UN General Assembly
1974

235. As for food and the vital need for it and the fears resulting from the decrease in food production, I can say that the Preparatory Committee of the World Food Conference has paved the way for holding the Conference this November in Rome in order to deal with this vital question. The Conference may reach practical solutions, such as the establishment of special funds to finance the increase of crops, to facilitate the acquisition of fertilizers at reasonable prices and to supply high-quality seed and other practical measures. My delegation also shares the views expressed on this question by the Foreign Minister of our sister Republic of Kuwait, Mr. Al-Sabah [2249th meeting], regarding the agricultural policy followed by some developed countries which give financial subventions to farmers in return for which they refrain from cultivating large tracts of land, in order to ensure a decrease in food production and a considerable rise in prices. It is worth mentioning that the present corrective change in the price of oil is not the reason for the rise in the prices of foodstuffs and other goods. That has been substantiated by the Foreign Minister of the United Kingdom himself in his address before the General Assembly, when he said that "the unprecedented world-wide economic boom of recent years led to higher commodity prices prior to the recent increases in world oil prices". [2240th meeting, para. 219.]