G8 Summit: Putting food on the table through investing in small farmers #globalag

by Prof. Andrea Riccardi, Minister for International Cooperation and Integration Policies of the Italian Republic and Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of IFAD

Italy has long stressed the importance of tackling poverty and hunger and today it is host to the three major U.N .food agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

It was in Italy, at the L'Aquila G8 summit in 2009, that food security and agricultural development were finally put back at the top of the international agenda after decades of neglect during which governments and the international community turned their attention away from agriculture. Now we must make sure that they now stay at the top of the agenda, and that the commitments made at L'Aquila are fulfilled.

Investing in agriculture in developing countries is the single most effective method of improving food security for the world's poorest people while also stimulating economic growth. Growth generated by agriculture is at least twice as effective in reducing poverty as growth in other sectors. And there is evidence that every dollar spent on agricultural research produces $9 worth of additional food in developing countries.

More than 95 percent of agricultural holdings in developing countries are less than 10 hectares, and in sub-Saharan Africa about 80 per cent of farmland belongs to, or is cultivated by, smallholders. And experience in developing countries repeatedly shows -- in Burkina Faso, China, Ethiopia, India, Thailand, Viet Nam and elsewhere -- that smallholders can lead agricultural growth.

In many countries we have seen how successful small and medium-sized farms can transform rural landscapes into vibrant economies, resulting in local demand for locally produced goods and services that also spur non-farm employment in services, agro-processing and small-scale manufacturing. This demand, in turn, leads to a dynamic flow of economic benefits, and the cultivation of new relationships between rural and urban areas.

In order for these small farms to thrive -- and to help lead the way to a more successful, profitable agricultural sector -- smallholder farmers need better linkages and access to markets, technology and information. They need mechanisms to manage the inherent risks of farming, particularly at a time of exceptionally volatile weather and prices. They need domestic and international investment in rural areas that is sustainable -- economically, environmentally and socially. This includes significant improvements in basic infrastructure and services, access to water, and better governance. They need legal empowerment and protection of their rights to the land they farm. And they need support in forming farmers' organizations and co-operatives to give them more bargaining power.

When rural small farmers are connected to markets they can sell more and better-quality food at higher prices, eat a more diversified diet, and improve household food and nutrition security. With increased income they can pay for essential medicines, send their children to school and improve their lives. Gender equality is important here as well: we know that giving women equal access to agricultural resources and inputs is one of the most powerful ways of reducing poverty and hunger.

Recognizing small farmers and their organizations as primary stakeholders in development means more than paying lip service to them in global meetings. Truly acting upon this recognition requires genuine collaboration and inclusive processes, which cannot be an afterthought but need to start from the very design of responsible investments in agriculture.

We have high hopes that this year's G8 meeting will lead to tangible support for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. As the current crisis of hunger and malnutrition in the Sahel shows, we cannot wait. We must act decisively and we must act now. It is our responsibility to make this investment now, for the sake of future generations.

Originally posted on Huffington Post and Italian version in Il Sole 24 Ore

Watch an interview with Minister Riccardi on the occasion of IFAD's 2012 Governing Council (In Italian)




What can G8 leaders do differently to ensure food security: An interview with IFAD President

by Prof. Andrea Riccardi is Minister for International Cooperation and Integration Policies of the Italian Republic and Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze is President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), an international financial institution and a specialized UN agency based in Rome.

What can G8 leaders do differently to ensure food security #globalag

Tomorrow IFAD President, Dr Kanayo Nwanze will be leaving for the States to attend the symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security - Advancing food and nutrition security at the 2012 G8 Summit.

The symposium takes place on the eve of 2012 G8 Summit and brings together senior global leaders to discuss new G8 efforts on food security and the opportunity and benefits of private sector investment in African agriculture and food sectors.

There is already quite a bit of buzz on social media about this event (#globalag), and everyone is looking forward to the live webstreaming and keynote addresses by President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

IFAD President will be participating in a panel discussion on "Farm futures: Increasing trade to drive economic growth".

Earlier this afternoon, IFAD social reporting team met with the President and asked Dr Nwanze to share his views on the progress made since the G8 summit at l'Aquila and what he would like the G8 leaders to do differently.

It was heartening to hear that the glass is half full and that there is a renewed emphasis and commitment to the l'Aquila Food Security Initiative. "Food security is fundamental for global political stability", said Nwanze.  

Those of you following IFAD social reporting blog are familiar with the President's contributions and probably are not surprised hearing him ask the world leaders gathered for the G8 summit:

• not to make new commitments and not to make new declarations
• rather, look at what has worked in the previous initiatives and reinforce their commitments and put in additional resources
• to bring private sector into African agriculture focusing on domestic indigenous private sector
• to call upon developing countries to demonstrate political commitment 

We can only hope that these messages will be heard, endorsed and put to practice by the world leaders gathered for the 2012 G8 Summit.

What are you expectations from 2012 G8 Summit? Share your ideas and views. Do not miss the live webcasting and follow the conversation on Twitter #globalag

Why the farmer should be put first

by Kanayo F Nwanze, IFAD President

Sustainable investment in agriculture is the most effective way to reduce rural poverty, improve food security and stimulate economic growth

Planting maize seeds in Mswagini village,
Arusha Region, Tanzania.

In recent years, agriculture has gone from obscurity to having a central spot on the G8 agenda. For those  working in rural development, this revival of international attention is very welcome, as is the recognition of an increased role for private sector investment.

Private investment in agriculture usually suggests the involvement of large organisations. But, cumulatively, smallholders are significant investors in this sector. There are around 500 million small farms in the world. More than 95 per cent of agricultural holdings in developing countries are less than 10 hectares. In Asia and
sub-Saharan Africa, about 80 per cent of farmland belongs to, or is cultivated by, smallholders. Around two billion people depend on these farms for their livelihood.

Smallholders invest not only their own money, but also their time and labour in their farms. Therefore, it is fair to say that they are the primary on-farm investors in agriculture in developing countries. New investments in agriculture must be sensitive to the requirements of smallholders if they are to achieve the desired result of improving global food security and reducing poverty.

The power of smallholdersInvesting in agriculture in developing countries is the single most effective method of improving food security for the world’s poorest people, while also stimulating economic growth. Growth generated by agriculture is at least twice as effective in reducing poverty as growth in other sectors. Experience repeatedly shows – in countries such as Burkina Faso, China, Ghana, India, Thailand, Vietnam and elsewhere – that smallholders can lead agricultural growth.

Successful small farms can transform destitute rural landscapes into vibrant economies, resulting in local demand for locally produced goods and services that also spur non-farm employment in services, agro-processing and small-scale manufacturing. This demand, in turn, leads to a dynamic flow of economic benefits between rural and urban areas so that countries have balanced and sustained growth.

There are sound economic reasons for supporting smallholder farming. Farming production systems have few economies of scale. Small farms are often more productive, per hectare, than large farms when agro-ecological conditions and access to technology are comparable. In India, for example, smallholders contribute more than 50 per cent of total farm output, even though they cultivate only 44 per cent of the land.

New investments must be sustainable – economically, environmentally and socially

One reason for this high productivity rate is that small farmers have a strong personal incentive to get the most out of their land and from their own family labour. Another reason is that family farms have
very low management costs and are labour intensive, while larger farms are often heavily
mechanised or have high costs involved in managing the workforce.

Nevertheless, in many developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia, poor farmers do not produce enough to feed themselves and their families. Instead, they are net buyers of food
and, with incomes of less than $1.25 per day, they cannot afford to buy much.


If the goals in investing in agriculture are to improve the food security of those who are hungry and to improve the economies of developing countries, then the aim should be to transform smallholder agriculture into successful businesses that are profitable and generate surpluses, and that can help provide
career opportunities and a potential pathway out of poverty and hunger.

Targeting the investment
When one talks about farmers in developing countries, one is often talking about women. On average, women make up 43 per cent of the agricultural labour force in developing countries. In East and Southeast Asia and in sub-Saharan Africa, this figure rises to almost 50 per cent. In investing in rural areas, the capacity of women farmers to invest more effectively and with less risk must be supported, given that women in rural societies face greater constraints. Rural women usually have more limited land tenure, less access to credit and equipment, and fewer market opportunities than have men.

New investments must also be sustainable – economically, environmentally and socially – so that the benefits last, through the years and the generations. Anyone who has travelled into the rural areas of developing countries will have seen the aftermath of unsustainable development: broken tractors abandoned in fields, withered and untended trees, forsaken hillside terraces. This is the residue of development efforts that did not respect and respond to local conditions, whether cultural or environmental, and that did not work with the local community from the start.

Similarly, the Green Revolution that transformed Asian agriculture in the 1970s focused on reducing the number of crops and increasing reliance on improved seeds, fertilisers and better irrigation. It produced
remarkable short-term gains, but came at a cost to the environment and to local species.

In the years since the Asian Green Revolution it has become clear that agricultural growth must be ecologically sustainable and that a diverse range of species, genetic variation and ecosystems is necessary
in order for the land to be able to provide for future generations of farmers.

Indeed, in many developing countries, simply optimising conventional approaches, such as the simple use of fertilisers and micro-irrigation, could yield dramatic results. Only about six per cent of the total cultivated
land in Africa is irrigated, compared to 37 per cent in Asia. Irrigation alone could increase output by up to 50 per cent in Africa. Small increases in fertiliser use could also yield dramatic improvements in yields
without risk to the environment, since farmers in sub-Saharan Africa use, on average, less than 13kg of fertiliser per hectare. This compares with 73kg in the Middle East and North Africa, and 190kg in East Asia and the Pacific.

There is also a critical need to develop national and regional markets, to ensure that productivity gains from new investments have the intended economic impact on developing-country economies. Similarly, there is an urgent need to invest in basic rural infrastructure. Today, about 30 per cent of the food produced is wasted, largely as a result of the absence of such basic necessities as markets, warehouses and paved roads.

Community-driven development
At IFAD, we see time and time again the transformation that occurs when development is sustainable and when local people are involved from the start. Last year, I visited Zongbega, a village in a drought-prone region of Burkina Faso, where smallholders are using simple water-harvesting techniques such as planting pits and permeable rock dams, along with crop-livestock integration. As a result, they have restored land that was once degraded and have increased their productivity. In Niger, a water-harvesting project in the Illela department is still going, more than 15 years after the funding ended – a fine example of the benefits of community-driven development.

In recent years, we have been scaling up what we know works, strengthening value chains, extending rural finance and creating new market opportunities for smallholders and other poor rural people. This year, as
world leaders meet for the G8 in May and the G20 and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio in June, there is an unprecedented opportunity to solidify the role of public-private partnerships in support of agriculture. I hope their deliberations will take into account the biggest on-farm agriculture investors in developing countries: smallholder farmers.

Originally published by Munk School of Global Affairs

Reaching food security means reaching out to smallholders

By Kanayo F. Nwanze, IFAD President

Agriculture is at the centre of a nexus of pressing issues - poverty, hunger, climate change, environmental degradation, conflict - and the smallholder farmer is at the centre of agricultural development. As we work towards a consensus on a new agricultural agenda, we must not lose sight of this fact. Coming in swift
succession, the meetings of the G8, G20 and the Rio +20 conference offer a unique opportunity to capitalise on the growing recognition that agricultural development is the key to a sustainable future. Small farmers not only need to be a focus of any new agreements; they need to have a role in framing them.


Agriculture is essential both to food security and to poverty reduction. Consider that growth generated by agriculture is at least twice as effective in reducing poverty as growth in other sectors. And with at least 70
percent of the world’s poorest people living in the rural areas of developing countries, whether we succeed or fail in our efforts to feed the world and rid it of poverty will largely depend on reaching the people who work the world’s 500 million small farms, many of whom are women.

No new agricultural agenda can ignore the importance of empowering women. In developing countries, 43% of the farmers are women, yet their performance is hampered by deeply unequal access to services and resources - such as credit, extension and improved seeds and fertiliser. And more importantly, they often do not have title rights to the land they farm. It has been estimated that if women had the same access to resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20–30%. Closing this gender gap would lift 150 million people out of hunger.

To transform our lives we need modern equipment, water, electricity, telephone… and why not internet?

A new vision
It has long been apparent that there needs to be a second Green Revolution for the 21st century, with a more modulated approach. Today’s world is very different from the one in which the original Green Revolution was launched. Confronting climate change, an environment that is in many places seriously
degraded, and a population that is expected to top 9 billion people by 2050, what we need now is not ‘more of the same’. In moving ahead, we have to make sure we are not looking backward.

An approach relying heavily on inputs and energy will not succeed in the long run. We need to think differently if we are to achieve both environmental sustainability and sustainability over time. We need a
sustainable agricultural intensification agenda that can deliver not only greater productivity but also greater sustainability, resilience to shocks, decent incomes and jobs - particularly for rural youth - and greater nutritional value.

Smallholder agriculture is central to the success of this agenda on all fronts. In addition to increasing agricultural investment, we need to improve such investment. That means bringing together public and private investors in pursuit of the same goals, and making sure that the centrality of smallholders as the main
providers of on-farm private investment is recognised and supported first and foremost.


We will also need to ensure that interventions reach deep into rural areas. The benefits of research, such as improved seeds and drought-tolerant varieties, as well as market information and technologies, will need to be available on the most modest farm in the most remote location.

Farmers are not just recipients of assistance; they are our most important partners, whose involvement and
perspective is critical. During a recent visit to Cameroon, one young farmer, Susanne Nke, told me that “The rural women of our villages must really reach full autonomy. The arduous nature of their work must be reduced. We want to move from the hoe to the tractor.

If we want to engage the youth of today in agricultural development - which is critical to food security tomorrow - we need to listen to them. We should take note of how Susanne cogently articulates the links between equality and social justice, technological innovation, free exchange of information, and
social transformation. And clearly, agricultural development means building strong communities as well as livelihoods.

Connecting smallholder farmers to markets
Private sector partnerships are now widely seen as crucial to agricultural growth and the reduction of rural poverty. We should remember that smallholder farmers are already part of the private sector. Every farm,
no matter how small, is a business. And smallholder farmers are themselves the biggest investors in agriculture in developing countries.

However, these farmers face a number of hurdles in improving their efficiency, productivity and livelihoods. Many of these centre around access - access to markets, to technology, to credit, to the benefits of
innovation and research, to land, to water, and to information. Gender inequalities make access all the more challenging for women farmers, though they make up a large percentage of smallholder farmers and
are typically the most direct providers of food security at the household level.

When rural small farmers are connected to markets, they can sell more and better quality food at higher prices, eat a more diversified diet, and improve household food security and nutrition. With increased income they can pay for essential medicines, send their children to school and improve their lives. Belonging to an organised farmers’ group allows smallholder farmers to bulk produce, reduce costs through economies
of scale and, perhaps most importantly, to strengthen their bargaining power in the value chain, often dominated by powerful private-sector actors. Gender equality is important here as well, in the composition of farmers’ organisations and women farmers’ own ability to organise effectively.

Recognising small farmers and their organizations as primary stakeholders in development means more than paying lip service to them in global meetings. Truly acting upon this recognition requires genuine collaboration and inclusive processes, which cannot be an afterthought but need to start from the very design of programmes and continue through to evaluation.

In Guatemala, an IFAD supported project has helped a producers’ association in El Quiché buy irrigation equipment, build a new storage facility and work with the private sector to bring their produce to new markets. By engaging with private sector partners, they have seen a three-fold increase in productivity, and today these farmers sell to some of the biggest retailers in the world, including retailers in the United States.

There is no single solution that will allow small farmers to respond to the various challenges they face. But our experience has shown that targeted interventions that address the particular spectrum of issues faced by rural communities and that give smallholders a stake in the process are the most practical and cost-effective way to further agricultural development and improve the lives of rural people. The power of smallholders in ensuring food security and eradicating poverty is a reality that world leaders in Camp David, Mexico City and Rio cannot afford to ignore.

Originally published by Intrinsic Communications

Climate-smart agriculture: Not just for big farms anymore

by President Paul Kagame and Kanayo F. Nwanze

Without the support of the world's small farmers, climate talks such as those set for the Rio+20 Summit can never translate fully into climate action, This is why, as the focus shifts to building a global green economy, Governments, other policymakers and the business community from developed as well as emerging economies must recognize the inextricable linkages between climate change, the environment and food security – and, critically, bring smallholder agriculture into discussion.

Every day, smallholder farmers in developing countries confront the real world consequences of climate change and are often first to fall prey to fickle global markets or increasingly extreme weather events.

Yet smallholders cannot be ignored when it comes to climate change solutions:  the world’s half billion small farms  provide up to 80 percent of the food in  in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia.

Can we really count on these farmers, many of them desperately poor, to take a leading role in addressing the twin challenges of food security and environmental sustainability?  Can they produce more food while protecting the natural environment?

We believe the answer is a resounding yes.  Real world experience shows that they can.

Critical to success is adopting environmentally sustainable techniques that preserve and enhance the soil and ground water.

Examples include terracing to prevent soil loss and degradation through erosion and flooding; minimal or zero tillage, crop rotation and the application of manure, compost or mulching, to improve soil structure and fertility; and agro forestry systems that integrate trees with crops and livestock to produce more in sustainable ways.

The recent experience in Rwanda signals hope that increased agricultural output and environmental protection really can go hand-in-hand.

In Ngororero district in the country's southwest, for  example, an IFAD-backed project has seen Rwandan farmers increase crop yields by up to 300 per cent through improved methods, including using better seeds, good planting technologies and applying fertilizer at the optimal time.

On a larger scale, farmers across Rwanda are increasing the use of manure instead of chemical fertilizers that produce greenhouse gases. In some areas of the country, smallholders are now terracing their land and using other natural techniques to improve the water-holding potential of the soil, improving soil quality and increasing their output.

And while these approaches have proliferated during the past five years, Rwanda has quadrupled its agricultural production.  Today it is now a food-secure nation – remarkable progress in just a few years.

Importantly, Rwanda’s efforts to promote climate-smart agriculture are supported by a wider policy and investment framework that seeks to ensure that every farmer, however small, has access to improved seeds, technical know-how and, crucially, a market opportunity for their farm output. This is an important lesson for every developing country.  If we are to ensure that smallholders can produce more food in sustainable ways their farming should be profitable.

Accordingly, scaling up environmentally sustainable farming among smallholders throughout the world will require a reshaping of national policies and the architecture of public and private investment so as to ensure that farmers can learn these techniques, see their value and employ them profitably.

The lesson is simple.  Identify the climate-smart farming practices and techniques that can boost agricultural production, get the relevant know-how to smallholders, support them as they make the transition, and create an enabling policy environment.

If we do this, – and national policies and international development initiatives support a transition to a climate-smart agriculture – we have no doubt that smallholders throughout the world will step up and do their part.

Paul Kagame is President of the Republic of Rwanda. Kanayo F. Nwanze is President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), an international financial institution (IFI) and a specialized agency of the United Nations


Originally appeared in Project Syndicate

#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.

The final countdown: 10 more days to #ifadgc

What is #ifadgc? Well, #ifadgc is IFAD's annual event - better known as the Governing Council. On 22 and 23 February 2012,  our member states,  partners, stakeholders, policymakers, world leaders, global movers and shakers, and most importantly the people we work with and for will come together to discuss and debate on  strategic rural development issues.

This year, as the world belatedly turns its attention to the pressing issues of environmental degradation, resource scarcity and climate change, we will focus our attention on sustainability and more specifically on Sustainable smallholder agriculture: Feeding the world, protecting the planet.

And this year more than ever, YOU - our virtual audience - can shape the conversation. Make sure you follow @ifadnews on  Twitter  and join our  Facebook page. A dedicated team of social reporters will keep the outside world informed through blogs, tweets, interviews and pictures.

To stimulate the conversation, YOUR live tweets will be displayed on the Twitter wall in the Plenary Hall, and in our building's lobby. We encourage you to your ideas, views, insights and questions via social media channels and on this blog. Join the  #ifadgc conversation and follow the high-level panels, centre-stage events and the regional events via webcast. Our webcasting application is fully integrated with Twitter and Facebook. Dare I say, it is better than Livestream :)

Getting close and personal

In the coming days, you'll get to know the social reporting team. They are indeed a DREAM TEAM!!!

We'll be sharing the backstory of what it takes to orchestrate such an event. You have to know that this year - we too have been victims of climate change - and were faced with the unusual challenge of heavy snow storm in Rome.

The readers of this blog know that snow is an unusual sight for the Eternal City..... So the beautiful snowflakes falling from the sky, are a great source of excitement, but also source of infinite inconvenience..... More of this to come.

The movers and shakers taking centre-stage at #ifadgc

So who are the global movers and shakers taking centre stage at #ifadgc? Here is a run down:

22 February 2012
At 9.15 a.m. H.E. Paul Kagame (@paulkagame), President of the Republic of Rwanda, H.E. Mario Monti, Prime Minister of the Italian Republic (@presMarioMonti) and IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze (@knwanze) will deliver keynote speeches.

At 10 a.m. (CET) Nik Gowing, international broadcaster, will host a high-level panel to discuss and debate what it will take to ensure food security while protecting the environment. Panellists will share their views on different farming methods. They will highlight the importance of building institutions, investing in research and technology, and adopting and adapting new practices.

At 3.00p.m. (CET) Dr Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, the Chief Executive Officer of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network,  will engage in a conversation with Naga Munchetty, international broadcaster, on “What promise will Rio herald for agriculture?”

And this is just the first day. Here is what we have in store for your on the second day:


23 February 2102
At 9.45 a.m., H.E. Andrea Riccardi, the Italian Minister for International Cooperation and Integration Policies, will deliver a keynote speech.

At 10 a.m. Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will take centre stage to share his perspectives, with questions to follow from international broadcaster, Isha Sesay. Mr Gates will discuss the importance of agriculture and how sustainable productivity improvements can reduce poverty in developing countries. He will challenge both global players and national governments to adopt a new approach to supporting smallholder farmers.

At 11 a.m. Naga Munchetty will host a high-level panel composed of policymakers. The panel will discuss how to create a sustainable future for smallholder farmers.

Mark your calendars
I hope you are as excited as the rest of us and have blocked your calendar on 22-23 February with #ifadgc. We look forward to receiving your questions and comments for our questions and  interacting with you in the coming days.

Watch this space and follow us on Twitter  and  Facebook.

Let's make climate change talks inclusive

by Prof. M.S. Swaminathan Member of Parliament of India, Rajya Sabha, and Chairman, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation and Kanayo F. Nwanze, IFAD President

Price volatility and the persistence of widespread and hidden hunger underline the need for enhancing the productivity and profitability of smallholder agriculture in an environmentally sustainable manner.

When world leaders sit down again to discuss climate change, we hope that the people who live and work on the world's 500 million small farms will be with them, at least in spirit. Their voice — and the issue of agriculture as a whole — has, for too long, been missing from the conversation. But without increased support to smallholder farmers now, the number of hungry people will grow, and future food security will be placed in jeopardy.

The upcoming 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012 — marking the twentieth anniversary of the landmark Earth Summit that produced Agenda 21, “a roadmap” for sustainable development — will both need to ensure that agriculture and the world's smallholder farmers are high on the agenda if we are to overcome the many challenges we face in achieving the Millennium Development Goal 1.

The front line
In the last 20 years the global population has risen from about 5.3 billion to seven billion; the reality of climate change has been accepted beyond doubt; and the number of hungry people in the world has remained stubbornly around the one billion mark. Meanwhile, aid to agriculture has only just recently begun to pick up after decades of stagnation. More needs to be done — a lot more — and supporting smallholder farmers must be at the heart of any agenda.

The rural poor across the world, including India, have contributed little to human-induced climate change, yet they are on the front line in coping with its effects. Farmers can no longer rely on historical averages for rainfall and temperature, and the more frequent and extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, can spell disaster. And there are new threats, such as sea level rise and the impact of melting glaciers on water supply.

How significant are small farms? As many as two billion people worldwide depend on them for their food and livelihood. Smallholder farmers in India produce 41 per cent of the country's food grains, and other food items that contribute to local and national food security. Small farmers cannot be ignored, and special attention must be given to the most vulnerable groups — particularly women, who make up a large percentage of farmers in the developing world.

Small farms also add up to big business: In the world's 50 least developed countries, agriculture is the backbone of the economy, accounting for 30 to 60 per cent of Gross Domestic Product and employing as much as 70 per cent or more of the workforce. Addressing the plight of smallholders isn't just a matter of equity, it's a necessity if we are going to be able to feed ourselves in the future. Smallholders farm 80 per cent of the total farmland in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. If we don't help them to adapt to climate change, their achievements — feeding a large portion of humanity — will be endangered.

With appropriate support, smallholders can play a key role in protecting our environment, for example through actions that contribute to carbon sequestration and limit carbon emissions (planting and maintaining forests, engaging in agro-forestry activities, managing rangelands and rice lands, and watershed protection that limits deforestation and soil erosion).

To continue farming in a sustainable way in the face of climate change, rural women and men need to be given the resources to cope with the challenges. Smallholder farmers need support such as resilience-building technologies (including drought- and salt-tolerant seed varieties and new methods of rainwater harvesting), and training in sustainable practices of conservation agriculture, such as minimum-till farming to reduce erosion and moisture loss. Investing in adaptation measures now will be far less costly than in the future.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the M.S. Swaminathan Foundation, together with the government of India and other partners, have undertaken a range of projects to do just that.

For example, in Tamil Nadu, we have been supporting rural communities to produce and market nutri-cereals like millet, which can easily grow in dry and arid environments. We worked with smallholder farmers to use simple techniques to increase their yields, while also helping rural women create and market modern recipes — for example, a millet malt drink now being sold in major health food stores in India. The result has been not only increased food for the community, but also increased income and non-farm employment opportunities.

To help farmers adapt to increasingly dry conditions, a programme in Chhattisgarh has expanded cultivation of traditionally produced Niger seed oil, which grows well in areas that receive little rain. Land and forest regeneration were promoted to improve soil structure and moisture levels, and solar energy technology and biogas digesters have been introduced, which reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as the need for fuelwood. Another project in the northeast has helped restore degraded jhumland and has benefited almost 40,000 households in 860 villages.

Climate-resilient sustainable agriculture requires knowledge. Successful projects such as these can provide a model for others to follow. Knowledge transfer that brings the benefits of research from the laboratory to the farm is essential.

Programmes targeted at vulnerable groups such as women and tribal communities are particularly important. IFAD-supported programmes and projects in India promote tribal development by building and strengthening grassroots institutions that enable vulnerable people to plan and manage their own development, negotiate improved entitlements, and broaden their livelihood opportunities. Conferences and talks among world leaders can do many things but they don't feed people. We hope that leaders will keep in mind those who do: the smallholder farmers. Price volatility and the persistence of widespread, endemic and hidden hunger underline the need for urgent attention to enhancing the productivity and profitability of smallholder agriculture in an environmentally sustainable manner. This is the pathway to increasing agriculture's contribution to climate change mitigation as well as to sustainable food security.

Originally published in The Hindu

Small farmers can energize rural economies in Africa, they hold the future of food security in their hands

by Tina Joemat-Pettersson and Kanayo F. Nwanze


As news headlines scream fresh concerns about global food security – and as many African countries continue to struggle with poverty and hunger – too little attention is being directed at what could be a major part of the solution to all this: smallholder farming.

Africa’s smallholder farmers not only have the potential to produce enough food for export – and thereby contribute to food security worldwide – but also to lead the way to robust growth and development across the continent.

It is an accepted fact that price volatility for agricultural commodities is no longer the exception, but the norm. And we believe that, with the right kind of investment, access to information services and markets, African farmers can lead an economic renaissance on the continent.

But to get there we have to accelerate the investments and policy prescriptions that will invigorate African agriculture and empower smallholder farmers to increase their productivity and their success.

The first steps in this direction are already showing great promise. Thanks to new policies and innovative investments by national governments, donor countries and multilateral organizations – as well as many civil society organizations and private sector enterprises – rural women and men in a number of African countries are reaping the benefits of access to markets where they can purchase seeds and fertilizers, and where they can sell the crops they grow. They are responding by increasing their yields, increasing their production and increasing their marketed surplus. And their surrounding communities are benefiting from this.

But much more needs to be done for people living and working in sub-Saharan Africa’s rural areas to enable them to raise their productivity and increase their incomes.

According to the recently released Rural Poverty Report 2011 by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), sub-Saharan Africa has the highest incidence of rural poverty anywhere in the world, and is the only region in the world where the numbers of rural people living in extreme poverty is still on the rise. More than 300 million rural people on the continent – some 60 per cent of the rural population – live in extreme poverty.

The importance of farming as an income source on the continent cannot be underestimated. Agricultural markets are changing. No longer do we need to think exclusively in terms of export crops; new market opportunities are emerging on Africa’s own doorstep. As cities expand and incomes increase, people in the urban areas are changing their eating habits and are becoming consumers who want more meat, dairy products and vegetables, and they expect higher quality standards – we are seeing this across the continent. And agricultural value chains are expanding and becoming better organized to respond to this new demand. These modern markets bring with them their own challenges for some smallholder farmers in terms of higher entry costs, but the potential opportunities they bring cannot be overlooked.

So what needs to happen to make the most of these opportunities, and for smallholder agriculture in Africa to lead the way to economic growth and food security?

For starters, national governments and the international community need to reverse the longstanding neglect of rural development. We need to improve governance in rural areas and create a better economic environment for smallholder farmers to succeed and grow not only food but their businesses as well.

We need to invest in rural infrastructure. Nearly a third of the rural population in Africa lives more than five hours away from a market town, and fewer than 20 per cent live within an hour of a market town. Only one in five Africans has access to a national electricity grid. Targeted investments in road-building and utility construction can go a long way toward improving farmers’ capabilities and access to markets.

Similarly, we need to make investments in the education and skills of rural people so that they themselves can make the most of new opportunities to engage in agricultural markets or work in non-farm industries. This should include strengthening their collective capabilities – and particularly farmers’ organizations – so that they can support each other in managing the risks they face, learn new techniques for improving their productivity, and market their products.

Importantly, our investments need to recognize and address the major challenges and risks that rural people in Africa face – such as the deterioration of the natural resource base, growing competition for land and water, and the effects of climate change on the rural landscape. We need to help small farmers not only to become more productive, but to farm in a way that is more sustainable in their use of natural resources, and more resilient to the shocks of climate change.

The rural poor are not charity cases. They are people whose innovation, dynamism and hard work will ultimately lead the way into a new era of growth, development and prosperity across Africa.

If we can succeed in creating the conditions for poor rural people in Africa to move permanently out of subsistence and into the marketplace – in country after country – then we will have our best chance to transform Africa into a continent that not only feeds itself, but also exports surpluses to increase global availability of food. What a momentous and welcome accomplishment that would be.

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Tina Joemat-Pettersson is South Africa’s Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Kanayo F. Nwanze is President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), an international financial institution and a specialized UN agency. They will be participating in a 3 May event in Cape Town, New challenges, new opportunities: African agriculture in the 21st Century convened to discuss IFAD’s Rural Poverty Report 2011.

What does it mean to be an empowered woman in a man's world?

Last week while visiting the IFAD-funded Central Kenya Dry Area Smallholder Community Services Development Project and Mount Kenya East Pilot Project for Natural Resources Management, I had the privilege to meet inspiring and successful women such as Jane Njaguara, Lizz Wangari Bundi and the Wangu Environmental Conservation Women’s group.

As development workers we are always trying to get hold of data and statistics to show the impact of our work. I guess one of the most important statistics is how rural development projects have transformed the lives of poor rural people and their communities, and how these interventions have managed to bring economic viability to the rural space by providing profitable on and off-farm employment, minimizing migration from rural to urban areas and providing attractive employment opportunities for young people, so that they stay in rural areas and join the active work force.

Jane, Lizz and Wangu women’s group stories demonstrate how when women are empowered the entire society thrives.

Just one buck away from a better life

Visiting IFAD-funded Central Kenya Dry Area Smallholder Community Services Development Project (CKDAP), I met Jane Njaguara, a 32 year old strong willed woman who is one of the 13 members of the Busara dairy goat group in Kirinyaga District.

In 2003, this group received its first buck and that was the beginning of a successful economic and social transformation for its members.

A proud Njaguara, giving a tour to IFAD President, Dr Kanayo F. Nwanze, said: “Thanks to that one buck that we received 8 years ago, today I am running a successful business. I have managed to expand my goat dairy farm. I have diversified my activity and now have poultry, cows, I have a thriving milk business.”

Today, the Busara dairy group has 72 upgraded goats and in just five years they’ve managed to make KSH 223,000. “Our vision is to have 200 goats by 2015 and to operate a milk shop,” says Njaguara.

Over the course of its implementation, CKDAP continuously provided technical assistance to the Busara dairy group. Njaguara was one of the farmers who benefitted from training session by the Dairy Goats Association of Kenya. Thanks to the training received, she is now providing extension services to Busara community.

“The training allowed us to venture into selling milk. Now we are producing 3 to 5 litres of milk on a daily basis. As a result the families have a better diet and we have a thriving business, selling the milk to neighbouring villages for KSH 60 a litre,” explained Njaguara. “You know, goat milk is rich in protein and does not cause any allergies, so there is a high demand for it.”

“My dairy farm has turned out to be a profitable business. Thanks to the revenues from the farm I was able to expand and diversify my business. Today, I have chicken, geese, turkey and cows. My dream is to go to school and get a degree in veterinary sciences,” says a beaming Njaguara.

A couple of months ago, Njaguara lost her husband prematurely. But thanks to the income from the dairy goat farm she is able to maintain her standard of life. Her two children go to school, the family lives in the improved dwelling with cement floor, plastered and painted walls and the most wonderful thing is that she has managed to buy additional land to further expand the business.

“Jane is a perfect example of how every dollar spent in a woman generates 11 dollars,” observed Dr Nwanze.

“I was so excited when Jane referred to what she does as a business. Her story embodies the idea and concept of farming as business. Jane’s business is making money and giving employment to others. She has diversified her business, as a result is able to send her two children to school, has invested in more land and what is absolutely heartwarming and contrary to many parts of the world, the land is in her name, in the name of Jane Njaguara.”

After touring Njaguara dairy farm and in thanking the community Nwanze said: “What struck me is the commitment of the women and men, the beneficiaries and the community as a whole. I am so impressed on how you’ve made this project your OWN and how through your engagement and work you’ve managed to transform the your community.”

Tapping into the gold mind of tissue culture banana (TC banana)

In Africa approximately 70 million people rely on bananas for food or income. However, they are faced with a considerable challenge, namely a decline in production due to environmental degradation, diseases and pest infestation.

TC banana technology was introduced in Kenya about 14 years ago. Over the last eight years, Africa Harvest has raised awareness and built farmer’s capacity so that they can get the most out of this technology. Tissue culture technology in Africa has the potential to increase banana production from 20 to 45 tons per hectare. This means that a typical Kenya farmer family cultivating bananas could potentially increase their income from $1 day to as much as $3 a day.

The beneficiaries of IFAD-funded Smallholder horticulture marketing programme and Mount Kenya East pilot project, having partnered with Africa Harvest have benefitted from TC banana technology.

TC banana uses clean, disease-free, and insect-free planting materials. Statistics show that over the past six years, more than 500,000 farmers in Kenya have benefited from tissue culture banana technology transfer.

Lizz Wangari Bundi, an inspiring young woman farmer lives in Mururi also located in Kirinyaga district. Bundi is one of the many Kenyan farmers who has benefitted from the tissue culture banana technology.

She joined the ranks of TC banana farmers in 2008. Before that she was a tomato and French bean farmer. “Tomatoes and French bean were both labour and capital intensive and I was subject to enormous post-harvest loss because of the perishable nature of these produce,” explains Bundi.

“In 2008 I joined the Murinidi fresh growers self-help group, where I learnt more about TC banana.”

“I must admit initially I was torn between leaving the known for the unknown, but I decided to gamble and got involved with TC banana. For one thing, banana has a good nutritional value, so for sure my family’s diet would improve,” said Bundi.

Bundi’s asset was her three-acre farm. And the prospect of providing a better life for her three children was too alluring so she decided to venture with TC banana.

Thanks to the training and support provided along the entire value chain, Bundi was able to sell the entire produce of her initial 80 plantlet. She then expanded her orchard and today she has 240 plantlets. As a result she has managed to doubled her income.

“Thanks to the steady income, I am able to send the children to school. I have expanded my business and have a dairy farm which complements my banana production,” explained Bundi. “And you know what, I use the manure for the banana orchard, this way I not only make money from the dairy farm, but do not need to buy manure for the bananas!”

Three years ago, Lizz Bundi was a smallholder farmer living on less than a $1 day. Today, she runs a family agriculture business, employs other smallholder farmers and has an average monthly income of approximately KSH 7,000 (approximately $90). She owes this to her entrepreneurial spirit of taking a risk and venturing into TC banana. Bundi has managed to ensure food security, education and a steady income for her family. She is an empowered woman and a well respected member of her community.

“I am planning to expand the dairy farm and go into poultry. My next big projects are to put an irrigation system in place and put electricity at home,” says Bundi with a smile.

Lizz Bundi’s story is an example of how through improved agricultural production and strategic partnerships, we can reach many more smallholder farmers and help more poor rural people to become food security.

Talk about transformation: Firewood collectors become environmental conservationists

Moving from Central Kenya drylands to Mount Kenya, we met the hundred plus women of the Wangu self-help group who back in 2003 earned their living by selling firewood they gathered from Magacha forest. Soon they realized that this was not a viable way of life and approached the authorities requesting that they be granted a portion of forest land to raise seedlings.

The Wangu self-group ladies shared their story with IFAD President, Dr Nwanze: “In February 2004, we started our tree nursery and raised 10,000 seedlings.”

Pragmatic and self-organized as only women are, they agreed that they would come to the site at least once a week to plant the trees. And all of them paid KSH5 to buy a polythene bag and other nursery inputs.

In 2005, their production ranged around 25,000 seedlings and today they boost an annual production of 150,000 seedlings. The once fuel wood collectors, today are forest and environmental conservationists and stewards. Thanks to their tireless efforts the forest ecosystem is thriving, they have instilled the culture of tree planting and as a result have rehabilitated and maintained 213ha of degraded forest land.

They have diversified their activities and are engaged in beekeeping, fish farming, rabbit rearing, dairy farms and have set up village saving loans associations. Their fish ponds are stocked with fingerlings, they all each have five rabbits and those who have set up dairy farms are now selling milk.

Thanks to their various income generating activities, they are food secure, are able to send their children to primary and secondary school and college, have improved their dwellings and live in semi-permanent constructions and are contributing to the community’s welfare by investing to improve communal infrastructure such as schools and churches.

And they are a source of inspiration and mentors for other women groups such as the Mazingira and Mutitu women group who aspire to follow on their footsteps.


More power to women

Later in the week, meeting with Hon Dr Sally Kosgey, Minister of Agriculture, Nwanze shared the stories of these remarkable women and observed: “Investing in women and young girls is the pathway to stability and growth. This is why it is important to empower women, because by doing so, we make sure that the entire community thrives.”

“It was so reassuring to see the results of our work. I saw value for money, value of our investments and saw how together we have managed to transform the lives of our brothers and sisters,” explained Nwanze.

“The achievements and thriving businesses of these incredible women are a source of satisfaction and pride and show how the decisions we make in Rome are bearing their fruits.”

Commending the Government of Kenya for increasing its investment in agriculture from 2.9 to 4.5%, in his conversation with Hon Kosgey, Nwanze said: “Kenya is a power house in East and Southern Africa, I hope and trust that you will soon increase your investment in agriculture to reach the target of 10%.”

Hon Kosgey in thanking IFAD for its work in Kenya, said: “IFAD-funded projects and programmes are the most successful agricultural programmes in Kenya and it is institutions like IFAD that keep us in a state of hope.”

We on our side, pay tribute to Jane Njaguara, Lizz Bundi and the self-help Wangu women’s group as they are the personification of how women are agents of change, how in any community it is often if not always women who take on the leadership role, how when rural women are empowered, the entire society is empowered and how women are better managers of resources.

Ladies, kudos to all of you. May you move from one success to another and in the process inspire many more women.

Positive news for world's poor

By Kanayo F Nwanze
IFAD President
What would your life be like if you were one of the 1.4 billion women, men and children who live in extreme poverty?

Chances are you would live in a rural area, as do 70 per cent of the world's extremely poor people.

Like Li Guimin from China, you would worry about the exodus of young people from your community as they seek opportunities but likely face worse poverty in distant cities.

Like Shazia Bibi from Pakistan, you might wonder if your garlic can compete at the market with lower priced imports and whether you will earn enough to pay your children's school fees and buy your heart medicine.

And like Ribita Iobete, a farmer in Kiribati, you would be concerned about the shrinking size of your coconuts due to intrusions of seawater - an ominous repercussion of climate change in a country where ''high ground'' is just two metres above sea level.

But there is good news, and it is being discussed at meetings in Canberra this week. A new report issued by the International Fund for Agricultural Development reveals that more than 350 million rural people have pulled themselves out of extreme poverty over the last 10 years. The percentage of the world's rural inhabitants living on less than $1.20 a day has dropped from nearly half to about one third.

East Asia has accounted for much of the progress. Standouts are China and other emerging economies such as Vietnam, where the number of extremely poor people in rural areas fell by two thirds from 365 million to 117 million. So did the rate of extreme poverty, which declined from 44 to 15 per cent.

But poverty remains pervasive, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Though its rate of rural poverty has fallen slightly in the last decade, it is still above 60 per cent. And not far from Australia's own shores, South Asia is home to half of the world's one billion extremely poor rural people.

Yet change is under way in rural areas, giving rise to hope while also exposing challenges.

These include increasingly volatile food prices, which complicate life for rural people as both producers and buyers of food. Other emerging threats include deterioration of natural resources, growing competition for land and water, and as Australians know only too well increasingly severe weather events worsened by climate change.

But good things are happening too. As cities expand and the world becomes more urbanised, the demand for high-value food is growing, expanding markets for farmers.

And while agriculture continues to drive rural growth engaging four-fifths of rural households worldwide at some level technological advancements and changes in the global economy are also creating jobs off the farm. The accelerating search for renewable energy sources around the world only increases the potential for growth.

All of this creates opportunities for poor rural women and men to lift themselves out of poverty and create a future for their children. But making the most of it requires policies and investments that are both market oriented and environmentally sustainable.

For starters, governments and the international community need to reverse the long-standing neglect of rural development. We need to improve governance in rural areas and create an economic environment that will allow small holder farmers to grow both food and their businesses.

We need to invest in rural infrastructure and in building the skills of rural people so they can exploit new opportunities in agricultural markets or find jobs in non-farm industries. If we help them strengthen their collective capabilities, they will be able to support each other in managing risks, learning new techniques to improve productivity and marketing their products.

And we need to invest in youth. In developing countries, young people aged 15 to 24 make up 20 per cent of the population. In rural areas, many of them are growing up on small holder farms. We must invest in those young, creative minds so they can develop the skills to run their farms like small businesses.

Anyone who has spent any time with farmers in developing countries knows that they are dynamic, innovative people whose hard work will ultimately lead the way to development and prosperity.

At stake is the security of the global food supply. Agricultural production must increase 70 per cent by 2050, and output in developing countries will have to double, if we are to keep food on the table for the nine billion people expected on earth by then.

I have no doubt that Li, Shazia and Ribita are up to the challenge. Are the rest of us?

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Originally published in The Canberra Times

The boy called IFAD: A living testimony of how rural and agricultural development interventions can transform lives

In designing and implementing rural development projects, our prime goal and objective is to improve the livelihoods of the people who we work with and serve. We report on project outcomes and achievements, we measure project success against the logical framework and we prepare completion reports showing the impact with hard facts and figures.

But there is nothing better, more powerful and moving than seeing with your own two eyes the impact of a rural development project on the lives of people.

Do you know of any international financial institutions or UN agencies that have someone named after them? I bet you there are not many. Well, IFAD does and we were lucky enough to meet Stephen Ifad Arisa Monari - the boy called IFAD!

Recently while conducting an evaluation activity in Kenya, IFAD’s office of evaluation came across Stephen Ifad. And Stephen Ifad’s story is quite extraordinary.

In 2005, when IFAD-funded Southern Nyanza Community Development Project started its operations to increase on-farm labour productivity and improve food security and nutrition in Nyamira a district of Southern Nyanza, Stephen Ifad’s father, Meshack Monari, dismissed the project initiatives. A skeptical Monari initially failed to understand the potential of the project and went out of his way to derail the project activities by discouraging his fellow villagers to get involved in the project activities.

A highly determined implementing officer, Benjamin Angir, persuaded Monari to give the project a chance and sent him on a learning tour to Nakuru district in the neighbouring Rift Valley. There, Monari met other farmers and saw in person, how thanks to rural development and agriculture interventions the farmers had managed to improve their livelihoods, increase their income and were leading a better life.

Back home, Monari had second thoughts. He started to get involved in the project and encouraged his fellow villagers to join the project. Thanks to the community-driven component of the IFAD-funded project, Monari and the other farmers articulated their needs and priorities and took ownership of the project.

Already a tea and maize grower, thanks to the IFAD-funded project Monari started expanding his crops base to banana, sweet potato, pineapple and embraced goat rearing and beekeeping.

Twelve months into the project, Monari was reaping the benefits of the IFAD-funded Southern Nyanza Community Development Project. So, when on 25 July 2006, his wife Caren gave birth to a baby boy, Monari named the child Stephen Ifad Arisa Monari.

Taking advantage of the IFAD President’s visit to Kenya, Monari and young Stephen Ifad made a trip to Nyeri, to meet with IFAD President who was visiting the IFAD-funded Central Kenya Dry Area Smallholder and Community Services Development Project.

A beaming Dorothy Owino, the project manager of Southern Nyanza Community Development Project and a proud Monari father, accompanied young Stephen Ifad and introduced him to IFAD President, Dr Kanayo Nwanze.

Monari shared his story with the President and started off by confessing that: “before the project, I was lazy and idle, I would just sit around doing absolutely nothing.”

“Thanks to the IFAD-funded project, I really started to appreciate and see the benefits of agriculture.”

“Today I use the income from my banana farm to buy maize to feed the family. The money from sweet potato sales goes to pay the school fees for the children,” explained Monari.

“I have diversified my activities. I am using the money I make from my beekeeping activity to pay for causal farm labourers. I am in the process of expanding my banana farm and have converted to tissue culture banana.”

“I have a bank account. I have electricity at home and recently have bought a TV so now I know what is happening in the rest of world. I now have a comfortable life and I am never idle and have finally understood that time is money!” concluded Monari.

Once a skeptic, today Monari has a monthly income of KES 10,000 and aspires to earn KES 40,000 a month by next year. He has earned himself a new social status in his village and is a mentor for more than 50 farmers.

“The least I could do was pay tribute to the organization that had transformed my life for the better by naming by boy Ifad”, explained Monari shaking hands with IFAD President.

Stephen Ifad is a living testimony of the power and potential of agriculture. He is a living testimony of how thanks to community-driven development projects, smallholder farmers and producers can take their lives in their hands and build a better future for themselves. Stephen Ifad is a living testimony of how successful rural development and agricultural interventions can help poor rural people to come out of poverty and acquire social status.

The entire IFAD delegation was honoured to meet Stephen Ifad and his father. Taking Stephen Ifad in his arms and wishing the Monari family well, Dr Nwanze said: “not many institutions have immortalized themselves in a human being.”

In Nwanze’s arms young Stephen Ifad examined his gifts, wearing his IFAD cap, together with the President they planted a commemorative tree.

The entire IFAD family wishes Stephen Ifad and his family all the best. We are sure that Monari and his family will move from success to success. And we are proud that it was an IFAD-funded project that changed the lives of this young family for the better!

IFAD social reporting team: messengers of soundbites calling for action

The first day of 34th session of IFAD’s Governing Council was both intense and exciting!

IFAD was honoured to have a number of distinguished keynote speakers and the IFAD social reporting team had the privilege of using social media to bring the words of our esteemed guests to millions of people.

A silent revolution has happened at IFAD. 18 months ago, who would have imagined that one day social reporting would be mainstreamed in IFAD activities and processes? Well, now it is. The very fact that social reporters had seats assigned to them in the plenary hall is a testimony of this fact!

Thanks Andreina for reserving a strategic corner for us and given the success we are sure next year we'll have a bigger one!

Today, thanks to social media and social reporting we were able to share the moving words pronounced by Her Royal Highness Princess Haya Al Hussein United Nations Messenger of Peace; share the wise words of Mr Kofi Annan, Chairman of the Alliance and IFAD President’s call for action.

24 hours later, the soundbites of HRH Princess Haya, Kofi Annan and IFAD President have gone viral and the virtual world is talking about important issue such as the need for:

• passion and commitment at international level to solve the hunger problem
• more investments in agriculture
• more investments in political capital to spearhead a transformation of the rural sector to expand financial services in rural areas and ensure they have access to infrastructure
• more investments in human capital to develop and equip poor people, particularly the young people
• a change in the mind set to turn agriculture into profitable business in particular for young people

The panel discussion on “Feeding future generations – Young rural people today, prosperous farmers tomorrow” that took place in the afternoon was also an intense experience. The challenging questions posed by the moderator, Tumi Makgabo, engaged the audience in the room and on social media for over 2 hours.

We had an overwhelming response on Twitter and Facebook with tweets flying in from all over the world and questions being posed on our Facebook page.

The interventions of the audience in the room - the panellists, IFAD governors and young farmers and entrepreneurs - are still vibrating on the internet – better known as the “cloud”.

With his passionate interventions, Carlo Petrini, definitively did an excellent job in engaging and more importantly challenging the ministers and governors present in the room.

Two hours was not enough to answer questions such as:

• “What can be the role of young farmers to ensure we can feed 9.0 billion people in 2050”
• “What are the reasons, and what are the solutions for the relative neglect of young people – men and women – in national agricultural programmes, given their critical role in feeding the world tomorrow?
• Why do young people not want to get involved in agriculture?

At the end of the panel, there was a general consensus on the need to listen much more to young people and involve them in paving the way towards a better world.

Petrini was kind enough to grant the IFAD social reporting team an interview. Make sure you tune in and listen to his call for action!



Now we’re getting ready for the second day which will focus on discussing challenges and opportunities of young people in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Near East and North Africa.

I have just walked in the plenary hall and was pleasantly surprised to see the President sitting next to the social reporters. We could not miss the photo opportunity and also to have him on the team just for few minutes.

Make sure you stay tuned!

Browse the photo gallery on IFAD's Facebook page

IFAD Social Reporting Team

IFAD strengthens its partnership with indigenous peoples #ip2011

Indigenous peoples have repeatedly asked for a more systematic dialogue with United Nations agencies. In response to this request, IFAD has taken a series of initiatives in the past seven years and accumulated valuable experience in establishing constructive dialogue with indigenous peoples.

In 2009 IFAD developed its Policy on Engagement with Indigenous Peoples. The policy proposed to establish an Indigenous Peoples’ Forum as a concrete attempt to institutionalize a process of consultation and dialogue with indigenous peoples’ representatives at the national, regional and international levels.

From IFAD’s perspective, the objectives of such forum is to:

• share and discuss the assessment of IFAD’s engagement with indigenous peoples among IFAD staff, Member States and indigenous peoples’ representatives;
• consult on rural development and poverty reduction; and
• promote the participation of indigenous peoples’ organizations in IFAD’s activities at the country, regional and international levels.

On Thursday 17 February, approximately 100 people participated in the workshop establishing indigenous people's forum. The indigenous delegated kicked off the meeting with a traditional ritual of blessing and calling on the spirits of different regions for guidance.


In his welcoming address, IFAD's President, Dr Kanayo Nwanze, reiterated that indigenous peoples have a "vast well of untapped potential, with unique forms of knowledge, practices and understanding of ecosystem management."

"Indigenous peoples’ ancestral memory is a storehouse full of thousands of different species capable of responding to new challenges and climatic conditions – just as they have done for centuries before", said Nwanze

"And we must place special emphasis on creating opportunities for the young people of indigenous communities. Theirs is a special challenge: to build a bridge between their rich cultural heritage and the demands and opportunities of today’s world. As was described in the Kari-Oca Declaration of 1992, they must be able to walk to the future in the footprint of their ancestors."

Dr Nwanze concluded that "We must listen to each other, learn from each other, and work together – today, tomorrow, and many days into the future."

Kevin Cleaver talked about IFAD's engagement with indigenous peoples, underscoring the importance of access to ancestral land and other natural resources such as water, forest. IFAD colleagues  gave an overview of situation and status of indigenous peoples in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, executive director Tebtebba Foundation and former Chair of the UNPFII gave a history of IFAD's engagement with indigenous peoples.

Mirna Cunningham, director of the Center for indigenous peoples’ autonomy and development and Member of the UNPFII, talked about how the important role indigenous peoples in producing food to ensure food security.  She complimented IFAD for giving indigenous peoples a voice.

Later during the day, in an interview, Mirna outlined the challenges and opportunities facing indigenous peoples. We immediately posted the interview on Facebook and tweeted about it. Some of our fans have asked us to add Spanish subtitles. We'll definitely do so!

The participants spent the rest of the day discussing issues and options for the forum's modalities, organization, participation and governance. They will be sharing the outcomes of these discussion on Friday afternoon.

The IFAD social reporting team will be reporting live from the final session of the workshop. Make sure you tune in. Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter. Follow #ip2011.

One last comment before filing this report: We often talk about bridging the digital divide and in doing so, we talk about providing the appropriate technology and locally relevant content to the people we work with. 

We also know that both modern and old information communication technologies (ICTs), be it computers, mobile phones, radio allow poor rural people and indigenous groups to take part in socio-economic activities of their respective communities. ICTs can be used to help indigenous peoples to preserve and promote their ancestral traditions and allows them to share knowledge.

So you can imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when I saw our Ethiopian indigenous delegate with an iPad! He is using it to connect to the world and also to share what he is learning with the rest of his community. Wonder which indicator we need to use to assess the impact of Steve Jobs!

See photo gallery