Press Release No. IFAD/16/01

Berlin – 22 May 2001 ''Poverty alleviation must be dealt with urgency if the international community is to fulfil the Millennium Summit promise to halve by 2015 the proportion of those living in extreme poverty,'' the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Lennart Båge, stated at a press conference in Berlin today.

The press conference was also addressed by the federal German Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, after a meeting with Båge. They agreed on the pressing need of alleviating poverty. ''The objective of achieving a drastic reduction in poverty, calls for the implementation of adequate measures by all governments in industrial and developing countries,'' Wieczorek-Zeul said.

The poverty goal is certainly ambitious but it is achievable, added Båge, who took up his appointment in April as President of the Fund. Båge pointed out that aid to agricultural development had fallen sharply - by 40 percent - during the 1990s. Official development assistance (ODA) for rural and agricultural development, therefore, needs be increased substantially, he added.

International finance institutions had reduced their assistance for agricultural development, so that this amounted only to 10 percent of their total credits. Båge urged the industrialised countries to reverse the trend of declining ODA and fulfil their promise of spending 0.7 percent of their GNP on ODA. He referred to IFAD's Rural Poverty Report 2001 that is based on its own experience of 23 years in addressing poverty and drawing from the experience of other institutions as well as academic inputs. The Report reviews in depth the causes and dynamics of poverty and the most effective approaches for reducing poverty levels.

''A key finding of the Report is that we should not view poor groups as a burden on society, but as subjects, with the capacity to become primary agents of change. Instead of looking at their needs, we should be building on their strengths.''

Båge said land and water rights both in terms of legal title as well as protection of customary use rights were vital for poor farmers and herders. These would help them take their destiny in their own hands. Land redistribution can do much to reduce poverty and is crucial to getting more assets to the rural poor. Highly unequal land ownership reduces economic growth and diverts its benefits away from the rural poor.

Rural areas' need for water has been generally neglected and the case for shifting water from farms to cities has been overstated. Båge added that more control by the poor over water was essential if they were to realise the full benefits from farmland.

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IFAD is a specialised agency of the United Nations with the specific mandate of combating hunger and poverty in the most disadvantaged regions of the world. Since 1978 IFAD has financed 578 projects in 114 countries, allocating almost US$ 7 billion in the form of loans and grants. Through these projects, about 250 million rural people have had a chance to move out of poverty.

IFAD makes the greater part of its resources available to low-income countries on very favourable terms, with up to 40 years for repayment and including a grace period of up to ten years and a service charge of 0.75% per year.