A/RES/64/197
Comprehensive Framework for Action 7 that it produced, specifically its call for
increased investments in the development of agricultural technology as well as the
transfer and use of existing technologies, as appropriate, especially for smallholder
farmers as a means to achieve global food security and poverty reduction,
6F
Recalling the World Summit on Food Security convened by the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome from 16 to 18 November
2009, and stressing the vital role of international cooperation in advancing and
implementing agricultural technologies,
Welcoming the commitment by the Group of Eight and more than twenty-five
countries and organizations in the Joint Statement on Global Food Security, adopted
in L’Aquila, Italy, on 10 July 2009, 8 towards the goal of mobilizing 20 billion
United States dollars over three years focused on sustainable agriculture
development,
7F
Reaffirming its commitment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals,
and recognizing the beneficial impact that the adoption of agricultural technologies
can have for the achievement of those goals, including for eradicating extreme
poverty and hunger, empowering women and ensuring environmental sustainability,
Concerned by the slow progress so far in achieving the above-mentioned
goals, in particular by the fact that Africa remains the only continent currently not
on track to achieve any of the goals of the United Nations Millennium Declaration 9
by 2015, and recognizing the need to intensify the efforts of the international
community in its attempt to reach the internationally agreed development goals,
including the Millennium Development Goals,
8F
Acknowledging the importance and the potential of smallholder farmers in
increasing agricultural production, achieving economic growth and reducing poverty,
Stressing the critical role of women in the agricultural sector and their
contribution to enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security
and eradicating rural poverty, and underlining further the fact that meaningful
progress in agricultural development necessitates a focus on supporting and
empowering women,
Acknowledging the role and work of civil society in furthering progress in
developing countries, in promoting the use of sustainable agricultural technology
and the training of smallholder farmers, in raising awareness and in the provision
and dissemination of information,
Aware that the world financial and economic crisis, in addition to other global
challenges, has a negative impact on food security and development, specifically in
the agricultural sector, thereby negatively impacting the most vulnerable groups and
potentially setting back progress made in achieving the Millennium Development
Goals,
Considering the increasing need to innovate in agriculture and food production
in order to respond to the challenges posed by, inter alia, climate change, depletion
and scarcity of natural resources, urbanization and globalization, and recognizing
that sustainable agricultural technologies can greatly contribute to the adaptation of
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7
Available from www.un.org/issues/food/taskforce/cfa.shtml.
Available from www.ifad.org/events/g8.
9
See resolution 55/2.
8
2