By Bernadette Mukonyora
IFAD's 36th session of the Governing Council was opened
today by eminent guests and speakers who stressed the importance of IFADs role,
particularly in the current context of the global food and economic crisis. The
session was chaired by Minister Jesee Jacobs of Luxembourg, who stressed
that the challenge of trying to do more with less. Minister Jacobs echoed the
Rio+20 discussion in her opening remarks - the future that we want is one which
enables us to free men and women from poverty in an environmentally sustainable
manner. Speaker after speaker commended
the institution’s unwavering commitment and dedication to a very unique and
specific mandate. The centrality of the agriculture sector for economic growth
was reiterated throughout the segment.
Archbishop Dominique Marbeti, Secretary for Relations with
States of the Holy See shared an inspiring statement from the Pope. The message
from the Holy Sea focused on the importance of agriculture in economic growth
and the coherence between IFADs approach and the church doctrine. The
importance of social order, collectivism, new technology (with the required
prudence) to boost production and productivity are among the mutually shared
principles.
Food is the source of survival for mankind. Agriculture is the
foundation of economic growth, said Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of
China, His Excellency Hui Liangyu. He also shared lessons learnt by
the country in its journey towards reducing massive numbers of poor (250
million over 3 decades); i) keep agriculture and poverty reduction at the top
of the development agenda, ii) provide active support to farmers households,
iii) persistently improve agriculture production systems, iv) step up efforts
to support and protect agriculture through appropriate policies, v) consider
the wellbeing of the rural poor. His message to developing countries was to
ensure strategies, policies and fiscal support for agriculture.
The delegates were reminded by the Italian Minister of Economic
Planning, His Excellency Vittorio Grilli, that the (food and economic)
crises are not over - much more needs to be done. To mitigate the challenges,
agriculture has a role to play. Food production must double to meet the global
food needs of a rising population ( expected to reach 9 billion by 2050). Large
scale and smallholder agriculture are part of the solution. Both the private
and the public sectors have a role. Government leadership is crucial to create
an enabling environment and social protection and moving from ‘aid dependent to
business minded farmers’.
More partnership means more impact. In his keynote address, the
President of IFAD Kanayo Nwanze, highlighted the key achievements of the
organization during the IFAD 8, among them an increased programme of work (by
50 percent), reaching an estimated 40 million people, expanded field presence
(38 country offices in 2012) and direct supervision by IFAD. Up to 93 percent
of projects are directly supervised by IFAD. In the context of these positive
results, he also spoke of the increased level of co-financing of IFAD projects
with other development partners, which demonstrates the Power of
Partnerships.
President Nwanze
acknowledged that the challenges for
development today have since changed and we need to gear up to the new
realities. The SKM Department was developed to ensure adequate country and
global policy dialogue and strengthen learning systems in IFAD. Innovations in
the Budget Unit and human resources functions would help to increase
efficiency. The treasury services would also manage the Fund's overall assets
and liabilities to ensure the institution is well protected.