Press release number: IFAD 37/05

Doha, Qatar, 1 October 2005 - On the eve of the Doha consultation on the replenishment of the International Fund for Agricultural Development's (IFAD) resources, the crucial importance of IFAD's partnership with the OPEC Fund for International Development has been underlined.

The alliance between the two organizations, which started almost 30 years ago in response to the world food crisis that was devastating many developing countries, is even more relevant today as the international community steps up efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In a joint publication highlighting the partnership between IFAD and the OPEC Fund, the heads of the two organizations said that, today, the world again faces a crisis that calls for effective and flexible collaboration.

''Poverty is still the single greatest threat to security and sustainable development,'' said IFAD President Lennart Båge and OPEC Fund Director-General Suleiman J. Al-Herbish. ''By combining resources, skills and experience, we generate synergies that make the most of our efforts to help rural poor people.''

The partnership between IFAD and the OPEC Fund also contributes to MDG 8 to develop a global partnership for development.

IFAD was created in response to a world food crisis of the mid 1970s. OPEC nations provided the will and a substantial share of the resources to establish IFAD, in partnership with the countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Other developing countries also contributed.

The OPEC Fund was established in the same period to support the social and economic advancement of low-income countries and to signal the solidarity of OPEC member countries, themselves developing nations, with other countries in the developing world.

Since then, the two partners have cofinanced 58 projects in over 30 countries, and more joint initiatives are in the pipeline. The OPEC Fund is the largest cofinancier of IFAD-sponsored programmes and projects after the World Bank.

In Guatemala, a project cofinanced by IFAD and the OPEC Fund is helping farmers increase food production and raise incomes by using new farming technologies and tools, adopting post-harvest storage methods and introducing small-scale irrigation.

In another joint project in Mali, farmers, fishers and herders are making the most of the Niger River through improved techniques for managing the rise and fall of water levels. More dependable sources of water mean women's groups can feed their families by growing vegetables on five-hectare plots, and then sell the surplus for cash.

These and other projects are helping IFAD and the OPEC Fund to achieve their common goal of empowering people to overcome poverty through development programmes and projects built on the experience, insights and perspectives of rural poor people themselves.

The joint publication, entitled IFAD and the OPEC Fund: A Partnership to Eradicate Rural Poverty, will be formally launched in early 2006.

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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.

The OPEC Fund for International Development is an intergovernmental development finance institution, established in 1976 by the then 13 member countries of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The OPEC Fund promotes cooperation between its member countries and other developing countries as an expression of south-south solidarity. In particular, it supports the social and economic advancement of low-income countries.