Governors, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure and privilege for me to attend the 31st Session of the Governing Council of IFAD on behalf of Austria.

This year’s Governing Council marks thirty years of operations in the field of agricultural development by the Fund. The creation of the Institution was a reaction to the droughts and famines of the early 1970s that killed many people in Africa and Asia.

OECD members and members of OPEC countries coalesced and formed a special partnership focusing on agricultural development and increase in food production.

IFAD was founded with a special mandate and focus on agriculture which makes it unique when compared to other IFIs that cover a broader range of sectors.

The continuing relevance of the Institution is underlined by the fact that rural poverty still affects a very large portion of the world’s population.

According to the Word Development Report 2008, three out of every four poor people in developing countries live in rural areas with the majority of them living on less than two dollars and close to a billion on even less than one dollar a day.

The figures dramatically highlight the dimensions of the poverty problem on our globe.
IFAD’s mandate is very much focused on this problem and in line with the MDG 1 which aims at halving the number of people living in extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.

Under its approved Strategic Framework IFAD is committed to contribute to the achievement of poverty reduction goal of MDG 1 by helping to empower rural people in developing countries to achieve higher incomes and improved food security. This requires effectiveness and efficiency by the Fund when managing for successful development results.

Thirty years of work on rural poverty reduction have certainly made IFAD an expert and knowledge institution on the issue and IFAD must strive to make best use of its expertise by disseminating it to its clients and its development partners.

IFAD must prove its comparative advantage by developing and implementing innovative projects and programmes in cooperation with national partners that enable the rural poor a better living through increased agricultural production and higher incomes.

IFAD has a global membership and consequently a global responsibility although it is a small development institution with limited resources. It therefore must struggle especially hard to make optimal use of its funds. This can best be achieved by making targeted interventions in poor rural areas where other financial resources are not available.

Close cooperation with national stakeholders and other development partners will guarantee that interventions conform to commonly agreed country programmes and fit within and contribute to national policies and strategies.

Therefore I want to encourage the Fund again to take part more visibly and constructively in the national PRSP processes of its recipient countries.

Given its limited capacity for constant interventions in all its member countries IFAD must aim for replicability of its projects.

IFAD projects should be models for its recipient countries that can be modified and adapted and replicated by local governments and stakeholders independently of outside support. IFAD aid should ideally lead to self sustained locally driven development creating better and safer living conditions and food security for the rural target groups.

The increased field presence should facilitate the assessment of the Fund’s development outputs and development effectiveness and contribution to global and national poverty reduction efforts.

In order to avoid duplications and make best use of the positive effects of synergies I also wish to encourage the Institution to cooperate closely with other development financing institutions in sectors and regions of common interest. In Africa where the Fund carries out the majority of its interventions this goes especially for the African Development Bank.

With regard to Africa I would also like to motivate the Fund to examine closer cooperation with the EU and its various development instruments, like the European Development Fund, which recognise the crucial importance of broad-based sustainable agricultural growth for poverty reduction and food security in attaining the MDGs in Africa.

Let me touch on the forthcoming replenishment of IFAD’s resources.

Generally speaking, there seems to be broad consensus among members that IFAD with its exclusive focus on agricultural development is filling a relevant niche among the development finance institutions which should be maintained and therefore adequately funded.

However, we know from past experience that efficiency and effectiveness of the Fund’s work regarding poverty alleviation and food security are salient issues that will impact on the forthcoming replenishment of the Institution.

Donors will want to learn from management if the objectives established by the last consultation have been met or to which degree and which lessons have been learned so far.

In this sense we are looking forward to fruitful and interesting negotiations. If the Consultation can make good progress and finally agree on a common replenishment target based on fair burden sharing a timely and successful eighth replenishment of IFAD resources should be possible until the next Governing Council.

Some comments on the Programme of Work for 2008. We support the proposed annual financing level of up to USD 650 million.

This constitutes a 10 percent hike over the previous year.

It also fits into the financing framework of USD 2 billions envisaged for the seventh replenishment period which aims at strengthening the Fund and enhancing its impact on rural poverty alleviation in line with the Millennium Development Goals.

Regarding the allocation of the Fund’s scarce resources I want to reiterate that we support in principle a performance based system that adequately rewards performance and good governance of recipient countries and gives due regard to the gender issue.

We also can approve the proposed Budget for 2008 which shows an increase over the previous year. It is noted that the increase is caused by a heavier work load for 2008 and higher related administrative costs.

I am glad to welcome the Commonwealth of the Bahamas as a new member of IFAD. IFAD can be congratulated on its constantly growing membership.

In conclusion I want thank you, Mr. President, for your excellent leadership and work done for the institution and wish you continued success.

My thanks also go to the excellent staff of the institution for its professional work and proven dedication.