Honorable Chairman,
distinguished governors,
 ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to address you at IFAD’s 35th Governing Council. On behalf of the  Korean government, I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to IFAD officials for organizing this event.

Last year, the world was hit hard by a series of unexpected disasters, such as hunger in the Horn of Africa, floods in Thailand and an earthquake in Turkey. Furthermore,  many people living in other regions of Asia and Africa are still suffering from food shortages and malnutrition and are unable to free themselves from poverty due to low agricultural productivity.

The average FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) of the previous year reached its highest since records began in 1990, which was a 14% increase from that of the food crises in 2008. We cannot only blame the climate change, but also long standing systemic issues including contraction of agricultural investment and expansion of food demand from emerging countries due to population and income growth. 
Specifically, the growth rate of production of main grain, such as rice and wheat has been weakening more than the population growth rate for the last 20 years. This could severely impact the balance between food supply and demand in the future.

Honorable Chairman,
distinguished governors and ladies and gentlemen,

Countries around the world and international organizations should gather force to address imminent food shortages and strengthen underdeveloped agriculture. International communities should put continuous effort to achieve the first goal of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to cut hunger in half by 2015.

In late 2011, at the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Pusan, concerted effort of international communities was emphasized and south-south cooperation, public-private partnership and other ways to collaborate were discussed.

40~50 years ago, small-scale farms of  Korea went through difficulties due to food shortage. However, poverty and hunger issues were resolved within a short period. It is safe to say that development based on the small-scale agriculture enabled resolution of the problems.

In particular, Korea was able to lay the foundation of economic development by improving agricultural productivity through the Green Revolution and encouraging people's self-reliance through the Saemaul Movement in the 70's. I believe these experiences and know-how of Korea will contribute to help the developing countries to find their own development models. 

We need to establish inclusive partnership in which relevant entities are mutually complementary to each other and yet recognize differences to develop agriculture of the developing countries. International organizations, donor countries and NGOs should closely cooperate under the ownership of the partnership country to provide the right support that it needs.

Honorable Chairman,
distinguished governors and ladies and gentlemen,

IFAD has been fulfilling its role in reducing poverty and promoting food security. In addition, IFAD should also assist the developing countries respond well to the new challenges and changes in the agricultural sector. To that end, IFAD needs to improve its efficiency in project implementation and enhance its accountability.

Korea doubled its contributions at the 8th replenishment and further increased its  contributions at the 9th replenishment. Besides, Korea is seeking to contribute to  food security of the developing countries through new joint projects with IFAD.

Once again, I would like to thank IFAD officials for preparing this event. At the same time, I would like to express my support to IFAD's endeavor in poverty elimination and food security improvement.

Thank you for listening.

22 February 2012