Excellencies, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to see you all and to welcome you to headquarters once again.

Let me clarify why we are holding an event such as this one.  Many of you have expressed concern over the lack of interaction or rather, the absence of opportunities to be informed, to know how well IFAD, your Fund, your institution is fairing in its mission to eradicate poverty working with the governments and the peoples of developing countries.

You have said that, beyond the Executive Board, you want – that you need – to be informed so that you can be our voice, our advocates, in your capitals.  Because out of 165 members, only 36 countries are represented on the Executive Board.

So here we are today.  This is the first of what I hope will be an annual event.  But I ask that you tell me later if April is a good time, or even more critical, if it is worth it or not.  Because it costs money to serve lunch to 150 guests and colleagues combined.  So it had better be worth the investment!

It is now just over a year since I took up my position as President of IFAD. It’s been an action-packed 12 months and we’ve come a long way. You have entrusted us with a larger programme of work, and together we have laid the foundations to increase it still further. We have also improved the quality of our activities and boosted our results on the ground. We’ve forged ahead with our change and reform programme, and we’ve opened new country offices around the world.

But there’s still a long road ahead. As you know, the number of hungry people on the planet is now over 1 billion, higher than ever before. Poverty and food insecurity are still a way of life for millions of men, women and children. And the achievement of the first Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015 is seriously at risk. We and our partners still have a great deal of work to do.

IFAD has a clear role in meeting the huge challenge that humanity faces: we empower poor rural women and men so that the world can move from poverty management to poverty eradication.

I would therefore like to take this opportunity to bring you all up to date on our progress since we last met at the Governing Council.

Haiti

Allow me to start with an update on our support to the people of Haiti following the devastating earthquake in January. As you know, in an immediate response to the disaster, we rushed through a post-earthquake support programme worth US$3.3 million (out of which US$2.5 million is a grant from IFAD) to boost food security and create jobs for some 60,000 people. We used a special procedure of vote by correspondence of the Executive Board to gain a month of time. I’m glad to report that overwhelming support was shown for the people of Haiti – the votes cast were unanimous – and that the grant is now approved. We are also strengthening our country team on the ground in Haiti, recruiting two new team members.

I am hoping to visit Haiti myself during the summer to see the ongoing work.

We have also moved swiftly ahead with proposals to provide relief for Haiti’s debt to IFAD. In line with the G7 call for the forgiveness of the country’s external debt, and in response to Member States’ commitment to support IFAD in providing permanent debt forgiveness to Haiti, a document outlining a structure for debt relief will go to the Executive Board next week. The plan is to set up an account to receive resources from external donors for paying off Haiti’s debt. This is currently estimated at US$58 million and is expected to reach US$78 million over the life of active loans.

Country presence

Over the last year, we’ve made substantial progress towards consolidating our presence in countries where we work. Today, we have 25 operational country presence offices, an increase of 9 over the number in 2008.  And by the end of 2010, our plan is to increase the number to 30.

We have already seen that building our presence in-country is driving the improvement of results on the ground. It is also facilitating the change-over to IFAD’s direct supervision, which itself is contributing significantly to the effectiveness of the activities that we support.

We’ve been steadily stepping up the number of programmes and projects that we supervise directly and a substantial increase last year brought the directly supervised portfolio to 186 – well over 80 per cent of our ongoing programmes and projects. Our aim is to keep the remaining projects with cooperating institutions in order to cross-fertilize the knowledge that we and our partners gain.

As you know, establishing country offices is not always easy. I would particularly like to thank the countries present here today that have expedited this process and to ask all of you to continue to give your full support in this area. We will all be benefiting from this change.

Strategic Framework

One of our top priorities this year is the development of IFAD’s new Strategic Framework for 2011-2014 – the road map that will guide us well into the Ninth Replenishment period. The new Framework will cover three main issues:

• IFAD’s place in the post L’Aquila era and the emerging global architecture for aid as it affects agriculture and food security;
• our medium to long-term resource requirements and possible sources of financing;
• our over-arching goal, in light of our experience, of the new paradigm that sees smallholder farming first and foremost as a business, and of the imperative of building a thriving rural economy.

The new Strategic Framework will also review the areas and principles of our engagement – that is, what we do and how we do it. It will be based on our own experiences as well as successes from elsewhere, and it will factor in the major impacts of climate change, as well as the need to actively engage the private sector in rural development. The Strategic Framework will be presented to the December session of the Executive Board.

IFAD8

We are just over three months into our Eighth Replenishment period. We are on track to increase our operational programme by 50 per cent over the Seventh Replenishment, and to deliver a programme of work of US$3 billion over three years. Let me assure you that we can do it. In 2008, we financed 30 programmes and projects in 29 countries for a total of US$566 million. In 2009, the respective figures were 33 programmes and projects in 30 countries for US$677 million. Our projections for 2010 – and these are projections – are up to 43 programmes and projects in 39 countries estimated at up to US$1,010 million. Including cofinancing, we expect to mobilize about US$7 billion for investment in smallholder development in 2010 to 2012.

At the same time, we will be rigorous in keeping our administrative expenses down. Already over the last year, we have seen that the new operating model is leading to lower operational costs and to some significant savings. On a yearly basis through the Eighth Replenishment period, our programme of work is projected to increase by 20 per cent, while annual expenses grow by just 4 per cent.

Progress on reform

We have also forged ahead in delivering IFAD’s reform agenda. Our goal remains an increasingly efficient, effective and agile institution, with the capacity to deliver on our growing programme of work.

The Medium-Term Plan, Strategic Workforce Plan and the zero-based budget

The keystone of our reform agenda is the corporate Medium-Term Plan. This covers the period of the Eighth Replenishment and is a first for IFAD. The Medium-Term Plan is based on the programme of work, the strategic workforce plan and the zero-based budget. It sets out the steps we need to take to sharpen our focus on programme operations and to ensure that our resources make the maximum impact on rural poverty and food insecurity.  The MTP is currently in draft form and is expected to be discussed with the Executive Board in September 2010.

Through the Strategic Workforce Plan, which we are doing for the first time in the history of IFAD, we are taking a deep look at where our people are, what they are doing, and the skills they have. Our final objective is to align our human resources with our MTP.  Some of the measures this would encompass are:  increasing the proportion of staff supporting country programmes, building a workforce fit for the challenge, and boosting our administrative efficiency.

  We are also moving ahead with the reform of a whole spectrum of HR policies, practices, and management. These include: an external review of the entire compensation and benefits system of IFAD to determine the costs and benefits of remaining within the UN/ICSC system; revision of the IFAD’s staff rules and the Human Resources Procedures Manual (HRPM); changes to staff benefits and entitlements, particularly as they relate to travel; strengthening the HR platform for country presence; redeployment and rotation of staff; review of the performance evaluation system (PES); implementation of the new staff learning and training programme; implementation of the Second Phase of the Voluntary Separation Package (VSP); and strengthening the HR management of the Fund.

In the zero-based budget, again another first at IFAD, all budget lines are reviewed afresh, with no reference to allocations for the previous year. As an approach, the zero-based budget enables us to review budget alignment with objectives. It forces us to reassess our priorities and ensure that our resources are closely correlated with our strategic objectives.

IFAD’s profile

During my first twelve months as President, I have visited the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe, a total of some 20 countries.  I have met people from all walks of life – poor rural women and men, government ministers, business leaders, development workers, farmers’ representatives and heads of state.

When I was in Mali last month, I talked to the members of a women’s cooperative in the village of Didiéni, about 160 km from Bamako. The president of the group, Wassa Traore, told me how the women’s lives had changed. The cooperative has lightened their workload, providing basic services like power for lighting and recharging batteries, and soldering equipment for mending tools. And it has also helped them to start income-generating activities, processing and marketing agricultural products such as cereals, groundnuts and karité. I was heartened by our meeting, and in particular by the women’s desire to help other women set up similar groups and make the same changes in their lives.

Empowering women is essential to IFAD’s mission. We have seen time and time again that when we work hand in hand with mothers, wives and daughters in rural areas, whole communities benefit.

 I have also visited farmers and met with heads of government in Brazil, China and India, three of the world’s biggest emerging economies, all of whom have significant IFAD portfolios.

Throughout the world, I will continue to be a voice advocating for smallholder farmers, fishers, pastoralists and other poor rural people. Since we last met at the Governing Council, I have been to Abuja for the High-level Conference on the Development of Agribusiness and Agro-industries in Africa, to Mali for the Africa Rice Congress, and to Montpellier for the Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development. Just last week, I attended the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination in Vienna, and at the end of this month, I will be going to the World Bank spring sessions in Washington, DC.

Our strong presence, together with our partners, at high-level forums, starting with the G8 summit here in Italy, has enabled us to put agriculture and food security back where it belongs at the top of the global agenda.  We cannot allow it to slip.

Our vision

You are already familiar with the message that I take to all the people and places that I visit: farming – at whatever scale – must be seen as a business, and smallholder farmers must be treated as entrepreneurial women and men. Businesses need clear linkages along the value chain from production to processing, marketing, and ultimately to consumption. Through the programmes and projects that we support, we are strengthening the ability of smallholder farmers and other rural workers to engage and compete in a business environment, at the same time as we work with governments and the private sector to nurture that environment.

For example, the Rural Knowledge Network Pilot Project for East Africa, which we fund, is promoting the emergence of small, commercially viable business support companies in Kenya, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania. During 2009, the number of these small businesses grew to 120 across the three countries.

Our interventions must also encourage entrepreneurs – both large and small – to invest in the rural economy and forge strong links with the urban economy. Our work with our partners – and I cannot stress enough that partnership is our main mode of operation – also promotes local economic development.

By creating a vibrant rural economy, we are also making it possible for young women and men to build a future for themselves in rural areas, and as you know, this is one of our top priorities. When I was in Brazil last year, I visited an inspiring school where young people were being trained in agricultural techniques alongside their mainstream lessons. They were in charge of producing honey and preparing organic fertilizer and they were also learning to pass on the lessons they themselves had learned, to their families and friends in their communities.

It is crucial that we invest in young rural people today, giving them the skills and confidence that they need to run profitable farms, start businesses and become the community leaders of tomorrow.

But for this to happen and be sustainable, governments and political leaders must champion and invest the political will, the political capital, to effect the transformation.  What is most needed is not only the financial assistance from the international community, what is needed is committed and functioning governments.

IFAD 9

As we embark on the road to IFAD 9, we already know that the business-as-usual approach to resource mobilization will no longer work. The demand for our services has increased as the global economic situation has pushed more people into poverty, and both donor and borrowing countries continue to face severe fiscal challenges. The need for our support is growing at the same time as the constraints that limit the possibilities of our donor countries to increase their contributions. This means that we need to start exploring alternative sources of funding, including foundations, the private sector and innovative financial mechanisms.

During the Ninth Replenishment period, our focus will remain on our core mandate of strengthening food security and strengthening the commercial and economic viability of smallholder farmers. To do this, we will focus more on boosting growth in the productivity of smallholder farming.  In particular, we will work to bring technological advances and improved commercial practices to developing countries and make them available to poor rural women and men.

We will also promote new operational models, including public-private partnerships and public agricultural services that are provided by farmers’ organizations. And we will continue to pursue the value chain approach, in particular by lending to private enterprises as well as governments.

As productivity levels rise and smallholders begin to harvest surplus produce, we will increasingly partner with the agro-industrial and agri-business sector for value addition to products. This is because the value chains that link these farmers to markets will be crucial both to increasing their incomes and to ensuring that the smallholder sector can contribute significantly to global food security.

further word on partnerships.  Charity begins at home.  On assuming leadership at IFAD, I encouraged regular consultation with our sister organizations, FAO and WFP, not only at the level of CEOs but also among our senior managers.  I am pleased to announce to you that tomorrow we will hold our second senior management consultation meeting here at IFAD involving over 40 colleagues from the three agencies, including Jacques, Josette and myself.  We will be discussing our work in Haiti, systems coordination, security, joint field operations and the broader partnership within the global agenda.

Improved internal communications

Over the year, I have made a strong personal commitment to improving internal communications at IFAD. My letter to all of you between board sessions is a part of this and I also aim to make these luncheons an annual event. With the staff, I have carried out Town Hall meetings, as well as breakfasts, lunches and coffees. We held five Town Hall meetings during the first 12 months, to which many of our country-based staff are linked by audio. And I have even started blogging.

Agenda for April EB

Finally, I would like to look briefly at key items on the agenda for the 99th session of the Executive Board next week. As preparations gear up for the UN Climate Change Conference in Mexico and the vital link between climate change and agriculture is under debate, we shall be presenting the IFAD Climate Change Strategy for Board approval. We will also be reporting on the implementation of change and reform at IFAD. We have worked to increase our efficiency and to maximize our transparency. By doing this, we have also contributed to our greatest goal, which is to strengthen our development effectiveness and build our results on the ground.

Thank you for your kind attention.

Rome, 14 April 2010