Hon David Carter Minister of Agriculture 28 June 2011 Speech

Statement to UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Conference, Rome Mr Chairman, Secretary-General, distinguished delegates.

Firstly, I would like to convey New Zealand's warmest congratulations to José Graziano da Silva for his successful election to Director-General. New Zealand looks forward to working closely and constructively with him.

The election of a new Director-General could not have come at a more important time for FAO. Sixty six years ago this organisation was formed to tackle hunger among the world's people. To date it has failed in this task. Rather than reducing, the number of hungry and malnourished has increased, to around one billion people. Therefore, FAO needs to be fundamentally reformed to address the enormous challenges that it faces.

The new Director-General has a unique opportunity to reinvigorate FAO, by modernising it, reconnecting it with its members, completing the implementation of the reform package and slashing unnecessary bureaucracy.

It is critical that FAO performs to its full potential and this means that we all must acknowledge the past failures in this organisation.

Mr Chair, I would like to turn to the matter of climate change as you cannot address food security without addressing the consequences of climate change. When I addressed the World Summit on Food Security in 2009 I laid out New Zealand's ambitions for the Global Research Alliance.

Today the New Zealand-led Global Research Alliance on agricultural greenhouse gases has brought together 36 countries with a mutual interest in researching ways to produce more food while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

We believe that the Alliance has a vital role to play in ensuring food security by accelerating international research efforts in this area, and that it will deliver valuable solutions for food producers.

With a focus on scientists not politicians, and with a comprehensive level of international buy-in, I am confident that the Alliance will deliver real results to meet the twin challenges of food security and climate change.

From New Zealand's perspective, we have demonstrated our commitment to the work of the Alliance through the provision of around US$40 million in funding. This contribution has been more than matched by many other countries.

The Global Research Alliance is a shining example of the type of practical, focused and realistic action we need to see more of if we are to meet our food security goals.

Mr Chair, I would like to make some comments on the role that trade can play in reducing poverty and alleviating hunger.

There is absolutely no doubt that if we are to achieve food security, we must achieve a free and open international trade system that allows food to be produced in the most efficient locations.

It is only common sense that food should be produced in the areas of the world that are best suited to doing so, by those that are more efficient at doing so. It is deeply regrettable that collectively we have not yet been able to address the distortions that penalise efficient producers and impair the opportunities for farmers in developing countries to lift themselves out of poverty and to make their contribution to the alleviation of hunger.

It is incumbent on all nations to pursue polices that actively remove these distortions.

While it was pleasing to see the recent meeting of G20 Agriculture Ministers recognise the need to break down trade barriers to ensure food security, words are not enough.

We need to see stronger endorsement of free trade from FAO and the G20. We need to see real action to end trade protectionism.

Mr Chair, FAO is at a turning point. Its challenges and its mandate are immense. It has made mistakes in the past and been anything but effective in meeting its founding goals.

However, with fresh leadership, a clear focus and productive policies, New Zealand remains optimistic that an effective international response to food security can be delivered. For the sake of the almost one billion people across the world who are hungry today, let's hope our optimism is not misplaced.

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