Mr / Madam Chairman, President of IFAD, Distinguished Governors, Ladies and Gentlemen!

On behalf of my delegation and myself, I would like to congratulate the President of IFAD and the Secretariat as we mark 30 years of fighting rural poverty and hunger. This is certainly a time to reflect on the achievements of the last 30 years and to renew our commitment to strengthen rural communities in light of emerging problems such as climate change.  

Let me also thank the secretariat for the excellent preparation, organization and arrangements for this Thirty First Session of the Governing Council.  
Mr Chairman / Madam Chair
At the 30th Governing Council of IFAD, my predecessor highlighted the concerns we in the Maldives have on climate change and brought some of the key issues sharply into focus in his address to this council.  I wish to consolidate the issue based on facts and real time observations. 

Climate change continues to overshadow our efforts to emerge from a least developed country to a developing country.  While we have been singled out as a success story for development amongst Least Developed Countries, our susceptibility to environmental shocks make it critical we take careful strides at these uncertain times.  

The year 2007 ended with the worst year for fish landings in the Maldives and experts strongly relate this to climatic variability.  We observed unusual storms and rain that caused flooding in many agricultural islands and destroyed crops. 

We observed unusual ecological and environmental changes throughout the year. 

Mr Chairman, Madam Chair

We cannot discard these issues as mere coincidences.  We must wake up to the reality that changes are happening to natural systems in an incremental manner.  We must take collective action to combat this imminent threat to our livelihoods and our mere existence.

More frequent and severe storms, flooding and erosion have irreversible consequences to small island nations such as ours.  We depend on a very narrow resource base and need to be innovative in our approach to resource utilization. 

Mr Chairman, Madam Chair

We in the Maldives have perfected the skills necessary for sustainable management of the coral reef resources.  We have developed an economically and ecologically viable tourism product based on the marine environment.  We have stubbornly, yet very responsibly, adhered to the world’s most environmentally safe methods of fishing.   In the end these environmentally sound development practices have paid off.   We boast a sustainable tourism industry and a sustainable tuna fishery as well. 

Agriculture development on small coral islands is a challenge for widely known reasons.   Today we intend to tackle this using innovative methods and technology.  IFAD is assisting us in realizing this goal.  With technical and financial assistance from IFAD we have developed a fisheries and agriculture diversification project.  The main objective of this project is to elevate agriculture to a new height so that farmers get the maximum benefits.  The project targets small holder farmers and establishes links with high end local markets.  

Mr Chairman, Madam Chair

We need to build on our achievements as a developing small island nation.  We need assistance and continued support to consolidate our efforts to enhance food security and poverty alleviation.

Sustainable means of financing is critical for small holder farmers and fishers to cope with hardships in times of disasters.   We have established special Fisheries and Agriculture Development Funds both in response to the tsunami and recent flood incidents.  

One of the main hurdles we have in the Maldives is to assist farmers to reach markets in a timely manner.  The scattered nature of the island archipelago and long travel time by sea between islands present great challenges for rural communities to reach fresh markets.  We are tackling this by developing infrastructure at key regional centers.  IFAD is assisting us in developing both fishery and agriculture markets at strategic locations. 

Mr Chairman, Madam Chair

We have reached a critical stage whereby we need to add value to our raw materials rather increasing production.  Such programmes are critical for creating rural employment and maximizing returns at current production levels.   We are prepared to experiment with new and innovative techniques to kick start this process.  We are grateful to IFAD for its technical and financial support in assisting us realize these goals.  With these initiatives, I am confident we can overcome the small island barrier in the commercialization of the agriculture sector in the Maldives.

Thank you.