muntr.orgmuntr.org/guides/2013/FAO.docx · Web viewI would like to welcome you all to EuroAsia Model United Nations Training and Development Conference 2013. My name is Fatma Betül

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsOvercoming Global Food Crisis: Famine and Food Security

LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

Dear Participants,

I would like to welcome you all to EuroAsia Model United Nations Training and

Development Conference 2013. My name is Fatma Betül Bodur and I am a junior at Ankara

University Faculty of Law.

Organized under the auspices of Model United Nations Association of Turkey, as a method

to fulfill its mission to familiarize MUN-related activities country-wide; EuroAsia MUN

2013 continues the tradition of eight years to host a wide range of delegates from beginners

to be introduced to MUN for the first time; to those who are experienced in MUN, seeking a

unique opportunity to develop in the field. This year, nine committees will be simulated in

EuroAsia MUN; each chosen delicately to appeal to its participants from different levels and

areas of academic studies and interest.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations will discuss the agenda item

Overcoming Global Food Crisis: Famine and Food Security. This study guide and the

academic structure of the Committee have been prepared by the respected Under-Secretary-

General Mr. Hasan Yücel. Prepared by his talent, hard-work and wisdom; the study guide

serves as a perfect first step to comprehend this particular agenda of utmost importance in

global scale.

I advise the participants to read the study guide thoroughly. You may also check further

readings and key documents which are found on our website. As a whole, the documents

presented by the Academic Team will provide you the awareness which is required so as to

follow the discussions within the Committee and fully enjoy Model United Nations.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me via [email protected].

Regards,

Fatma Betül Bodur

Secretary-General of EuroAsia MUN 2013

EuroAsia MUN 2013 Page 1

mailto:[email protected]


LETTER FROM THE UNDER SECRETARY-GENERAL

Dear Delegates,

It is a pleasure for us to welcome you all to the United Nations Food and Agriculture

Organization (FAO) of EuroAsia MUN 2013 Training and Development Conference.

My name is Hasan Yücel and I will be serving as the Under Secretary General responsible

for FAO. I study Law at Ankara University as a senior student. I have been a part of the

global MUN family since my first year at university. Until then, this notable experience has

contributed me more than I could ever think of.

Basically, because of this particular feature of the concept of Model United Nations, I

strongly believe that EuroAsia MUN 2013 Training and Development Conference will be a

stepping-stone in your MUN carrier by assisting you with the necessary debate environment,

which you can improve your research and declamation skills.

FAO, more specifically, will be an extraordinary experience for nearly all of you since it is

truly a unique MUN. Also, EuroAsia MUN 2013 is the first time that it is simulated in

Turkey. In the Conference, experiencing one of the largest and one of the most influential

committee environments of the UN would be propitious for all of you. Besides, the agenda

of the committee, overcoming global food crisis, is a vital concept for human rights as the

right to food.

I hope that this study guide will lead you in your unforgettable EuroAsia MUN 2013 FAO

experience.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me via [email protected].

Best regards,

Hasan Yücel

Under Secretary-General Responsible for FAO and UNDP


mailto:[email protected]


FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

ORGANIZATION OF THE

UNITED NATIONS

Food and Agriculture Organization

(FAO), which was founded on 16 October

1945, is a specialized agency of the United

Nations.1 It is located in Rome, Italy.2 Its

main mission is to fight against hunger

and poverty.3 194 States, plus the

European Union and two Associate

Members, the Faroe Islands and Tokelau,

are members of the FAO.4

FAO is a forum where all State

representatives equally negotiate

agreements in order to help developing

countries to improve agriculture, forestry

and fisheries practices.5 FAO has seven

departments for its work area which are:

Administration and Finance, Agriculture

and Consumer Protection, Economic and

Social Development, Fisheries and

Aquaculture, Forestry, Natural Resource

Management and Environment, and

Technical Cooperation.6

The Preamble of the Constitution which

establishes FAO, expresses the purposes

of this organization as follows:

“raising levels of nutrition and

standards of living of the peoples under

their respective jurisdictions;

securing improvements in the efficiency

of the production and distribution of all

food and agricultural products;

bettering the condition of rural

populations; and thus contributing

towards and

expanding world economy and ensuring

humanity's freedom from hunger;”7

The Legislation Department is considered

to be one of the most important

departments of FAO, since it plays a vital

role on the measures taken by the States in

terms of adopting relevant rules to achieve

the abovementioned goals.8 The

Department has several functions,

performed by the branch may be grouped

under the following four headings.

Expert advice to governments and at

international meetings aimed, inter alia,

at harmonization of laws and

regulations: The experts of FAO are

requested to meet the officials and experts

of member states to inform them regarding

legislative aspects in their countries on a

variety of subjects, such as, land, water,

fisheries, plants, animals, food, forestry,

wildlife and national parks.9

Legal drafting of help to developing

countries: Legal drafting has a very

important means that is the use of

technical methods by lawyers, legislators,

judges, and other experts in order to

specifically express the legal analysis and



legal rights and obligations. When the

legislation is to be adopted, the experts of

FAO assist the State officials, such as

lawmakers, in the drafting process.

Special legal studies of current interest:

The relevant branch of the FAO

undertakes the preparation of several of

studies and documents of a specialized

character on the legislative aspects of

subjects related to the work fields of the

Organization in order to inform the public

properly.10

Collection and dissemination of

legislative information for use by

member governments: The relevant

branch of the FAO undertakes the work

documentation that contains an extensive

collection of laws and regulations

promulgated in member countries during

over than fifty years on the FAO's work

areas, such as food, agriculture, forestry

and fisheries.11

The above-mentioned division is not

clear-cut, but it is convenient for purposes

of describing the functions and branches’

activities.

AGENDA ITEM:

OVERCOMING THE FOOD

CRISIS: FAMINE AND FOOD

SECURITY

A. INTRODUCTION

I. Food Crisis: Overview and

Definition

The discussions related to the food crisis

are based on numerous analyses conducted

and statistics collected by various

institutions, such as FAO.12 According to

the first statistics obtained by the FAO for

the period 1969-1971, 878 million people

were recorded as hungry.13 In today's

world, approximately 870 million people

are chronically undernourished according

to the figures of 2010-12.14 There have

been a considerable number of initiatives

and measures taken to progress globally in

order to reduce hunger.15 The United

Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has

estimated that 500,000 of children during

the Crisis in the Horn of Africa and

they were close to death.16

In the assessment of the food crises in the

world, certain statistics assist in

understanding the different aspects of such

crisis, especially the effects, causes, kinds

and outcomes. Such consequences of food

crises are estimated with the statistics

collected and maintained by FAO. The

Food and Agriculture Organization

Corporate Statistical Database System

(FAOSTAT) makes available several

statistical metadata concepts and

definitions, classifications or reference

data that could assist a wide range of



societies; from individuals and private

companies to governments.17

a. Global Food Crisis

Food crisis is basically a time period in

which rates of hunger increase suddenly

and sharply at both local and national

level. 18 World Bank refers to the food

crisis as follows: ''Poor families are

coping by eating cheaper, less nutritious

food, which can have catastrophic life-

long effects on the social, physical, and

mental well-being of millions of young

people''.19

As the world’s leading environmentalists

point out, the global food supply could

collapse at any point and it could cause

numerous results, such as, causing

widespread riots and leaving hundreds of

millions of people hungry.20

Another well-known institute in this

matter, the Earth Policy Institute (EPI)21

in Washington provides plans for a

sustainable future in environmental

matters.22 This institute builds plans with

keeping in touch with the media, policy

makers, academics, environmentalists and

other decision-makers.23 Several plans of

the EPI have been concerned to the food

crises in the world.24 In these plans, Lester

Brown, who is the president of EPI,

summarizes the current situation that may

result in a food crisis as:

“The world is in transition from an

era of food abundance to one of

scarcity. Over the last decade,

world grain reserves have fallen

by one third. World food prices

have more than doubled,

triggering a worldwide land rush

and ushering in a new geopolitics

of food. Food is the new oil. Land

is the new gold.” 25

He also explains the consequences of

global food crisis as: ‘millions of square

miles of cheap farmland, doubling of

international food prices in a decade, and

the dramatic rundown of countries’ food

reserves.26

As to the frequency of global food crises,

they are rather rarely seen as three times a

century.27 Nevertheless, at the same time,

it happens every three decade and this is

regarded as regular events with cyclical

causes.28 Although the frequency can be

considered as a long time, the frequency

should not be ignored as the significant

effects of these crises should be taken into

account. It has an emerging role beyond

State governments who would desire to

prevent such crises without negative

effects that considerable number of people

may lose their lives.



b. Basic Terms Associated with Food

Crisis

Basic terms related to food crises are

briefly explained and enumerated below.

These are highly interrelated with each

other as it is illustrated below, in the chart

proposed in the Practical Guides of the e-

learning course “Food Security Concepts

and Framework”:

Figure 1: The Basic Effects of Food Crisis29

1. Food Crisis

The basic and general term of food crisis

should be the term referred to as “food

crisis”. The subjects, effects and

consequences of food crisis vary and there

is not any universally accepted definition

in documents published by the UN or

FAO. Thomas D. Cabot Professor of

Development Studies, argues the

definition of it briefly as follows:

“A food crisis occurs when rates of

hunger and malnutrition rise sharply

at local, national, or global levels.

This definition distinguishes a food

crisis from chronic hunger, although

food crises are far more likely among

populations already suffering from

prolonged hunger and malnutrition. A

food crisis is usually set off by a

shock to either supply or demand for

food and often involves a sudden spike

in food prices.”30

2. Hunger

The World Food Programme defines

hunger as: “[T]he body's way of signaling

that it is running short of food and needs

to eat something. Hunger can lead to

malnutrition.”31 FAO explains the hunger

with its problems as:

''People who are chronically hungry are

undernourished. They do not eat enough

to get the energy they need to lead active



lives. Their undernourishment makes it

hard to study, work or otherwise perform

physical activities. Constant hunger

weakens the immune system and makes

them more vulnerable to diseases and

infections. Mothers living with constant

hunger often give birth to underweight

and weak babies, and are themselves

facing increased risk of death.32

Figure 2: The Numbers and the Prevalence of the

People who are Undernourished and their

Division According to the Regions in the World33

3. Famine

Famine, as it will be explained in details

in the following sections, refers to a

situation where the households are facing

an extreme food scarcity without the

ability to cope and there is a considerable

number of death.34 There are different

definitions accepted as it will be discussed

in the following section.

4. Malnutrition

Malnutrition refers to a situation where the

physical functions of a person is impaired

to the point where this person can no

longer maintain natural bodily capacities,

for example growth, pregnancy, lactation,

learning abilities, physical effort and

resisting and recovering from disease.35



5. Undernourishment

Undernourishment refers to another status

of individuals whose food consumption

does not contain enough calories to meet

the required physiological needs.36 Also,

this term is used as the persons' abilities to

get access to food. 37

In Figure 2, the statistics related to the

number of undernourished population

regarding the regions and developing

countries are provided.

6. Chronic Malnutrition

Chronic malnutrition, which is one of the

effects and the loop steps of the food

crisis, is actually based on poverty rather

than food scarcity in all over the world.38

In other words, there is sufficient food for

every human being, but not everyone can

access to it.39 Today, it is seen that even in

the countries where food is abundant,

people can go hungry and the food cannot

be afforded due to the prices.40

c. Right to Food

Global food crisis pertains to a

fundamental right which affects all human

beings. The right to food as a universally

accepted human right refers the right of all

peoples to feed themselves in dignity.41

The right to food that all States must

respect, is defined by the Committee on

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

(Committee on ESCR) in its General

Comment 12 of 1999 as follows:

“[T]he right to adequate food is realized

when every man, woman and child, alone

and in community with others, has

physical and economic access at all times

to adequate food or means for its

procurement”42

Furthermore, the FAO adopted a Council

Decision to detail the scope of this right

and the obligations of States by underlying

three factors designated in the guidelines:

The obligation to respect discourages

the measures of governments if they

prevent people from having access to

food.43

The obligation to protect means that

states should enact appropriate laws and

act to prevent third parties, including

individuals and corporations, from

violating the right to food of others.44

The obligation to fulfill refers that

governments must engage themselves

actively in actions to strengthen people’s

access to and consumption of resources

in order to facilitate their capability to

feed themselves.45 As a last option, at

any time when an individual or group is



not able to fulfill the right to adequate

food for reasons exceeding their control,

states must fulfill such obligation

directly.46

The abovementioned guideline further

summarizes the duties and missions of

States in Article 8.1 as follows:

"States should facilitate sustainable, non-

discriminatory and secure access and

utilization of resources consistent with

their national law and with international

law and protect the assets that are

important for people’s livelihoods. States

should respect and protect the rights of

individuals with respect to resources such

as land, water, forests, fisheries and

livestock without any discrimination.

Where necessary and appropriate, States

should carry out land reforms and other

policy reforms consistent with their human

rights obligations and in accordance with

the rule of law in order to secure efficient

and equitable access to land and to

strengthen proper growth. Special

attention may be given to groups such as

pastoralists and indigenous people and

their relation to natural resources." 47

d. Commodities and Markets

Commodity means "a raw material or

primary agricultural product that can be

bought and sold. "48 As commodities are

divided into different stages, primary

products can be added to the scope of

secondary commodities, which means

commodity at the manufacturer level.49

Such division and also the types of

commodities are important, since the

evaluation of food crises are based on

them in order to figure out the

fundamental causes of the crisis.

Figure 3: The Consumption of Basic

Commodities in Food Insecure Countries50

The basic commodities that relate to the

food crisis issues are grains, rice, dairy,

meat, oilseeds, sugar, fish and fertilizer as

the fundamentals of a human's needs.51

These are also considered as the

fundamental nutrition that plays a

significant role for the human being.

When there is an assessment related to the



aspects of food crises, certain

commodities and their statuses in markets

should be evaluated.

Furthermore, one of the food crises

happened in the past was based on the

fundamental change of the prices of food,

which is caused by the other severe price

changes of other markets, that is to say the

economic equilibrium became unbalanced

and people cannot access food because

they cannot afford the food due to the

prices.52 Hence, another consideration is

the price changes of commodities in the

markets, since any sharp change in the

markets of these commodities may

adversely affect the whole economy of

States.53

II. Major Food Crises in History

Many food crises resulting in widespread

damage to the humankind have been faced

before. Though the exact number cannot

be stated properly, it is assumed that many

people died because of starvation and

malnutrition. The causes and effects of

these crises that happened in history could

not be examined in detail. However, some

reasons could be discussed as experienced

in the history.

The number of such people in these crises

is estimated as more than ten million

people. As one of the most well known

crises in the history, the Great Famine in

Ireland ended up with 1,5 million dead

and 2 million emigrated in 1853.54

Another major crisis was the Chinese

Famine of 1907 which left 25 million dead

people, including 5,000 people dying

because of starvation.55

In the last two-centuries, some of the

major food crises occurred in the world

are briefly explained in this section. Such

crises’ results and effects were different

from each other and rather particular than

the other crises happened in the history.

a. Soviet Famine of 1932-1933

Soviet famine crisis refers the severe crisis

situations in the territories of the Soviet

Union in 1932 and 1933.56 It may be one

of the forceful food crisie in the world. 57

There were eight million people in the

territories of USSR, mostly populated in

Ukraine, the Volga Valley, the North

Caucasus region and Kazakhstan.58

Total death toll during these years cannot

be estimated, since there was a censorship

policy implemented by the government.59

One Russian historian calls it as “top-

secret famine”.60 However, in the light of

these information, some of the historians

give estimates as 5 million people died

during the crisis.61

b. 2005-2006 Niger Food Crisis



Another crisis situation, which affected

the populations in Niger and West Africa

most severely, originated in Niger because

of climate conditions in which there was

not enough rain for the crops to survive in

2004.62 Following years, the UN appealed

for aid to Niger to help them overcome the

crisis situation, which resulted with many

casualties and numerous people fleeing to

other countries.63 It is estimated that

approximately 2.5 million people and

32,000 children have been affected by an

acute food shortage.64

c. 2007-2008 World Food Price Crisis

In the global food crisis in 2008 the

figures estimated in the released

documents of FAO, state that 870 million

people were malnourished and the number

of malnourished people may increase in

the Middle East and Africa.65 Basically,

this crisis happened because of the vast

changes in the prices of foods, which

made the food unaffordable and

consequently unavailable for many

people.66

In these years, the rise of food prices

sparked food riots in more than 25

countries.67 The president of the World

Bank, Robert Zoellick reported that 33

nations were at the risk of social unrest,

since the prices of food raised so much

that people of such nations protested or

complained which resulted in vast

reflections, and also the FAO reported that

the world cereal stocks that year would be

the lowest since 1982.68

As for the riots occurred; it is reported that

the UN peacekeepers fired on protesters

demonstrating against the rising cost of

rice in Haiti.69 Approximately 70,000

people protested the price of tortillas in

Mexico City.70 There were riots in Italy for

the prices of pasta.71 According to the

Food and Agriculture Organization of the

United Nations (FAO) chief Jacques

Diouf, food prices increased as sharply as

45% in only nine months and this is

considered to be the main cause of these

riots and protest.72

d. 2010 Sahel Famine



Figure 4: Map Showing the Area where the Sahel

Famine Occured.73

This crisis was mainly caused because of

unfavorable climate changes. 19 million

people in total were reported to be short of

food in the region called as “Sahel”.74

Also it was reported that more than a

million children under the age of five were

at the risk of dying and 3 million children

were acutely malnourished in Sahel

Region.75 Another alarming impact of this

food crisis was its frequency, since this

was the third big food crisis experienced

in the region in seven years and its causes

were very much the same with those of

2005 crisis.76

e. 2011 East Africa Drought

Figure 5: Map Showing the Area Afflicted by the

2011 East Africa Drought and Food Shortage77

In the time period from July 2011 to mid-

2012, the complete part of East Africa

region was affected by a severe drought,

which resulted in an estimated 8.8 million

people requiring urgent humanitarian

assistance.78 There were numerous

refugees who fled to other countries,

establishing refugee camps, such as the

Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp as one of

the largest in the world.79

f. Lessons Learned

There have been many lessons learned by

the food crises mentioned above.

Basically, when a crisis situation occurred

in one region, there should be response to

overcome the grave results.



As to the concrete lessons, the national

responses of governments were not

enough to prevent these results in terms of

their plans.80 Also, the aid needed for the

people in crises was generally poor; for

instance, in the response of both national

governments and food agencies to the

2011 East Africa Food Crisis were

criticized as relatively low and criticism

was called ‘dangerous delay’ to emphasize

the unnecessary loss of lives.81 Generally,

in these crises, the risk could not be

managed and the vulnerability of above

mentioned regions could not be well

tackled for the effective responses to the

crises.

g. Current Situation in 2013

Since the food crisis is mostly based on

the increase of the food prices related to

food affordability, the FAO Food Price

Index acts as a measure of the periodical

changes in international prices of food

commodities in markets.82 According to

these measures, in August 2013, it is

concluded that international prices of

cereals and oils continued to fall, while

diary meat and sugar prices rose slightly.83

Abdolreza Abbossain, who is a senior

economist with the FAO, says:

“We've not been producing as much as we

are consuming. That is why stocks are

being run down. Supplies are now very

tight across the world and reserves are at

a very low level, leaving no room for

unexpected events next year” 84

It is further estimated that countries had

run down reserves from an average of 107

days of consumption to under 74 days

compared to 10 years ago and this means

that the food consumption exceeded the

amount grown, for 6 of the 11 years.85 As

to the production, it is unlikely to meet

desired figures today, such as wheat

production is expected to be 5,2% and

most of other crops production are also

decreasing, stated FAO.86 Lester Brown,

the president of the abovementioned

Research Institute, emphasizes the

emerging crisis situation as:

“We are entering a new era of rising food

prices and spreading hunger. Food

supplies are tightening everywhere and

land is becoming the most sought-after

commodity as the world shifts from an age

of food abundance to one of scarcity.”87

B. CAUSES OF FOOD CRISIS

It is difficult for the authorities to identify

the actual causes for inaccessibility of

food, nevertheless there are direct or

indirect aspects of the crisis that can be

discussed. 88 Some of the causes will be

enumerated below as one of the direct



linkages and indirect ones will not be the

main discussion of this section.

Today's global food crises are considered

as humanitarian disasters, since they are

based on not only few natural hazards, but

instead based on the extreme vulnerability

of the world's food systems.89 The

underlying reasons of such a vulnerability

are overproduction, which is not met with

the demand, and the inappropriate

measures taken by national finance

institutions of the States that are in crisis.90

However, it is emphasized that there are

not only a few reasons considered as the

vital causes of a crisis situation, rather it is

the range and combination of

consequences of numerous reasons that

involve many issues, including volatile

global food market, which means the

prices of foods are liable to unpredictable

and rapid changes, or economic

inequality, which means the equilibrium

of food production for the export or for the

local consumers.91

I. Agricultural Production

Agricultural production means the

production from the cultivation, animals,

plants and food. Fundamentally the food

supply depends on actual agricultural

production and any sharp decline would

affect the entirety of the food chain and

consequently cause a crisis.92 The food

supply by the agricultural production must

be adequate for the demand.93 In fact, the

agricultural production all over the world

should increase by 70 percent over the

same period in average in order to feed the

world population, which is expected to

reach over more than nine billions in

2050.94

In today’s world, it is considered as one of

the basic responsibilities of the

governments and authorities to prevent

experiencing further food crises by

increasing investments in raising

agricultural productivity and by carrying

on the policies related to the stable food

production and prices, such as establishing

a nutrition standard for the prices and

qualities of food.95

There have been several initiatives

taken by the national and international

organizations to boost effectively the

agricultural production as one of the

solutions to prevent future crises. 96

One of the most significant one is

Soaring Food Prices launched in 2007

and funded by FAO’s own resources,

which aims at increasing the production

by facilitating small farmers’ access to

seeds, fertilizers, animal food and other

farming tools and supplies.97



II. International Trade

Governments are aware of the fact that a

strong national food industry is the one of

the main suppliers of food to the people

and an important contributor to ensure

food security.98 State officials scrutinize

food exports as a source of foreign

exchange and food imports as a supplier. 99

Therefore food imports and exports can be

one of the effects to food crises, since they

are related to the food supply.100

Food exports and imports of States play

significant role in international trade and

such imports and exports should not be

restricted. In the global economy's

context, any regulations, which are not in

favor of the facilitation of the movements

of foods among States, may constitute

another direct reason for the change of the

food prices resulting in food crisis.101

Agricultural trade and production policies

are considered to improve food security,

protect biological diversity and contribute

to climate change mitigation and

adaptation.102 In this context, agricultural

policies of States refer to the set of rules

concerning the domestic agriculture and

imports of foreign agricultural products.

State governments generally implement

certain policies with the aim of reaching

considerable outcomes in the agricultural

markets; especially basic elements of food

markets and these are supply level, price,

quality and employment.103

At this level, the key sources to form the

international trade are the agreement

between the states in order to regulate and

adapt sets of law related to the agricultural

productions. The significant ones that are

related to food and agriculture are

concluded under the auspices of the World

Trade Organization (WTO), including the

Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual

Property Rights signed in 1994(TRIPS).104

III. Unfavorable Climate Changes

One other reason for food crisis is

considered as climate change. 105 Water

scarce regions of the world, especially

semi arid areas of Latin America and Sub-

Saharan Africa, are in danger of

experiencing chronic drought as the

climate becomes hotter.106 At the same

time, the households and countries which

already face chronic food insecurity are

negatively affected as they are the most

reliant on local agricultural production.107

Unexpected climate changes, heavy

conditions and extreme weather adversely

affect the harvesting process and become

one of the significant reasons for poor

harvest in a considerable number of States'

agricultural production, such as in Burma,

Cuba, and Haiti.108



C. SUBJECTS OF FOOD CRISIS

I. In General

Today, there are various phases that a food

crisis follows in different levels regarding

the livelihood's needs.109According to the

Integrated Food Security Phase

Classification (IPC), a classification that is

based on certain indicators are listed in

Table 1.

IPC

CLASSIFICATION

INDICATORS

Generally food

secure

Crude

Mortality Rate

Malnutrition

Prevalence

Food

Access/

Availability

Water

Access/

Availability

Coping

Strategies

Chronically food

insecure

Acute food crisis

Humanitarian

Emergency

Famine/

humanitarian

Catastrophe

Table 1: The indicators 110 It is decided how

severe the food crisis is by evaluating the crude

mortality rates, the malnutrition prevalence, the

availability of food and water and the strategies to

cope with this issue in a country. 111

In this section, the stages from “generally

food secure” to “famine/humanitarian

catastrophe” are generally explained in the

titles of food security and famine. These

titles are rather significant compared to

others, since most of the formal

documents of the United Nations are

based on them. Except for the first

classification, the general food secure, the

chronically food secure and the famine

catastrophe are the first and the last stages,

that is to say, the beginning and the

severest classes of a general food crisis.

II. Famine

a. Famine: Overview

Famine is basically a decline in food

production that causes people to rarely

find food in successive years, because of

several reasons that are mainly based on

climate; such as drought or human

activities; such as war or they may happen

concurrently.112

Persons afflicted by famine do not have

enough food to survive and if they do not

get food, to relieve the famine, they may

die.113 The fundamental difference

between famine and hunger is grounded

on whether people have enough food to

live, or not.114 Famine is basically “an

extreme scarcity of food” and where

people do not have enough food to live.115

Many specialists from FAO work on the

issue of famine in order to overcome the



adverse effects that stem from it, through a

joint effort: the Integrated Food Security

Phase Classification (IPC).116 This global

effort has developed a definition including

certain criteria for famine in certain

regions. The criteria that must be present

in a situation in order for it to be regarded

as a famine are:

''At least 20 percent of the

population has fewer than 2,100

calories of food a day;

Prevalence acute malnutrition must

exceed 30 percent of children; and

The death rate must exceed two

deaths per 10,000 people, or four

child deaths per 10,000 people per

day.'' 117

As the relevant information related to the

food chain was mentioned above, famine

also roots in crop failure, because of bad

weather, civil disruption or both with the

market distributions due to inflation,

hoarding, or any income distributions.118 J.

W. Mellor, the director of the International

Food Policy Research Institute, discusses

the main reasons of grave famines as "(1)

prices that shock to agricultural

production most of the time could be a

reason for prices soaring and (2)

employment collapses when producers

and consumers adjust to the decrease in

agricultural production".119

Consequently, this adjustment in order for

the economy to reach a new equilibrium

has always been the burden for poor

people who are affected either with price

shocks or employment declines.120

In the history of famine, Africa was the

continent that suffered the most the

world.121 Considerable amount of efforts

was made to overcome major famine

crises.122 For instance, the people and the

officials of States have been warned early

regarding food shortages. More rapid

responses to abovementioned warnings

through certain efforts were suggested and

so that accordingly the food aid can be

sent to the States that are in a risk of a

famine crisis.123

b. Institutional Organizations’ Roles in

Overcoming to Famine

1. Food and

Agriculture Organization

Food and Agriculture Organization, plays

a significant role in preventing the

negative effects of famine on the society.

FAO assists people who suffer from

famine and poverty in specific regions that

are considered to be under threat.124 FAO

draws the attention of international

community to continue the efforts to

implement the responses that are needed

to alleviate the harm, in the event of an

alert of famine or food crisis.125 As to such



responses, FAO issues warnings to the

States regarding a famine situation.126

Furthermore, FAO also assists individuals

and governments of the States by

rehabilitating water structures; distributing

seeds, tools and other agricultural inputs;

providing plant and animal disease

surveillance and control; livestock

destocking; and animal vaccination

campaigns to support pastoralists.127

As for the people who are in need of

immediate, lifesaving assistance; FAO

seeks funds to protect the most vulnerable

households by aiming at saving lives and

livelihoods in short term and building food

security over the longer haul.128 In these

kinds of situation, FAO supports taking

the necessary measures to, first of all,

provide seeds, inputs and tools for

planting seasons and also to ensure animal

health through drugs, vaccines and

training, while the programmes, related to

the training of farmers or any persons

involved to the first chain of the food

production are tried to be enabled.129

2. World Food

Programme

Founded in 1961, The World Food

Programme (WFP) is part of the United

Nations system and it is voluntarily

funded.130 It has been established to work

as an agency. Its Executive Board consists

of representatives from 36 member states

and its Executive Director is appointed

jointly by the UN Secretary General and

the Director-General of the FAO.131

It aims to address hunger in the event of

natural disasters or civil conflicts.132 Also,

this agency establishes and implements the

programs that associate vital nutritional

assistance with job training, basic

education for children, maternal health

education, and treatment for the persons

who are under the risk of HIV/AIDS.133

In the goal of the prevention of famine,

the WFP is considered as the sister UN

agency of FAO in Rome.134 The Crop and

Food Security Assessment Mission

(CFSAM), which is undertaken jointly by

the FAO and WFP, has emergency tasks

related to agricultural production or

overall food availability problems,

especially in cases of a population facing a

famine risk.135

3. Famine Early

Warning System

Famine Early Warning System is an

agency created in 1985 by the US Agency

for International Development (USAID)

specialized on assessing researches related

to climate conditions, agricultural

production, prices, exchange of currencies

and other factors in order to enlighten



States regarding the emerging problems

concerning famine.136 It assists

government decision-makers and other

agencies in issues related to famine relief

through planning for food emergencies by

reporting monthly on current and

projected food insecurity, alerting up-to-

the-minute on emerging or likely to

emerge crises, and by specially reporting

on weather hazards, crops, market prices

and food aids.137 138

4. African Union

The Heads of State of governments of

African States established African Union

in 1999.139 African Union takes numerous

initiatives to addresses social, economic

and political problems in the Member

States.140 Overcoming the famine crisis

was also a focus in one of the initiatives:

Africa’s Priority Programme for

Economic Recovery (APPER);141 which

was initiated to examine the effects of

drought and famine.

5. United Nations

Standing Committee on Nutrition

United Nations Standing Committee on

Nutrition (UNSCN) was established to

promote cooperation regarding to the

nutrition issues.142 Famine crisis may

cause devastating effects on people’s

nutrition and one of the top priorities of

UNSCN to support communities, national,

regional, and international efforts to end

malnutrition in all of its forms.143

III. Food Security

a. Food Security: Overview

Food security was defined for the first

time, in the World Food Summit held in

1996 as: ''Food security exists when all

people, at all times, have physical and

economic access to sufficient, safe and

nutritious food that meets their dietary

needs and food preferences for an active

and healthy life''.144 Today, the FAO

accepts this definition in a different

wording as: “A situation that exists when

people lack secure access to sufficient

amounts of safe and nutritious food for

normal growth and development and an

active and healthy life.”145

The issue of food security has many

aspects that include many sectors and

complex matters; as it is not only

connected to the health and physical

development of individuals, but also to the

functioning economic, environment, and

commercial affairs.146 However, there are

a few fundamental pillars to provide food

security in all areas and the WHO (World

Health Organization) enumerates and

explains these pillars as:147



Food Availability: There must be

sufficient quantities of food

available for population on a

consistent and regular basis.

Food Access: Populations need to

have sufficient resources in order

to obtain suitable foods for an

adequate and balanced nutritious

diet.

Food Use: Populations must

appropriately use food in

accordance with the basic

nutrition and care, as well as

acceptable sanitation and water.

b. Institutional Organizations’ Roles in

Food Security

1. Food and

Agriculture Organization

In December 2007, FAO launched its

Initiative on Soaring Food Prices for small

manufacturers and procedures to get their

output up and earn more in order to

prevent insecure food from

consumption.148 Such initiative enables

FAO's contribution to the mission of the

UN High-Level Task Force on Global

Food Crisis.149 This Task Force concludes

the Comprehensive Framework for Action

and conducts projects in approximately 25

and also inter-agency missions in nearly

60 countries.150 Furthermore, Governments

get policy recommendation from FAO

with regards to the increase of food

production and of investment for

agriculture by providing food security.151

As one of the foundations within the

organization of the United Nations, FAO

aims to achieve the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs) by working

with its Member States and the entire

international community.152 These goals

were listed as eight goals of the whole

international community.153 The Goal 1,

Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger,

was directly related to hunger caused by

food insecurity crises, which is one of the

top priorities of FAO to overcome the

food crisis.154 FAO aims to promote better

nutritional practices at all levels and

therefore works on programmes that

enhance direct and immediate access to

secure food in the scope of this goal.155

Also, FAO supports initiatives and

commitments from the countries and

organizations of the regions where the

severe crises happened. For instance, the

Hunger Free Latin America and the

Caribbean Initiative was established as a

commitment and was supported by FAO

to encourage Latin countries to enable the

conditions that will aid in eradicating

hunger permanently and recover the

severe results of food insecurity crises by

2025.156



2. G-20 Meetings

World's economically most powerful

nations periodically confer at meetings to

discuss the most significant problems of

the global agenda, one of them being food

security.157 For instance, the G20 Meeting

in 2012 expressed its worries for the

increase of food prices which resulted in

the change of the equilibrium market.158 In

such meetings, Agriculture Ministers or

other representatives of States, gather to

address the issue of food prices with the

goal of providing food security by

agreeing on a decision, such as “Action

Plan on food price volatility and

agriculture” adopted in the meeting held in

Paris on 22 and 23 June 2011, which

contains a list of actions and plans of

countries to fulfill this goal.159 In this

meeting, it was decided that the States

were to closely work with FAO in terms

of obtaining assistance.160 The objectives

listed in this action plan are enumerated as

follows: 161

“improve agricultural production

and productivity both in the short

and long term in order to respond

to a growing demand for

agricultural commodities;

increase market information and

transparency in order to better

anchor expectations from

governments and economic

operators;

strengthen international policy

coordination in order to enhance

confidence in international

markets and to prevent and

respond to food market crises

more efficiently;

improve and develop risk

management tools for

governments, firms and farmers in

order to build capacity to manage

and mitigate the risks associated

with food price volatility, in

particular in the poorest countries;

improve the functioning of

agricultural commodities’

derivatives markets, this objective

is being pursued through the work

of Finance Ministers and Central

Bank Governors”

Furthermore, FAO and G-20 and other

significant agencies contribute to

establishing policy reports in order to

develop the plans for the better mitigation

and management of the risks associated

with the price volatility of food and other

agriculture commodities.162

3. African Union

The African Union, as it was mentioned

above, consists of African State



Governments who gather in a forum to

discuss the economic, political and social

problems including the undesired effects

of food insecurity.163 In order to overcome

these effects, the Union establishes

numerous development programmes.164

The New Partnership for Africa’s

Development was adopted as the

integrated and comprehensive socio-

economic development programme in the

African Union Summit in 2001.165 In this

Development Programme, various specific

development programmes have taken parts

and the most significant one for food

crises was the Comprehensive Africa

Agriculture Development Programme

(CAADP), which aims to deal with these

issues related to food security:166

• Sustainable land and reliable water

control systems;

• Private sector development, rural

infrastructure, improved trade and market

access;

• Increasing food supply and reducing

hunger; and

• Agricultural research and dissemination

of agricultural technology.

D. CONCLUSION

Today’s food system is regarded in a way

that it must be transferred in terms of

changing the methods of producing,

consuming and making decisions. In this

matter, State governments, as in the

decision maker position, are in duty to

ensure the well-functioning food system,

in which above mentioned causes should

not affect numerous people. In order to

achieve this goal to improve such systems,

representatives of governments concerned

in the work of the FAO advocate their

States and their interests with regards to

the interests of the planet. In this

improved system, these representatives

need to prevent international food crisis

and develop and implement the necessary

policies at national, regional and

international levels.

The food crises are absolutely on a large

scale and the determination of the causes

and effects cannot be sufficient to

overcome the grave results.167 However, at

the same time it cannot be unexpected

while having the statistics, the figures or

the indicators of the authorities of

international organizations and institutions

at hand.168

The risks of the crises should be discussed

and then should be solved with concrete

plans. Specifically, the Organizations have

been working for the solutions to prevent

such risks. They pass resolutions to

implement their plans for all Member



States. They also encourage States to act

in accordance with these plans.

In today’s world, it is seen that many of

the severe crisis were based on similar

causes. However, food crises may have

different aspects and results according to

its subject. Subjects of food crisis were

basically divided as food security and

famine. These codependent subjects are in

different contexts and deserve separate

evaluation.

Food and Agriculture Council, as one of

the main international actors, has been

working effectively and aiming to achieve

to the Millennium Development Goals in

which the number of hungry people would

decline sharply. FAO has been taking

initiatives and working closely with other

international organizations and State

governments to achieve such goal.

E. POINTS THAT A RESOLUTION

SHOULD COVER

In the light of the issues explained in the

previous sections, the Food and

Agriculture Organization is expected to

pass a comprehensive resolution that

covers the points below:

The recommendations of the Committee

for overcoming the current food crises

The advices of the Committee regarding

the prevention of food insecurity

The stance of the Committee regarding

to agricultural production and

international trade regulations

Ways of drawing attention to measures

taken for the prevention of famine


for provision of food security

The proposals of the Committee for the

people to enjoy their right to food

The advices of the Committee regarding

overcoming poverty as one of the effects

of food crises

The opinion of the Committee for

providing a well-functioning food

system in which less people would be

affected by unfavorable climate

conditions


to sustain the availability of food and

water



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http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/tc/tce/pdf/FAO_Famine_and_Drought_Q_and_A_2.pdf. Last accessed 18th Oct 2013.127 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2011). Q&A – Famine and Drought in Horn of Africa. Available: http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/tc/tce/pdf/FAO_Famine_and_Drought_Q_and_A_2.pdf. Last accessed 18th Oct 2013.128 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2011). As famine spreads action urgently needed. Available: http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/86457/icode/. Last accessed 21th September 2013.129 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2011). As famine spreads action urgently needed. Available: http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/86457/icode/. Last accessed 21th September 2013.130 World Food Programme. (2013). Fighting hunger worldwide. Available: https://www.wfp.org/about. Last accessed 18th Oct 2013.131 Ibid.132 Ibid.133 Ibid.134 Ibid.135 World Food Programme. Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM). Available: http://www.wfp.org/food-security/assessments/crop-food-security-assessment-mission. Last accessed 21th September 2013.136 United States Agency for International Development. (2013). Famine Early Warning Systems Network. Available: http://www.fews.net/docs/special/fews-net-brochure-en.pdf. Last accessed 18th Oct 2013.137 Ibid. 138 Famine Crisis At Ethiopian Conference. [online] Available at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-25/africa-pledges-351-7-million-for-famine-crisis-at-ethiopian-conference.html [Accessed: 1 2013].139 African Union. (2013). AU in a nutshell. Available: http://www.au.int/en/about/nutshell. Last accessed 30th Oct 2013.140 Ibid.141 Ibid.142 United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition. (2013). Introduction. Available: http://www.unscn.org/. Last accessed 30th Oct 2013.143 Ibid.144 Economic and Social Development Department. (1996). Report of the World Food Summit. Available: http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/w3548e/w3548e00.htm. Last accessed 21th September 2013.145 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. FAQs. Available: http://www.fao.org/hunger/en/. Last accessed 21th September 2013.146 http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story028/en/147 World Health Organization. (2013). Trade, foreign policy, diplomacy and health. Available: http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story028/en/. Last accessed 30th Oct 2013.148 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2013). FAO Initiative on Soaring Food Prices. Available: http://www.fao.org/isfp/about/en/. Last accessed 14th Oct 2013.149 Ibid.150Ibid.151 Ibid.152 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2013). Millennium Development Goals. Available: http://www.fao.org/mdg/en/. Last accessed 30th Oct 2013153 Ibid.154 Ibid.

155 Ibid.156 The HFLAC Initiative. (2012). Hunger-Free Latin America and the Caribbean Initiative. Available: http://www.rlc.fao.org/en/initiative/the-initiative/. Last accessed 30th Oct 2013.157 Group of 20. (2013). What is the G20. Available: http://www.g20.org/docs/about/about_G20.html. Last accessed 30th Oct 2013.158 Ibid.159 Action Plan On Food Price Volatility And Agriculture. (2011). Meeting of G20 Agriculture Ministers Paris, 22 and 23 June 2011. Available: http://www.foodsecurityportal.org/sites/default/files/g20_action_plan_june232011.pdf. Last accessed 18th Oct 2013.160 Ibid.161 Ibid.162 FAO, IFAD, IMF,OECD, UNCTAD, WFP, the World Bank, the WTO, IFPRI and the UN HLTF. (2 June 2011). Price Volatility in Food and Agricultural Markets: Policy Responses. Available: http://www.worldbank.org/foodcrisis/pdf/Interagency_Report_to_the_G20_on_Food_Price_Volatility.pdf. Last accessed 18th Oct 2013.163 NEPAD. (2012). A technical body of the African Union . Available: http://www.nepad.org/foodsecurity. Last accessed 30th Oct 2013.164 Ibid.165 Ibid.166 Ibid.167 Oxfam. (2013). Learning the Lessons?. Available: http://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/bp168-learning-the-lessons-sahel-food-crisis-160413-en_1.pdf . Last accessed 30th Oct 2013.168 Ibid.

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muntr.orgmuntr.org/guides/2013/FAO.docx · Web viewI would like to welcome you all to EuroAsia Model United Nations Training and Development Conference 2013. My name is Fatma Betül