Mr. President
Distinguished Director General
Esteemed Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen

Allow me to congratulate you on your assumption of the presidency of IFAD. I am confident that under your able leadership, this meeting will come to its successful conclusion. I pledge the support and cooperation of my delegation to assist you in realizing this common goal.

Mr. President

On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Namibia allow me to express our gratitude for the support that Namibia received from IFAD under the Northern Regions Livestock Development Project (NOLIDEP), which started in 1994 and ended in 2004.  I must assure you that this project had a positive impact on the livelihood of livestock communal farmers in particular and the Namibian economy in general.   Lessons learnt during the implementation of NOLIDEP will be used to enrich our new development projects. 

We are also grateful to the Fund for the prompt response to our recent submission in 2008 and the consequent Scoping Mission which evaluated the relevance of our envisaged development programmes to poverty eradication in Namibia. 

Mr. President

Seventy percent of the Namibian population depends on agriculture for their livelihood.  It is for this reason that the development of this sector occupies a high position on the development agenda of our Government. For 2009/10 financial year alone, the government committed funds to the tune of US$ 300 000 through budget allocation to agriculture and water development projects.  The commitment of our Government to this sector is further demonstrated by the fact that we have already achieved the allocation of the 10 % of the national budget to agriculture, as prescribed by the Dar-Es- Salaam Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security in the SADC region.  However, it is important to indicate here that these funds have only been able to cater for some of the demands for development in the agriculture and water sectors. 

As a sector, we are expected to put strategies in place that will drive us toward the achievement of Namibia’s Vision 2030.  The core goal of this vision is an industrialized Namibia by the year 2030.  In an effort to contribute towards the achievement of this vision, we identified a number of strategic areas to be focused on.  To mention but few, some of these are:

• Development of Financing Schemes for Small Scale Farmers
• Development and Adaptation of Appropriate Technology, and
• Agro-Industry Development

These in our view will address rural poverty and accelerate industrial development in the agriculture sector, especially in the communal areas.

Mr. President,

We note with appreciation the desire of IFAD to further support Namibia with the design and development of schemes in only two of the three priority strategic areas contained in our submission. 

However, in the spirit of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness we would like to humbly request IFAD to also consider assisting Namibia in the third priority strategic area which entails the design and development of appropriate scheme(s) for small scale food processing and conservation facilities. 

The Government is prepared to co-fund the project design phase as well as to seek other sources of funding for implementation of this third priority strategic area. 

Lastly Mr. President,

I would like to comment your office and the Secretariat for their tireless efforts in making this session a reality and hope that the Fund will consider Namibia’s submission favourably. 

I thank you