Long-term agricultural development is top of discussion agenda

Rome, 24 June 2011 – The President of the Republic of Togo, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, was received by Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) at its headquarters today.

The meeting focused on Togo’s strategy to increase economic growth through the development of agriculture. President Gnassingbé was briefed on IFAD-supported operations in the region by the Director of the West and Central Africa Division, Mohamed Béavogui.

“We are honoured to host President Gnassingbé to discuss the food security situation in Togo and how IFAD can continue its support to bring economic growth to a country that has been through so many challenges,” said Béavogui.

The socio-political crises of the past decades, together with the financial constraints of the country and its economic regression, have resulted in an estimated 62 per cent of the population living below the poverty line.

Togo’s challenge now is to create the conditions for economic growth through increased production and productivity in the agriculture sector. Togo is the most advanced country in implementing its National Investment Agriculture Programme in West Africa under the The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) initiative. Three programmes supported and financed by the World Bank, The Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP) and IFAD are about to be implemented and will help put the country on the path to agriculture development  and food security, while also raising awareness of its needs internationally to increase support for its long-term agricultural development.

At the end of 2010, IFAD’s Executive Board approved the Support to Agricultural Development Project, to assist vulnerable households and increase incomes for small-scale agricultural producers in rural areas. The project will work to increase production and productivity of major subsistence crops such as maize, rice and cassava. It will increase access to inputs, build capacity for smallholder farmers and improve access to markets by strengthening small-scale infrastructure.

Since 1983, IFAD has invested a total of US$55 million in six projects in Togo, which have reached nearly 220,000 households to date.

For more information on IFAD’s work, please visit www.ifad.org

Press release No.: IFAD/41/2011

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 about US$12.9 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries, empowering more than 370 million people to break out of poverty. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized UN agency based in Rome – the United Nation’s food and agricultural hub. It is a unique partnership of 166 members from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), other developing countries and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).