Report by FAO's Mission to Greece

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 75, Issue 1, 15 July 1947, Page 15

Report by FAO's Mission to Greece

By

J. V. WHITE,

Investigating

Officer, Rural Development Division, Wellington.

IN an article on the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation in the February “Journal” reference was made to a special mission sent at the request of the Greek Government to give expert advice on a general programme of agricultural rehabilitation and reconstruction. Recently FAO published a full account of this mission’s work and a report of the recommendations made. This article, summarising that report, gives , some idea of the task undertaken and illustrates one of the many methods by which FAO will be of inestimable value to the backward countries.

'T’HE mission consisted of technical authorities on all branches of agriculture and on fisheries and forestry from the United States of America, Britain, and France. Work was begun in May, 1946, and continued throughout June and July of that year. The report is divided into two main sections, the first containing recommendations for dealing with the immediate problems facing the Greek Government, and the second and more detailed section presenting a comprehensive, long-range plan for Greek agriculture and development generally. - Food Supplies Most important of the immediate problems is, of <’ course, the food shortage. To cope with this it is suggested that through the 1947 crop year the Government continue an agricultural programme with maximum emphasis on food production for direct human consumption,; bread and other rationing to be continued and the feeding of coarse grains to livestock to be reduced to a minimum. Coupled with this is the continuation of the special feeding programmes initiated by UNRRA, which represents one of the greatest successes of that organisation. These programmes for school meals and for milk and other supplementary foods for babies, pregnant women, and mothers have yielded an enormous improvement in the physical condition of Greek children. Financial Support An integral problem in the recommendations is that of obtaining the

necessary funds. At present it appears that UNRRA food shipments to Greece will end during 1947. Therefore it is recommended that the Greek Government request the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and the Governments of the United States and the United Kingdom to aid it in securing funds for the continuation of essential food and other imports to bridge the gap until expanding exports, as a result of increased production and international development loans, enable Greece to balance its international accounts without special aid. That will probably involve working out some Government arrangement with private agencies (including the Greek War Relief and Near East Foundations), obtaining temporary financial help, reducing public expenditure, and/or increasing tax receipts sufficiently to finance the entire programme from the Greek national budget. Though the report makes it clear that the main efforts of reconstruction will have to come from the Greek people themselves, it recommends an ' International Bank for Reconstruction and Development loan of 100,000,000 dollars for 1947-48. This loan would be available for the rehabilitation and

development of transportation, .' water and hydro-electric projects, farms,marketing, and private industries in accordance with the programme recommended to develop and modernise Greek agriculture and industry. V Rehabilitation The mission recommends that the Greek Government give special' emphasis to speeding the rehabilitation of the country’s most essential productive -equipment, especially transportation and communication facilities arid repairs to industrial plants and drainage and flood-control works. That will necessitate a temporary programme of citizen and armed forces labour on the roads to put them into reasonable shape. . - Vi: It also urges the immediate purchase of essential equipmentespecially automotive and engineering plant and large and small ships—and the rapid development of a temporary housing programme, especially in the bombed-out villages. . ■ Currency and Exports The mission makes a number of recommendations with the object .of preventing further, inflation of the currency, the main ones , being the in-

creasing of production, the stabilisation of prices, and the maximum reduction in non-essential expenditure. It recommends that the Greek Gov- , ernment make every endeavour to restore the export markets of tobacco, currants, and other, products. To achieve that it advises ■ reducing internal prices to lower farm costs, removing export taxes on exportable commodities, and providing special technical and financial assistance to farmers,' farm co-operatives, and. private exporters to restore and improve the quality of export products. Those are the mission’s main recommendations to bridge the present crisis in Greek affairs until the longer-range activities begin to bear fruit. It is with these long-range development plans that the mission was more concerned, and here occurred an opportunity , for FAO to demonstrate in what ~ ways it could be of real value and assistance to the backward, undeveloped countries. That aspect of its work was covered by the mission in considerable detail and it will not be possible to do more than touch briefly on some of the v main recommendations. ’ Putting Rivers to Work , ,The utilisation of water was considered by the mission to be fundamental.to other technical developments and basic to any improvement in the economic and social condition of the Greek people. Greece is- a small, mountainous country of 50,000 squared miles (less than half the size of New Zealand), of which only about one quarter is cultivable land. The shape of the country and its mountainous topography result in all the rivers being short and swift, which poses immense problems of flood, silt, erosion, and river control.' The mission classified the work in order of importance. Class 1 projects consist of the rehabilitation of drainage and irrigation projects now in partial operation but in poor condition because of lack of maintenance, the continuation of necessary erosion control work already under way, and the initiation of new work where , further .destruction of agricultural land is threatened. In class 2 the mission enumerates the construction of new projects for flood control, drainage, irrigation, portable .water supplies,., and x hydroelectric power in which the ratio of benefits to costs is high. In class 3 the mission advocates the development of large multi-purpose ■ projects which will yield major benefits but which require large investments, long construction periods, and development of adequate markets, whether the resulting products < are agricultural commodities, fertilisers, or electrical energy. - ; , The mission emphasises that the water potentialities of Greece are considerable and that completion of

the full long-term programme would make possible the irrigation of about one fifth of all the cropping land in Greece and result in the development of as much hydro-electric power as that produced by the Boulder Dam project ,in the U.S.A. ■ : Measures to Improve Agriculture The mission discovered at a very early stage that something much wider than technical advice on modern farming technique was * required to improve the country’s agriculture. It was obvious, that the whole economy of Greece would have to be considerably modified. No possible application of agricultural science could convert the small, uneconomic holdings of the Greek peasants into payable farms. ' Clearly, there would have to be some consolidation of those holdings into larger units and development of other industries to absorb surplus workers, including the numerous unemployed at present in the cities. It is emphasised that this proposed shift to more intensive agriculture and larger farms, and from , farming to other industries, should be brought about by gradual and voluntary action of the people responding to the opportunities which will be automatically created rather than by ; directives of the Government. The average of cropland per person on farms is only 1.3 acres in Greece about the same as in Indiacompared with 4 to 6 acres in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark, yet the average yield of grain is 13.5 bushels an acre, about one third to one half the average yield in'most countries of Europe. New Zealand’s yield of wheat alone is 33 bushels per acre, and other grains are. all higher. ’ The mission advocates considerable technical development in agricultural research and the general development of agricultural ’ organisation. The Ministry of . Agriculture advised to administer this programme, consisting of a Minister, a director, three assistant directors, and ten chiefs of bureaux, closely resembles New Zealand’s Department of Agriculture. All . the appointments, except that of the Minister, are to be non-political. The bureaux are approximately equivalent to the New Zealand Divisions — Livestock, etc. Research and Reorganisation Special emphasis is laid by the mission on the reorganisation of the livestock industry. Much of Greece’s livestock was lost during the war and it is stressed that an excellent opportunity to restock with good-quality animals now exists. The use of artificial insemination is strongly advocated. Nearly three quarters :of the area of Greece, it is stated, is in , natural pasture and unsuited to any other purpose. The pre-war consump-

tion of animal products in Greece was below the minimum satisfactory to human health. Consequently, the mission did . not hesitate to advocate a programme of livestock development, the gist of which is that full regard be paid to the breeding and maintenance of suitable stock for different localities, the adequate supply of nutrients for these stock, the taking of active steps to. prevent avoidable losses through stock disease,. and the provision of adequate facilities for the marketing and use of livestock products. , , For other branches of farming the mission .recommends, programmes of general research into all branches of crop husbandry (particularly grape growing' and . wine making), into soil fertility, and, of considerable importance, into the education of Greek farmers along the lines of modern scientific farming. - As with agriculture, the mission suggests , that ' research and educational work in connection with the fishing industry be advanced as rapidly as possible. , .x ; Economic Measures The mission recommends that the Greek Government expand the financial facilities for agricultural and consumer co-operatives through the Agricultural Bank of Greece. The village co-operatives, co-operative unions, and' the Agricultural Bank are described by the mission as “constituting together one of the most dynamic and effective forces in present-day Greece.” It is recommended that they ? be developed further by assisting them to extend production credit to farmers and by making long-term loans for the purchase of equipment for operation by village co-operatives and cooperative unions. \ Other general proposals cover farreaching reforms in the present tax structure and a thorough revision of the Public Service so that. it will be staffed by qualified personnel paid a living wage. To support all the measures recom- ' mended the report advocates the establishment of a United Nations Advisory Mission representing the Economic and Social Council, FAO, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary Fund, and other interested international agencies to provide continuing technical advice on the spot. If Greece establishes peace and stability within her own borders and the measures recommended are vigorously carried out, then, the report says, there appears to ? be no ’reason why the country should not be able to double or treble the pre-war income . within the next two to three decades.