Press release number: IFAD 08/06

Rome, 16 February 2006 - Poor people are innovators for life,'' stated Olaseinde Arigbede of the Union of Small and Medium Scale Farmers of Nigeria. Arigbede was speaking at a high-level panel discussion at the annual Governing Council meeting of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) yesterday in Rome. The key question, he continued, is: ''How can the developed world better support the everyday creativity that farmers are showing?''

''Innovation challenges for the rural poor'' was the topic of the panel discussion. Other panel members included Julio Berdegue, President of the Latin American Centre for Rural Development, Ravi Kanbur, world expert on development economics, Reema Nanavaty, Director of Economic and Rural Development for the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in India, and Matthew Wyatt, United Kingdom Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN organizations in Rome and Chair of the IFAD Governing Council.

''Innovation is driven by the private sector,'' said Wyatt. ''The rural poor are less likely to benefit and most likely to suffer the negative consequences of innovation,'' he warned, ''IFAD's role is in helping poor people rise to the innovation challenges that they face.''

With funding from the United Kingdom, IFAD is currently managing a three-year initiative to expand its capacities for innovation &ndash the Initiative for Mainstreaming Innovation (IMI).

''IMI has created space for IFAD to be creative,'' Wyatt said. ''It is necessary to create space for risk-taking and accept that a degree of failure will come with that.''

Kanbur spoke about organizational innovation, warning that ''institutions often have rules that stifle innovation.'' He recommended ''ring fencing'' &ndash setting aside small amounts of funds to support innovation over the long term.

''For the poor, innovation is vital for survival,'' said Nanavaty. She told the meeting how SEWA has worked to make innovation sustainable by providing financial services for its members. ''Innovation blooms when provided with the right resources,'' she said. ''Innovations are new, different and unique, and therefore not part of bureaucratic systems,'' Nanavaty continued. She called for trust and patience on the part of donors as key to promoting innovation.

Scaling up successful innovations is vital if they are to have a sustainable impact on rural poverty reduction. Governments and institutions play a key role in making scaling up possible and sustainable.

Nanavaty also spoke of the importance of enabling effective local organizations such as SEWA to scale up while remaining true to their roots. SEWA's immersion programme, which takes professionals and development workers to stay with rural poor women in their homes for a few days, is one way of keeping this connection alive.

Networking is also important to scale up innovations. ''Significant innovation processes require networks that include the rural poor but go beyond them,'' said Berdegue. He spoke of networks that include small farmers, large farmers and multinationals.

Lennart Båge, the President of IFAD closed the panel noting that supporting and promoting innovation had been identified as a key characteristic of IFAD. ''We are not the prime innovators,'' he said. ''The way that we support our partners in innovation is what is important.'' He spoke of the need for humility and respect in creating a space for innovation, and underlined the contribution that the panel discussion had made to IFAD's future work in the field. The panel discussion was moderated by Mishal Husain of BBC World News.

The first Farmers' Forum held in conjunction with this session of IFAD's Governing Council was cited as an important innovation. The Forum brought together leaders from more than 50 farmers' organizations representing small farmers and rural producers worldwide for a global consultation on rural development and poverty reduction.

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IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. Through low-interest loans and grants, it develops and finances projects that enable rural poor people to overcome poverty themselves. There are 185 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, totalling US$6.1 billion. IFAD has invested nearly US$2.9 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 nearly 80 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$9.0 billion in 707 programmes and projects that have helped nearly 300 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 participants, have contributed almost US$8.8 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors have provided another US$7.0 billion in cofinancing.