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17t1 McDOUGALLMEMORIALLECTURE

Jacques ..At

Food and Agriculture Organizationof the United Nations

President of the European Bankfor Reconstruction and Development

Rome9 November 1991

17th iiïcI)OUGALLID I1-AL

LECTURE

JPresident c

for Reconstrug,

ovemb 27:

European Banknd Develv lment

Food and Agriculture Organizationof the United Nat:,--7c

e

Earth:the first wanderer

Mr Chairman,Mr Director-GeneralYour Excellencies,

es and Gentlemen,

I am pleased and of course very honoured to address such aneminent assembly. Few places in the world are soemblematic of mankind's efforts to meet, to reach anunderstanding, and together to try to forge a world of peace,balance, justice and brotherhs e. Allow me, as the head of avery young international organization (barely six months ofage) to pay my respects, with gratitude and a touch of envy,to this older organization whose role in remoulding theconscience of the world is so enormously important. Andmay I also pay my respects to FAO's Director-General,without whom ali this would be inconceivable. You haveindeed succeeded in surmounting considerable financial andpolitical difficulties to develop and strengthen a vitalinternational organization which I see it every day in myown sphere of acdon has been able to catalysedevelopment, to conceive the future and to serve as a sourceof invaluable expertise.

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Europe, which is my special interest, is of course neitherAfrica, nor Latin A erica, nor Asia, and it has its ownspecific problems. I am very aware of the fact that feedingpeople is, today more than ever, the top priority ofdevelopment in Eastern Europe, which has been devastatedby five centuries (and not the oft-cited half a century) ofauthoritarian rule. Immense errors were committed becauseindustry was given priority over agriculture, because it wasthought that one could develop a social system founded ondictatorship, and because it was believed that progress was aninherent concomitant of history and that therefore theindividual could justifiably be overlooked.

Today everything has to be rebuilt from scratch. It is nodoubt towards Rome that Europe as a continent and EasternEurope in particular will have to turn for the necessaryexpertise.

I have every intention of maldng the new European Bank aprime user of FAO's expertise. But here, of course, I amspeaking in a personal capacity, and I should like to mentionsome of the key issues at stake. Despite the prevailing senseof euphoria, and unless the international agencies areconsiderably streng,thened in the short time left before thetum of the century, we are courting irreversible planetarycatastrophe. I believe that never before has a generation ofleaders been faced with so many fundamental decisions,decisions that will set the course not only of this generation'sfuture but that of the entire planet. Never before have weskirted such awesome catastrophes in S'uch a deceptivelylight-hearted atmosphere. Never has success or failure been

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so closely tied to the ability of all peoples and of a handful ofleaders to agree, in solidarity, to perceive the planet as oneearth and to harness its resources without depleting them.Understandably, euphoria does reign in some parts of theworld. The great East-West conflict seems to be abating,world peace is apparently a reality, talk of disarm. ent iseverywhere; a great many countries have achievedimpressive growth and some have doubled their averageincome in a decade. World trade has boomed in the last 20years (growing twice as fast as production, according to somestatistics), but we should not let this conceal the immenseproblems that remain.

Over one billion people, one-fifth of the world'spopulation, have less than one dollar a day on which to live.Drought gains ground, the gap between North and Southyawns ever wider and war is not a thing of the past. Since1960, at least 20 million people have died in so-called "civilwars" a tragic misnomer: what can be civil about a war,when war is nothing but violence and barbarism? And wars,the prime cause of hunger in the world, far from fading away,are on the increase. The proliferation of arms and theproliferation of violence have not slowed down either, despitethe end of the ideological conflict between East and West.And even in the self-confident North, so sure of its ownvalues, growth has not wiped out injustice and poverty,growth has not seen the rise of civilized urban societies,growth has not seen the emergence of hope-inspiring values.It has instead witnessed an upsurge of suicide and oblivion inthe form of drugs, the major indication today that ourcivilization is in danger.

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Across the face of the earth growth advances in force, tothe detriment of the globe, as we all kno.i. We here areparticularly aware of the fact that the greenhouse effect and itsaggravation produce a string of consequences whose impactwill be lethal if not stopped in time. The earth's temperaturewill rise by three degrees, some say seven, wi the spaceof a century. The ocean levels will rise significantly withdisastrous consequences for the overpopulated deltas of theNile, the Rhine, the Ganges and the lc ,.!_ong. The fertileplains of North A enea will dry up. The southern shores ofthe Mediterranean will become unfarmable. We have alreadyseen carbon dioxide levels in the Ei--Ka-; tere climb from 275in 1860 to 375 today, and perhaps tc ", 'L 50 years ifnothing is done. We have seen the ozone layer considerablyreduced each year. We have watched the biodiversity of ourgenetic heritage shrink. Today 30 cultivated species supply90 percent of our food; this is a massive reduction in thegenetic diversity of which we are the heirs and which is oursto bequeath. Of the estimated five million plant and . 'malspecies to which Earth is home, 30 Ut to 50 000 are said tovanish every year, particularly in the tropical forests.Roughly 40 million hectares, about 5 percent of the world'stropical forest cover, disappear every year. And so, in thename of this ephemeral thing called growth, we destroy thisirreplaceable thing which is our heritage.

Our thinking on development has undeniably evolvedgreatly in the last 40 years. There have been successes andthere have been failures, but the problems have led tounderstanding and expertise, and though some questionsremain unanswered, certain matters are fairly well under

5

control. In any case, most of the absolute convictions havedisappeared. Until faiiiy recently it was thought (and some ofthe countries gathered here today still ) that successfuldevelopment comes fron-i forceful government, and fromhyperindustrializalion financed by taxes on agriculture andbacked by industrial protectionism. In Eastem Europe, as inmost countries in other parts of the world, such doctrineshave not stood the test of time. Dictatorial regimes corruptinnovation, hype dustrialism stifles agriculture andprotectionism stunts development. It seems to me that twonew absolute conviciions are dawning today but, thoughessential, I do not ccI ihat they are themselves sufficient toimplement balanced and sustainable development. 'These twonew convictions are that democracy is necessary, and that themarket economy is necessary.

In the new institution placed under my care, we see forthe first time an international treaty stating that democracyis a value in its own right that needs to be promoted, that theinstitution is not only charged with helping its members tointegrate within the European Economic Community (EEC)but also with fostering their democratic development, in thebelief that the two are inextricably linked. Democracy is notto be dependent upon sanctions, but assistance is to beconditional upon scope for democratic development. This iswhy the institution which I represent has to take a stand, ashas the EEC, with respect to one European country which isoffering the rest of the world a tragic example of violence andcivil war.

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It is generally accepted that civil and political liberties arethe keystone of economic growth. A dictatorship offers thefu I panoply of state control (such as the granting of licences)which fosters corruption and waste, retards development,suppresses any freedom to create or to innovate, andencourages the theft of innovations. Undeniably, democracycannot alone guarantee development, reforms are alwaysenacted to the detriment of vested interests, and democraticrule does generate reluctance on the part of politicians tomake difficult decisions. Undeniably, the necessary macro-economic stabilization always implies increasedunemployment, at least in the short term, and the democraticgovernments that lack the courage to undertake such reformsare always, of course, at fault.

Some people in the Third World are anxious aboutdemocratic principles, as defined in Europe, and marketeconomy principles, aliso defined in Europe, being imposed asWestern values which are essentially geared towardspromoting Western interests, whatever their original intent.I personally can understand this reaction but I do believe that,while the theories of democracy and the market economy areundeniably of European origin, or rather of Eurasian origin,both values are today indispensable. In any case, the largecountries of the Third World, or those countries in the ThirdWorld that have already blended these two values to theirsatisfaction, have managed to place them within a meaningfulcontext, meaningful, in fact, beyond what Europe will oneday call "community democracy". I shall come back to thispoint.

As I mentionpinciple of growL__

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petition is itself f entab domesticcon-, -on of but zisa and above all international

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non-tariff 1-,

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You, bei _ne, know ho'..-7 uationis with respect 1 e. Fromagricultural subsidies grew in the United States, Canada,Japan and the EEC, and are now even larger in some of thesecountries. The number of claims presented by Australia,Co-tr the EEC and the Ull i,CA States on the grounds of

rights and anii- griping laws has more thane mings lost to the develop

countries thrc-y,,1 Northern policies wereestimated a few years ago at 1 billion dollars, which is

de equivalent c;!- all official aid to developmentgranied by the OECD countries.

I often say that there is no point in helping the EasternEuropean countries to build an infrastructure and to secure the

rfion of imports

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non-tarifffficial statis

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!hat 21 -om developing couniries were

in the strict sense of the word,as increased since then.

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ieans o of pay-;:ents if, in the long run,products ca ct ic e:Torted to ist of Europe. It

would be somewhat hypocritical to piivatize their economieslien bar their access to the internatiaal market. And

valid for Eastern Europe is ndj valid for theJill, all the more so in that consumeL, in the industria1i7,ed

countries will in the 1oj L-an, have an expay for )rotectionism: Hgher prices, n.ecEcpoorly directed resu...!:,-ce: and unacceptably large

surpluses. The whole thing is senseless. The industrializedcountries musitrade resti4,_c

allowed to f

9

refore have. the courage to dismantle ;_*_leir

In particular, the Uruguay Round c bee stakes are too high, not only in the

Jicultural sector but also in trade in manufacturedL llectual property rights, foreign investments, services and

like.

From this persctive, regional agreements are essendaland extremely I particularly welcome what iscurrently taking filuce in each of the rn.ajor continents. In

1-1 Á erica, the agreement that is . ginning to binde U:-.1Lf.;c: States of Arnel*-2 _ I Mexico i3 a

wciiderful opp,--iliA.Aity for their expa....ion and growth and for

i. Dftheir íu partners. In the Cor,r.icn:.et ad 12. 7.7» s have shown how unity,

and the of frontim can f-2z,.Dwth. I belie-le, howe-ier, that this will all be to no avail,

we go further and create what Ii? as a c , c- ).n market which_will soon

I h 35 to 3 countries-that currently makeand that all have the full, equal and

4e right to be: ,of course, world

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The state must also playinstitutions that will make possi:sector. Without a stro - state, marketnothing but a black et ec- . Withoa competitive economy bec9mes an econccorruption and violence.abides by the law of the junde and perpetrainjustice. It is also the duty of thr; state to org.funding of education, infrastni.ci!., poverty reliefpopulation control and environnIclital protection. ÁC lo C 0

this, as I said earlier, it needs tax revenue and savings. Onlya strong and democratically governed State is in a position todetermine the rules of ownership, to establish iical,

the economy

11

judicial and regulatory -;z-fis, and to create

for a competitive economy. In my oniniorpriority for gove entS must bef nothirlg can be JTer developec

v -:-.Ner culture, wiut education. 0

r..oved statistically bif, in any 11 da cnate that af educic_ !--sults rowt17 Lhat

Leen sfyr=ger in con here the level ofeducati : has been raised. Foi- my part, I would say thateduca is the key to developmer Fr'ctoras in oft . Education is the insti- , ver,which enab. yield to be iricrea.ed.

role of the state is to pvide cial solidarit:7part' with regard to the pc 7.. linemplcfor w1out such solidarity the very xistence of the freersket economy, and democracy itself, would be -5nto

That is why I believe that a market econon7 andCeznocracy are only me. *ngful within the context of acommunity This has perhaps been bettersafeguarded in Africa and Asia than in the industrializedNorth, and perhaps it can be shaped along n-107C, GUstainablelines by blending the perceptions of the North with those ofthe South.

Finally, the state's role is to protect the environrrient, to fixthe price of commodities and raw materials, to establish aclear law on property, and to operate efficient systems oftaxation and population control. Investment in new forms ofproduction can be effective only where the state has realpower. In sum, democracy and the market economy are

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necessary but I strongly believe that they c. ot inthemselves be said to constitute social values becausedemocracy and the market economy are practices, not values.They are practices that pave the way for values such asliberty, creativity, social justice and a sense of responsibility.But they are also practices with deeply ingrained dangers, forboth democracy and the market economy are founded on thevindication of replaceability. Whoever upholds the marketeconomy also upholds the right to topple its leaders. In otherwords, both vindicate the fleeting, the temporary; byfavouring replaceability they both undermine durability. Yetwe need to view democracy and the market economy in amore long-term perspective if we are to protect them,particularly as, from a cultural and technological point ofview, we are now entering a period that is universallyconditioned by a growing tendency towards what I call"nomadism".

I should like to draw your attention, as agricultural leaders,to the fact that although for some mille 'a now people havebeen sedentary, before that they wandered the earth as

nomads. I personally believe that people are by and largereassuming the nomadic state: first, because democracy isbased on freedom of movement; second, because a freemarket is itself founded on movement and migration; andfinally, because large human fluxes, in obeyance of the twoprinciples of the market economy and democracy, are seekingfood and wealth where these are easier to obtain through theirwork, and also because modem industrial producon isoverwhelmingly geared towards portable (that is, nomadic)goods, which are drastically altering both agriculture andindustry.

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That is why I think it is particularly portant today toaddress issues fm the global lyr_Tr., y_Iive. You know better

.rst wanderer is the earth itselfhe i !--/erse and that it needs to be protected

_...tured for future generations. This can only be done inoui time b:, the -tional institutions, for they alone are

sustainability as a value. They alone are in aJotect democracy and the rm., -,7-t economy by

a more Inging vision in a position to createefer,uary. I dream of the day when

:Tatically etthshed international institutions, such ase within the United Nations system, will have realion-making powers in areas vital to the survival of the

race areas that are not too numerous but that, ifwill be lastingly and irretrievably destroyed by this

cion of the fleeting that underpins modem society.Thr; mational institutions, and particularly FAO, musttoday um their attention to these few basic areas withoutwhich life cannot go on.

Some organizations are already engaged in defining the1-:,:rnan heritage. I myself believe that thought and reflectionare needed in at least five areas:

n art, where Unesco has already begun to work thoughthis is apparently not enough to stop the bombs nowfalling on Dubrovnik and other places.Forests, which are already receiving the attention of FAOa_nd other bodies, as was recently shown by the WorldForestry Congress in Paris, and where binding decisionsare clearly needed.

CC7"' Aictl

of aL, dru n tincierstan-

void of idealsmYj. is becom

pOple, no long 1- have anyY.he drug caaels rio7.1

Ur the oil inGf and I huno

ad _sz,:s the iss so that one day'', riceItroughout tL, work.

1 community, asneee conceitedly is that of

mg. . .-;e is th source ofy ircuous gica.7.. .:a7:7e thai:

-ranging implications. Genetic adv.mces, ichstarted in Li}.-e, are leading to the thaJ.7.',.-ifacture, first

of plant species, then, of animal species, and tomorrow ofhuman ùoings, like industrial products. Species arepatented and life becomes an artefact, a mass-vu'uc d

14

The suns :sector, which is a daily teat to n_Only ie internal :rg. .za one d . soonI hope be 9)-_Nle. dev'!ront and devele-

;ondi countries i th the rTth anscouig

an inncva:cry oppot-tur±cooperation.An area where I believe the international orge zationsneed to have genuine worldwide authority is the drugtrc.., The dn,,c_ phenomenon emb2dies z-11 the

Crit tc

-oritable

15

object which itself produces mass-produced g s.ere will all this end? o will be the patent holder?at will be the rights of the new species? How far will

we be allowed to go in transforrning the animal world, ininventing plant life and in creating human beings? owill ban clone products? I think that it is up to theinternational organizations to consider the issue todaybefore the market economy lays its hands on these thingsand turns them into objects that are clinically deadbecause they have been irretrievably endowed withmarket value.

The end of the cold war and of ideological conflict doesnot mean that we have a world without rivalry or threat: onthe contrary. In a world without dreams, models or utopias,each of us has gone back to such basic items as food, clothingand transportation. Rivalries are today far greater than theywere because our desires are once more identical, and thisleads us to vie for material things and:to harbourtechnological and racial hostility. We can all sense that thehuman race, which only lives and prospers from itsdifferences, is running the risk of destroying itself.

The problem however is that we have today some 2 000ethnic groups in the world but fewer than 200 nations, andless than 200 territories. There will therefore be a need forcompromise which can be reached only when we haveunderstood that diversity draws its sustenance from the largerwhole.

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I should like to suggest that you, in your capacity asagricultural leaders, have a particular role to play in thisregard and that you should, I believe, enlighten leaders inother fields concerning three values that have becomesomewhat neglected in our increasingly urban, rootless andindividualistic societies.

The sedentary farmer knows that there will be no harvestwithout seeds, no food without savings. The nomadic herderknows that a flock has to be tended. The forest dweller, bothnomadic and sedentary, knows that there will be no woodwithout saplings and that herders and farmers are both alliesand enemies, to be reconciled only, according to a greatIndian philosopher, after seven generations.

You, as authorities, know that only the long term hasvalidity in an ephemeral world. You alone may be able tohelp policy-makers to fulfil their long-term role. The threekey words for forward-looking policy-makers are: saving,safeguarding and foreseeing. But they cannot play their roleunless measures are taken to delegate authority to theorganizations that are in a position to ensure respect for thesanctuary that I mentioned before.

After all, the most important works of art were those ofnomadic wanderers anxious to leave their mark on eternity,and the greatest work of art is clearly life.

In his book The teachings of Don Juan: a Yaqui way ofknowledge, the American anthropologist, Carlos Castaneda,recounts the wisdom of the Yaqui Indians who believe that

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human beings confront four successive enemies in their lives.The first is fear; the fear of not having enough to eat and ofnot being able to grow and develop. The Yaqui sage statesthat once human beings have overcome this fear they meet asecond enemy: power. They fear power not because theyhave none, but because power confuses and menaces thosewho hold it. When human beings have overcome the fear ofpower they are faced by a third enemy: clearsightedness.

en they know that they can overcome poverty and hunger,when they know that power is relative, they are at the mercyof the mastery of knowledge and science, which can destroyeverything including the planet itself, en human beingscan come to terms with knowledge they meet their fourthenemy: death, whose inevitable victory they can onlypostpone.

I think that today we need to leam to fear death from theexercise of power.

W/Z80 50/E