Replenishment of the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s resources
Press release 472/2008
19 December, 2008
On Friday 19 December, Finland was included among the member states of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), acting as a specialised agricultural development agency of the UN, convened in Rome to agree on the replenishment of the Fund’s resources.
The contribution for the three-year programme 2010-2012 will amount to the total of EUR 2.1 billion, i.e. USD 3.0 billion. This new funding represents an increase of approximately 53 percent over IFAD’s last replenishment, securing the operation of IFAD for the improvement of food security in the poorest developing countries.
Increasing its financing from the previous period, Finland’s contribution for the next three-year programme will amount to EUR 12 million, corresponding to approximately 1.5 per cent of the total contributed by the member states.
The replenishment constitutes a significant part of the international community’s efforts for improvement of food security in the developing countries. At the same time, it is an expression of the international community’s commitment to the development goals renewed the last time in Doha in November 2008 and the partnership with the developing countries in spite of the current financial crisis.
The positive result of replenishment of the fund’s resources also reflects the confidence of donors for development in IFAD’s operations. IFAD’s activities are anchored strongly to the first UN Millennium Development Goal to halve the number of people suffering from extreme poverty and hunger.
IFAD’s operations are mainly targeted to the poorest developing countries and for the poorest rural populations. IFAD is tasked with financing projects that promote the economic development of the poor in rural areas primarily by improving the productivity of agriculture and related activities.
The fund collects and brings together resources and knowledge through operations involving the rural poor, small farmers and their interest groups, governments, NGOs, other donors, and the private sector.
Under the supervision of its Swedish President Lennart BÅge, IFAD has undergone a reform process, leading to a significant enhancement of the productivity of the fund’s operations and administrative processes.
The priorities of the forthcoming financing period are related to increasing the productivity of agriculture, sustainable use of land and utilisation of natural resources, and observation of the various elements of climate change in the fund’s projects. Special attention will also be paid to IFAD’s activities in fragile states, partnerships with other operators, and the demonstration of the impacts of the operations on development.
In addition, Finland and IFAD have signed a partnership agreement through which Finland will finance the kind of programmes belonging to IFAD’s area of operation and meeting the Government’s prioritised development policy goals in which Finland has special expertise to provide and an opportunity to produce added value.
IFAD was established in 1977 and it is headquartered in Rome. Currently, there are four Finns in the organisation’s service.
Additional information: Director Pekka Hukka, Unit for Development Financing Institutions, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 40 569 6629, and Counsellor Ingmar Ström, tel. +358 40 560 5569, and IFAD website http://www.ifad.org