It is a great honour for me to be here at the conclusion of IFAD’s 32nd Governing Council.

IFAD works with the world’s poorest rural people to increase their productivity, incomes and food security, and so overcome poverty. Our focus is smallholder farmers, landless people, labourers, herders, artisanal fishers, and small-scale entrepreneurs. These people depend on the land and the sea to survive.

We give special attention to empowering women, who account for a disproportionate number of the world’s extremely poor. And we recognize the particular needs of indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities.

We are grateful for the special attention that Your Holiness gives to the poorest and weakest populations of the world, who are hit by the many challenges facing humanity. In the midst of the food crisis, your voice served as a beacon, urging the international community to work together to ensure the right financial response. The recent impact of the global financial crisis makes it all the more urgent that the needs of the poorest people in the poorest countries are addressed. 

After decades of severe underinvestment in agriculture, a new strategy for food production and distribution is being developed. This strategy needs the support of all stakeholders: national governments, international organisations, civil society, the private sector and poor rural people themselves. The role of smallholder farmers is now widely recognised as critical to the global effort to enhance food production and agriculture productivity.

Financial resources do not represent the only requirement.  As Your Holiness highlighted in the  message delivered in the occasion of the World Food Day last October: "one essential condition for increasing production levels, for guaranteeing the identity of indigenous communities as well as peace and security in the world, is to guarantee access to land, thereby favouring farm workers and upholding their rights". 

This is one of IFAD’s core values and the driving principle of our mandate. Our role is not limited to providing financial resources and technical skills. When designing and implementing projects, our goal is to empower poor rural women and men to take advantage of economic opportunities and achieve higher incomes and better food security for themselves by themselves. We do this by helping them build their individual capacities and develop and strengthen their own organizations and communities. In this way they will be able to lead their own progress out of poverty and influence decisions and policies that affect their lives.

The commitment to the plight of poor rural people that Your Holiness demonstrates across the world is an immense support to IFAD’s efforts. We are truly grateful.

Rome, 20 February 2009