27. Calls for an urgent and substantial increase in investment in agriculture, aquaculture, rural development and agribusinesses in developing countries, focused on poor farmers and small-scale farming based on agro-ecological food production systems; recalls that 75% of the world's poor population lives in rural areas, but that only 4% of official development assistance (ODA) is dedicated to agriculture; calls, therefore, on the Commission and the Member States to address the issue of agriculture more effectively in their development policies, to promote the adjustment of the programming of the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) in ...[+++]close cooperation with developing countries and to readdress the country strategy papers in order to give higher priority to agriculture; underlines the role of NGOs and local authorities in finding innovative agricultural solutions in partnership with the populations of developing countries, and calls on the Commission and the Member States to support and promote their projects;

20. Calls for an urgent and substantial increase in investment in agriculture, rural development and agribusinesses in developing countries, focused on poor farmers and small-scale farming based on agro-ecological food production systems; recalls that 75% of the world’s poorer population lives in rural areas, but that only 4% of official development assistance (ODA) is dedicated to agriculture; calls, therefore, on the Commission and the Member States to address the issue of agriculture more effectively in their development policies; underlines the role of NGOs and local authorities in bringing innovative agricultural solutions in par ...[+++]tnership with the populations of developing countries and calls on the Commission and the Member States to support and promote their projects;

The salt workers of the Guérande peninsula have perfected a production technique based on one of the oldest maritime agricultural systems of the whole of the French Atlantic coast. The structure of the salt marshes is specific to the Guérande basin.

Special attention should also be given to providing support for certain production systems where sufficient measures are not taken, in particular the breeding of sheep and goats for milk production, and the use of local indigenous breeds and/or varieties, with a view to achieving sustainability. Agrienvironmental measures should be extended to farming and forestry practices which are environmentfriendly, bearing in mind the key elements for the sustainable development of mountain farming and agriculture. Firm incentives should be intr ...[+++]oduced (in progressive but rapid stages) for land-use management, high-quality products and cultivation systems with low intermediary consumption, grouping together the funds currently paid in the form of compensatory allowances on the one hand and accompanying measures on the other in a single payment procedure, to create a new allowances system with sufficient transparency and guarantees for the future.

- 2 - Among the various measures which are being prepared or implemented, those for rural development involve mainly : . diversification of agricultural activity and a fresh boost for typical traditional products ; . the development of alternative activities, both on the farm (principally farm tourism and craft work) and off the farm (part- time working) ; . the conservation of natural resources and the environment (restoration of the balance between woodland and grassland, particularly in mountainous areas, alternative uses for the countryside, especially tourism, combating erosion) ; . improvement of all infrastructures which affect living conditions and the profitability of productive ...[+++] activities.

PROGRAMME CONTENTS A. Subprogramme "Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture": 1. Improvement of agricultural products - crop production: food and agro-industrial crops; crop genetics; crop protection; - proteins of animal origin: stock farming; animal genetics and reproduction; veterinary medicine; sea and inland fisheries, aquaculture; - forestry production in humid and arid areas. 2. Conservation and better use of the environment: - appraisal of resources; water resources and their use; soil management and protection, desertification and management of savannahs; underexploited genetic resources; wild flora and fauna; 3. Agricu ...[+++]ltural engineering and post-harvest technology: - agricultural engineering/mechanization; preservation of products; processing of products; 4. Production systems: - multi-disciplinary approaches relating to plan products; inter-cropping; relationships between crop- growing and stock-farming; ecologically fragile environments; B. Subprogramme "Medicine, Health and Nutrition in Tropical and Subtropical Areas" 1. Medecine: - transmissible tropical diseases: parasitological; bacterial; viral; mycological; - non-transmissible tropical diseases: genetic disorders; acquired diseases; 2. Health: - health services research: operational research; plannng management and evaluation; - environmental health: water-related diseases; traditional medicine - tropical medicinal plants; 3. Nutrition: - nutritional deficiencies; impact of agricultural, food and social-economic strategies on nutritional status; - relationships between production and storage systems, food habits and health status; - bioavailability of nutrients and their toxicology///.