Release number IFAD/46/06

Rome, 15 December – Italy’s Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and newly appointed Governor to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Pier Paolo Cento, visited IFAD headquarters today and met with IFAD President, Lennart Båge, and other members of the organization’s senior management team.

As the host to three United Nations agencies – the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and IFAD – Rome has become the focal point for international efforts to rid the world of poverty and hunger.

''We are honoured to have this opportunity to discuss how Italy and IFAD can continue to combine our resources, skills and experiences to improve the lives of poor rural people throughout the developing world,'' Båge said as he welcomed Cento.

During his visit, Cento was briefed on IFAD operations by representatives from the agency’s regional and technical divisions and later met with Italian staff members. A third of IFAD staff is comprised of Italian nationals.

Reducing rural poverty and hunger have long been priorities of Italian development cooperation. Italy’s strong commitment to these goals stems from its own agricultural tradition and the support it has historically given to developing its rural areas.

Undersecretary Cento indicated “sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical priority for Italian development cooperation, highlighting post-conflict assistance and reconstruction, migrant remittances, market-related reform and rural microenterprise as areas of focus”.

Nearly half of all of IFAD’s programmes and projects have taken place in Africa since IFAD was established, reaching an estimated 170 million poor rural women, men and children. At present, there are 96 ongoing programmes and projects in Africa (86 in sub-Saharan Africa).

Italy has been a contributing Member State of IFAD since it helped found the agency in 1977. Among IFAD’s 165 Member States, Italy is IFAD’s eighth largest financial contributor, pledging more than US$305 million. In the most recent replenishment of IFAD’s resources, Italy was the second largest contributor, following the United States of America, pledging over US$51 million.

In addition to regular replenishment contributions, Italy has also provided US$37.4 million in voluntary and extra-budgetary contributions to IFAD since 1994.

Italy is one of the top 10 donor countries to the United Nations system.

Båge was invited to address the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Italian Chamber of Deputies last week, where he spoke about the important role agricultural and rural development needs to play in combating global hunger and poverty. A new publication, “IFAD and Italy: A partnership to eradicate rural poverty,” was presented at the event.

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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 196 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, totalling US$6.6 billion. IFAD has invested more than US$3.1 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 89 million rural poor women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested US$9.5 billion in 732 programmes and projects that have helped more than 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 US$9.0 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors have provided another US$7.1  billion in cofinancing.