Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Mr. President,

Let me begin by congratulating you on behalf of Government and the people of Malawi for your election to the high office of President of this very important organization. Kindly receive my assurances of unwavering support as you serve this high office for the betterment of our smallholder farmers in our rural communities.

This meeting provides a perfect opportunity for Council Members to reflect and make firm decisions on the governance aspects of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in its efforts to reach the poor smallholder farmers.

This is evident from the agenda items prepared for this meeting which includes election of leadership to steer the organization and also resources, audits and reports on various activities for the IFAD.

The agenda is indeed appropriate.   

Mr. President, as we all know agriculture is very important in most national economies both in Africa and the other regions. In Malawi for instance the sector accounts for 40 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employs about 80 percent of the workforce and contributes over 80 percent of all export earnings. The performance of the agriculture sector has therefore a direct impact on economic growth and poverty reduction.

The smallholder farmers have a key role in the agriculture sector performance. They dominate the sector contributing more than 70 percent with only 30 percent contribution from the estates.  This therefore means that the smallholder farmers play an active role in the economic growth and poverty reduction efforts.

Although playing that significant role, the smallholder farmers have limited land usually two hectares or less and living on less than one dollar per day. Apart from small land holding sizes, other challenges affecting the agriculture sector include: low yields, over dependence on rain-fed farming (which increases vulnerability to weather related shocks), low irrigation development and low uptake of improved farm inputs.

Other challenges that threaten the productive capacity of the agriculture sector include rising prices of food and climate change. Furthermore, agriculture sector has suffered low profitability due to weak links to markets, high transport costs, few farmer organizations and poor quality control.

Mr. President, despite their significant contributions to growth in national economies and poverty reduction, smallholder farmers have small farms which are not utilised to full capacities to achieve the desired output levels.

With right investments, policies and development programmes in place, poor rural people have the potential to increase food production, improve their lives and contribute to greater food security.

If they are assisted they can significantly increase their production levels and productivity resulting in increased incomes while at the same time contributing to greater food security. Without this assistance the smallholders farmers will remain trapped in poverty without the hope of any improvement in their livelihood.

Mr. President, Malawi is pleased to share its experiences on how the smallholder farmers with their small plots if assisted can make significant contributions to the economy. From 2005 the Malawi Government has implemented the Farm Input Subsidy Programme. The programme involves providing smallholder farmers with vouchers to enable them purchase the subsidised inputs for the staple crop maize and cash crops including cotton, tobacco, tea and coffee. This programme has significantly contributed to increased uptake and utilisation of maize fertilisers and improved seed by the smallholder farmers. This programme has yielded positive results by changing the household and national food security situation, improved farmers’  cash incomes and has also contributed to improved macro-economic fundamentals. There have also been other benefits of the programme including lower maize prices resulting from successive bumper harvests with a positive impact on the general livelihoods of rural populations.

Furthermore, Malawi has turned to be a net exporter of food within the region rather than depending on food aid.

IFAD has supported various projects in Malawi with the smallholder farmers being the primary beneficiaries. Its interventions have focused at improving community infrastructure and smallholder access to credit, supporting increased use of fertilizer to improve yields on land characterized by declining fertility, irrigation development and rehabilitation of existing irrigation schemes. These programmes have yielded tremendous results and have contributed to improved livelihoods and household food security.

For instance the yields for the farmers supported by the two programmes-the Rural Livelihoods Support Programme (RLSP) and the Irrigation, Rural Livelihoods and Agricultural Development Project (IRLADP) have increased by as much as three times.

There is need therefore for increased investments and commitments by the international community, regional bodies and national governments to support the smallholder farmers to increase food production to meet the rising demand for food as well as to contribute towards economic development.

IFAD should be commended for providing a bigger resource envelope under the Eighth Replenishment of IFAD’s Resources submitted for approval by the Governing Council.

IFAD is therefore demonstrating its role to support global efforts to develop partnerships for agriculture and food and to increase the investments in smallholder agriculture in response to the global consensus that agriculture has to move up on the global development agenda. It is important to note that consultations were conducted within the context of challenges that are facing the world such as volatile prices of food, fuel and fertilizer; the global financial crisis, increasing impact of climate change and increasing demand for food and weak growth in agricultural productivity.

It will be important that the next Programme of work is implemented in the context of the “Paris Declaration,” an international agreement to continue to increase efforts in harmonization, alignment and managing aid for results. Countries will therefore have to take the lead in the spirit of national ownership where governments, civil society and the private sector participate fully in the creation, implementation and monitoring of national development strategies, programmes and projects.

In line with this, Malawi has developed the Agriculture Development Programme (ADP) - a prioritized investment framework aimed at implementing priority projects in the agriculture sector. It shares the principle elements of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) a strategy to put African agriculture on the path of strong and sustained growth. The Major Pillars of the Programme are Food Security and Risk Management, Agribusiness and Market Development and Sustainable Land and Water Management.

These investment foci will be under laid by cross-cutting commitments to agricultural research, technology generation and dissemination, as well as commitments to gender and HIV and AIDS.

Malawi therefore invites the IFAD and other development partners in the agriculture sector to help in implementing this prioritized investment framework to achieve food security and realize the desired agricultural growth.

Turning to the appointment of the President of IFAD, the new President comes at a crucial time when the world is facing serious economic challenges such as rising food prices, climate change and the global financial crisis. The new President will be required to demonstrate leadership with purpose, lead in resource mobilization to support IFAD’s mandate and to boost smallholder agricultural production and therefore help reduce poverty and contribute to economic growth.

I thank you for your attention.