Enabling poor rural people
to overcome poverty
Third Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD III)
Session II on Agricultural Development: Increasing agricultural productivity and incomes through international cooperation
Tokyo, 30 September, 2003
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure for me to be here today at TICAD III and to participate in this debate on ‘Increase of Agricultural Productivity and Income’.
Agriculture and rural development have been neglected for far too long and I am pleased to see that this trend is now reversing.
Twenty-five years ago, when my organization, IFAD (the International Fund for Agricultural Development) was established, the looming global food deficit was the mobilizing force for action. Today, when we have a daily global food production of 2,800 calories per person, and even subsidies to some OECD farmers not to produce, the challenge is a different one. What is now calling us to act is the fact that despite a global abundance of food, poverty and hunger are rampant in large parts of Africa.
The first prerequisite is a global consensus of the task ahead. The first element of such a consensus is put in place by the Millennium Summit and its Declaration with its key goal of halving hunger and poverty by the year 2015. The Millennium Development Goals are now the recognized legitimate framework for action.
The second element is yet to be put in place. As has been stated repeatedly, the majority of the poor in Africa are rural. So, if we are to reach the Millennium Development Goals, we must make an impact on rural poverty. In most poor countries, agriculture is the main economic sector; the largest employer and job creator, and the biggest export earner. When we look at the history of the 19th century if we come from Europe or the US – or the 20th century if we come from Japan or the miracle economies in South East Asia, we see that reforms in the agricultural sector have been the foundation for overall economic development and poverty reduction. It has been the often-dramatic progress in agriculture, translated into productivity increases that have generated increased production, income, savings, investments and demand for goods and services that create the virtuous circle of development. This is particularly important for poor, institutionally weak developing countries, where broad based agricultural development brings welfare gains and equity to large sections of the population – in a way that single-source commodities such as oil or diamonds not always manage to achieve.
Every dollar of increase in agricultural production generates more than two dollars for the national economy. Despite this, the share of ODA that goes to agriculture and the rural sector has been steadily falling, not rising. In fact, it has declined by nearly half since 1988. Today, only 8 percent of developed countries’ total ODA goes to agriculture. This has to change if we are to reach the MDG of halving world poverty by 2015.
Today we have the benefit of decades of experience of what works and what doesn’t. IFAD has engaged in more than 300 projects and programmes with a total value of over USD 10 billion, reaching some estimated 100 million rural poor in 51 African countries. Japan has contributed generously to IFAD’s core resources. Since we began 25 years ago, Japan has contributed about 250 million US dollars. Japan’s contribution has helped to enable IFAD to invest more than 7 billion dollars in over 600 rural development projects in 115 countries and territories around the world.
Based on our experience in Africa, key factors for rural development are:
Firstly, secure access to assets, in particular to land and water. If you don’t own or use the land securely, how can you plan or get credit. Water scarcity is the fastest growing problem in large parts of Africa. Community based small-scale irrigation systems must be developed. Water stress and land degradation go hand in hand and we need to vigorously address the causes of desertification and land-degradation and strengthen our resolve to implement the Convention to Combat Desertification.
Secondly, markets, to buy and sell. Africa is rapidly moving beyond subsistence farming and we have to make it possible for poor women and men to have access to markets – locally, nationally, regionally and globally. Much progress on removing obstacles is needed on all levels. Transport and communication is key. But even for the small remote woman farmer, what happens in the Doha Round is of great importance for the possibility for her to sell even at the local market. The Doha Round must be put back on track again. No single action is more important for poor African farmers than a successful outcome of the Doha Development Round.
Thirdly, access to finance, access to opportunities to save and borrow. Micro-finance is one proven successful approach. It has to be upscaled. Villages need locally owned savings and loans associations to harness the development potential of rapidly growing remittances, USD 100 billion on a global scale, as compared to USD 50 billion ODA.
Fourthly, access to technology and research that responds to their problems. The NERICA rice story led by Japan and WARDA and supported by many including IFAD is a good example. There are many other good examples such as the cassava revolution in Nigeria.
And Fifthly, access to accountable and non-corrupt institutions. The poor need effective political representation, more bargaining power and organizations that represent their interests. Institutions and organizations for, of, and by the poor. They must be allowed to be the actors, the subjects and not the objects of charity. We know that poor people seize every opportunity to get a better life for themselves and their families. Our role is to provide such an opportunity.
All these challenges are being compounded by the challenge of HIV/AIDS, in particular in parts of Africa where a generation of farmers is disappearing. HIV/AIDS is now more a rural than urban problem and 7 million active farmers and farm workers have already died. Its impact on agriculture is devastating. Teenage headed households are increasing and the number of orphans is daunting. The role played by rural women must be especially recognized. Their social, economic and political marginalization, while being the prime actors in agriculture, must be addressed.
For us to address these needs, we need to argue for greater attention by developing country governments for the centrality of agriculture for national development. The OECD countries have to reverse the declining trend in ODA funding for agriculture. We are now starting to see examples of this. Canada announced earlier this year a plan to increase five-fold its spending on agricultural development in developing countries. USAID is also reversing the declining trend. European countries are revising their policies. G8 is taking an interest. I welcome the G8 declaration from Evian where G8 countries “undertook to work towards reversing the decline of ODA to agriculture”. It is a good beginning. More must follow. After 15 years, agriculture is coming back on the development agenda. This meeting confirms this hopeful trend. It has to be sustained and I welcome the strong pronouncements made by heads of states and government of Africa. I hope their calls are heard in donor agencies and I applaud the work by NEPAD in agriculture, which is a key factor in the solution to the challenge of rural poverty.
Thank you.