It is with great pleasure that I address this Governing Council at its Thirty-Fourth Session on behalf of the Government of Canada.

Since Governors met a year ago, we have witnessed significant changes within the institution and important actions within the international environment.  Allow me to focus on three areas.

First, I would like to draw attention to the significant increase in the program of work and commitment of funds by this organization. All of you will have felt IFAD’s growing presence around the world and of its redoubled efforts – championed by IFAD’s President -- for strengthened focus on smallholder agriculture.  Stronger partnerships, improved results focus and expanded supervision of country operations with increased country presence are all commendable advancements.  IFAD’s Management Team and staff have worked hard to continue to build on reforms underway.  Reflecting on this critically important role of IFAD will be on the minds of all, during the year, as we focus on replenishment (of resources) and its focus in the year’s ahead.

Second, at the international level we have seen sustained commitment to food and nutrition security and to agricultural development.  Among important events, we have witnessed:

• the early launch of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) -- a new funding mechanism that pools resources, uses existing channels and backs national priorities;
• the development of the SUN Framework – “Scaling Up Nutrition: A Framework for Action”, that encourages investment in development strategies that will contribute to better nutrition;
• the continued work by AFSI -- the Aquila Food Security Initiative – of carefully tracking funds committed to food security, of aligning donor assistance around country plans, and of accounting for funds spent;
• of improvements in food security governance to reflect the interests of all countries and their peoples -- through the revitalized Committee on Food Security; and
• the launch of the updated Comprehensive Framework for Action by the High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis.

As many of you know, IFAD remains actively engaged – with Canada  and many others -- in all of these activities.

At the G8 Summit in Muskoka that Canada chaired in 2010, a renewed and significant commitment was made to improved maternal and child health with a special emphasis on nutrition.  Countries also agreed that food security remains an urgent global development challenge, exacerbated by climate change, increasing global food demand, past underinvestment in the agricultural sector, and price volatility.

Third, we have witnessed the continuing rise in food prices over the last many months and the impacts of this on the “diets of the poor” -- what the poor consume.  I am quite confident that this august group, and not just Canada, considers this to be of grave significance -- and most critical to IFAD’s mandate of enabling the rural poor to achieve food security and overcome poverty. 

We know that as food prices rise, the poor spend more of their income on “staple foods” -- foods that are the main source of energy -- and spend less on “non-staple foods” that are rich in essential micronutrients – the  foods that people need to be healthy and productive. 

We also know that while there may be no visible manifestation of this hunger deprivation, the toll on human health is immense.   Mental development and learning capacity is permanently impaired in young children who are undernourished, with severe consequences in their futures and for the development of their countries.  

What role we might ask, if any, can IFAD?

Canada believes IFAD needs to lead the way and play a vibrant role as a “nutrition sensitive organization”.  IFAD should continue to do what it does best: focusing on improving smallholder productivity -- but it should also incorporate nutrition (as it does gender), in all of its undertakings. By embracing nutrition today, the IFAD of tomorrow can make a significant contribution to the health and well-being of hundreds of millions of people.

We are convinced that IFAD’s support to agriculture can do a better job of providing access to nutritious foods and high-quality diets, supplying essential micronutrients to poor and marginal groups, particularly young children and women.

This will happen when:

• IFAD recognizes nutrition (as does its Charter) as a strategic priority, and assesses the impact of its work on nutrition and other outcomes within its strategy;
• Nutrition concerns play a larger role in IFAD’s work on the entire agricultural value chain, by encouraging farmers to grow more nutritious crops, biofortified crops and even novel crops, that are richer in specific vitamins and minerals lacking in particular food systems;
• IFAD’s work (especially with government partners) generates incentives and/or institutional arrangements that make it easier for the agricultural, health and nutrition sectors to work together; and
• Its work ensures that the nutrition and health needs of women (and other socially excluded groups) are integrated into agricultural policies. As the recent IFAD evaluation on gender points out, women often bear the highest burden of low agricultural productivity, poor health, and undernutrition.

Canada’s Food Security Strategy places particular emphasis on the vital and essential role played by rural women smallholder farmers in increasing food security.

IFAD’s drive to work directly with smallholder farmers is closely aligned with CIDA’s Food Security Strategy.  Both seek to deliver country-specific solutions, which involve increasing the rural poor’s access to agricultural technologies, financial services, markets, land and other natural resources. 

We believe it is important to ensure that the 450 million smallholder farms worldwide – on which a third of the world’s population depend – are adequately supported and equipped with products and services, especially knowledge and technology.

Success depends on increasing productivity, improving nutrition and health, providing increased incomes for families and communities, improving access to the wider national and international markets, and managing lands sustainably. But first and foremost, smallholder farmers, many of whom are women, must be part of the solution. 

Canada believes that IFAD continues to be well-placed to contribute to the global efforts on food security and will continue to be a key player in the future.   Jointly, we must lay the ground work for children and youth to have a lifetime of choices.
Thank you

19 February 2011