International experts attempt to extend the debate on ethics in a globalization context and agricultural intensification to public opinion

The Panel of Eminent Experts on Ethics in Food and Agriculture have celebrated their second session of meetings seeking to shed light on key questions related to ethics in matters of globalization and agricultural intensification.

The staff, created by the Director-General of the FAO, Jacques Diouf, in the year 2000 to act as consultants of the FAO in key ethics matters concerning food and agriculture, as well as to sensitize public opinion and encourage discussion on this theme, met from 18 to 22 March at the FAO headquarters in Rome to examine a series of delicate questions that should be taken into account by the FAO and by governments throughout the world while formulating agricultural and developmental policies. Notable among these issues were:

--The risks of globalization for the loss of biodiversity and the need to reconcile the needs of current generations with those of future generations.

--The responsibility of multinational corporations, with the concentration of economic power that they wield, in the persistence of food insecurity and poverty.

--The disadvantages that the economic power of rich countries implies for poor countries seeking to develop their agricultural sector.

--The evaluation of real political will to launch new initiatives for international agriculture.

The experts that met to discuss these themes started from the firm objective of submitting this debate to public opinion. As assured in one of the documents presented in the sessions: "In deciding the paths of agricultural development for the future, we must take into account the ethical obligation to establish an appropriate practical process of systematic consultation by means of public forums, representation of citizens on the boards where the policies are formulated, and greater civic education."