Q&A with IFAD Vice President, Ms Yukiko Omura

Q: What will be discussed at the upcoming High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan? What is IFAD going to bring to the table?

A: The Paris Declaration has helped shape international aid and development since it was adopted in 2005. It has proven to be an extremely important instrument in bringing together the needs of developing countries to have greater ownership and the needs of donors for better accountability on the ground.

When global leaders meet in Busan at the end of November, they will review and assess progress in the implementation of the Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness. They will also set a new agenda to increase effectiveness of global development efforts.

There has been some solid progress made since the Paris Declaration in 2005, but the pace of progress remains slow. Now it is time for donors and their partners in developing countries to take responsibility for accelerating action. This is why IFAD will call for a global partnership for agriculture between civil society, governments, donors and private sector. Also, we will raise attention for the need of a strengthened effort to scale up proven rural development solutions to impact the lives of more people and to further improve aid efficiency and sustainability of interventions

Q: Are the concerns of rural people up for discussion at Busan and does the international donor community give adequate attention to them?

A: We have focused on the plight of poor rural people and their potential to contribute to food security and economic growth as never before.

About 2 billion people live and work on the world’s 500 million small holder farms. Most survive on less than $2 a day. While their concerns are being heard, action is unfortunately still very slow. We need a sea-change in investment in agriculture, with significant increases from donors and developing countries alike. Priorities include, amongst others, sustainable agricultural intensification; increased smallholder integration in markets and value-chains; and capacity building, engagement and empowerment of rural youth, particularly women, throughout the agricultural value chain. We are supporting the representation of farmer organisations at Busan through civil society organisations.

Q: How has the Accra Agenda for Action lead to more effective investments in reducing rural poverty and hunger, and help smallholder farmers to play an active role in addressing the current crisis?

A: As the UN Secretary General has said, “We must not address only the immediate symptoms of the problem, that of soaring food prices. We must focus on the underlying causes of the problem: years of neglect of the agricultural sector around the world, and the lack of investment in increasing productivity".

One of the key elements of the Accra Agenda for Action, which was adopted at the Third High Level Forum, was a focus on partnerships. Often rural people are left out of national processes. As a result, policies neglect the needs of poor rural people. But if all stakeholders are adequately represented, then smallholder farmers and other poor rural people are better able to play an active role in addressing the world’s need for more food production.

In addition, the focus on achieving concrete development results must, inevitably, lead to agricultural development. Growth generated by agriculture is up to four times more effective in reducing poverty than growth in other sectors. But to increase production, poor farmers need access to microfinance to pay for fertilizer, seeds and tools; they need access to technology to boost production; and they need clear title to the land on which they farm.

Q: What is IFAD doing to improve its own aid and development effectiveness?

A: IFAD is undergoing an ambitious reform process to improve the quality, relevance and effectiveness of our work. We are fully committed to Managing for development results (MfDR) as a means to improving performance; not just of the programmes we support but also within IFAD itself. We have brought in new tools, organizational processes, policies and strategies to improve the quality of our work at the country and project level. 

In all its operations, IFAD focuses on results, partnerships and country ownership as well as the scaling up of its work achieve the best possible result for the rural poor.

A good example of a project which has been scaled up to make a real and lasting difference in the lives of millions of people is the program of rural poverty reduction in the highlands of Peru. The basic principles of the projects’ demand-driven approach have been incorporated by one of Peru’s largest national development programmes. Also, some of the innovative features are being taken up by Peru’s Ministry of Transport, the World Bank in a new project in the southern Sierra and by European Union-financed projects in Guatemala and Chile.

Further, we have been working on strengthening South-South cooperation, including by drawing lessons from successful experiences of middle income countries that may be applied to low income countries.