IFAD to speak for poor rural people at World Water Forum

Rome, 12 March 2009 – Andean mountain communities are being encouraged to take part in competitions to show off their local ingenuity and traditional conservation methods. Sceptical farmers in Niger are invited to visit neighbouring Burkina Faso to see how traditional water harvesting and soil fertility pits (tassas) have transformed harvests in a rain-deprived country. Research institutes in Dubai are supported to invest in replicable systems to use salt water to irrigate date palms in the desert.

The common denominator of these three initiatives is innovative, out-of-the box thinking on how to better manage growing demand and ever-scarcer water supplies. They are all supported by IFAD, an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to agricultural development.

The 5th World Water Forum, to be held in Istanbul from 16 to 23 March, will hear from the water community and policymakers on how to tackle pressing issues related to water availability and security.

The third World Water Development Report – the United Nations System’s flagship report on water – will be launched at the Forum.  IFAD contributed to the report, emphasizing the water
needs of poor rural people in developing countries. IFAD will be particularly involved in the second theme of the Forum “Advancing Human Development and the MDGs”.

More than 1.2 billion people – around one fifth of the world’s population – live in areas of physical water scarcity. Another 1.6 billion have limited access to water for economic, political or other reasons.

Agriculture currently accounts for some 70 per cent of the world’s fresh water resources used by humankind. With the global population expected to grow 20 per cent by 2025, there will be mounting pressure on water to boost agricultural production and provide the food required to feed more people.

“Finding smart, people-centred ways of making water resources go further and achieve more is essential. Population pressure, climate change and the global recession will impact small farmers in developing countries who are least equipped to cope,” said Kevin Cleaver, IFAD Assistant President of the Programme Management Department.

Of the 1.4 billion people living on less than $1.25 per day around 75 per cent live in rural areas, and most of them depend on agriculture for food and livelihoods.

“There is no one-size fits-all remedy. Poor smallholder farmers need to be involved in identifying tailored solutions and in sound water governance, as a basis for wider development,” said Cleaver.

Given its focus on agriculture, IFAD’s water interventions provide   context-specific solutions for smallholder farmers: rainwater-harvesting and complementary small-scale irrigation systems, water for livestock, multi-use approaches to water resources and support for water-user groups to empower local communities. However, IFAD approaches rural development in a holistic way, and its demand-driven and integrated approach means its support is not limited to agriculture.

IFAD has invested extensively in supporting research and rural community projects on water scarcity in the Arab countries. These countries are home to five per cent of the world’s population but have less than one per cent of the world’s water resources, being the Earth’s driest region.

“The region has the potential to intensify the arable land cultivated and to boost agricultural yields and food security, yet this needs to be achieved with ever less fresh water,” said Nadim Khouri, Director of IFAD’s Near East and North Africa Division.

“The region can meet these challenges through innovation and an integrated approach that draws the maximum benefit from all types of water – brackish, saline and “grey” water as well as precious fresh water,” he added.

Grey water is generated from domestic processes such as dishwashing, laundry and bathing.

Some of the innovative solutions worked on with IFAD partners will be showcased at a side event within the Forum.

 

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NOTES TO EDITORS

IFAD is contributing to the second theme of the Forum, “Advancing Human Development and the MDGs”, by

• participating in the High Level Panel on Water, Food and Energy (Wednesday 18 March, 11:00 – 13:00) where Ministers of water will agree on a joint declaration
• contributing to “Water for Food for Ending Poverty and Hunger”, organizing a session on “Threat or Opportunity: Can the Food Crisis Benefit Poor Farmers, or Not?”   (Thursday 19 March, 8:30 – 13:30)
• contributing to “Multiple Uses and Functions of Water Services” (MUFS), with the organization of a session on the governance implications to the support of  MUFS (Thursday 19 March, 8:30 – 13:30)

IFAD is also hosting a side event – “Addressing Water Scarcity in Rural and Marginal Areas of Arab Countries: Innovative Solutions” on Wednesday 18 March (17:00 –18:30 at Haskoy Hall) – in which Mahmoud Abu-Zeid, President of the Arab Water Council, will participate. Three case studies will be presented by IFAD partners in which different water types, saline, brackish and ‘grey’, are used in an innovative and integrated way. A short film will be screened on addressing water scarcity in the Arab world. IFAD will also take part in the regional session for Arab countries (Thursday 19 March) which feeds into the political, ministerial process of the Forum.

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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 more than US$10.6 billion in low-interest loans and grants that have helped approximately 350  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 close to 250 programmes and projects in 87 developing countries and one territory.

Media Advisory MA 02/09