Brazil, China, India and South Africa look to pro-poor policies

Rome, 16 November 2010­ – In an effort to directly engage in policy dialogue on family farming and promote South-South Cooperation, officials from the world’s emerging economic powerhouses of Brazil, China, India and South Africa will meet in Brasilia November 17 and 18 for a high-level conference on Public Policies for Family Farming, Rural Development and Food Security between Middle Income Countries.

Outgoing Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will attend the policy dialogue, along with ministers from throughout the MERCOSUR and high-level officials from Brazil, China, India and South Africa, according to event organizers. The policy dialogue is hosted by the Brazilian Ministry of Agrarian Development and the United Nations’ rural poverty agency, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

The event will take place at the same venue as the 14th MERCOSUR Regional Specialized Meeting on Family Farming (REAF). Made possible through funding from IFAD, this meeting of the REAF will run from 15 to 19 November.

The objective of the REAF is to discuss and formulate recommendations on policy, actions and projects that will benefit family farmers in the MERCOSUR. The organization then shares their learnings on everything from adaptation to climate change and food security to the emerging use biofuels and youth issues with government officials.

“By working with the REAF, MERCOSUR and government officials in emerging economies like Brazil, China, India and South Africa, we are hoping to promote proactive policies that benefit poor family farmers across the Southern Hemisphere,”  said Josefina Stubbs, Director of IFAD’s Latin America and the Caribbean Division.

Stubbs will address both the meeting of the REAF and the conference on Public Policies for Family Farming, Rural Development and Food Security between Middle Income Countries.

“Affecting policy dialogue to promote social inclusion and smallholder farming is a challenging task to say the least,” said Stubbs. “But with pro-poor policies being put into place in countries like Brazil and Peru, it seems that Latin America is breaking the cycle of social exclusion, and looking toward building a more participatory approach in its new policies.”

Press release No.: IFAD/74/2010

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$12 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries, empowering more than 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).