UN General Assembly
2008

intensifying vegetable production and diversifying and increasing agricultural production. We are prepared to go even further, because we must banish the spectre of hunger and malnutrition once and for all. The achievement of Millennium Development Goal 1 depends on that. Furthermore, the food crisis poses the problem of the role and place of agriculture in our economies. Rather than making us overly concerned, it should lead us to rethink that sector in order to increase its contribution to the development of our countries. The challenge of feeding a planet with a growing population is closely linked to the environmental issue and to climate change. Environmental degradation is characterized by the degradation of natural resources, including the growing water shortage, the increase in arid lands, deforestation and the effects of global warming. All these elements prevent an increase in agricultural production that could contribute to a lasting solution to the food crisis. Thus, we must do our utmost to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. That is why my country welcomes the road map