Release number IFAD/06/07

Mozambique Prime Minister calls for an end to the appalling conditions in which citizens of developing countries live

Italian Minister of Finance and Economy says that large multinational companies are expanding while small producers are being penalized 

Rome, Wednesday, 14 February— The Prime Minister of the Republic of Mozambique, Luisa Dias Diogo, delivered the keynote address at the 30th session of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) today at the Palazzo dei Congressi. Other speakers included the Italian Minister of Economy and Finance, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa; Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), Abdul Rahman Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah; and the Director-General of the OPEC Fund for International Development, Suleiman J. Al-Herbish.

IFAD President Lennart Båge made a statement at the opening plenary in which he reported on the record-breaking success of IFAD’s work programme in 2006, future targets and plans to put agriculture and rural development back on the international agenda.

In his statement, the Italian Minister of Economy and Finance, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa said, “In the past ten years… multinational companies have expanded their role in the transformation and distribution of agricultural products while disadvantaged, small producers in rural areas have been penalized by the lack of services and commercial outlets.”

The Chairman of the plenary session read a statement by UN Secretary-General UN Ban Ki-moon. In his message, he discussed the importance of IFAD’s mandate to meeting the MDGs, noting, “IFAD-supported projects not only contribute directly to reducing poverty in rural areas -- where three quarters of the world’s poorest people live -- but also generate lessons for all involved in the global effort to end poverty and hunger.”

Employment and rural livelihoods is the theme of IFAD’s 2006 Governing Council meeting, taking place on 14-15 February.
Delegates from IFAD’s 165 Member states are expected to be in attendance.

In her statement, Mozambique’s Prime Minister, Luisa Dias Diogo, said that the Millennium Development Goals are a powerful reminder that we must call for an end to the time when human beings in developing countries live in sub-human conditions.

Diogo went on to say that IFAD and the African Development Bank – two of the most supportive multilateral financial agencies helping Africa— have played a key role in rural development programmes in Mozambique.

Diogo also spoke about the ongoing UN reform process, citing the UN’s critical role in development as the key element that motivated Mozambique to participate. Diogo co-chaired the high-level United Nations reform panel on which IFAD President Båge also sat as an ex-officio member.

In his statement, Båge told delegates that IFAD had increased its work programme in 2006 by more than 10 per cent over the last year and that it is expected to increase by an additional 10 per cent each year for the next three years. By 2009, IFAD plans to invest US$2 billion in about 100 programmes and projects, for a total investment of approximately US$4 billion.

“With this, we will reach approximately 50 million more poor people,” said Båge.

Of the 1.1 billion people in the world living in absolute poverty, three quarters of them – 800 million people – live in rural areas of developing countries. The Millennium Development Goals were established seven years ago with the target to halve the proportion of people suffering from extreme poverty by 2015.

“We are now half way to reaching the deadline and I should be saying to you that we are on track,” Båge said. “I should be talking today about how we plan to reach the other half. But I cannot. Globally, we are on track. But in many regions of the world we are not. If we are serious about tackling poverty, it is in the rural areas that we have to tackle it.”

Next year is the 30th anniversary of IFAD’s establishment – and the launch of the next round of negotiations for the replenishment of the agency’s resources.

“This replenishment will set our course in the run up to 2015, a decisive factor in IFAD’s contribution to achieving the Millennium Development Goals on time,” Båge said.

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), Jacques Diouf was represented by Tesfai Tecle, FAO Assistant Director-General. Tecle noted the importance of increasing investment in agriculture, especially in Africa.

“But let us not forget that small farmers themselves are the largest investors in agriculture,” he added.

The Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) James T. Morris was represented by Sheila Sisulu, WFP Deputy Director and Officer-in-Charge. Sisulu discussed WFP’s commitment to working more closely with IFAD — as well as with other UN agencies – and building on the agencies’ shared accomplishments in 2006.

“WFP and IFAD cooperated in nine countries, mainly in the fields of agricultural development and environmental protection,” Sisulu said.

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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 poor rural 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 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 77 million poor rural 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$9.1 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors have provided another US$7.1 billion in cofinancing.