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Annual Development Cooperation Conference

Some selected photographs from the Annual Conference
 Friday, 20 August 2010 Messe Basel
Galerie

Opening of the Annual Conference: Hunger is not inevitable
Speech of Federal Councillor Micheline Calmy-Rey (fr/de)

Facts&Figures (German)
 
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Videos: Focus on production
Videos: Focus on trade
Videos: Focus on the consumer

Today, food production and supply are highly globalized. Indeed, this situation presents developing countries with new challenges, yet at the same time provides them with new opportunities.

The challenges
More than a billion human beings throughout the world are at present suffering from hunger. Despite some spotty progress, the international community is still far from the goal of halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015. The number of people who do not have enough to eat is at present still on the increase. The causes for this can be attributed to the food and financial crises, along with the rising prices for foodstuffs, energy, and fertilizer. These crises were in part triggered by speculative transactions with food products on the world market. Climate change has led to an additional deterioration of the situation.

The opportunities
In the domain of globalized agriculture, production can be boosted by linking up traditional knowledge with applied research that takes into consideration the needs of the South. Trade makes it possible for producers in developing countries to diversify their range of products and to increase their income. The additional integration of smallholder agricultural production into the global market can contribute to the fight against poverty and to sustainable economic growth.

This year’s edition of the Swiss Annual Development Cooperation Conference takes up urgent questions concerning the configuration of the global food system. How can food security be achieved? How can developing counties better profit from the globalized food system? What can Switzerland, i.e., not only via its public development cooperation, but also through its private actors, contribute to make this happen?

Additional Information and Documents