Statement by Hon, Kipruto Arap Kirwa, Minister for Agriculture of the Republic of Kenya to the 28th session of the IFAD Governing Council

The Chairman of the Council, H.E. Guido Mantega,
The President of IFAD, H.E. Lennart Bage,
Excellences,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Mr. Chairman,

Thank you for giving me the floor. Allow me to join my colleagues in congratulating you for being elected to chair this session. I know, with your able leadership, the Session will be a success. Let me also congratulate Mr. __________ for being elected/re-elected President of IFAD. As we begin a countdown to 2015, in which we aspire to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, his job is cut out for him.

Mr. Chairman,

At the outset let me express our satisfaction with the arrangements for the 28th Governing Council especially for providing a useful platform for interaction and sharing of ideas through the round table and the plenary discussions whose themes are on the very pertinent and crucial topics of rural poverty reduction and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

Mr. Chairman,

IFAD is a very important institution to us as a country and I believe I speak for the others as well, as it focuses on the poor, marginalized and vulnerable communities in developing countries. It therefore goes without saying that the importance of IFAD stems from its main goal of helping the poor overcome their poverty in countries such as Kenya, with 70% of its population in the rural areas and deriving its livelihood from agriculture.

As a Government, we have realized that to jumpstart the economy, create employment and wealth we must focus on revitalizing Agriculture and specifically targeting this vulnerable group. Towards this end, we have put in place the policy framework necessary including “The Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation” and the “Strategy for the Revitalization of Agriculture” and expect that the development of the agricultural sector will be much more focused.

In this connection, we view IFAD’s programmes as playing a pivotal role in the sector in the coming years. We are particularly keen to see the new projects on marketing in the smallholder dairy and horticulture sectors get off the ground as soon as possible, as they are not only geared towards addressing food insecurity and in alleviating poverty, but also disposal of the surplus in the market.

Having gone through the items of agenda I note that these two projects are incorporated in your 2005 work programme that focuses on strengthening the capacity of small holders to cope with and profit from market relations in key areas including market organization, access to finance, technology and water. The Government has put at IFAD’s disposal all the necessary machinery to ensure timely implementation of the projects as they are a critical link in our strategy.

Mr. Chairman,

While we are keen to see our loan portfolio expanded and upscaled in the near future, a lot still needs to be done considering the enormity of the challenge ahead of us. Indeed, we are racing against time to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) and are determined to do so in the time-frame agreed upon by the world leaders during the Millennium Summit in September 2000. for your information, we introduced the Universal Free Primary Education in 2003, the National Health Insurance Scheme, was approved by Parliament in 2004 and are addressing the HIV/AIDS and the Malaria menace countrywide we know we can make it.

This year is the year for Agriculture. We have planned activities that will keep agriculture on top of the agenda for the rest of the year including a conference on the Strategy for Revitalizing Agriculture scheduled for 20-24 February 2005, that brings together all stakeholders, both national and international, to fast-track the process, and on 10 11 April 2005 we shall have the Donor Consultative Group Meeting that seeks to finance the programme, among others. I am glad to report that IFAD is part of the process. We are confident that in our own way, we can be able to come up with a Kenyan Green Revolution.

Mr. Chairman,

Kenya’s experience with IFAD goes a long way back to 1970. Although there have been challenges, a lot of lessons have been learned along the way and with past experiences we should be able to improve on the projects that are currently underway. These lessons have had a bearing on the policy changes that have impacted positively on how we manage loans with the aim of maximizing on IFAD’s experiences and finding solutions together, which has been the hallmark of the relationship between Kenya and IFAD in the last few years, is a demonstration of how the donor/recipient partnership should work, in order to achieve the desired objective.

Mr. Chairman,

As a country, we look forward to IFAD stepping up its loan portfolio to Kenya to enable us get to the grass-roots where it matters most. However, two issues need to be addressed in order to achieve this;

The first one is the Performance Based Allocation System (BPAS). I have carefully looked at the agenda item on this issue and, while we support it in principle, caution should be exercised in implementing the system, as it may impede rather than encourage countries which still have weak bureaucratic systems, to access funding for the very poor.

For example, while we are doing our best to streamline the existing systems, including introducing legislation in Parliament that will enable quick disbursement, procurement, utilization and auditing of donor funds, the process sometimes takes longer than expected, depriving the target group, the very poor the help they need.

Similarly, operations at the beneficiary level (e.g. accounting, auditing, etc.) may not, for the time being, allow for an optimal use of the PBAS to the desired levels until thorough understanding of its working permeates to the grass roots. Although we are always open to advise and are working very closely with IFAD on this issue, we still need time to build the necessary capacity in the rural areas where human resource base and capacity are still very weak. I trust that, as stated in the agenda item on the programme, we shall be given more time to adjust to the P.B.A.S.

Mr. Chairman,

The second concern is personnel. As IFAD’s loan portfolio in countries of operation increases, the organization will seriously have to re think its manpower needs. In Kenya, for example, notwithstanding the presence of United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) which has acted as the Cooperating Institution to administer and supervise Projects on behalf of IFAD, there is a felt need to have constant presence of IFAD personnel not only to coordinate these efforts, but also to follow up especially now that PABS has been introduced and if the objective for which the loans are meant for, should be achieved within the stipulated timeframe.

While we appreciate the constraints within which IFAD operates you will agree with me that an increase in loan portfolio will inevitably call for marked presence of your personnel on the ground. In this regard, we fully support the ‘Field Presence Pilot Programme’ which IFAD initiated in 2004. We look forward to positive outcomes of the “Pilots” so that the programme can be widely implemented for enhanced IFAD capability at country/field level.

Mr. Chairman,

In conclusion, let me point out that growth in the agricultural sector is a pre requisite to my country’s achievement of the MDG’s. We are determined to turn around the lives of the rural poor and we believe we are on the right track. For this reason, we have developed “Njaa Marufuku Kenya”, which loosely translated means “Ban Hunger in Kenya” and which is a call for action to eradicate hunger in Kenya. We are confident that we can count on IFAD’s support as we have done in the past, as a strong partner in reducing poverty and hunger in Kenya.

I thank you.