Release number IFAD/20/08

Rome, 28 March 2008 – IFAD’s President Lennart Båge yesterday concluded a visit to the State of Qatar during which he was received by His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar. The meeting was attended by His Excellency Sheikh Abdul Rahman Bin Khalifa Bin Abdul Azziz Al Thani, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture.

Båge thanked His Highness the Emir for Qatar’s strong support and for the leadership role played by Qatar in helping to strengthen IFAD’s capacity to help tackle some of the challenges facing poor rural people in developing countries. He reiterated his gratitude for Qatar’s hosting of the fourth session of the 7th Replenishment of IFAD’s Resources in Doha, in October 2005, and its pledge of US$10 million towards that replenishment

During the meeting, His Highness the Emir expressed concern about rising food prices and their impact on poor people in developing countries. The need for greater investment in agriculture and food production - in response to high and rising demand – by allocating a greater share of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the agricultural sector was discussed during the meeting. ODA for this sector decreased from 18 percent in 1979 to 2.9 percent in 2006.

His Highness the Emir highlighted his country’s efforts to help poor farmers, including support for farmers in Mauritania and the Sudan, and other countries.

Initiatives such as long-term buying contracts between Qatari firms and farmer groups have been explored. Ways of tackling the issues more globally were discussed at the meeting, including through the work of IFAD as the only UN organization and international financial institution devoted exclusively to financing rural poverty reduction through agricultural and rural development.

Given a successful outcome of the 8th replenishment, IFAD plans to invest US$3 billion in projects worth US$6 billion over the period 2010-2012.

Higher aid to agricultural development is crucial, not only to achieving the first Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and hunger by 2015, but also to increasing productivity in order to meet the rising demand for agricultural commodities. Achieving higher investment will very much depend on the political will. In this context, President Båge praised Qatar's commitment to supporting development assistance and expressed the hope of seeing Qatar increase significantly its contribution to IFAD's 8th Replenishment.

Issues to be discussed at the Follow-up Conference on Financing for Development to be held in Doha later this year (29 November - 2 December) were reviewed. It was agreed that more resources will need to be invested in agricultural and rural development.

While reviewing bilateral issues, it was agreed to build on the positive experience of training Qatari nationals in agriculture management through IFAD-supported capacity building programmes. Båge thanked His Highness the Emir for Qatar’s sponsorship of library facilities at IFAD’s new headquarters building in Rome and extended an invitation to His Highness the Emir to visit the new headquarters when next in Rome..

Earlier in the day, Båge met with His Excellency Sheikh Abdul Rahman Bin Khalifa Bin Abdul Azziz Al Thani, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture. The two discussed cooperation between IFAD and Qatar including IFAD’s recent grant to Qatar’s Regional Centre for Plant Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, the training of Qatari nationals in the management of agricultural development projects (through IFAD-supported capacity building programmes) and the cofinancing of IFAD projects including those in member countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference Organizations.

The Minister spoke of the positive feedback received from ministry officials who took part in IFAD’s Management Training in Agriculture Programme (NENAMTA) in Jordan, Lebanon Syria and Yemen. It was agreed that more capacity building opportunities for Qatari nationals will be developed. During his visit, Båge also toured the second edition of the Qatar’s International Agricultural Exhibition.

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IFAD was created 30 years ago to tackle rural poverty, a key consequence of the droughts and famines of the early 1970s. Since 1978, IFAD has invested more than US$10 billion in low-interest loans and grants that have helped more than 300 million very poor rural women and men increase their incomes and provide for their families.

IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency. It is a global partnership of OECD, OPEC and other developing countries. Today, IFAD supports more than 200 programmes and projects in 84 developing countries.