Mr. President,
Distinguished Delegates to this 36th Session of the IFAD Governing Council conference,
Ladies and Gentlemen.

It gives me great pleasure to speak on behalf of the Government of Tuvalu, to officially acknowledge with deep gratitude, the acceptance of Tuvalu’s membership in this International Fund for Agricultural Development. As a small Island State and as a LDC, it is not easy to join any international organisation due to budgetary, as well as manpower constraints in effectively managing projects that ensued from such  a partnership.

Food security continues to be one of our priorities in our National Strategic Plan – Te Kakeega II. Increasing production and consumption of local food produce is an important consideration as this objective is directly  linked to our subsistence agriculture  which is declining and  reversing this, is a key priority. The consumption of local food produce is equally important in combating the alarming incidence of non-communicable diseases in the country and the Pacific region as a whole.

The integration of improved farming systems with our traditional farming practices, and training rural farmers  is vital as per our Agricultural Corporate Plan 2013 – 2015, and will be a major undertaking as nearly 90% of Tuvalu's communities in rural areas continue to rely on subsistence farming for steady food security.

Mr. President, the onslaught of climate change and its effects on atoll agriculture is a real threat that we cannot ignore in our future plans and strategies. Increase of salinity in some root crop plantations pits in Tuvalu calls for improved farming of arable land to increase their yields and productivity – and to ensure the livelihood of our rural population is sustained and not allowed to slide into poverty levels.

Mr. President, I have just highlighted  areas of cooperation we are contemplating in a partnership with IFAD. This is the value we see in our membership, and we look forward to working closely with  the IFAD Secretariat and its membership. I again thank this august Council for endorsing Tuvalu’s membership in this organisation.

Thank you for your attention