Rome – The reform of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the fight against instability in food prices worldwide are part of the agenda of José Graziano da Silva, the agency’s new director-general. The former Brazilian minister will be the first Latin American to assume the position, and his term in office will last from January 2012 to July 2015. With an easy smile and very confident, Graziano spoke to the press for the first time on this Monday (27th), after the result of the elections held last Sunday during the 37th Conference of the organization, which will continue until July 2nd, in Rome.
Aware of the deep discordances between the organization’s 191 member countries, Graziano stated that the FAO should go on promoting internal reforms with the objective of reaching a minimum of convergence between different areas and nations, in particular regarding key issues for the promotion of economic and social development and, consequently, the overcoming of poverty and hunger in the world. To the new director-general, his election was a good example, precisely due to the process’ transparency and the support from the four candidates to the two finalists: Graziano and the former Spanish foreign minister Miguel Moratinos.
According to Graziano, the organization must be prepared to address key issues such as instability in food prices, which according to him is worse than believed and does not restrict itself to African or poor countries, with high inflation rates, for instance, but also plagues developed nations. The director claimed that Arab countries, for example, where up to 80% of the food consumed is imported, prices have been showing instability and require monitoring. However, to him, the solution depends on greater stability and reforms in the world economy, otherwise “the prices of raw materials will always reflect on food costs.”
Environment and transgenic plants
To the new FAO director, Central America and the Caribbean deserve greater attention from the organization within the new environmental scenario that is being outlined. Considering that natural disasters are more frequent in the region, emergency actions in food security and other fields in which the FAO is active will need to become part of the organization’s daily routine.
The environment and biofuel production were other issues raised during the press conference, in particular the Brazilian industry, which uses sugarcane to produce sugar and ethanol. Jokingly, Graziano quoted the former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by saying that in Brazil, cane crops do not bring down the forest, and that the distance between the Amazon and the cane-producing areas is roughly like the distance between the Vatican and the Kremlin, in Moscow. However, the new director expressed concern when it comes to the expansion of cane farming, both in Brazil and in other countries not suited to the variety. “The FAO must keep watch,” he claimed.
As for transgenic plants, another issue discussed by Graziano, the director cited the example of the University of Campinas (Unicamp), in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, which carries out serious research in the segment, including the use of transgenic plants by the pharmaceutical industry as well, rather than just for agribusiness applications. “We cannot rule out biotechnology and transgenic plants in food production. These are the new paths that technology has to offer,” he said. What Graziano considers a problem is the monopoly on seed production, which remains in the hands of a few. “The problem is the monopoly over the seeds, and not transgenic plants.”
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
