Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Holy See UN Permanent Observer: Agriculture

INVESTING IN SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE PROGRAMMES

VATICAN CITY, 21 MAY 2008 (VIS) - On 16 May, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations in New York, pronounced a discourse during the 16th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development of the U.N. Economic and Social Council.
"Investing in long-term and sustainable agriculture programmes at the local and international levels remains central to the development prospects of so many", he said in his English-language remarks. "This investment must be done in a way that addresses the prices of food commodities as well as the distribution and production of food around the world, in particular in Africa".

Noting the fact that "seventy percent of the world's poor live in the same rural areas where widespread chronic malnourishment continues to persist" archbishop Migliore explained that this "illustrates that in addressing sustainable development we must continue to focus not merely upon those who consume food commodities but also upon those who produce it.

"Greater investment in small-holder farmers which enables them to increase production in a sustainable manner would provide an important element to addressing the continued presence of chronic hunger and malnourishment in certain regions", he concluded.
DELSS/SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT/U.N.:MIGLIORE VIS 080521 (200)

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