Press release number: IFAD 27/05

Policy seminar examines poverty reduction strategies in Asia and Africa

Tokyo, Wednesday, 1 June 2005 – Senior officials from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, and the Japanese ministries of foreign affairs, finance and agriculture met today with staff from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to participate in a policy seminar at the University of Tokyo to discuss poverty reduction strategies in Asia and Africa.

Organized by IFAD, in collaboration with Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the seminar provided a unique opportunity to identify key lessons that Asia and Africa can learn from each other and help both regions achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Several countries in Asia have already reached the target of the first MDG of halving the proportion of extreme poverty by 2015. But Asia is still home to more than 60 per cent of the world’s 1.1 billion extremely poor people – almost half of them living in South Asia. Rapid economic growth has also led to gaping inequalities and increased the entire region’s vulnerability to external shocks.

In Africa, most countries are off-track to meet the MDG targets and timelines. While recent efforts to increase food production and improve marketing have been largely successful, the number of poor and malnourished people in Africa has more than doubled over the last 30 years.

“The clear lesson that we are seeing emerge from these two regions is that countries that are making the most progress in reducing poverty have done so by investing in agricultural and rural development,” IFAD President, Lennart Båge, told seminar participants.

On the whole, Asian governments currently channel greater shares of public expenditure to agriculture and rural sectors than African governments.

Global poverty is an overwhelmingly rural phenomenon. More than 800 million poor people live in rural areas of the developing world and rely on agriculture and related activities for their survival. Even in 2025, when the majority of the world’s population is projected to live in urban areas, 60 per cent of the poorest people are expected to remain in rural areas.

The seminar also served as a forum to highlight areas for further collaboration between Japan and IFAD. As a founding member of IFAD, Japan has pledged US$ 279.8 million in contributions to the organization’s regular resources, which has helped fund a variety of development activities that have benefited more than 250 million poor rural women, men and children around the globe.

“Seminars and other events are important for us at IFAD because it gives us a chance to dialogue with our development partners and ensure a constant exchange of ideas and practices,” said Båge.

Japan is the single largest source of aid in Asia and host of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development. Last April, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pledged to double Japan’s aid to Africa over the next three years.

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IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries. Seventy-five per cent of the world’s poorest people – 800 million women, children and men – live in rural areas and depend on agriculture and related activities for their livelihoods. Through low-interest loans and grants, IFAD works with governments to develop and finance programmes and projects that enable rural poor people to overcome poverty themselves.

There are 192 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, totalling US$6.5 billion. IFAD has invested about US$2.8 billion in these initiatives. Cofinancing has been provided by governments, beneficiaries, multilateral and bilateral donors and other partners. At full development, these programmes will help more than 100 million rural poor women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested almost US$8.7 billion in 690 projects and programmes that have helped more than 250 million poor rural men and women achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Governments and other financing sources in the recipient countries, including project beneficiaries, have contributed about US$8.4 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors have provided about US$6.9 billion in cofinancing.