MEDIA-G-ENG-L Archives

FAO News Releases

Media-G-Eng-L@LISTSERV.FAO.ORG

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show HTML Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
FAO-Newsroom <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
FAO-Newsroom <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 8 Jun 2015 14:56:23 +0200
Content-Type:
multipart/related
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (4 kB) , text/html (12 kB) , image001.gif (16 kB)
[cid:image001.gif@01D0A1FB.4971EA90]

Contact

Christopher Emsden
Media Relations (Rome)
(+39) 06 570 53291
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>


Tackling poverty is the only way to conquer hunger, Argentina’s Kirchner says

President addresses FAO Conference

8 June 2015, Rome - Poverty lies at the root of hunger, and active state policies directed at eradicating inequality are the most effective way to eradicate malnutrition, Argentina President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner said here today.

Those who suffer hunger are those who can't afford to buy food, and so we believe we must focus on that aspect," she told government representatives gathered at FAO's biannual Conference.

In a broad address, Kirchner also called for active state intervention aimed at dismantling trade and customs tariffs and barriers on global food trade, coupled with stricter regulations on financial instruments linked to agricultural commodities to prevent speculation.

Before the speech, FAO Director-General José  Graziano da Silva commended Kirchner for Argentina's outstanding progress in fighting hunger.

The prevalence of undernourishment in Argentina is below 5 percent of the population, according to latest State of Food Insecurity in the World (link), released last month.

Argentina is a major food exporter, which Kirchner noted has the capacity to produce food for more than 400 million people, 10 times its population. She also said she expected this year's core grain harvest to break new records.

But distribution, not production, holds the key to tackling malnutrition in the world, she said. "We really believe that the problem of hunger lies in the unequal distribution of wealth."

Kirchner  recounted target programs rolled out by her governments and that of her husband, which came to power after an economic crisis in 2003 pushed 40 percent of the population into poverty.

A national food program was launched immediately, followed by a push to create industrial jobs with robust minimum wages, and then in 2009 a universal child benefit scheme for more than 3 million youths and their families, whose total cost is around 0.5 percent of gross domestic product.

FAO advocates such social-protection schemes as a key part in the fight against hunger, noting their critical role in countries that achieved the Millennium Development Goal of halving malnutrition rates over the past two decades.

Kirchner pointed out that  the public spending program generated huge demand which catalyzed further growth. "We've become one of the most egalitarian societies in this way," she claimed.

Kirchner suggested that developing nations focus on investment in basic infrastructure such as clean water and sewage systems, without which public health systems are less effective.

Agricultural policies should aim at improving production efficiency but protectionist tendencies don't help food security, Kirchner said, claiming that wealthy nations often use high tariffs and questionable health regulations are used to block Argentine exports.

| read this story online<http://bit.ly/1jpnaGV> |


[2015/82en]

Journalists & editors:
For photos, audio clips, video material & b-roll, contact: (+39) 06 570 53625 or [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>.

Online tools:
Photos via the FAOnews Flickr account<http://www.flickr.com/photos/faonews>
FAO's online newsroom<http://www.fao.org/news/newsroom-home/en/>
RSS feed<http://www.fao.org/news/rss-feed/en/> of FAO news releases
Follow us on Twitter: @FAOnews<https://twitter.com/faonews/> | @grazianodasilva<https://twitter.com/grazianodasilva/>

This news release was issued by the Media Office at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). To unsubscribe from this news service click the link below or send an email to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> with "signoff Media-G-Eng-L" as the only text in the message body. You can also manage your subscription online, here<https://listserv.fao.org/cgi-bin/wa>. To receive news releases in plain text format rather than HTML, contact us.

FAO | Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy | (+39) 06 570 53625 | www.fao.org<http://www.fao.org>



########################################################################

To unsubscribe from the Media-G-Eng-L list, click the following link:
https://listserv.fao.org/scripts/wa-fao.exe?SUBED1=MEDIA-G-ENG-L

ATOM RSS1 RSS2