Inside IFAD’s 2012 Governing Council: ‘Feeding the world, protecting the planet’

A small army of social reporters covered IFAD’s 2012 Governing Council of UN member states last week, attracting unprecedented online attention to the meeting at the agency’s Rome headquarters. This robust virtual presence supplemented regular media coverage of the high-profile gathering, which featured heads of state and other top officials and policy makers, as well as one of the world’s leading philanthropists.

The GC convenes annually to guide IFAD’s strategic investments in smallholder agricultural development and poverty reduction. Its theme this year – ‘Feeding the world, protecting the planet’ – emphasized the need to make rural livelihoods more viable and environmentally sustainable in an era of population growth and climate change.

Concurrent with the GC this year, IFAD’s biennial Farmers’ Forum also filled the agency’s conference rooms and corridors with representatives of small-scale producers’ organizations around the globe.

Throughout the meetings, the social reporters blogged, tweeted, and posted photos and videos on IFAD’s various social media platforms. In total, the GC and Farmers’ Forum produced some 5,900 tweets (under the hashtags #ifadgc and #fafo12), which appeared in Twitter feeds with millions of followers worldwide. The main speakers and panels, plus many side events, were also webcast live.

To review all of the GC and Farmers’ Forum posts, check the ‘blog archive’ links in the lower right column of this web page. Links to a small sampling of individual blog posts follow.

IFAD President looks ahead.  In the run-up to the GC, the President of IFAD, Kanayo F. Nwanze, shared his high expectations for the 2012 meeting in a brief video interview.

‘Youth in Agriculture.’ At a Farmers’ Forum pre-meeting held on 18 February, about 30 delegates from rural youth organizations developed action plans to help make agriculture a viable option for young entrepreneurs in developing nations.

‘The future is in our hands.’ The Farmers’ Forum kicked off on 20 February with a grassroots focus on the challenges faced by smallholder farmers and fishers around the world.

Smallholders and Rio+20. On the second day of the Farmers’ Forum, a working group on the upcoming Rio+20 conference reflected smallholders’ perspectives on climate change and agriculture, and their determination to be heard by world leaders.

Governing Council opens. As the GC began on 22 February, there was a palpable sense of anticipation about the presence of two heads of state, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, who delivered keynote speeches that day.

Meeting women farm leaders. After the opening speeches at the GC reaffirmed the central role of women and youth in smallholder agriculture, a Farmers’ Forum side event on women’s leadership got down to the nitty-gritty of development work and gender equality.

‘What will Rio herald for agriculture?’ At this compelling GC centre-stage event, Dr. Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, CEO of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network, called for decision makers to put farmers first and allow them to produce food sustainably.

The role of remittances. The immense development potential of rural investments by communities in the diaspora catalysed an animated discussion at this GC side event, organized by IFAD’s Financing Facility for Remittances.

Gates at centre stage. On day two of the GC, following a keynote address by Italian Minister for International Cooperation Andrea Riccardi, philanthropist Bill Gates offered his views on a different future for smallholder agriculture. Another take on the Gates event is here , and a blog post about the expanding partnership between IFAD and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is here.

By the time the GC and Farmers’ Forum wrapped up, participants had been informed, inspired and challenged by these discussions and many more. And IFAD, through its social reporting network, had captured that excitement and shared it with interested and influential people worldwide.

Cooperatives - A purpose beyond the profit

It’s the last hours of the last day of the 4th global meeting of the Farmers’ Forum, and you would think that the energy of the participants would be running low. I am happy to tell you that this was not the case of the side event on the International Year of Cooperatives (IYC). The meeting room was full of chatter and energy, and simultaneous translations were being done in every corner. We were there to discuss cooperative enterprises, and their role in transforming smallholder agriculture into profitable business. Most importantly we were there to listen to and learn from the experiences of three representatives from cooperatives in Armenia, Cambodia and Kenya:

• Mr. Vardan Hambardzumyan, President of Federation of Agricultural Associations (FAA), Armenia
• Mr. Pan Sopheap, Executive Director of Farmer and Nature Net (FNN), Cambodia
• Mr. Philip Kiriro, President Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF), Kenya

Why cooperatives, why now?

The United Nations (UN) has declared 2012, as the International year of Cooperatives (IYC). Nora Ourabah Haddad from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) opened the conversation and told us that the IYC has been one of the most popular UN years with a support from over 90 countries. The Rome based UN-agencies have joined forces to promote agricultural cooperatives throughout the IYC and beyond. Nora started her presentation by underlining the definition of a cooperative:

“A cooperative is an autonomous association of women and men, united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise.” (International labour organization recommendation 193)

It is important to stress the definition, since the terminology might not be familiar to everyone, and cooperatives may have different meanings in different contexts. An agricultural cooperative is an important platform for rural development because of its financial and social dimensions. The panellists were asked to elaborate on two important aspects of cooperatives: What makes cooperatives viable? And how do you build ownership of the cooperative among its members?

What makes cooperatives viable?

Mr Hambardzumyan said that services offered by cooperatives to their members is one of the main factors of making cooperatives viable. The services need to be targeted and benefiting the members. He said: “The cooperative is a tool in our hand to solve our problems”. Financial turnover is another factor that is of key importance to make a cooperative viable.

Mr Sopheap continued on the same note and said that empowering members to help themselves is one important aspect. He then went on to say that making a profit is also essential, and to allocate a collective fund so that the cooperative can sustain itself. Additionally Mr Kiriro emphasized the importance of having the right policy framework and support to make cooperatives become strategic business partners. Leadership at political level is another relevant and important factor.

In other words, empowerment, policies and profit are key elements in making the cooperatives self-sufficient and viable.

How do you build ownership of a cooperative?

This leads us to the next question that was posed to the panellists, how do you make the members feel real ownership of the cooperative? Building ownership of a cooperative is important. If a cooperative is to live up to its definition it needs to: Be supported by its members and embrace voluntary membership paradigm. It also needs to have grassroots support and to be democratically governed.

Mr Sopheap suggested three key elements to make sure cooperatives and their members are in sync: First of all, introduce the cooperative’s principles to members, make sure everyone knows and understands them. Second, build the members’ trust. The members need to trust that they will benefit from the cooperative. Last but not the least, create an institutional collective fund.

The need for training and resources

The need for capacity building was something that came up several times in the discussion. Training is needed for members of cooperatives and for stakeholders. A representative from the International Labour Organization (ILO) presented the My.coop training package. This package is freely available online and has many learning programmes. My.coop is designed for managers and members of cooperatives, as well as organisations and individuals that train agricultural cooperatives. Its objective is to enable people to address challenges specific to cooperatives in market oriented agricultural development. Try it out!

What came out loud and clear from listening to the experience of the participants was the power and potential of cooperatives in rural development. Cooperatives can help people help themselves and give a voice to poor rural people. During the event new connections were made, and experiences and challenges shared. A conversation with multiple stakeholders started that hopefully will carry on throughout the IYC and beyond.

Read more about how IFAD work with rural institutions and cooperatives:

http://www.ifad.org/english/institutions/index.htm

Creating a “new rural reality” for young entrepreneurs to succeed

By Monica Romano

The young women and men who gathered at IFAD on Saturday for the Youth Session not only have clear ideas, but do not seem discouraged by the challenges and constraints they are fully aware of and that have even been already experiencing themselves. Coming as representatives and leaders of farmer organizations or invited as participants in IFAD-supported programmes, they showed enthusiasm and commitment to making FAFO somewhat different, maybe more special, compared to the past. Simply by having their voice being heard for the first time in such an important dialogue and partnership platform. Perhaps also knowing that the youth do not have that many opportunities to speak with the world of the adults, present their views and proposals, and even make recommendations, especially in the international arena and in front of policy makers. What impressed me although it did not come as a surprise was the strong awareness and sense of responsibility the young participants demonstrated in all their interventions and contributions, in several ways. Sometimes, I perceived they were feeling to be like “elected”, in the positive sense. I mean, they understood that they were representing the youth community as a whole, and therefore that they had to take advantage of this unique opportunity, avoiding to make mistakes and making sure they did not miss anything they would regret afterwards…

While putting on the table a number of challenges the rural youth face – limited decision-making, experiences and leadership skills, self-confidence but also trust from the older generations; and also those that may be common to their parents, such as limited access to land, credit, training and market – the young participants were also proud of highlighting their many, specific strengths: creativity, flexibility and energy, just to mention a few. One of the biggest challenges they debated upon was the lack of interest on the part of young generations in engaging in agriculture: “there is no pride in being farmers” - stated someone – and “one may even not be able to find a wife if he is a farmer”, echoed another participant. It was made clear that there is need to raise the profile of agriculture, starting early on, from the school. This may be challenging, if we consider that young generations have been seeing their parents struggling in agriculture. Therefore, in order for channelling the message of farming and farmers as good, young people also need to see business opportunities in agriculture, need to become entrepreneurs engaging in a “profession”. This was the world used by the IFAD President, who joint the unusual gathering to listen to the youth’s recommendations.

This final stage of the day was really when the youth proved once again to understand what they want and wish for as well as their ability to articulate their demands not without coming up with concrete proposals. It was unanimously recognized the need for FOs to become ‘youth-sensitive’, not only in terms of representation but also in effective decision-making of young members. Young people also called for youth-focused agricultural development projects and programmes and for participating in project design, implementation, and M&E. In this regard, IFAD-supported projects should systematically include rural young women and men as a target group, with specific support being provided and monitored. Young farmers also expressed the need to enhance their skills and showed they are aware of alternative approaches to the conventional “in-door/face-to-face training”: liaising with students in agricultural institutions or getting exposed to on-the-job experience by working with a successful farmer entrepreneur. Being trained and guided was felt as key also in addressing the issue of young people’s limited access to credit, which should be combined with advice for the business activity to be feasible and sustainable. While recognizing the deep value of indigenous and traditional knowledge, young people indicated that they aim at transforming agriculture through innovation: using media and ICTs and exploring for new opportunities (such as niche markets and agro-turism). All this and much more were the young women and men discussing and recommending to IFAD, farmers’ organizations and their Governments – to create a new rural reality in which to grow as successful entrepreneurs.

#IFADGC - Lao Vice-Minister of Agriculture and Forestry calls for better cooperation among Governments and Development Partners to support Smallholder

In occasion of the 35th IFAD Governing Council in Rome on 23 February 2012, Dr Phouang Parisak Pravongviengkham, Vice-Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of the Lao PDR, has emphasized clearly that there is a true need for Governments and development partners to cooperate and collaborate in a more coordinated manner and to learn the lessons of past failures and challenges to support the development of more viable production systems for smallholder farmers.
Investing in farmers means to provide them with the needed policy and legal environment, assist them with the means to build a viable and resilient economy, helping connecting them to markets, making sure they have secure land tenure and access to fair contracts and information, and improving the reach of services for health, education and extension. It also means making sure they have access to credit and that local businesses are supported which can buy their products or provide them back with inputs and services.

The Government of Lao PDR has actively engaged itself in promoting strong smallholders’ groups with the creation of different forms and levels of farmers’ organizations which we believe would serve as key institutions to realize national policies to engage in a more viable and environmentally friendly agricultural systems’ practice.

The Vice-Minister has expressed his special thanks to IFAD for the continued active role in the Lao PDR in helping his country to eradicating poverty. He has also added that Lao PDR will continue with its pledge to the 9th Replenishment as in the past. He considers IFAD as a good model in assisting his country to forge stronger intra- and inter-sectoral and also cross-border type of technical and economic cooperation. This has immediate positive impact to reducing poverty along the border areas, home of most poor in the region.

Centre-stage with Bill Gates. If You Care About the Poorest, You Care About Agriculture

By Rima Alcadi



Today, the 23rd of February at 10.00 am, we had the pleasure of having Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as our guest. The session was moderated by the international broadcaster Isha Sesay.
The tent was bubbling with excitement. When Bill Gates enters, there is a moment of silence, the music stopped, the lights went off. Everything froze, except for the flickering of the camera flashes and our twitter wall, which had tweets flowing incessantly throughout the entire event (indeed, I suggest you look at these, tweeters did a fantastic job at capturing the gist). Isha Sesay is originally from Sierra Leone –small scale farming is very close to her heart, a very personal interest, she says. And indeed, she was a great moderator.
Mr Gates started off by announcing that IFAD’s President Kanayo Nwanze and he had just signed a new partnership agreement - to fund projects jointly - the type of projects that IFAD and BMGF were both funding in the past, but independently. He warmly welcomed FAO DG, José Graziano da Silva, and WFP Executive Director, Josette Sheeran.

Mr Gates said that investment in agriculture is the best weapon against hunger and poverty. He said “if you care about the poorest, you care about agriculture.” He reminded us that we do not have a strong awareness of what works and what does not. We are not putting enough pressure on improvement. His suggestion is to introduce a public scorecard. He says that this would ensure that we are all rowing in the same direction and that we are results-based.

Another key point was the need to verify where digital empowerment can help in poverty reduction. He refers to seeds, for instance breeding and sequencing information to reduce the breeding cycle. But this needs to be developed for the people that need these systems the most, the smallholder farmers. Also technologies such as video cameras can help smallholder farmers share information on best practices with other smallholder farmers, to complement the work of extensionists. He mentions the work of programme Digital Green in India. Digital empowerment can also help to collect better data. So he says it is a shame that people are still going around with pen and paper, as this makes information difficult to store, share and analyse. However, he cautions that it takes a lot of specific effort to deal with the issues of rural digital empowerment, as he learnt from his experience in Microsoft. So do not expect it to happen thanks to market forces.

Another strong message that he had for us Rome-Based Agencies (FAO, IFAD and WFP) was to strengthen our partnership. He cites the Purchase 4 Progress programme as an example. He finds that although this has had a good impact, it would have been even better if it had been coordinated in a better way – with guidance from FAO and funding from IFAD. There are real efficiencies to be gained by spelling out a division of labour among the agencies. Our ability to improve coordination will determine whether smallholder farmers can overcome poverty.

What were some of the questions?
How would Mr Gates assess his performance in the score card? Although the BMGF has been operating for 6 years only, they have been building on the strength of what others have done. The BMGF typically focuses more on upstream funding, to the CGIAR, and on specific crops only. So that if other development organizations also want to work on these, then they will partner.

How about climate change? According to Mr Gates, weather variability has always been a problem for smallholder farmers, yes climate change will make the weather more variable, but they will need the same strategies as always. The climate has never been benign for rural poor.

How about strengthening the capacity of Farmers’ Organizations (FOs)? FOs are a key element, and there is a need to bring farmers and ensure they have a greater voice with governments – to signal when policies are not adequate for smallholder farmers, or advise on issues that need to be addressed. There are lots of good FOs in Africa and the path to success is to have more. The involvement of grassroots organisations would be part of the scorecard.

What is the role of the private sector ? the private sector has a very important role – but we should bear in mind market failure, risks inherent in innovation, and the public good nature of these investments. These characteristics of investments in agricultural research imply that markets will always fall short. However, once an innovation is available, it is important to understand why the private sector does not buy in. Mr Gates is willing to have the private sector critique their work because he considers the private sector the acid test and the benchmark on sustainability.

My take?
I have a lot of questions related to the concept of the scorecard – perhaps because I am wary of the infamous “number game” which is typically associated with such systems. Also, what would be on this scorecard and who should decide? How and by whom will it be updated/amended if required?
I could not agree more with the need to partner with the private sector – especially considering the win-win case studies described in Prahalad’s “Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid.” I would however want to see some focus on biodiversity as well - in agriculture and in our diets – for the sake of increasing resilience to climate change and improving nutrition (i.e., the quality aspect of our food) – and also because biodiversity is a resource that poor rural farmers already have.

#FAFO12 – Strengthening Farmer Organisations in Sub-Saharan Africa in a systematic and sustainably way can make the difference

Farmer organizations (FOs) in Africa play a key role to promote new opportunities to maximize their gains in lucrative agricultural value chains. However, these prospects depend on their ability to identify emerging opportunities and to meet the greater competitive requirements.

Mr Namanga Ngongi, President of AGRA, has let the discussion on how to develop opportunities to work with and to strengthen Farmers’ Organisations in order to provide farmers with better access to production inputs and better opportunities to sell their produce. The representatives of regional networks of farmers organisations, Mr Fadel Ndiame (FOSCA), Mr I. Sunga (SACAU), and Mr John Mutunga (KENFAP Kenya) have presented their strategies to support these organisations.

The Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) works to achieve a food secure and prosperous Africa through the promotion of rapid, sustainable agricultural growth based on smallholder farmers. AGRA aims to ensure that smallholders have what they need to succeed: good seeds and healthy soils; access to markets, information, innovative financing, storage and transport; and policies that provide them with comprehensive support.

The Farmer Organization Support Centre in Africa (FOSCA), recently established by Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the Rockefeller Foundation, seeks to develop the managerial, organizational and technical capacity of FOs by linking them with service providers that focus on demand-driven and income-enhancing services.

The Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU) strategic pillars are advocacy on regional, continental and global matters impacting agriculture, capacity strengthening of farmers’ organisations, and provision of agriculture-related information to members and stakeholders. A systematic and structured approach to work with partners such as Governments as well as the private sector helps farmers to optimize their production capital and marketing and can substantially improve their incomes. Access to market information is essential.

The Kenya National Federation of Agricultural Producers (KENFAP) is the umbrella farmers’ federation representing interests of 1.8 million farm families and the legitimate farmers’ voice in Kenya. In partnership with AGRA, the federation provides business development training as well as data on yields of crops over years in a number of regions in order to help farmers to choose the right value chains to improve their income.

AGRA is also linking up to other regional networks of farmers’ organisation such as ROPPA and PROPAC. International partners such as WFP can provide skills and knowledge on logistics to bring the farmers’ produce to lucrative markets. The WFP Purchase the Progress (P4P) initiative, for example, buys stable food from also from developing countries. In 2010, WFP bought US$1.25 billion worth of food – more than 80 percent of this in developing countries.

Farmers are private sector players and able to increase their profit through services provided by FO. These services must be provided in a strategic and systematic way to ensure stability for the members as well as good quality of outputs and an increased bargaining power on markets for the members.

Full house at #ifadgc side event: Investing in green agriculture, and the role of diaspora

by Daniela Cuneo and Michelle Tang


More investments in agriculture are needed to feed a growing population. Governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector are often mentioned as key players, but they are not the only ones. What about the diaspora? Have you ever thought of the tremendous potential of diaspora investments in agriculture? Almost 215 million people live outside their countries, but despite the distance, they have an impact on development back home. Through their hard work and individual sacrifices, the migrants of the world save money and send it to their families living in the countries they had to leave. And the amount of money that they remit to their countries is impressive!

 IFAD estimated that migrant workers would be able to send home well over US$350 billion in 2011, according to The FFR Brief: Five Years of the Financing Facility for Remittances. It’s a huge amount that could make a difference if invested in agriculture. But how can diaspora investments be mobilized in agricultural activities of these migrants’ communities of origin? Why should migrants be interested in investing in agriculture? Since investments must be profitable, how can migrants be convinced that investing in agriculture is remunerative?

These were the challenging questions debated during one of yesterday’s regional events at the 35th session of IFAD’s Governing Council. Chaired by Pedro De Vasconcelos, the event was organized by the Financing Facility for Remittances (FFR) in IFAD’s Policy and Technical Advisory Division. In addition to Mr. De Vasconcelos, FFR’s Programme Coordinator, the remarkable panellists at the event included H.E. Ambassador Ibrahim Hagi Abdulkadir, Permanent Representative of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia to FAO and IFAD; H.E. Ambassador Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr., Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Philippines to FAO, WFP and IFAD; Estrella Mai Dizon-Anonuevo, Executive Director of the Atikha Overseas Workers and Communities Initiatives Inc.; Fatumo Farah, Director of the Himilo Relief and Development Association; and Tawfiq El-Zabri and Rose Thompson-Coon, both of IFAD.

The experience shared by Ms. Dizon-Anonuevo shows that diaspora communities can be engaged in investing in agriculture. As she pointed out, financial education is of utmost importance, because migrants are not always aware of their saving capacity. Once they are aware of their potential to make investments, they can and do invest in agriculture.

FFR’s experience has shown that investing in agriculture can generate both economic and social returns for people in the diaspora. IFAD, thanks to its expertise, can contribute to identifying profitable and sustainable initiatives for them to support.
Read more Financing facility for remittances  The FFR Brief Five years of the Financing Facility for Remittances 

#ifadgc leitmotif: Transformative partnerships

 By Cheryl Morden

 

If the theme of this year’s Governing Council (GC) focused on smallholders and sustainable agriculture, a central leitmotif was surely partnerships.  The issue was with us from the start when the President, in the opening session, described partnership as IFAD’s modus operandi and underscored that our most important partners are the farmers themselves.  

The need for partnerships was often cited when GC panelists and participants talked of the complexity of effective poverty-reducing, health-sustaining, and planet-protecting agriculture and rural development.  “Effective solutions require enormous coordination,” said one delegate.  As an example, Pamela Anderson, Director General of the International Potato Center (CIP), told of an initiative in Peru that brought together diverse actors to generate new ideas for marketable agricultural products.  The idea of making potato chips from native potatoes drew the interest of Pepsico and their engagement resulted in a doubling of potato prices at the farm gate and a doubling of smallholder productivity within four years.  This illustrates the kind of  transformative partnerships that can help smallholders move from subsistence to market-oriented production that were called for earlier by Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Much of the GC discussion pointed to the importance of getting on the same page regarding the appropriate, value-adding role of each of the many actors involved in agriculture and rural development.  The critical role of the private sector was emphasized repeatedly by representatives from farmers organizations, governments, NGOs, and the world of research.  

A host of private sector business opportunities were cited, from financial services to transportation to technical assistance to marketing and processing.  Bruce McNamer, President of Technoserve, challenged us to look for these opportunities further down the value chain – “crowding in” profit-making activities at each link in the chain.  

Governments have an equally critical role to play within the transformative partnerships that we seek.  Both Nigeria’s Agriculture Minister, Akin Adesina, and Mexico’s Ambassador, Miguel Ruiz-Cabañas, insisted that national governments must lead the process, providing enabling strategies and investment in essential public goods and research.   Governments may also need to provide investment that catalyzes private sector involvement that benefits smallholders, such as instruments for risk mitigation.

And the role of IFAD?  Among other things, IFAD can be a broker to help foster relationships and collaboration among disparate actors.  And, suggested the Turkish Agriculture Minister Mehmet Mehdi Eker, at a global level, it can join with others in the UN system to provide leadership that creates the necessary support for the efforts of member states and, most importantly, for farmers.

Our new Partnership and Resource Mobilization Office is gearing up to help IFAD more fully realize its partnership and leadership potential.  The Governing Council meeting has provided ideas, energy, and inspiration to accelerate our own contribution to transformative partnerships to feed the world and protect the planet.

#IFADGC High-level panel: From words to actions: Creating a sustainable future for smallholder farmers

Participative Government strategies as well as the technical & financial support of International Organisations, Civil Society and the Private Sector can help smallholder farmers to increase their productivity in a sustainable way.

Naga Munchetty has hosted this high level panel composed of
- H. E. Akinwumi Ayo Adesina, Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development and Vice-President (Policy and Partnerships) for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA),
- H. E. Mehmet Mehdi Eker, Minister of Food, Agriculture & Livestock, Turkey;
- H. E. Nemesia Achacollo Tola, Minister of Rural & Territorial Development Agriculture of Bolivia, and
- Carlos Seré, Chief Development Strategist, IFAD.

The panellists have pointed out that the responsibility and accountability of governments to ensure the enabling environment by providing the necessary infrastructure such as research, physical access to markets and technical support services including capacity building to smallholder farmers in rural areas is essential. Farmers and their farmers’ organisations are the main focus and shall be directly involved in the definition of agricultural policies.

Long-term sustainable development of agriculture can only be obtained by an efficient cooperation of Governments, international organisations, civil society and the private sector. International organisations such as FAO and IFAD have the technical know-how on agriculture related issues, whereas the private sector can contribute to providing services (index-based weather insurances...) and high-quality inputs (fertilisers, high-quality seeds...). The civil society can also help to support local communities in strengthening their capacities to participate in policy dialogue.

Sustainable agriculture needs to internalise climate change. In light of Rio plus 20 farmers need to be aware of the climate change so that they can adapt to this new reality to ensure food security for their families as well as non-farm consumers in the long run.

In order to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (MDG 1), Governments have to decide and commit to fight food insecurity so that international organisations can assist in providing technical support and research, the civil society can help strengthen rural communities and the private sector is able to invest and provide high-quality inputs.

Sustainable smallholder agriculture – and heads of state – in the spotlight at IFAD’s Governing Council

The lights in the large tent outside IFAD headquarters in Rome were blazing hot this morning. Beneath them, representatives of IFAD’s member states and staff, along with observers from grassroots farmers’ organizations and the media, gathered for the start of the agency’s 35th Governing Council.

The GC is the body that funds IFAD’s investments in smallholder agriculture around the world. Maybe it was just the lights, but something about the buzz in the room told me that the 2012 session would involve more than business as usual.

For one thing, there was a sense of anticipation about statements by two heads of state, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, who were about to address the GC. For another, the two-day session comes at a critical moment, as world leaders prepare for the upcoming Rio+20 climate conference, where issues of sustainable agriculture will be front and centre. Meanwhile, the international community, very much including Italy, continues to cope with challenges posed by the global financial crisis.

Beyond all that, the theme of the GC – “Feeding the world, protecting the planet” – conveyed an urgency that raised the temperature in the tent even higher.

Nwanze: “An enabling environment”
When the lights finally dimmed, IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze’s opening statement set the stage for a potentially transformational session.

Nwanze thanked member states for increasing support for IFAD despite their own fiscal constraints. He pointed out, as well, that the agency has expanded its reach. In 2010, 43 million people obtained services through IFAD-supported projects, Nwanze reported. By 2015, IFAD expects to reach 80 to 90 million rural men, women and children with opportunities to lift themselves out of extreme poverty and become food-secure.

“The time has come for smallholders to play their rightful role in contributing to economic growth and food security,” he said. “When these farmers are recognized as small entrepreneurs, when they have access to better resources and incentives, and when they have access to markets and an enabling environment, they can transform their communities, their own lives, and indeed the world.”

Nwanze underscored IFAD’s commitment to helping smallholders feed a growing global population even as they adapt to a changing climate. Initiatives such as its Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme, he said, “will make IFAD a leader in climate-smart funding for smallholders.”

Kagame: “Be bold”
When President Kagame took centre-stage, he noted a bitter irony: The world’s poorest and least food-secure households are themselves rural smallholders who can barely eke out a living through subsistence farming.

“It is therefore imperative,” said Kagame, “that affected countries, and the institutions that they partner with, be bold and try what has not been done before. We must learn from what has worked and adapt these models to suit smallholder farmers.”

In Rwanda’s agricultural sector, investments in sustainable smallholder farming have contributed to average annual growth of 8 per cent in the past few years. “This has directly resulted in over one million Rwandans moving above the poverty line,” said Kagame. “Our experience has also shown that yields can be even higher and more sustainable when environmental conservation is integrated with agricultural activity.”

Along with its development partners, including IFAD and the other Rome-based UN agencies, Rwanda is pursuing land intensification and resource conservation initiatives to further expand productivity. Because smallholder farmers produce most of the food, these efforts focus on helping them make the transition from subsistence to market-oriented production.

“Every farmer counts,” said Kagame. “None is too small to be ignored.”

Monti: “Equal access”
Prime Minister Monti briefly greeted staff members in the IFAD lobby before making his way (with a sizeable security detail) to the GC tent. When he took the podium, he said he was glad to come to IFAD “at a time in which food security is once again at the centre of the global agenda.”

Monti acknowledged that leaders of the industrialized world have recently invested much of their attention to addressing financial crises. “Yet we must not lose sight of the fact that we are confronted with a much wider and deeper crisis,” he said. “The rise in energy prices and the pressure on the global food system are a signal that we are putting unsustainable pressure on the world’s natural resources.”

Italy has promoted food security as a policy priority in various multilateral settings since commodity prices surged in 2007, Monti recalled. Even aside from humanitarian and development considerations, he argued, this is essential for political stability.

“A hungry world is an unjust world. It is also an unstable world,” he warned.

Monti also pointed to gender gaps that not only violate the rights of women smallholders but impede rural livelihoods overall. “Giving women equal access to agricultural resources and inputs is one of the most powerful ways of reducing poverty and hunger,” he said.

It was one of many compelling points made at the GC this morning, casting a bright light on critical issues that will be considered during the rest of this session – and beyond.

What Will Rio Herald for Agriculture? #IFADGC

by Jeffrey A Brez

Dr. Lindiwe Majele Sibanda of FANRPAN, introducing herself as the daughter of tomato farmers, this afternoon inspired IFAD’s governors and attendees with her compelling call to put farmers first to allow them to produce food sustainably to feed a growing urban population.

She pointed out that there is a disjoint between technology and policy: the technologies are there (soil management, animal management, water harvesting) but policies don’t give poor rural farmers the tools to use them. These sustainable technologies need to be adapted to local conditions and then adopted by farmers - but investment must enable this. A policy process that does not enable this adaptation and adoption, she explained, has robbed African farmers of their natural assets, sending them into a downward spiral of poverty and environmental degradation. 20 years ago yields were double what they are today, she remembered, and farmers could make a decent living.

How to bridge the gap? She observed that governments took action when the food price crisis hit a few years ago. They had to, under strong pressure from civil society. In an acute crisis it is more likely for policymakers and political leaders to act. In slow onset environmental crises such as climate change the impetus to act can be less strong. She cited the lack of political leadership and commitment giving the example of the 2004 CAADP pledge taken in Maputo to dedicate 10% of national budgets in Africa to agricultural investment and lamenting the small number of countries (10) that have “put their money where their mouth is” to date.

A silo approach pervades development planning and is damaging the rural poor farmer. She gave the example of climate talks where for years agriculture was ignored – and even considered a “dirty word” - because it wasn’t an “environment” sector, despite the fact that agriculture is the most sector most impacted by climate change. The silo approach, she said, is killing us by slowing down policy progress and investments. She was relieved that we are close to having an agriculture work programme under the scientific and technical advisory body of the UNFCCC (SBSTA), which will be decided at the next climate negotiations in Qatar. Better late than never!

For Rio+20 she was optimistic that the main 7 areas of focus – food, jobs, energy, cities, water, oceans and disasters - were the right mix for rural poor people and smallholders. She counted three things we need to achieve “the future we want” in Rio and beyond. First, bold political leadership. Second commitments to invest in sustainable agriculture and food security with smallholders. Third a framework that takes an integrated approach to investing in agriculture to create green “dignified” jobs, engage youth and empower poor rural women who, despite producing 70% of the food only own 2% of the land.

Progress achieved and future goals for IFAD-FO partnerships at national and regional levels: East and Southern Africa

This was a parallel regional working group session, that took place on Monday, 20 February 2012.
IFAD is currently providing financing to 19 countries in East and Southern Africa (ESA), for a total of USD 1.12 billion. Most of this funding is provided to sovereign governments, to implement investments in the rural sector which will benefit small holder farmers, fishers, herders and rural folk engaged in off-farm employment. As highlighted by Geoffrey Livingston, Regional Economist at IFAD, if these investments are to be effective, the participation of farmers, fishers and herders, directly and through their respective organizations is essential. Although these partnerships are growing stronger, Geoffrey highlights that there is still enormous space for improvement.
What are these FOs/RFOs and what are they doing?
Experience was shared by Stephen Muchiri , CEO of the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF – see http://eaffu.org ). EAFF is a sub-Regional Farmer that strives to promote the interests of farmers within the region on various issues, including markets, productivity, capacity building and regional integration. Membership is voluntary and is currently approximately 20 million farmers. EAFF has a wide range of partnerships, including research organizations, NGOs, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), other RFOs, etc. Stephen highlighted the important policy role played by EAFF – both at the regional and at the national levels. This has included budget tracking, developing positions on controversial issues such as GMOs and land-grabbing, drafting policies.
CAPAD, as we are told by Annick Sezibera, is a confederation of 26 130 households cultivating crops (such as coffee, tea, cotton, oil palm) in Burundi. CAPAD offers its members services related to technical assistance; improving access to inputs and finance; support the post-harvesting; and dialogue with policy makers. The IFAD - CAPAD partnership began in 2009, through the IFAD/EC co-funded SFOAP "Programme To Support Farmers' Organizations in Africa." Thanks to this programme, the capacities of grassroots members were strengthened, particularly with regard to governance and financial management, and this has helped improve visibility, legitimacy and strengthen partnerships with other FOs.
With regard to the Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU – see http://www.sacau.org ), its vision is promoting a vibrant, prosperous and sustainable farming sector that ensures food security and contributes to economic growth in Southern Africa. In terms of core membership, it has 16 general interest FOs in 12 countries. It focuses on policy advocacy regional, global and continental matters; strengthening of capacity of farmers’ organisations; provision of agriculture-related information to members and stakeholders; and 3 cross-cutting areas, namely gender, HIV/AIDS and the environment.
How has IFAD been working with the FOs? And what are the areas for improvement?
It emerged that Regional Farmers’ Organizations (RFOs) are playing an increasingly more important role in the development of country-based IFAD strategies. RFOs are participating in project design processes, supervision, and monitoring and evaluation. In certain instances, RFOs are implementers and service providers for IFAD-funded projects.
Claus Reiner, IFAD CPM for Rwanda, highlighted that the support that IFAD can provide is important to ensure that the FO is taken seriously in the role that the members want to play, and making it responsive to their needs.
How do we expand and systematize some of these best practices within the division? What new practices/rules of engagement should we consider? Some suggestion were brought to the table yesterday (but of course the beauty of blogging is that this conversation can go on…. ):
• Clear guidelines for engagement with FOs, identifying suitable ways to work directly with the FOs.
• IFAD could promote a platform for engagement.
• IFAD could help to capitalise on good practices developed in the various countries –e.g., promoting South-South cooperation and KM.
• IFAD should consider lengthening the project duration of grants (required to put together the required infrastructure)
ESA is a big region. 20 million farmers may sound like a lot, but they make up for only 10% of all farmers. So these RFOs are really still quite weak in terms of representation. Greater involvement of RFOs in IFAD-funded investments are real win-win-win situations. It can result in better targeting, and more relevant programmes. This greatly benefits the host country government, IFAD and, of course rural people.
As Périn Saint Ange, ESA Division Director, concluded, FOs need to be practical and on the ground, otherwise the good intentions will not materialize. Currently, FOs do not have much time – they need to have projects with longer durations. They do not have enough funding. We would also want more and better coordination. From the demand side – we understand that what IFAD is doing is good, but we need to do more. This is indeed good news, as we plan on doing more. It is fundamental for FOs to remember that IFAD is owned by government. We can help provide a better platform for engagement, and most of the work needs to be done by the FOs, with the governments.

A new chapter: IFAD and the Gates Foundation step up collaboration on sustainable agriculture

By Kevin Cleaver
 
The following post by IFAD’s Associate Vice President for Programmes also appears on Impatient Optimists, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation blog.

For the past three decades, I’ve had the privilege of working with smallholder farmers around the world. They are among the poorest people on the planet, and yet I’m consistently struck by their constancy and dedication to the land.

Tomorrow in Rome, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will launch an expanded partnership to help these farmers increase their productivity and lift themselves out of poverty. At IFAD’s 2012 Governing Council, Bill Gates and IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze will sign a statement of intent to accelerate our collaboration on ensuring food security and improving rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

We drafted the text through an extraordinarily business-like process that took just two or three days from start to finish. In the world of high-profile partnerships, that’s all but unheard of. To me, it demonstrates that IFAD and the Foundation are embarking on our joint enterprise with the same level of commitment that smallholder farmers have always brought to feeding their families and communities.

This is critical because of the many competing priorities in the vast realm of international development. At times, the public, donors and the media may be tempted to turn their attention to the next big thing – the latest trend or more “attractive” cause. In the end, however, the soil provides our sustenance. Food security is a prerequisite for progress on every other development goal.

In any case, agriculture must be a top priority as the global population climbs toward a projected peak of 9 billion by 2050. To meet the world’s need for 60 per cent more available food, farmers will have to increase crop yields on a limited quantity of arable land. And they’ll have to do this sustainably, while adapting to the insidious effects of climate change.

The partnership between IFAD and the Foundation can give farmers a boost in their admittedly uphill struggle. In many ways, our organizations complement each other perfectly.

IFAD brings to the table 35 years of experience working with smallholder farmers, governments, NGOs and the private sector on multilateral investment projects worldwide. We know how small-scale agriculture works, and we have developed workable models for financing smallholders’ projects and marketing their products. The Foundation brings its own formidable resources, a world-class platform for advocacy and a proven capacity for innovation. It also offers technological prowess and effective systems for monitoring and evaluating the impact of our work.

Technology is key. The simplest advances – more robust seeds, or even better ploughs and hoes – can tilt the scales toward food security and poverty reduction. We simply have to find out what works and then replicate it feverishly.

This is not entirely new ground for IFAD and the Foundation. In fact, the Foundation has already contributed $155 million in co-financing for several IFAD-supported projects, including initiatives to develop drought-tolerant maize in sub-Saharan Africa and stress-tolerant rice in Africa and South Asia. By formally endorsing an expanded partnership tomorrow, Mr. Gates and Dr. Nwanze will build on what we’ve already accomplished together. But more important, they’ll open a new chapter in agricultural development for millions of men and women who toil in the fields every day.

Smallholder farmers deserve nothing less than our all-out support. As long as they remain impoverished, we are all that much poorer, because their dedication to the land is the world’s best hope of feeding itself for generations to come.

Agriculture: Can we make it more sustainable…and create a sea of change amongst farmers?

by Willem Bettink

This morning I joined a thematic session of the Farmers' Forum at IFAD. It discussed the merits of sustainable agriculture and looked for practises that can/should be scaled- up. Farmer organizations have no problem in embracing sustainable agriculture, but as one participant said "for a farmer to take- up/follow these practices, what matters are the benefits –an increase in income.  They are far less convinced to do so if they benefit climate change."

Segments of the discussion focussed on good practices that promote sharing of know how and transfer of practices and technologies. Many examples were given of peer-to-peer mechanism such as farmer field schools; all agree that this is the way to go. A farmer-to farmer approach implemented successfully by WFO in Zambia is now being spread to other African countries. Notwithstanding these good approaches it id felt that much more can and needs be done: IFAD should increase its support for capacity building of technicians and famers through its investment programmes in the countries where it operates.

From training and technology the discussion moved on to look into the benefits of organic agriculture. Examples were shared by IFOAM about the impact organic agriculture can have on productivity – up to 100% improvement in yields by integrating sustainable practices into their farming. Can we scale these practices up and spread them across countries?

Farmer organizations expressed the need to be more involved early on in consultation processes between IFAD and governments. With all the good practices that are available there is often not a good enabling policy framework that promotes and incentivises sustainable agriculture amongst small farmers.
I came away of this session with a mixed feeling; there are sustainable agricultural practices that have proven to work and benefit famer s; we do not hear (know…) of success of transformational levels in agriculture in any particular country. Thus “What is it that we are not doing right to achieve more strategic and sea changing results?”….hopefully the panels over the coming days can help me out ….

#IFADGC – Minister of Finance of Lao PDR meets President Nwanze

His Excellency Phouphet Khamphounvong, Minister of Finance and IFAD Governor of Lao PDR, has paid a courtesy visit to the President of IFAD, Mr Kanayo Nwanze, today. It has been an honour for IFAD to welcome for the first time a high-level delegation from Laos at IFAD Headquarters in Rome.

The Minister has expressed his appreciation for the IFAD investments in his country particularly for the Soum Son Seun Jai Programme approved by the IFAD Executive Board in December 2011. The aim of this programme is to support the capacity and economic potential of smallholder farmers to enter markets helping the rural population to overcome food insecurity. The Minister and the President have recognised the importance and potential of agriculture as a driving factor to support and accelerate the economic development and help Laos in leaving its status of Least Developed Country (LDC) by 2020.

His Excellency Phouphet Khamphounvong has also emphasised the effective and fruitful partnership between Lao PDR and IFAD to jointly support the rural population in his country. President Nwanze has expressed his commitment to consolidate this partnership and pointed out that IFAD has taken measures to open a country office in Vientiane. He has appreciated very much that Lao PDR has already started working on the Host Country Agreement which will allow IFAD to make the necessary arrangements to outpost the Country Programme Manager soon.

IFAD’s presence in Lao PDR will help bringing the Government, other donor agencies and local partners much closer to the beneficiaries supporting them to seize their economic opportunities and to overcome food insecurity.

Future for Smallholders at Rio+20? #FAFO12

This morning I attended (and tweeted from @jeffbrez) the Farmers’ Forum thematic working group on “Engaging Rio + 20.” The room was packed and the tension in the room I felt was equal parts optimism and frustration.

Frustration came from some who felt that the Rio+20 zero draft outcome document does not put a square focus on smallholders (see Food Security section paras 64-66). Some felt uncomfortable with the ramifications of a “green economy” focus that could turn ecosystem services and biodiversity into economic “goods” to be traded and speculated upon in open markets. There was frustration from some representatives about government focus on investment in urban infrastructure, despite the fact that a majority of people live in rural areas. Lack of reliable land tenure and insecure access to natural resources were mentioned as persisting obstacles to smallholder, family farming and indigenous peoples’ wellbeing.

On the positive side, the farmers’ organizations in the room felt that if they are strategic and coherent in their approach, that Rio+20 could be an opportunity to make progress on these frustrating points. The associations generally expressed appreciation for the Rome-based Agencies joint submission to the zero draft document, as well as to the Farmer’s Major Group submission. There was optimism that if consensus can be reached on how to engage in the process and exactly what the outcome objective should be, important progress for the rural poor was not out of reach.

One key hurdle to overcome will be connecting farmers organizations worldwide to enable their collective voice to be heard leading up to and at Rio+20. The associations may request IFAD to support their efforts to organize and navigate the dizzying mix of events and procedures. If they do I look forward to being a part of our partnership.

#fafo12 – Asia and Pacific regional working group: “When you have common objectives, you can shake hands”

 It was great to be in the room yesterday afternoon, when representatives of farmers’ organizations from Asia and the Pacific held their regional working group session with IFAD colleagues as part of the fourth global Farmers’ Forum.
During the three-hour session, participants had the opportunity to:

•   Assess results of the Mid-Term Cooperation Programme (MTCP) with the farmers’ organizations – also known as FOs – in the region
•  Talk about IFAD-FO partnerships at the national and regional levels
• Exchange views on how to strengthen IFAD-FO partnerships  
• Put on the table the challenges of the past biennium (2010 -2011)
• Pave the way for the coming years

The results of the first phase of the MTCP were very encouraging. "Consultation with FOs in the design of new IFAD projects, and in the formulation of new Country Strategic Opportunities Programmes, is now the norm!”, said Sana F K Jatta, IFAD Task Manager for the Farmers’ Forum process in the Asia Pacific Division.

Maybe that’s because IFAD and FOs have a common objective, which is poverty reduction. As Nguyen Manh Hung, Director of International Cooperation in the Viet Nam Farmers’ Union,  said: “When you have common objectives, you can shake hands.”

However, FO representatives from other Asian countries did not all report the same success that Viet Nam and Nepal experienced. For example, Herminia de Jesus Pinto, from East Timor, said that FOs in Pacific countries were not involved in the MTCP; Herman Kumara Wijethunge from World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP) advocated for the involvement of fisherfolk in programme planning; and representatives from India stressed that more Indian FOs should be part of the MTCP. It was a very open and lively discussion.

My take? Much was achieved during the first biennium of the MTCP, but more needs to be done in the coming years in terms of knowledge sharing, involvement of FOs in IFAD country programmes, and strengthening of national and regional FO networks. But to strengthen FOs’ role, these organizations have to be more proactive in areas where there are IFAD projects.

FOs should also work a bit more on gender balance. In the room where the regional working group met, there were  30 people, including myself. Only 10 were women!

Interested in knowing more? Follow the fourth global Farmers’ Forum meeting  bit.ly/ArtmQW #fafo12 #ifadgc to learn about future goals.

FAFO12 – Farmers’ Organisations are the backbone for a more efficient and productive agriculture in Western and Central Africa

Representatives from networks of farmers’ organisations (ROPPA, PROPAC) have pointed out the need for a systematic approach to ensure better capacity building particularly in terms of technical assistance, strengthening of young farmers, and better communication among farmers’ organisations during the Parallel regional working group sessions for the Western and Central Africa region.

Interesting presentations from Guinea and the Central African Republic have shown that IFAD involves farmers’ organisations in their country strategic opportunities programmes (COSOP), programme design, implementation and evaluation as part of the country programme management teams. However, improvements are still necessary particularly with regard to the monitoring and evaluation of programme interventions, communication among farmers’ organisation and project management across the countries as well as technical assistance.

It has been emphasised during the discussion that farmers’ organisation need to be involved in the determination of agricultural policies at local, national and regional level.

Regional cooperation remains a challenge and requires improvement. A better coordination and structuring of farmers’ organisations is needed to increase the efficiency and better opportunities of smallholder farmers across countries and regions.

Farmers’ Forum opens: “The future is in our hands”

The fourth global meeting of the Farmers’ Forum kicked off today at IFAD headquarters in Rome with a grassroots focus on the challenges faced by smallholder farmers and fishers around the world. The two-day event is part of a continuing dialogue between rural producers’ organizations, IFAD and governments.

About 95 delegates from farmers’ and fishers’ networks, and an equal number of observers, are attending the Farmers’ Forum. Many have travelled thousands of miles to participate.

As a new member of IFAD’s staff, I’m experiencing the forum for the first time. Still, having previously spent more than a decade working with UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, I felt right at home at a Farmers’ Forum pre-meeting held here on Saturday. At that all-day special session, about 30 delegates from rural youth organizations put their heads together to develop an action plan on making agriculture a viable option for young people in developing nations.

It was a promising and forward-looking prelude to the rest of the forum, which is about making rural livelihoods generally more viable and environmentally sustainable – and reducing poverty in the bargain.

A matter of survival
Speakers at this morning’s packed opening session came from diverse backgrounds and regions. Yet their over-arching message to the leaders of governments and multilateral agencies was singular. To feed a growing global population while simultaneously adapting to climate change, they said, you have to consider – and act upon – the perspectives of small-scale food producers.

“It’s not a battle for fishers alone. It’s not just a battle for farmers,” said Ujjaini Halim of the World Forum of Fish Harvesters and Fishworkers. Instead, the task at hand is a matter of basic survival, she said, adding: “The future is in our hands.”

Halim is one of the members of the Farmers’ Forum Steering Committee, all of whom represent networks of small producers. In their statements, many of the committee members credited IFAD with advancing the idea that smallholder farmers are central to food security and poverty reduction. Several noted, however, that the devil is in the details of translating that idea into concrete policies and programmes.

The road ahead
Djibo Bagna of the West African producers’ network ROPPA listed a series of specific policy questions that must be answered as a prerequisite for rural transformation. For example, how will smallholders gain access to credit and markets? And how can we empower rural women and youth, and build the capacities of producers’ organizations?

“The road ahead is still very long,” said Bagna.

Other speakers asserted that small-scale producers should be more directly involved in the design and implementation of rural development plans at all levels. For instance, the UN Year of Family Farming – scheduled for 2014 – will be meaningful only if it involves smallholders in policy advocacy, said Estrella Penunia Banzuela of the Asian Farmers’ Association.

In addition, Steering Committee members urged IFAD and its partners to support pro-smallholder policy initiatives. For his part, Herman Kumara Wijethunge, of the World Forum of Fisher Peoples, called for concerted action on FAO’s recently drafted Voluntary Guidelines on Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries.

Learning and collaboration
IFAD President Kanayo Nwanze also spoke at the opening session of the Farmers’ Forum, offering his own take on key issues of sustainable agriculture and environmental stewardship.

President Nwanze had visited the youth session on Saturday, where I saw him in a public setting for the first time. I was struck by his warm connection with the participants. He referred to that session today, reaffirming his commitment to “strengthening IFAD’s support of young women and men so that they can choose and build their futures in rural areas.”

Citing the droughts in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, and other recent weather shocks, President Nwanze added that “farmers are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather and shifts in climate patterns.” In the run-up to the Rio+20 climate conference in June, he said, IFAD and its grassroots partners – including young people – “must strengthen our collaborations.”

Speaking of collaboration, President Nwanze explained that 90 per cent of IFAD’s projects have benefitted from the input of producers’ organizations since the last meeting of the Farmers’ Forum two years ago. “But we are well aware that there is still more to do in terms of inclusiveness and consistency in these partnerships,” he said.

The Farmers’ Forum is nothing if not inclusive. It seems an ideal opportunity to strengthen partnerships. For me, it’s also a unique chance to learn about the hands-on issues that make up IFAD’s everyday operations. I look forward to learning more.

#IFAD President shares his expectations of #ifadgc

We're 72 hours away from #ifadgc. There is a lot of buzz and excitement in the building. Over the weekend 30 young people came together to discuss the opportunities and challenges of agriculture and what it takes to make agriculture a profitable business.

Tomorrow, the Fourth global meeting of the Farmers' Forum will kick off. And on Wednesday our building will host world leaders, prominent guests, global movers and shakers.

As part of our "back story" and interview series, we had the opportunity to have a conversation with IFAD President and ask him what are his expectations for this session of #ifadgc.

In this interview, the President shared his excitement about having a first class international meeting  focusing on the hot topic of climate change  with renown panelists and prominent guests. He also mentioned he is looking forward to this event being an open one thanks to social media and webcasting.

You can imagine the smile on my face, when the President mentioned that #ifadgc is almost like what we experienced last September with the Share Fair! (The spirit of #sfrome is alive and kicking!)

The President, one of our best social media advocates, is looking forward to an interesting exchange of ideas and interaction on social media. Have a look at how, yesterday during the youth in agriculture session, he engaged in a conversation with WFP's Executive Director, Josette Sheeran.

This is your chance to interact with the renown panelists and guests. Send us your questions for Bill Gates and the other panellists. Join us in making #ifadgc a memorable event!

Help us show the world and the skeptics the power and potential of social media! We count on YOU and look forward to having an engaging and compelling conversation.