Tanzania Prime Minister praises IFAD’s leading role in agriculture and rural development

Rome, 17 February 2010 – The President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, and the Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania, Mizengo P. Pinda, this morning opened the 33rd session of the Governing Council, the annual meeting of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

In his remarks, President Napolitano said IFAD had been an active and coherent actor in implementing the efforts of the international community to support small farmers, especially women. He highlighted the challenges facing smallholders, who are too often affected by rules that regulate the access of their products to international markets.

“On the one hand, IFAD is called today to pay renewed attention to rural development, which has always been its main goal,” President Napolitano said. “On the other hand it has to face the pressing current problems, such as the impact of climate change on agriculture and food security.”

Highlighting IFAD’s work with poor rural people in Tanzania, Prime Minister Pinda reaffirmed his country’s continued commitment to work with the Fund to overcome challenges such as the food and financial crises, and climate change. He added that Tanzania has heard the call from IFAD to include smallholders in policy-making processes.

“Rural people need to have a say in the decisions and policies that affect their lives and to strengthen their bargaining power in the market place,” Prime Minister Pinda added.

In a message to the Council, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, acknowledged an upturn in investment in agriculture in 2009, despite the hardships of global recession. But he noted that, with 1 billion hungry people in the world, there was no time to lose. “The food emergency in the Horn of Africa, the plight of the population of Haiti and the early warnings coming from other parts of the world remind us that our actions for food security must be both comprehensive and sustained,” he said.

The Governing Council is IFAD’s highest decision-making body. The annual meeting – held for the first time at the Fund’s Rome headquarters – included a plenary panel From summit resolutions to farmers’ fields: climate change, food security and smallholder agriculture. The panel was moderated by CNN anchor Jim Clancy.

In addition to a number of side events, a meeting with Haitian Agriculture Minister, Joanas Gué, drew special attention to the needs of poor rural people in the aftermath of the earthquake that hit Haiti in January. “With displaced people moving from the capital city to the countryside, the rural areas of Haiti have become the safety net of the country,” said Josefina Stubbs, IFAD’s Director of Latin America and the Caribbean Division. “It is a great challenge because it means the areas need to provide for better living conditions and more jobs. But at the same time it is an opportunity for Haiti, and we all should seize this chance.”

IFAD President, Kanayo F. Nwanze noted that the Fund, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is extending its programme to distribute seeds and farming tools so that 15,000 rural Haitian households are ready for the planting season that begins in March.

Addressing his first Governing Council as IFAD President, Nwanze, reported on the Fund’s progress in 2009 and emphasized that creating the right business environment for smallholder farmers was the key to eradicating poverty. “Agriculture must be seen as a business, whatever its size,” he said.

Dr Jacques Diouf, Director-General of FAO, addressed the Governing Council and Amir Mahmoud Abdulla, Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the World Food Programme (WFP), delivered a message on behalf of Josette Sheeran, WFP Executive Director. They both emphasized that the moment has come for resolute action and indicated that now more than ever the three Rome-based agencies are united and determined to improve the living conditions of small farmers in developing countries and to ensure sustainable agricultural development.

Notes to Editors

• The Haitian Agricultural Minister, Joanas Gué, met with senior officials of IFAD and other high-level development officials during the first day of IFAD’s Governing Council. He expressed his desire for debt relief, and presented a plan for agricultural development.  Several delegates – most notably from Brazil, Canada, France and the United States - signaled they would support multilateral relief. IFAD representatives also presented a framework to alleviate the country’s outstanding debt to the Fund.
• The gathering at IFAD’s headquarters comes at a crucial time for Haiti, when international efforts begin to shift towards medium to long-term reconstruction and development following the devastating earthquake in January.
• Last week, the three Rome-based agencies – FAO, IFAD and WFP – announced a task force to deliver coordinated assistance to Haiti. IFAD praised the efforts of the governments of Brazil, Haiti and the United States in convening the event that helped launch this concerted effort.
• IFAD has been supporting Haitian farmers for more than 30 years – particularly in times of great need. After a devastating storm season caused about US$200 million in damage to food crops in 2008, IFAD funded a special project to kick-start food production. As a consequence, the 2008 winter planting yielded US$5 million in bean crops, helping to improve both food security and the incomes of poor farmers. Along with FAO, IFAD will extend this project to help farmers affected by the earthquake.
• IFAD has provided a grant of US$3.2 million to fund post-earthquake rehabilitation, strengthen food security and create jobs.  Support will be targeted to the areas most severely affected by the earthquake and by the flow of urban migrants to rural areas.

Press release No.: IFAD/12/2010

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) works with poor rural people to enable them to grow and sell more food, increase their incomes and determine the direction of their own lives. Since 1978, IFAD has invested over US$11 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries, empowering some 350 million people to break out of poverty. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized UN agency based in Rome – the UN’s food and agricultural hub. It is a unique partnership of 165 members from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), other developing countries and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).