ON THE eve of the new millennium, more than 800 million people are chronically undernourished, 20 per cent of the population of developing countries is hungry, arable land and water availability per capita are diminishing, while the biodiversity essential to agriculture worldwide is threatened by the dwindling diversity of animal and plant species.
Put simply, on the brink of the 21st century, humanity is facing one of the greatest potential calamities of all time, a world food crisis. With the Earth's population expected to increase by 50 per cent to a staggering 8.8 billion by the year 2030, it is by no means certain that man will be able to produce enough food to feed the world.
Food security is the central theme at this week's first United Nations World Food Summit. It is being held at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome and is due to be formally opened this morning by Pope John Paul II. President Fidel Castro of Cuba, the Chinese Prime Minister, Mr Li Peng, President Suharto of Indonesia, and the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, on behalf of both Ireland and the EU, are among world leaders heading 173 national delegations at a summit which will conclude with a "Rome Declaration and Plan of Action".
Inevitably, the agenda at this five-day summit is wide-ranging, including topics such as agricultural planning; the prevention of land degradation; efficient marketing, processing and distribution of food; acquaculture and fishing; the role of women in farming in the developing world; water scarcity; forest ecosystems; and agricultural research.
For the last six months, some 440 delegates from 137 countries have been involved in the preparation of the plan of action, consulting with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), other UN agencies, intergovernmental organisations, the private sector and research institutions.
When delegates have sifted through the avalanche of grim statistics and forecasts, they will be left with one very basic question: how can the world best plan in order to feed an extra three billion people by the year 2030 without at the same time destroying the Earth's ecosystem? Just to maintain the current world food availability will require a 75 per cent increase in supplies. Ironically, the current plight of starving refugees in eastern Zaire may well concentrate the minds of the world's leaders and food planners in Rome. Many leaders are expected to make the point that, without political stability, food and agriculture planning becomes highly problematic.
Unusually for a UN summit, the final document, the plan of action, has already been agreed with delegates last week, resolving outstanding problems on controversial issues such as the impact of trade, population growth and conflict prevention on food security.
The World Food Summit ends on Sunday.