Consultative Group on Food Production and
Investment in Developing Countries

The Consultative Group on Food Production and Investment in Developing Countries (CGFPI) was also established as the result of the World Food Conference. Its purpose is to (1) encourage a larger flow of resources to developing countries for food production, (2) improve the coordination of assistance, and (3) a more effective use of resources in the developing countries. The Group consists of donor countries and institutions on a self-selected basis and recipient countries elected on a regional basis. Its informal structure is designed to foster frank exchange and dialogue on the practical issues in agricultural development. A large variety of participants, including representatives of the private sector attending as observers, were encouraged to participate in order to contribute their knowledge on specific investment subjects.

The United States attached importance to the creation and work of the CGFPI, believing that its role and structure offer a unique opportunity to examine existing practices concerning investment in food production in the developing countries and to develop a practical set of policy guidelines of value to countries. The basis for the U.S. approach was that, while improved research might bring technological breakthroughs, there was no substitute for additional investment; and that this investment should be concentrated in strategic areas, such as greater production acreage, increase in yields, fertilizer, storage facilities, and pesticides.

The Group held its first meeting in Washington in July 1975. The U.S. delegation was headed by the Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs. The discussions focused primarily on priorities in agricultural assistance to the developing countries, estimates of resource flows and related statistics, examination of production inputs, and development of a future work program. The work of the Group offered the possibility of developing a longrange strategy or doctrine dealing with investment in food production which would be of practical guidance to investment decision-makers in this field.

PROGRESS ON THE SECOND DEVELOPMENT DECADE

The comprehensive International Development Strategy for the Second UN Development Decade was adopted by the General Assembly on October 24, 1970, as a major feature of the 25th anniversary commemorative session. The Strategy provided quantitative goals, including an annual growth in GNP of 6% for the

developing countries as a whole during the decade of the 1970's, and a set of policy measures in the economic, financial, social, scientific, and technological fields. The United States participated actively in the negotiations on the International Development Strategy and supports the concept of the strategy as well as the goals. However, it expressed reservations about certain specific proposals within the strategy, including the setting of specific targets for official assistance by developed countries.

The Strategy also provided for carrying out biennial reviews and appraisals of the progress of the Decade. The review process was to identify the shortfalls in achievement and to recommend positive measures as needed. All UN agencies were requested to review progress in their respective sectors and make appropriate submissions to ECOSOC which would make an overall appraisal for consideration by the General Assembly. The first biennial review and appraisal was conducted in 1973. The second, in 1975, was to be a major mid-term review.

Mid-Term Review and Appraisal

Many bodies in the UN system undertook studies on progress within their areas of interest. However, the focus of UN attention with respect to development problems shifted to preparations for the seventh special session of the General Assembly (see p. 102), and ECOSOC's Committee on Review and Appraisal at its third session (May 12-June 6) did not arrive at any conclusions or draw up any recommendations. Various proposals before the Committee concerning the Strategy were passed on from the Committee to ECOSOC, which in turn passed them to the 30th General Assembly.

The United States, although an active supporter of the International Development Strategy, believed that the need for a detailed review had been largely overcome by the comprehensive resolution on "Development and International Economic Cooperation" adopted by the General Assembly on September 16, 1975, at the end of its special session. Nevertheless, when it became clear that many other states wished to engage in a detailed review, the United States participated fully in consideration of a lengthy draft resolution introduced in the General Assembly's Second Committee on November 7 by the Malagasy Republic on behalf of the developing countries.

In this draft the developing countries tended generally to downplay the economic progress actually achieved in the first half of the Decade. The United States and other developed countries, while acknowledging that the amount of official development assistance from the economically advanced countries had not

approached the level of 0.7% of GNP called for by the Strategy, stressed that various other targets had been They pointed out that much of the economic planning and progress foreseen during the Decade had been upset by the major change in fuel prices imposed in 1973 and 1974. Determining the degree of progress achieved was difficult because although statistics indicated that targeted rates of progress had generally been achieved by the developing countries as a whole, many individual countries lagged well behind the average. The draft resolution as originally submitted contained many elements unacceptable to the United States and other developed countries. There were references to the 1974 General Assembly resolutions concerning a "new international economic order" and the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States, on both of which the United States and other developed countries had previously recorded their reservations. There were inaccurate or pejorative references to such technical matters as progress in the multilateral trade negotiations, implementation of a generalized system of tariff preferences, the activities of transnational corporations, shipping conferences, and sovereignty over natural resources. It called for the transfer of resources to developing countries to be put on an automatic basis by (1) the creation of a link between the IMF's special drawing rights (SDR's) and additional development financing and (2) utilization of the proceeds from the exploitation of the ocean floor. Both of these issues were still being debated in other forums. In addition, there were what the United States regarded as extraneous and unacceptable references to such subjects as foreign aggression, racial discrimination, and colonialism.

The resolution also provided for the Assembly to place on the provisional agenda for its 31st session an item on the revision of the International Development Strategy. It invited ECOSOC to place the subject on its agenda for its 1976 summer session and requested other UN bodies to recommend new goals and objectives for the remainder of the Development Decade.

Day and night negotiations during the final weeks of the 30th Assembly resulted in considerable reformulation of the original draft. The Second Committee approved the resolution on December 11 at its last meeting of the 30th session by a vote of 94 to 0, with 7 abstentions (U.S.). The Assembly in plenary session adopted it on December 15 by a vote of 123 to 0, with 8 abstentions (U.S.). A number of countries voting in favor of the resolution recorded their reservations concerning some of its provisions.

Ambassador Myerson explained the U.S. vote on December 11. He declared that the document still failed

to reflect adequately important factors accounting for gains and shortfalls in the first half of the Decade. In addition, the United States had specific substantive difficulties with portions of the text. Among the propositions that were unacceptable to the United States were the invitation to developing countries to strengthen producers' associations, the invitation to accede to the code of conduct for liner conferences, the unqualified statement on the right to sovereignty over natural resources without mentioning the related international obligations that governments have freely undertaken, the references to racial discrimination and other political matters, and the linkage of SDR's to develop mental aid. However, Ambassador Myerson affirmed the continued U.S. commitment to deal with the problems of the developing world in accord with the agreed agenda for action contained in the resolution adopted by the Assembly at its seventh special session.

Other Resolutions

In addition to this major resolution, the Second Committee proposed during its consideration of the Second Development Decade, and the General Assembly adopted on December 12, four other resolutions. In the first, which was sponsored by 46 states, including the United States, and adopted without vote, the Assembly decided, on the recommendation of ECOSOC, to include Bangladesh, Central African Republic, Yemen (Aden), and Gambia in the list of "hard-core least developed countries." 13/

The second resolution, sponsored by 12 states from all areas except Western Europe and also adopted without a vote, stressed the important role that the public sector can play in promoting the economic development of developing countries and requested the Secretary General to submit to the General Assembly in 1977 a study of all available data on this subject, with a view to facilitating the exchange of information and experience among countries. Although the United States joined in the adoption by consensus of the resolution, it emphasized its view that the private sector had an equally important role in development and expressed doubts about the usefulness of the proposed study.

13/ In 1971 the General Assembly had approved a list of 25 countries that the Committee for Development Planning-24 experts appointed by ECOSOC for 3-year terms--had designated as the least developed among the developing countries. The 25 were Afghanistan, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Burundi, Chad, Ethiopia, Guinea, Haiti, Laos, Lesotho, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Sikkim, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Upper Volta, Western Samoa, and Yemen (Sana).

The

The third resolution, sponsored by nine developing countries, requested the Secretary General to submit to the Assembly in 1976 a study on ways to accelerate the transfer of real resources to developing countries "on a predictable, assured, and continuous basis," and urged the economically advanced countries to reach the target for official development assistance laid down in the International Development Strategy. resolution was approved in the Second Committee by a vote of 101 to 1 (U.S.), with 14 abstentions, and adopted by the Assembly by a vote of 112 to 1 (U.S.), with 14 abstentions. The United States voted against the resolution because it could not endorse either the various references to "the new international economic order" or the specific target set for official development assistance.

The final resolution concerned the implementation of the World Plan of Action adopted by the World Conference of the International Women's Year (see p. 217). The resolution was sponsored by 14 states, including the United States, and adopted without a vote. It affirmed that a system-wide review and appraisal of the implementation of the World Plan of Action should be undertaken as part of the review and appraisal process for the Second Development Decade, and it urged all states and relevant UN bodies to report on measures taken to implement it.