IFAD and Gates Foundation enhance partnership

Rome, 23 February 2012 – The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) ended its Governing Council meeting today by renewing its determination to increase smallholder farmer’s incomes while at the same time improving the nutrition of rural women, children and men.

“There are many solutions, but each must be targeted to the conditions of a specific region, or even a specific village,” said IFAD President, Kanayo F. Nwanze. “Each must reflect the needs and desires of local communities. We must build their capacity and empower them from the ground up. We will not measure our results by higher yields alone but by reduced poverty and improved nutrition and healthy ecosystems.”

Setting the tone at the opening session of the Fund’s annual meeting, Nwanze told a gathering of world leaders, international policymakers, farmer representatives and government ministers that it was time for “smallholders to play their rightful role in contributing to economic growth and food security.”

Andrea Riccardi, Italian Minister for International Cooperation and Integration Policies, said that food security remains a top priority on the world agenda.

“Hunger is not only a humanitarian problem,” he said. “To not deal with this problem would be a grave economic mistake. If you do not protect children at critical times of growth and development, you can destroy an entire generation.”

His keynote address came on the final day of IFAD’s annual meeting at its Rome headquarters.

Two new countries joined the organization during the proceedings. The Governing Council approved the applications for membership of Estonia and South Sudan. The membership of South Sudan takes effect immediately bringing the total number of Member States to 168.

Also, on the last day was a high-level panel with IFAD’s Carlos Seré, Chief Development Strategist, discussed ways of ensuring rural smallholder farmers produce food in a sustainable way.

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation made a presentation on sustainable agricultural productivity in which he called for global players and national governments to promote another revolution in agricultural productivity.

“It is possible for small farmers in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa to double or almost triple their yields, respectively, in the next 20 years – while preserving the land for future generations.”

Not surprisingly he recommended that agriculture should start taking advantage of the digital revolution. “From genomic science to information technology new discoveries are making it possible for us to solve old problems in new ways,” he told IFAD’s Member States. “A huge part of the job we share is bringing today’s breakthrough agricultural science and technology to poor farmers.”

Earlier, the Gates Foundation signed a statement of intent with IFAD to build a stronger strategic alignment between the two organizations.

Press release No.: IFAD/18/2012

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$13.7 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries through projects empowering about 405 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 168 members from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), other developing countries and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).