A/RES/64/159 8. Encourages all States to take steps with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the right to food, including steps to promote the conditions for everyone to be free from hunger and, as soon as possible, to enjoy fully the right to food, and to create and adopt national plans to combat hunger; Recognizes the advances reached through South-South cooperation in 9. developing countries and regions in connection with food security and the development of agricultural production for the full realization of the right to food; 10. Stresses that improving access to productive resources and public investment in rural development are essential for eradicating hunger and poverty, in particular in developing countries, including through the promotion of investments in appropriate small-scale irrigation and water management technologies in order to reduce vulnerability to droughts; 11. Recognizes that 80 per cent of hungry people live in rural areas and 50 per cent are small-scale farm-holders, and that these people are especially vulnerable to food insecurity, given the increasing cost of inputs and the fall in farm incomes; that access to land, water, seeds and other natural resources is an increasing challenge for poor producers; that sustainable and gender-sensitive agricultural policies are important tools for promoting land and agrarian reform, rural credit and insurance, technical assistance and other associated measures to achieve food security and rural development; and that support by States for small farmers, fishing communities and local enterprises is a key element for food security and the provision of the right to food; 12. Stresses the importance of fighting hunger in rural areas, including through national efforts supported by international partnerships to stop desertification and land degradation and through investments and public policies that are specifically appropriate to the risk of drylands, and in this regard calls for the full implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa; 9 8F 13. Urges States that have not yet done so to favourably consider becoming parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity 10 and to consider becoming parties to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture 11 as a matter of priority; 9F 10F 14. Recalls the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 12 and acknowledges that many indigenous organizations and representatives of indigenous peoples have expressed in different forums their deep concerns over the obstacles and challenges they face for the full enjoyment of the right to food, and calls upon States to take special actions to combat the root causes of the disproportionately high level of hunger and malnutrition among indigenous peoples and the continuous discrimination against them; 1F _______________ 9 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1954, No. 33480. Ibid., vol. 1760, No. 30619. 11 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Report of the Conference of FAO, Thirty-first Session, Rome, 2–13 November 2001 (C 2001/REP), appendix D. 12 Resolution 61/295, annex. 10 4