Committee on World Food Security, 52nd Plenary Session
Statement by Alvaro Lario, President of IFAD
Excellencies, distinguished delegates,
IFAD – the International Fund for Agricultural Development - welcomes and supports the outcomes of the Summit of the Future.
And today I want to reconfirm our commitment to ensure that no one is left behind.
In just seven decades, from the creation of the United Nations to 2020, we witnessed a remarkable achievement: the prevalence of hunger dropped from 2/3 of the world's population to less than 1 in 10.
But for some years now, our progress has stalled. Unless we take urgent and drastic action, as many as 600 million people could still be chronically undernourished in 2030.
So let us recall the simple commitment at the heart of the 2030 Agenda: we will leave no one behind.
This includes the 3.4 billion people living in rural areas.
Most rural people depend on small farms for their livelihoods.
Half of our food comes from these small farms. Yet, hunger and poverty remain concentrated there.
Rural communities are the stewards of our land as well as our water. In our fight against hunger, poverty and climate change, they must be part of our first line of action.
Esteemed delegates,
We must seize the momentum offered by the Summit of the Future to drive scaled-up investments in rural areas.
And we need more than just financing: we need investments that are targeted and effective. We need to reach the people and the countries that need it the most.
Today, less than 1/3 of development finance for food systems reaches the least-developed countries.
Equally concerning, less than 1% of climate finance reaches the small-scale food producers that feed half the world.
Looking ahead to the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, we need targeted investments that respond to individual country’s realities and drive long-term sustainable impacts.
This will require increasing concessional resources for the poorest and most indebted nations, as well as catalysing private sector investments.
IFAD – is the only UN specialized agency and International Financial Institution – with a clear mandate to invest in rural people.
And we stand ready to play our part.
Thank you for your attention.