Honorable Chairperson,
Mr. President,
Excellencies Fellow Governors,
Distinguish delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is indeed an honour for me to be able to address such illustrious audience in this august body. Let me first of all express my delegation’s appreciation to the President of IFAD and his staffs for all the hard work in preparing the excellent arrangement of the thirty-fourth session of the Governing Council. In this occasion, I would also like to commend IFAD for being an organization at the front line in supporting the smallholder farmers – men, women, and youth – to enable them to eradicate poverty in rural areas by promoting sustainable agriculture development.

Excellencies,
Distinguished Board of Governors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

At this moment, we are at a critical moment. In less than 4 years we have to meet the target of MDG-1, to halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. Latest data from FAO shows that in 2010 the number of hungry people in the world reached 925 millions. Moreover, the Rural Poverty Report stated among others that the context of rural poverty reduction has changed: in many developing countries, GNI has increased but pockets of poverty remain, the rural-urban integration pattern has shifted, and demographic composition has changed. But one key problem persists, namely the unacceptably-high rural poor people.

Our leaders at the MDG Summit in New York last September, had committed to achieve the MDG target, with effective implementation and intensified collective action both at the domestic and international levels, including: strengthened institutions at all levels, increased mobilization of resources for development, increased effectiveness of development cooperation and an enhanced global partnership for development. In this regards, we are of the firm belief that IFAD could, and will, play crucial role in achieving this noble target.

Furthermore, the last G20 Summit also mandated that the international community to promote responsible investment in agriculture and strengthen the agriculture research system. We are of the view that IFAD should increase resource mobilization for the promotion of agriculture research system, both within the CGIAR system and at the larger context. In addition, IFAD should continue to include in its projects, strengthening of know-how and capacity building, as well as promoting appropriate and affordable technologies to boost productivity.

We are witnessing increasing commodity prices which worsening the poverty conditions in many countries. We acknowledge that it is a complex matter. In this regard, we would encourage IFAD to increase its role and resources under the framework of the UN’s Comprehensive Framework for Action (CFA) – protecting the vulnerable by renewed investment in smallholder agricultural development.

With this background, the year 2011 is very crucial for IFAD. We expect to have a new “IFAD Strategic Framework for 2011-2015”, as an overarching policy document for IFAD, which can reflect the commitment and actions plan mentioned above. Moreover, we will also begin the negotiation for the 9th Replenishment of IFAD resources, for resources mobilization in order to strengthen the smallholder farmers in the developing countries to alleviate poverty problem.

Excellencies,
Distinguished Board of Governors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the last several years, Indonesia’s economy has grown steadily, so that Indonesia is currently categorized as a Middle Income Country (MIC). However, we still have the challenges to overcome the issues of poverty and development gaps among different provinces. In this regards, IFAD should take considerations on these situation. With this background, in regard to the lending policies and criteria, particularly related to the graduation policy, IFAD should take into account not only  GNI per capita, but also other factors including poverty rate and geographical gap.

In the agriculture sector, Indonesia has been and will always be committed in advancing this sector as well as strengthening global food security. We also take great interest to the youth to take a role in the future agriculture sector. Agriculture sector absorbs around 40% of total workforce in Indonesia, which is roughly around 40 million people, mostly in rural areas. Accordingly, we view that IFAD programmes should continue to provide incentives to rural youth to remain in rural areas to engage in economic activities in agriculture sector. With this approach, not only that IFAD’s projects could contribute to the elimination of poverty and strengthening food security in rural areas, it could also provide a positive input to reduce urbanization in developing countries.

Excellencies,
Distinguished Board of Governors,

In this juncture, I would like use this opportunity to briefly touch upon the collaboration between Indonesia and IFAD which dates back for around 30 years. During this period, the benefits of IFAD’s programmes have been enjoyed by more than two million households across the country. We have two ongoing projects in the eastern part of Indonesia, where the need for assistance is greater than the western part. The value of these projects is about US$ 90 million. In order to manage the projects more efficiently and effectively, as well as to strengthen communication and coordination with national stakeholders, we are in line with the view that this is the time for IFAD to open a country office in Indonesia. Hence, IFAD could also utilize the country office in Indonesia as a hub to extend IFAD’s operation in managing projects in the Pacific region.

Excellencies,
Distinguished Board of Governors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Now I come to the end of my remarks. It is no doubt that the challenges ahead of us are great. But our commitment and determination are greater. To achieve our goals to eradicate poverty in the rural smallholder agriculture, we see there is a need for IFAD to continue its reform to become a more agile, effective and efficient organization, with high moral and determination from the staff and management as well.

In addition, there is a need to continue to recruit the best talents to strengthen its human resources. We fully support the policy of gender and geographical balance. In addition to that, we are of the view that IFAD should increase the staff coming from under-represented countries, especially List B.

In concluding, on behalf of Indonesian people and farmers, I would like to expresses our appreciation for the hard work of the management of the IFAD to meet the mission for the welfare of the farmers around the globe, and I would like to congratulate for successful and fruitful result of the Thirty-Fourth Session of the Governing Council held in this historic and beautiful city of Rome.

Thank you. 

19 February 2011