3주차|식량·물·글로벌 생존 이슈_박수환

[박수환]

Speech at the High-Level Conference on World Food Security

SUN Zhengcai Minister of Agriculture People’s Republic of China

Rome, June 2008

https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/foodclimate/statements/chn_sun_e.pdf

Glossary

1. High-Level Conference on World Food Security - 세계 식량 안보 고위급 회의

2. World Food Summit - 세계 식량 정상회의

3. UN Millennium Development Goals - UN 새천년 개발목표 (MDGs)

Word Count: 449

Distinguished Chairperson, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very pleased to attend the High-Level Conference on World Food Security on behalf of the Chinese Government.

The recent surge of international food prices has gradually evolved into a food crisis affecting many countries in the world.

This is the result of a combination of multiple factors.

The continuous sharp rise of international oil prices, the general increase of production costs, the rapid growth of bio-energy, the rising demand for food, reduced production caused by natural disasters and the manipulation of speculative capitals:

all these factors have a direct bearing on the fundamentals of food demand and supply and have driven food prices even higher.

In view of the current critical realities, we must re-scrutinize and reflect on the issues of food and agriculture.

I hold that: Food security remains the primary issue facing the survival and development of human beings.

‘Food security for all’ is a fundamental human right in modern societies.

The continuous growth of global demand for food is an irreversible trend in a pretty long time to come.

Eradication of hunger and malnutrition, proper increase of food consumption levels and steady improvement of living standards is not only a common wish and justified right of the people in the developing world, but also a main indicator of the world’s development and progress.

The current world food security situation leaves no room for complacency.

And there is still a long and arduous way to go before achieving the goals of the World Food Summit and the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Developing countries are the vulnerable link in world food security.

Developing countries are low in resilience and most vulnerable to food crisis.

There are still 820 million undernourished people in the developing world.

The surge of food prices has caused them great sufferings and could lead to further social riot and political unrest, putting the permanent peace and common prosperity at risk.

Therefore, we shall put the food security in developing countries into the first place when we address issues of world food security.

The safeguard of world food security is facing more non-traditional challenges and increasingly complicated situation.

Apart from traditional constraints including population growth, land and water shortage and input insufficiency,

we are facing many non-traditional challenges as well, such as the development of bio-energy and global climate change.

In order to improve the global food security,

we should not only increase production but also actively seek solutions of related issues in other fields; we should not only strengthen domestic agriculture but also intensify international cooperation; we should not only adopt effective measures based on the current situation but also make unremitting efforts with long-term perspectives.