ROME,
Italy, October 19, 2020/ -- Ten African Heads of State have issued a
strong call to other world leaders to increase their funding to the
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) (www.IFAD.org) or risk jeopardizing Sustainable Development Goal targets for eradicating poverty and hunger, particularly in Africa.
“We
share IFAD’s vision of vibrant rural communities where people live free
from poverty and hunger,” wrote the leaders of of Angola, Benin,
Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Kenya, Senegal,
Sierra Leone and Togo in letters to their counterparts in Europe, North
America, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania.
“Investing in
building the resilience of rural people is now more important than ever
in order to secure food supplies, safeguard rural livelihoods, ensure
that progress made over the years is not lost and prevent more rural
people from falling into poverty and hunger”.
Right now, Africa
is addressing conflict, changing weather patterns, pests and the
socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19. Hunger levels on the continent are
twice the world average.
IFAD is the only multilateral
development organization soley dedicated to eradicating rural poverty
and hunger. In the letters, the African leaders called for a significant
increase in contributions to IFAD’s Twelfth Replenishment (IFAD12) – a
year-long consultative process during which Member States come together
to agree on strategic directions and mobilize funds for IFAD to provide
as concessional loans and grants to developing countries.
“This
support from the African Heads of State is a testimony to the real
impact IFAD is having on the lives and livelihoods of rural people in
these countries,” said Marie Haga, IFAD’s Associate Vice President for
External Relations and Governance. “Their support demonstrates the
importance of investing in rural areas to achieve national food
security, environmental sustainability and economic development which
has a monumental impact on global stability and resilience.”
About
75 per cent of the world's poorest people live in rural areas and
depend on agriculture and related activities for their livelihoods. In
the letters, the African leaders highlight the immense potential of
African agriculture and the strong evidence that investing in
agriculture is one of the most effective ways of reducing poverty.
IFAD
aims to deliver an overall programme of work of US$10 billion for the
IFAD12 period (2022–2024), with over half of investments allocated to
Africa. This would help more than 140 million small-scale producers
increase their production and raise their incomes through better market
access and resilience, contributing to creating jobs and improving food
security and nutrition for those most at risk of being left behind.
“A
successful replenishment has the potential to unlock billions of
dollars in financing to transform rural economies and food systems
around the world, as well as enable IFAD to double its impact by 2030
and contribute to ending poverty and hunger,” wrote the leaders.
As
the pandemic sweeps across the world, the poor and the vulnerable are
those who suffer most, among them rural women, young people and
small-scale farmers. Faced with the socio-economic repercussions of the
pandemic and the impact of prolonged drought and locust infestation, the
African leaders called to collectively reaffirm the world’s commitment
to end hunger.
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