Excellencies,
Esteemed colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am honoured to be here today for this historic occasion. 

Over the past 50 years, our colleagues at the World Food Programme have worked selflessly -- often in extremely difficult conditions --  to save the lives of millions of men, women and children.

The World Food Programme has become synonymous, throughout the world, with relief – relief from hunger, relief from strife, relief from desperation. Whether it is conflict, natural disaster, or, above all, mass hunger, the World Food Programme is sure to be there.

Thank you Executive Director Sheeran for your ceaseless efforts. Thank you for your dedication and your passion for the mission of WFP. 

Hunger is an atrocity. A terrible atrocity, made worse because it does not need to exist.

For IFAD, the World Food Programme has always been an important ally in the fight against hunger.

We have worked together since our earliest days. But in recent years this collaboration has intensified as we work towards our common cause -- of ensuring food security and nutrition for each and every human being. 

This is a fundamental human right.

Our agencies are working as one as never before, whether responding to this year’s famine in the Horn of Africa, or to the hunger caused by erratic food prices.  

At times of crisis, relief is essential. For those who have nothing to eat, we must provide food; for those who have no homes, we must provide shelter.

But if we have learned anything over the past decades, it is that we cannot end hunger unless we also help people provide for themselves and their own futures.

Most of the world’s poorest people live in the rural areas of developing countries. The numbers are staggering.

Consider that 2 billion people in developing countries depend on small-scale agriculture. Most of these 2 billion people are poor. Many of these 2 billion people go hungry.

Sometimes, the truth is hard to take, but we must face up to some difficult facts.

Why are poor farmers cut off from markets?  Because governments fail to invest in roads and infrastructure. 

What is the result of this failure to invest?   

Unpaved dirt roads that take hours to reach markets.

Why are poor farmers cut off from financial services? 

The answer, simply put, is that the banking sector is not interested in serving poor people in remote rural areas. The costs are too high, the perceived risk too troublesome.

What is the result? 

Rural smallholders who cannot invest in new seeds or tools.   Farmers who do not have access to the most basic of insurance or services that would allow them to invest in their farms, their businesses.

We know the answers to all of these questions, and we know these problems are relatively easy to fix.

With the right investments in political capital, financial capital and human capital, these 2 billion people can transform their lives, their communities.  They can feed themselves and they can feed the world. 

Agriculture and rural development is not just about food security and nutrition. It is a pathway to wealth creation, economic growth, social cohesion and development – and as we have seen in large parts of the world, it is also about global peace and security.

By working together, and following through on our commitment to stand united against hunger, I am hopeful that we can create a world where children do not go to bed hungry at night, a world where there is food security and peace.

Thank you.

Rome, 17 November 2011