Dirk Niebel emphasises agricultural development as key to overcome rural poverty in developing countries

Rome, 28 September 2011 – The President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Kanayo F. Nwanze, met today with the German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Dirk Niebel, in Berlin to discuss how to strengthen agricultural development in the rural areas of developing countries around the world.

“Two thirds of the world’s poorest people live in rural areas. Strengthening agricultural development is key in our fight against poverty. This is why I have made it a top priority on my development agenda,” Niebel said. “Specialized in working with smallholder farmers, IFAD is an important strategic partner for us to fulfill our goals in this area. My discussion with the President of IFAD centered on questions of how we can build resilience in developing countries to prevent food crises  – from happening again in the future and how we can further strengthen our cooperation with IFAD in this area.”

“Germany and IFAD are partners in combating global hunger and poverty,” Nwanze said. “Now, with pressing challenges ahead, this partnership is more crucial than ever. The latest crisis in the Horn of Africa shows the urgent need to increase resilience of the millions of smallholder farmers around the world and the importance of helping rural women and men to help themselves. With the right policies, infrastructure and education, smallholder farmers can not only feed themselves, they can feed the world.”

During his stay in Berlin, Nwanze also met with the Committee for Economic Cooperation and Development of the German Parliament.

Germany, a founding member of IFAD, has played a key role in the Fund’s transition into a mature development agency and international financial institution. Since IFAD’s establishment, Germany has pledged a total of US$392.8 million to its resources. This amounts to 6.3 per cent of total pledges.

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Press release No.: IFAD/63/2011

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$13.2 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries through projects empowering about 400 million people to break out of poverty, thereby helping to create vibrant rural communities. 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)