IFAD 01/08

Rome, February 11, 2008 - The farmers’ representatives are:

• Mr Henri Saragih, International Executive Secretary, La Via Campesina 
• Mr Makanjuola Olaseinde Arigbede, National Coordinator, Union of Small & Medium Scale Farmers of Nigeria
• Mr NDiogou Fall, President, Network of Farmers’ and Agricultural Producers’ Organisations of West Africa
• Ms Estrella Penunia Banzuela, Secretary General, Asian Farmers’ Association forSustainable Rural Development
• Mr Alberto Ercilio Broch, Executive Secretary, Coordinadora de Productores Familiaresdel MERCOSUR
• Mr Herman Kumara Wijethunge, General Secretary, World Forum of Fishermen Peoples
• Mr Jack Wilkinson, President, International Federation of Agricultural Producers

The farmers representatives will talk to the press on how the issues of climate change, rising food prices and the rush to biofuels are affecting poor rural people.

The press conference follows the second biennial Farmers’ Forum, a gathering of farmers’ leaders who represent millions of smallholder farmers from Nepal to Namibia.

The Farmers’ Forum is facilitated by IFAD and is a platform for dialogue between the UN agency and its constituents in the developing world. The Forum takes place on February 11 and 12. The annual IFAD Governing Council takes place on February 13 and 14.

The Governing Council marks the start of IFAD’s 30th anniversary year.

IFAD Assistant President Matthew Wyatt will also be available to take questions on issues being deliberated at the GC. 

---

IFAD was created 30 years ago to tackle rural poverty, a key consequence of the droughts and famines of the early 1970s. Since 1978, IFAD has invested almost US$10 billion in low-interest loans and grants that have helped more than 300 million very poor rural women and men increase their incomes and provide for their families.
IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency. It is a global partnership of OECD, OPEC and other developing countries. Today, IFAD supports more than 200 programmes and projects in 84 developing countries.