IFAD 10/07

Matthew Wyatt to meet Irish Aid senior officials in Dublin

Rome, 1 October 2007 – Climate change is one of the most serious threats to small farmers and the world’s poor rural people, said Matthew Wyatt, IFAD’s Assistant-President who is leading an IFAD delegation to Ireland. While in Dublin Wyatt will meet with government officials to discuss rural development and issues related to poverty reduction in Africa.

Many of the poor rural people in Africa and elsewhere depend on ecologically fragile lands and vulnerable sectors – agriculture, fisheries and forestry – for survival. The impact of climate change is potentially devastating for them as they lack the institutional and financial capacity to protect themselves.

Poverty is primarily a rural issue. Nearly one billion people in the world live on less than $1-a-day. About 75 per cent of them live in the rural areas of developing countries. Because they are the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change, global warming is a very real threat to meeting the first Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015. To reduce poverty, we must target rural areas and enable poor rural people to increase their incomes and use natural resources sustainably.

“The development community must redouble its efforts in the rural areas of developing countries if we are to meet the Millennium Development Goals,” said Wyatt.

Investment in agriculture has a high economic pay-off. Investment in agriculture is 2.5 to 3 times more effective in increasing income of the poor than is non-agriculture investment. 

Ireland is a valued member of IFAD and a world leader in development aid. Ireland has made poverty reduction a central objective of its White Paper on Overseas Development Assistance. Wyatt will discuss the potential to strengthen the partnership between Ireland and IFAD, especially in Eastern and Southern Africa. Ireland has channelled substantial development aid to the region.

New studies confirm that Africa is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Agricultural production, including access to food, in many African countries is expected to be severely compromised by climate variability and change. This could further reduce food security and increase hunger and malnutrition on the continent. In some countries, yields from rain-fed agriculture could fall by up to 50 per cent by 2020.

Stories from the field

The following are some examples of innovative work in Africa supported by IFAD:

Market spies in Tanzania

The First Mile Project in Tanzania is empowering small farmers by helping them access information technology – mobile phones and the internet – so they can get market information and build better and more collaborative market chains. The programme has fostered the growth of ‘shu shu shus,’ market spies, who roam the alleys in markets, chatting with traders, wholesalers and transporters to find out the latest market news. The spies then use their mobile phones to report back to their communities, helping local farmers get the best prices for their produce.

Kudos to Kenyan Women

Six years ago, the Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT) was losing around US$290,000-a-year. By 2006, it was posting annual profits of US$1.87 million and changing the lives of more than 100,000 poor Kenyan women. Thanks to KWFT, these women are running small businesses. The women report that their lives have improved as a result of their relationship with KWFT. It is not just the women who benefit, but their husbands, children and extended families.

The success of the microfinance institution, where IFAD has been a major donor and advisor for many years, is testament to the importance of taking risks and not giving up on a good idea. Its growth and success are based on sound financial practices that can be replicated in other rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa.

From famine to food exporter, how irrigation has transformed the Mandraré region of Madagascar

The Mandraré basin is in the driest areas of the otherwise relatively fertile island of Madagascar. Before the introduction of an IFAD-supported project to rehabilitate rice production and develop more efficient farming methods, it was one of the country’s poorest regions. People suffered from recurring famine. Farmers could not ensure an adequate supply of food and the economy of the entire region was in disarray.  Today, farming is more efficient and the region is less isolated.

“What is spectacular is the fact that the area can now export up to 25,000 tonnes of rice to the whole southern region,”  said Benoit Thierry, country programme manager for Madagascar at IFAD “Not only is it self-sufficient but it supplies rice further afield.”

More stories can be found at the following link 

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IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. Through low-interest loans and grants, IFAD develops and finances programmes and projects that enable poor rural people to overcome poverty themselves. There are 191 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, worth a total of US$6.6 billion. IFAD has invested US$3.1 billion, with cofinancing provided by partners including governments, project participants, multilateral and bilateral donors. These initiatives will help about 82 million poor rural women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested US$9.8 billion in 751 programmes and projects that have reached more than 310 million poor rural women and men. Governments and other financing sources in recipient countries, including project participants, contributed US$9.2 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors provided another US$7.2 billion in cofinancing.