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8 June 1994
Doc. 7090
1403-26/5/94-3-E
REPORT
on food and agricultural development
in the Mediterranean basin
(Rapporteur: Mr SCHEER,
Germany, Socialist Group)
Summary
Many countries in the Mediterranean region, in particular some eastern and southern Mediterranean countries, suffer from resource management policies and practices which jeopardise the agricultural production potential, fresh water resources and food security. The rapidly growing populations, urbanisation and the exclusion of women in the development process have contributed to this environmental and social degradation.
The introduction of sustainable resource management policies, including increased use of biomass, solar and wind energy would halt present degradation of renewable resources in the environment (soil, vegetation, water). Initiatives in favour of agricultural and rural development, as well as human resources development, in particular by bringing women into the development process, will improve food security, public health, social stability and the economy of countries. Closer co-operation among Mediterranean countries, as well as with other European countries, could be an important factor in promoting such development in the region.
I. Draft resolution
1. The Assembly believes that access for all to food supplies sufficient to enable people to lead active and healthy lives is a fundamental human right and that the fight against poverty is not only a moral imperative but vital for safeguarding the environment.
2. It notes that the food situation in the southern and eastern Mediterranean countries, despite this region's potential, is steadily deteriorating and that no improvement is expected by the end of the century. This situation is partly due to unsuitable development policies which have promoted economic development through industrialisation, leaving agriculture centred on a small number of export crops and making the countries concerned more vulnerable to price fluctuations on world markets. Agriculture has a crucial role to play in ensuring sustainable development and production must be geared above all to domestic needs and target foreign markets when this seems feasible.
3. There are major disparities which still exist between the countries making up the Mediterranean region with regard to agriculture, the environment, climate and public health, but Europe must, in its own interest and in that of the Mediterranean countries in difficulty, operate the principle of solidarity.
4. There can be no sustainable development without the full involvement of local communities in general, and women in particular, as they have an obvious role to play in the development process, and a fair distribution of national assets is the sole means of breaking the vicious circle of under-development by offering everyone the means to enjoy a decent life while ensuring respect for the Mediterranean environment.
5. The Assembly welcomes the initiative taken by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development in organising, in Antalya (Turkey) on 7 and 8 September 1993, the First Mediterranean Agriculture Forum, with the participation of governments, training bodies, and agricultural producers from the region.
6. It also draws attention to its Resolution 792 (1983) on Mediterranean agriculture — problems and prospects, Resolution 961 (1991) on food aid and food security policies, Resolution 979 (1992) on agriculture's contribution to enhancing energy security and saving the global environment and it invites the governments of member states, in particular those of Mediterranean countries, together with the European Commission, to open up new prospects for the agricultural sector and rural communities:
a. by fostering economic and technical co-operation between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean and between the various countries of North Africa and the Middle East so that the region as a whole may enjoy sustainable democratic and economic development that is compatible with respect for the environment;
b. by taking urgent measures to reduce pressure on natural non-renewable resources such as soil and water through rational and integrated management; food security must not be threatened by an inadequate supply and quality of soil and water resources;
c. by fostering the development of renewable energy forms as a key factor in development in southern and eastern Mediterranean countries and a means of reducing overproduction and desertification of the countryside in the region's northern countries; this strategy should also smooth the way for local development and energy self-sufficiency in these countries;
d. by attenuating demographic pressure, the consequences of which have already been spelt out in Recommendation 1164 (1991) on demographic imbalances between the countries of the Mediterranean basin;
e. by fostering access for all, particularly women, to education, information, technology and credit in order to bring about improvements in the food and social situation of local communities and encourage the sustainable use of natural resources;
f. by building up means of research and improving systems for gathering data needed for the diversification and promotion of high-quality Mediterranean agricultural produce; in this connection, it is necessary to encourage the setting up and development of intergovernmental bodies such as the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (ICAMAS) and organisations fostering co-operation between agricultural producers, such as the Mediterranean Committee of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP).
II. Explanatory memorandum
by Mr SCHEER
Contents
Page
1. Introduction 5
2. The Mediterranean/a disaster zone? 6
A. Climate 6
B. Human resources 6
C. Natural resources 7
3. Key Mediterranean issues 8
A. Agricultural production and food security 8
B. Human issues: 9
women, a factor in development
4. A Mediterranean revolution on the horizon? 10
A. The energy sector 10
B. Co-operation and international trade 11
5. Conclusion 12
1. Introduction
Although the future seemed fairly promising for North African countries when they gained independence in the 1960s, the Mediterranean basin now faces major difficulties, all of which constitute obstacles to sustainable development in the region.
While geographically so close to us, the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean have never been so far removed: there is an ever-widening gulf between the two sides and the situation seems all the more alarming in the light of forecasts for the next decade.
The economies of the region's less industrialised countries considerably deteriorated between 1980 and 1990, proving that industrialisation carried out on a massive scale at the expense of the agricultural sector had failed to promote the development of these struggling countries.
The situation is made all the more worrying by the likelihood that, between 2000 and 2025, oil-exporting countries will have to cease exports, which are sources of foreign currency and funding for development, and may even have to import oil as their stocks run dry and their own domestic consumption increases. The use of renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind power, do however open up new prospects.
North Africa and the Middle East are now second in the league table of regions receiving food aid. It is therefore worth pointing out, that any strategies aimed at sustainable development and food security — a situation in which everyone is able, economically and materially, to feed himself or herself at all times — must be based on a viable agricultural system. Agriculture is the sole means today of revitalising the countryside and slowing the pace of rural exodus, curbing excessive urban development and, in the long term, paving the way for the settlement of political and religious conflicts.
This is what made the First Mediterranean Agriculture Forum, organised by the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly1 on 7 and 8 September 1993 in Antalya (Turkey) at the invitation of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, so important and relevant.
The various debates and contributions showed that not only farming and food production but also the social and economic future of countries in the Mediterranean basin depend on the ability of societies to realise the region's full potential. As F. Braudel put it, the Mediterranean is "what mankind makes of it".
2. The Mediterranean — a disaster zone?
A. Climate
On the whole, the Mediterranean climate is characterised by a hot dry summer and mild temperatures accompanied by rainfall in winter. The region therefore has the most powerful energy source of all at its disposal: the sun. On the other hand, the irregular precipitation means that crops are never guaranteed, and its violence is liable to produce torrential flooding in a matter of hours, sometimes bringing disaster.
Yet, historically, the region has been capable of meeting human needs: many plants were acclimatised to the Mediterranean region; olivetrees, figtrees, orangetrees, tomatoes and corn were not originally present.
But any future efforts in the agricultural sector must take climatic change into account; rock paintings in Tassili (Algeria) dating from 10 to 12 000 years ago show the Sahara as grassland. Yet for the last fifteen years or so, countries in the Sahel have suffered a series of droughts that can no longer be considered as freak events. A trend towards global warming caused by the greenhouse effect will not be without implications for the Mediterranean climate. Needless to say, such climatic change will have far-reaching repercussions on agriculture and water resources in particular.
B. Human resources
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) the world's population is due to double over the next century, having reached 6 thousand million by the end of the twentieth century.
The total population of the Mediterranean basin grew by 68% between 1950 and 1985. During that 35-year period, the mean annual increase in the region's population was 1,5%, compared with 1,9% for the world as a whole.
But these overall percentages conceal disparities: growth rates for countries on the northern shores are well below those for countries on the southern and eastern shores (about 3% in these countries). The data lead us to believe that, by 2025, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Syria and Egypt will together account for 60% of the total Mediterranean population, that is twice the present figure and nearly five times the 1950 figure. So the countries on the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean should have some 380 million inhabitants by 2030, compared with 550 million for the entire Mediterranean basin.
These figures become all the more alarming given that an annual demographic growth rate of 2% entails an annual urban expansion of 4% and an 8% expansion in shanty towns. The towns resulting from the veritable "urban explosion" that has been a feature of countries on the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean (where there has been an urban growth rate of 4,5%) in the second half of the twentieth century are likely to become real social powder-kegs.
The urban population of these countries represented, on average 58% of their total population in 1989, compared with 40% in 1965. It is true that urban concentration in Africa appears relatively modest in the light of urban growth rates in western Mediterranean areas (74% in 1989 and 62% in 1980) but the underlying factors differ: urban development on the southern and eastern shores has been based on mass, uncontrolled rural exodus while economic and industrial development has been insufficient to absorb all the labour. Social structures have also been clearly inadequate for sustaining the population arriving from the countryside. Urban development has preceded industrialisation.
Although human resources are an asset in both industrial and agricultural development, this rapid urban expansion, which is, furthermore, concentrated on the Mediterranean coast, is bound to be a stumbling block for environmental protection.
All these data demonstrate the need to encourage the rural population to remain in the countryside. At present, the agricultural workforce represents over 20% of the total workforce in North African countries, except Libya, reaching 48% in Albania and 36% in Morocco; the figure is generally under 10% in Europe. Creating new roles for agriculture should help maintain or even raise these percentages despite the inevitable introduction of machinery required to increase agricultural yields.
C. Natural resources
One factor constantly crops up in the analysis of agricultural questions in the Mediterranean: the limited and fragile nature of natural resources. Yet land availability and water supplies are now the very conditions needed to develop modern agriculture.
Mediterranean soils are particularly fragile and are therefore a rare and certainly non-renewable commodity.
This means that policies must above all encourage efforts to combat soil deterioration — experience in Israel has shown that it is possible to "reclaim" unproductive land — and optimise arable land. Mediterranean countries have 800 million hectares of territory, excluding lakes and rivers (Algeria alone has 240 ha). A substantial part of this could be used for farming.
But it will be necessary to use crops and farming techniques compatible with long-term land use and favour higher-yield crops (by using biotechnology, for example, to make certain plants more resistant to drought or insects).
The second vital factor in agricultural development is an adequate supply of good-quality water.
Although the water crisis is now beginning to make itself felt on a global scale — certain French, Spanish and Italian towns have been obliged to impose temporary restrictions — there are fundamental differences between the two sides of the Mediterranean. It is clear from Mr Muller's report on "the management of water resources in relation to agriculture" (Doc. 6980) that rates of use, which are high in several North African and Middle Eastern countries, suggest poor (20% for Egypt) or even, in extreme cases (Israel, Libya, Malta), zero future availability.
Moreover, a comparison of urban and rural figures clearly reveals the imbalance in favour of conurbations. In terms of the percentage of the population with clean water supplies, it is the south and east of the region which face the most serious difficulties. With the exception of Jordan and Lebanon, between 45% and 50% of rural populations lack clean water.
Obviously, tourism and the problems it entails have a bearing on the issue of preserving the Mediterranean ecosystem. Tourism in the region, which is the world's leading tourist destination, is a major source of national revenue and employment. But the 350 million tourists are a burden on the environment, particularly along the Mediterranean coastline, where they exacerbate water consumption, waste production and pollution.
It is only through rational, integrated management of this resource that such difficulties can be overcome. This management approach is the all the more necessary as water is now coveted on all sides, in view of the constantly growing population, and agricultural, industrial and, of course, tourism needs. Risks of domestic and international conflict arising from growing demand for drinking water are already apparent.
To deal with problems linked to water management, technical institutions must be set up to foster waste reduction, the recycling of waste water and the introduction of desalination programmes. This is an emergency in a region where inadequate and erratic rainfall necessitates increasing use of irrigation.
3. Key Mediterranean issues
A. Agricultural production and food security
Although world agricultural trade enjoyed a volume increase of 6% in 1993, the share of agriculture in world trade as a whole has steadily declined over the last twenty years.
As in other regions of the world, the importance of the agricultural sector in the economy of Mediterranean countries is tending to diminish, except perhaps in Morocco, where agriculture is one of the largest budget items.
While it bears no consequences for the food situation in northern Mediterranean countries, this policy has had an appreciable impact on those in the south and east of the region. Food production, for which aid is inadequate or non-existent, now only covers a small proportion of food needs. The result is a chronic deficit: the degree of self-sufficiency in cereals in the region's low-income countries has not risen above 25% in recent years whereas it stood at 90% in the 1960s.
These countries have therefore had to import more — with a population of 26 million, Algeria is the developing world's biggest food importer — and resort to food aid systems — Egypt receives the most supplies, followed by Tunisia and Morocco. In eastern Europe, Albania is one of the main beneficiaries of world food aid. At present every other calorie consumed by these countries is imported and the Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that by the year 2000, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Syria will still be food importers, particularly where cereals are concerned.
Obviously, demographic variation will be the most decisive factor in overall demand for food. However, the food needs of a rapidly expanding population increase at a rate with which agricultural progress can never keep pace. While it is true that a substantial proportion of agriculture in the Mediterranean basin has been modernised and intensified since the 1970s, growth in means of production is still very unevenly spread. Yields in the less industrialised countries remain low. However, yield increases, both achieved and anticipated thanks to distinct improvements in the areas of irrigation and biotechnology, suggest that food self-sufficiency in the countries which still import food should progress.
The First Mediterranean Agriculture Forum clearly highlighted the necessity of striking a new balance between production for domestic needs and production for foreign needs. Both are conditions for development: production for local consumption must enhance the incomes of rural communities; production for foreign markets represents a source of foreign currency and is vital to domestic demand, without which agricultural production cannot progress.
B. Human issues: women, a factor in development
Progress has been made in education and health. Infant mortality has fallen by 110% since 1965. But there is still a gulf between the two sides of the Mediterranean: sixty-nine out of every 1 000 live-born babies die in the south as opposed to eight in the western Mediterranean area and ten in eastern Mediterranean countries. Demographic growth, on the other hand, is still too rapid.
Even though people are at last aware of the need for birth control, the fertility rate exceeds 3,5 in the southern Mediterranean countries — except in Tunisia — reaching 5,2 in Libya and 5,4 in Algeria, while it remains below 2 on northern shores.
The objective of an annual demographic growth rate less than or equal to 2% can only be achieved by promoting the role of women in North African and Middle Eastern societies.
Since their active participation in the development process is crucial to the success of sustainable development, it is high time to improve the situation of these women. They must henceforth be given a role in keeping with their role of mother (education) and producer. It is acknowledged that women are responsible for a very substantial part of agricultural production. It is regrettable that there are no statistics to back this up and that their work, for which they receive little or no payment, is not taken into account in any economic data.
In the circumstances, it is a question of:
—sa feguarding the health of women and ensuring their protection;—
—im proving the level and quality of education for women. Nearly 40% of the Arabo-Mediterranean population is illiterate (43% in Algeria and 52% in Egypt in 1990); obviously, the rate is far higher among women. Better education would certainly result in the birth of fewer children, and those children would enjoy better health and education. Moreover, women would put natural resources to better use and be less dependent on them for their income;—
—he lping women take a different view of themselves and their social and economic role by stressing the value of the work they perform, often in very difficult conditions.In
Investing in human beings is, like improving the status of women, a frequently voiced objective of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
The furthering of knowledge and improved systems of education and training are the most effective and least costly means of improving productivity. No development of the Mediterranean region is possible if humans and society are sacrificed, respectively, on economic and technological grounds. This is why, again, local communities — the women and men who produce and the organisations they operate — must be involved in the activities carried out and the decisions taken by political powers.
4. A Mediterranean revolution on the horizon?
A. The energy sector
The overall energy consumption of the Mediterranean basin countries has shown spectacular growth since the end of the second world war. At present, the growth of consumption in the northern countries is tending to level off or even decrease, while it continues apace in the southern and eastern countries.
On both sides of the Mediterranean, oil remains the prime source of energy, although wood still plays a major role in certain rural areas of the region's less well-off countries. Europe remains highly dependent, therefore, on oil imports. The dwindling income from oil is now resulting in a refocusing of Mediterranean energy policy.
Replacing oil products with agricultural produce would not pose any major technological or industrial problems. Even the argued relative cost of using renewable energy sources is no real obstacle: once social and environmental costs are taken into account, these energy forms appear genuinely competitive.
Yet despite estimates that the world's renewable energy potential would be equivalent to global energy consumption and the undeniable environmental advantages, energy forms such as geothermal energy, wind power, biomass energy and solar energy, which generate occasional interest, are having great difficulty in gaining acceptance. The fall in oil prices has acted as brake on research and development efforts in most countries.
A key factor in development for some, a solution to the problems of overproduction for others, renewable energy forms could be introduced and exploited on a large scale, for many reasons.
It is time that sufficient effort and adequate resources were devoted to looking for the new options needed for the future. Already, solar energy can make a useful contribution, particularly in the rural world, in the case of scattered dwellings and for irrigation purposes. But if it is to be used on a scale that would be significant in terms of energy needs, dynamic policies are required.
This will be "revolutionary", because this energy will be produced on a local, decentralised basis, generating new jobs and additional income; "revolutionary" because these new energy forms will make it possible to develop new techniques for purifying and desalinating water.
"Revolutionary" because these forms of energy are to serve as a basis for sustainable development: "revolutionary" because energy can become one of the linchpins of a new process of co-operation and co-development; "revolutionary" because funds not spent on purchasing other energy sources can be more directly used for development; "revolutionary" because the proper use of these energy sources, labour and land — as a support for wind power for example — will make it possible to produce equipment for both domestic use and export sales, which in turn will finance the import of foodstuffs.
B. Co-operation and international trade
The participants in the First Mediterranean Agriculture Forum constantly stressed the need to do away with the current atmosphere of competition between Mediterranean basin countries.
Only increased co-operation will make it possible to diversify production, develop technology transfer and step up investment in research. Concerted action by Mediterranean states will smooth the way for stronger environment policies and above all for their integration into development policies.
Northern Mediterranean countries have everything to gain from placing new emphasis on trade with the south, given the potential market at stake. As far back as 1980, the Brandt Commission was vigorously championing the idea of north-south economic and political interdependence, pointing out that the south suffered from the recession affecting the north but the north's recovery would be hampered by stagnation in the south.
But today, Europe's attitude is still a contradiction in terms: the authorities in Brussels acknowledge that Europe must find solutions guaranteeing the level of trade with southern and eastern Mediterranean countries but, at the same time, they must contend with the protectionist logic sown by the CAP.
Contradictions of this nature, equally present in the GATT negotiations, accentuate the south's feeling of exclusion. The interests of these countries must not be overlooked, particularly in sectors such as agriculture, which are so vital to them.
Although the outlook for foreign agricultural trade is uncertain as growth slows in industrialised countries, agreements can help short-circuit breaks between north and south, foster complementarity and concerted efforts and make European enlargement a fairer deal for southern and eastern Mediterranean countries.
There are already examples of co-operation along these lines. The Rapporteur is pleased to note the setting up of a Mediterranean Committee within the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP), which gives its members the opportunity to discuss and plan new forms of co-operation. In the field of agricultural training, the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (ICAMAS) can play a major role and become a genuine instrument of co-operation over rural and agricultural development in all countries.
It would be advisable, however, to ensure that exchange and co-operation is developed solely between north and south. Israel's changing relationship with its neighbours provides further encouragement for closer links between the various countries on the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean. There are still major disparities in income between these countries, which can only be evened out through greater co-operation.
5. Conclusion
There is nothing to decree that the world should be divided into rich and poor or developed and under-developed regions. If the Mediterranean is to recover the unity that is a logical consequence of its geography and history, all the parties involved must play a role in the protection and safety of its waters, its peace and economic development. They must all work towards extending the hold of democracy in the Mediterranean region.
If there is no economic development in the region's less industrialised countries, immigration may well become, ahead of internal migration and migration abroad, the main bone of contention in Euro-Maghreb relations. As Alfred Sauvy put it, if wealth does not come to men, men will go where the wealth is.
The First Mediterranean Agriculture Forum highlighted the ability of Mediterranean agriculture to provide food for the region's population while respecting the environment — on condition, obviously, that demographic growth remains stable.
Clearly, food security can only be achieved if the following points receive special attention:
—th e preservation of water and soil resources. Pressure must be taken off the environment so that people in general and agriculture in particular have an adequate supply of clean water and the necessary land for their activities. Through the use of biotechnology, for example, it is possible to conserve or make optimal use of the region's natural resources, such as vegetation.—
—th e training, information and participation of local communities must be promoted. Women in particular must be fully involved in the measures to be implemented. The available labour force must, especially in rural areas, be considered as a prerequisite for progress — an asset without which nothing could be achieved. Above all, communities must be given the scope and the means to accomplish their development themselves and to construct genuinely democratic societies.—
—th e need to set other objectives for agriculture and target other sources of income. Even though the Mediterranean ecosystem has undergone substantial artificial change and damage as a result of human activity over the centuries, new vistas are now opening up to Mediterranean agriculture. They include production in areas other than food, and other non-food activities such as the development of non-renewable energy forms (biomass, solar energy, wind farms) and eco-tourism.—
—fi nally, concerted intergovernmental action and comparisons of experiences by professionals are necessary to achieve sustainable development as part of an integral approach. The counter-productive competition which typifies the Mediterranean basin must be stopped. Co-operation in technology and research, already initiated by ICAMAS and the Mediterranean Committee of IFAP, would make it possible to redress the balance between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean.Re
Reporting committee: Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.
Budgetary implications for the Assembly: none.
Reference to committee: Doc. 6834 and Reference No. 1869 of 5 June 1993.
Draft resolution adopted unanimously by the committee on 6 May 1994.
Members of the committee: MM. Scheer (Chairman), Sipos, van der Linden (Vice-Chairmen), Mrs Anttila, MM. Bernardini, Bühler, Mrs Burbiene, MM. de Carolis (Alternate: Ferrari), Cerny, Couveinhes, Deasy, Figel (Alternate: Rybansky), Goerens, Granstedt, Gunnarsson, Hansen, Holte, Sir Ralph Howell, MM. Iuliano, Jeambrun, Kiratlioǧlu, Lanner, Lord Mackie of Benshie, MM. Mändmets, Mannino, Metelko, Michels, Ottenbourgh, Pirinski (Alternate: Draguiev), Pizzo (Alternate: Rubner), Rodrigues, Roger, Roman, Seiler, Smolarek, Jack Thompson, Vella, Vrettos.
N.B. The names of those members present at the meeting are printed in italics.
Secretary to the committee: Mr Lervik.
1 1In conjunction with the Mediterranean Committee of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP), the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (ICAMAS) and the European Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity (North-South Centre) of the Council of Europe.