Madam Chairperson,

On behalf of my delegation and on my own behalf, it is an honour and great privilege to convey to you fraternal greetings and wishes of good will from the Government and the people of the Kingdom of Lesotho.

I also wish to express our gratitude for the excellent arrangements and efforts done on preparations for holding this twenty- fourth session of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Governing Council. Our special thanks are devoted to Italy the host Country, and the secretariat of IFAD.

Let me congratulate the outgoing President of IFAD, Mr. Fawzi H. Al-Sultan, for the good performance he has achieved during his two terms in office and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

Madam Chiarperson,

We would like to commend IFAD on its plans to implement IFAD Five Plan of Action (2000 - 2002) in a manner which takes into consideration further intensification and inclusion of its incremental activities, as a way of maximising existing resources. We also applaud the Fund for rationalising project expenditures through reallocation of resources to the Programme Development Financing Facility (PDFF), from both the administrative budget and the technical assistance grant programme on a zero incremental cost basis. The stringent budgets within which most of our countries operate demand the kind of rationalization exercise which has been carried out by IFAD, in order to minimize costs and make the best use of available resources.

The mammoth task of eliminating hunger and reducing poverty is definitely going to appear in most of the country development agenda, especially in Africa, for the duration of this decade. The Progress report on the Process Re-engineering Programme is encouraging.

The Re-engineering process, which the Fund started in 1995, is a good example to the developing countries and is worth adopting in order to effectively streamline project development and implementation. Likewise, Lesotho as one of the developing countries is heavily engaged in projects to try and address her development programmes and objectives. It is for this reason that the Re-engineering exercise, which led to a net reduction in IFAD administrative costs, is noted with interest.

Madam Chairperson,

Poverty reduction is Lesotho’s most important development objective. Relative poverty levels are high, as indicated by the recent poverty profile for the country. Poverty levels are particularly high in the nearly 40% of Basotho households that rely on farming, herding, informal business, or casual labour for most of their income. Furthermore, the challenges of food security and the fight against serious and continuing degradation of the natural resource base are exerting more pressure for drastic measures in arresting this poverty situation.

In line with IFAD’s priority objectives in 2001, (programme of work) my country is concentrating on political and economic reforms, in addition to poverty-focused policies. It is for this reason that Lesotho started formulating a long-term developmental vision. This process is a joint effort by the government, the NGO’s, political parties and Basotho from all walks of life. We have realized that without serious attention on poverty reduction policies and mechanisms, the current economic reform fail to lead to socially equitable and environmentally sustainable growth and development.

Furthermore, the Government of Lesotho is committed to the success of the land policy reform process, in support of sustainable agriculture, rural development and investment promotions.

It is worth noting Madam. Chairperson, that inspite of all these efforts there are many challenges in the process of developing our economies. By way of example, let me indicate that the efforts to improve agricultural production in Lesotho are severely hampered by the existing drought.

The latest report by the Department of Meteorological Services indicates that the country is facing a very serious crop-failure crisis, brought about by the severe drought ever to occur during the month of January 2001, which is reported to have received even less rain than January 1968, making it the driest month since 1960. This is a disturbing situation for all the farmers, as it will aggravate food shortage and malnutrition in the country.

In conclusion, my delegation wishes to register its support for efforts undertaken by IFAD regarding the economic and social empowerment of the poor, including strengthening of the lending programme, which is aimed at addressing sustainable and better change in the lives of all the poor.

I thank you for your attention.

SPEECH BY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATIVES AND LAND RECLAMATION HONOURABLE VOVA BULANE