Madam Chairperson,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Governors,
Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of everyone at IFAD – here at headquarters and in the field – I warmly welcome you to the Thirty-sixth session of the Governing Council.

I would like to extend a special welcome to representatives of Indigenous Peoples who are here to observe our proceedings, after attending the first ever Indigenous Peoples’ Forum. It was an honour for IFAD to host this historic event.

The theme of this Governing Council – the power of partnerships – speaks to the heart of IFAD’s identity.

IFAD is proud to be a unique partnership between members of OPEC, other developing countries, and members of the OECD. And our partners also include other UN agencies, especially the other food agencies based here in Rome, as well as international financial institutions, poor rural people’s organizations, the private sector, research institutions and many others.

Each and every one of us here is united by a determination to rid the world of poverty and hunger. United in our belief that there is something wrong with a world where 1.29 billion people earn less than US$1.25 a day; a world where 870 million men, women and children go to bed hungry every night.

And we are united in our understanding that food security, nutrition and well-being can only be achieved by sustainable, inclusive, rural development.

Today, IFAD has embarked on IFAD9, the next phase in its mission to create vibrant rural economies. I would like to report back to you on what was achieved during IFAD8, IFAD's eighth replenishment period, which ended in December 2012.

You entrusted us with a record US$1.2 billion for the Eighth Replenishment. As a consequence of your generosity and trust, our total programme of work rose 50 per cent between IFAD7 and IFAD8, enabling us to reach an estimated 40 million people; 45 per cent of them women.

During this period, we have expanded our presence in the field and enhanced our support to countries as they implement their projects.

In 2009, IFAD had 25 country offices. By the end of 2012, there were 38, with a 36 percent increase in the last year alone. The portion of IFAD staff on the ground has risen steadily from 1.4 per cent to around 15 per cent today, enabling us to be more engaged in policy dialogue and to better support our partners.

And since 2007, the percentage of projects directly supervised by IFAD has risen from 18 per cent to 93 per cent.

Our enhanced commitment has been reflected in the confidence shown by our partners. You can see that in the growth of co-financing. Just since 2009, co-financing for IFAD-funded ongoing projects has risen by 61 per cent. And this, despite the economic downturn of those years.

The numbers tell another story as well. For each of the past four years, domestic contributions to programmes and projects has been consistently higher than the amount generated by external cofinancing. That means that commitment to rural development is growing in the countries themselves.

Why is this so important? Because experience shows that development is most effective when it is self-driven.

This level of commitment to IFAD-supported projects on the part of developing countries underscores the impact of our new operating model through country presence, policy dialogue and advocacy.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Structured reforms have transformed IFAD into a more agile, efficient agency, better able to respond to a rapidly changing environment. This has been crucial to improving IFAD’s effectiveness at a time when new challenges are constantly reshaping the physical and geo-political landscape where we work.

With the strong support of the Board, we have established new instruments and processes, better aligning IFAD’s human and financial resources with its strategic objectives.

In keeping with our pledge to increase efficiency, IFAD has a zero-nominal growth budget for 2013. We have reduced staffing by 4 per cent through better vacancy management and normal attrition.

And for the first time ever, we have also implemented a comprehensive job audit and strategic workforce planning exercise. These involved an institution-wide review of all positions, ensuring that each job is linked to strategic objectives, and each position is at the appropriate grade.

In addition, a dedicated financial management department is helping us get the most from our resources. Our results-based budgeting system has been bolstered by the introduction of mid-year budget reviews and a more robust medium-term plan to further improve our accountability.

At the same time, the Department of Strategy and Knowledge Management, which was created during IFAD8, will help IFAD to better engage in country and global policy dialogues.

These changes – combined with the dedication and hard work of IFAD staff – have been yielding results.

IFAD’s internal transformation, and its proven track record spanning more than 35 years, have positioned the Fund as an important partner in global food security and rural development efforts.

The emergence of higher and more volatile food prices, combined with dramatic droughts, floods, and famines, have concentrated world attention on the question of how to feed a global population that is over 7 billion and growing.

Today, agriculture is centre stage, and IFAD is there to make sure that the case for smallholder involvement is heard. This was my commitment to you four years ago.

Since 2009, IFAD has increased its engagement in high level advocacy, pressing for inclusive, sustainable rural development at meetings like the G8 and G20, the World Economic Forum, the Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development, and Rio plus 20.

We are seeing tangible results. For example, the concept of smallholder farming as a business has been embodied in G8 and G20 documents. The Camp David declaration, that launched the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, specified smallholder farmers, particularly women, as private sector partners.

How we respond to today’s challenges will determine not only the shape of food systems in the near future, but also the health of ecosystems and the distribution of the world’s population.

Because of our mandate, IFAD works in remote areas where few agencies venture. We work with some of the most marginalized and disadvantaged populations in the world.

Sometimes, conflict overwhelms IFAD’s work. For example, in Mali, an IFAD-supported project in Timbuktu and Gao was having some success in creating more employment options for young people and slowing the rate of migration to urban areas.

Today, IFAD staff have had to withdraw to Bamako where they continue to work, supporting existing infrastructure, such as health centres and irrigation schemes. This infrastructure is critical to help maintain activities during troubled times and will be essential to rebuilding lives and livelihoods when the conflict ends.

The current situation in Mali underscores the critical need to create steady, sustainable and reasonably paid work for young people in rural areas.

Young people with prospects will build the foundations for their future. Young people without prospects have nothing to lose and are more easily swayed by extreme rhetoric.

We need our young people to be the farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs of tomorrow.

Vibrant rural areas can ensure a dynamic flow of economic benefits between rural and urban areas so that nations have balanced and sustained development.

This is crucial to bear in mind as the international community starts to consider the post-2015 development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

During the IFAD9 period, which also ends in 2015, the Fund will make the case for rural economies. We will support more youth-oriented rural development projects and programmes, and expand our support to help poor rural people adapt to the effects of climate change. We will also see that greater attention is given to fragile states.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me give you a quick update on IFAD9 contributions.

Despite ongoing financial pressure, our partners have continued to generously support our work.

To date, with pledges from 79 Member States, IFAD9 has already reached US$1.38 billion of its target of US$1.5 billion.

When combined with cofinancing, IFAD’s programme of work should reach US$7.9 billion in IFAD9.

To put it simply, more partnership means more impact. For every dollar contributed to the Ninth Replenishment, IFAD expects to mobilize another five dollars from its partners for rural development programmes.

IFAD is determined to work with its partners to make the most of agriculture’s poverty-fighting powers. This is why we have created the Office of Partnership and Resource Mobilization. PRM iswholly dedicated to exploring new partnerships and new instruments to finance agriculture and rural development.

On the strength of your contributions and support, IFAD has announced a goal of enabling 80 million women, men and children to move out of poverty by 2015.

To achieve this goal, IFAD will need dynamic partnerships with governments and donors to scale up its most effective and innovative programmes and projects.

There is no doubt that IFAD can do this. As the Brookings Institution has noted, scaling up is now part of IFAD’s DNA.

Sometimes the scaling-up occurs in-country, such as in Peru and Ghana, where IFAD-supported projects that started locally have gradually expanded into national programmes.

Sometimes, it spans not only countries but continents. About eleven years ago, IFAD joined forces with the Government of China to pioneer using biogas technology for poverty reduction. The project was successful and IFAD is now piloting this technology in various places around the world.

Today, in China, Gambia, Kenya, Pakistan, Rwanda and Viet Nam, biogas digesters are successfully generating energy from the methane produced by human and animal waste.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. Burning bio-methane is less damaging to the atmosphere, and far less damaging to human health. 2.5 million deaths a year are directly attributable to inhaling smoke from burning wood. And by having a reliable source of renewable energy, people burn less petrol and wood.

Poor people who were not on the power grid now have power for lighting, cooking, or even running generators. Women, who once had to spend valuable hours collecting firewood, now have more time for their families and to generate income.

In an ever changing world, it is not just poor rural people who need to be able to adapt. Institutions also need to respond to changing realities.

For example, climate change is transforming the context for agriculture.

IFAD has responded by creating the Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme, or ASAP. This multi-donor grant programme will channel climate finance to poor smallholder farming communities, helping them become more resilient to climate change.

ASAP is just one of a series of new instruments IFAD is developing to allow us to respond more flexibly to the needs of poor rural people, and our members. Another example, our Reimbursable Technical Assistance instrument, means IFAD can now provide fee-based knowledge services to non-borrowing members on a cost recovery basis.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The changes that have transformed IFAD into a more agile, efficient and effective partner are the direct result of your steadfast support over the years.

Today and tomorrow, you will be considering business items and taking decisions on critical issues for IFAD. You will be charting the way ahead for your institution, which I have had the honour to lead as President for the last four years. I thank you for the opportunity you have given me to serve you and the Fund.

And I also want to recognize and thank my colleagues in Senior Management and the IFAD staff, without whose dedication and commitment we would not have come this far.

The transformations that this institution has undertaken over the last four years and that will guide its work in the years to come are based on our common cause: A world where all rural activities – from smallholder farming, to goat-herding, to fishing – are respected and dignified as economic activities.

A world where every farmer earns enough to live a decent life; a world where all men, women and children have the food they need to live full and productive lives.

Whenever I go to the field, I am struck by the determination and energy of the women and men we work with. From Burundi to China to Guatemala, I have seen remarkable results.

I am certain that the rural women and men of Africa, Asia and the Americas, are willing and able to do their part to ensure global food security.

It is up to us, working together, in partnership, to make this a reality.

Thank you.

Rome, 13 February 2013