructure, research and development, and in the technical and social capacities of government agencies as well as local communities.