Rome, 19-20 February, 2002

The Chairman,

Distinguished Delegates

Ladies and Gentlemen

It is my pleasure to be accorded an opportunity to speak at this important annual event, the twenty fifth session of the governing council of the international fund for agriculture development.zambia regards this meeting as very critical because it is at this meeting that we approve the budget of this organisation. indeed this meeting will chart the way forward for ifad.

Mr. Chairman,

It is gratifying to note that ifad is widely recognised as an innovative institution which is looking at the world of the poor and continues to excel in fulfilling its mandate of helping the poorest populations in rural areas of developing countries including our continent africa.

The main elements of ifad's approach are targeted assistance focussed on marginal areas where others are reluctant to go. the direct involvement of the intended beneficiaries in the design and implementation of ifad projects can not go without comment. we find the participatory approval ifad has adopted in its projects to be people centred and worthy commending. these qualities have earned ifad a strong reputation for delivering participative poverty alleviation projects.

Mr chairman,

the world faces many challenges especially with the increasing poverty levels experienced in many developing countries. the challenge for economic development is now enormous. it therefore requires concerted efforts of both public and private sector institutions including non governmental organisations to combat or tackle poverty. the development of poverty reduction strategies can not be left to governments alone.

It must be mentioned here that the agricultural sector which hosts most of the rural poor presents an opportunity of hope if it is properly nurtured. the resource base needs to be maintained well if it has to continue to be used for income generation. it is important therefore that as we develop programmes and projects conservation aspects are included in the programming.

Three quarters of those living in abject poverty reside in rural areas. therefore, it is imperative that rural development and specifically agriculture development should be accorded a high priority.

Mr Chairman,

in view of the foregoing, ifad's activities have gained an increasing importance in assisting developing countries to fulfil their hopes of eliminating hunger, poverty and the effects of economic liberalization policies.

My own country, zambia, is faced with very high incidence of poverty. out of the population of about 10.3 million, 73% live in poverty. the level of poverty is even higher (about 83%) in rural areas where the predominant activity is agriculture. to help fight poverty, zambia has come up with the poverty reduction strategy ppaper (prsp) which provides the national framework for poverty reduction and economic growth.

Mr Chairman,

The relationship between ifad and my country has been very good. ifad has contributed to the achievement of the agricultural sector's objective of ensuring national and food security for the country at all times. this has been effected through the funds initiative to finance projects that served the objectives of the zambian government

For the past six years, ifad in zambia has been supporting the agricultural sector investment programme (asip), which was the government's main instrument for agriculture development.

The core of ifad's strategy in zambia has been to address endemic problems of food insecurity. its support has been directed towards improving food security and strengthening services delivery for the benefit of resource poor households as well as improving their access to markets. as a result of this kind of support the food security of the vulnerable families is improving and has greatly contributed to poverty reduction.

Mr Chairman,

Zambia is grateful for ifad's decision to participate in the international monetary fund (imf)/world bank debt initiative for highly indebted poor countries (hipc) for which zambia has qualified. the resources made available through the debt initiative will go a long way in supporting efforts of poverty reduction.

It is my hope that ifad will continue to be involved in the poverty reduction initiatives which zambia is pursuing.

Mr. Chairman,

The fund within its framework of alleviating poverty has financed the following agricultural development projects in zambia:

(i) the northwestern province area development programme (nwpadp), a programme for intensifying agricultural production and improving incomes and food security.

(ii) the southern province household food security programme (sphfsp), for improving food security in the southern part of zambia.

(iii) the smallholder irrigation and water use programme (siwup) aimed at contributing to the improvement of food security of the poor and increasing the resilience to drought of vulnerable smallholders in the drought-prone provinces.

(iv) the smallholder enterprise and marketing programme (shemp) aimed at improving smallholder incomes by improving their access to markets and services.

These projects have yielded not only mutual economic activities but have also contributed to bringing about new approaches in the agricultural sector which are aimed at empowering local communities.

As part of our future implementation strategy we would like to consolidate the lessons and experiences gained in programmes funded by ifad and other cooperating partners.

Iwould like to note at this juncture the major positive impacts that have been achieved from the ifad funded programmes implemented in zambia.

There has been an increase in smallholder production and income generation in some of the areas ifad programmes have been implemented.

There has been significant progress in the development of skills in governance both at the district and community level. as a result capacity to undertake developmental activities has been created.

Increased collaboration between my ministry and non governmental organisations in service delivery and community mobilization.

Rural water has been provided in areas with no alternative sources of clean water.

Seed multiplication for crops which requires low inputs and are drought tolerant have been promoted i.e cowpeas, sunflower, sorghum, beans, cassava and sweet potatoes.

Enhanced response to emergences e.g. drought. storage have been constructed at community level at reasonable cost. all these have been possible because of the availability of community development funds.

Main streaming gender is one of the basic pillars of ifad's overall approach to project design. this is aimed at encouraging women participation in opportunities created by projects. the indication coming from the field in zambia clearly shows that there is still a lot that need to be done in sensitising communities and programme implementors on gender roles.

I would like to acknowledge the efforts that ifad is making in promoting participatory approaches in agriculture to foster development. it is our view in zambia that unless the resource poor farmers fully participate in programme formulation and implementation, no meaningful and sustainable development would take place.

As a country, we would like to express our support and backing of the fund's effort in implementing new initiatives in agricultural development especially, the new initiative of gender strengthening. this initiative of incoporating gender into the fund's programmes is a very good one because it will help both men and women understand the roles and activities they are supposed to undertake in agricultural development.

Specifically, i would like to take this opportunity to express my profound appreciation to ifad for the support it has rendered to enable zambia participate in the pilot project on gender mainstreaming for all ifad funded programmes in the country. we are looking forward to a successful implementation of this programme.

Once again, i would like to express my gratitude to ifad for making funds available for agriculture development in zambia. ifad has clearly demonstrated commitment to developing agriculture in zambia. i look forward to new areas of cooperation within the framework of the new programme agricultural commercialisation programme (acp) that the zambian government is in the process of finalising following the end of the agricultural sector investment programme (asip).

I thank you.