TALKS BETWEEN UN AND IVORIAN OFFICIALS FOCUS ON FOOD SECURITY, RURAL POOR

Achieving national food security in Côte d'Ivoire and addressing the needs of the smallholder farmers and the rural poor were among the topics discussed during a visit by the head of the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) that wrapped up today.

Talks between Kanayo F. Nwanze and Ivorian Prime Minister Guillaume Soro and other senior cofficials also focused on IFAD's support to the Government in dealing with high food prices and the country's post-conflict situation, as well as investment in agricultural development programmes.

Among the projects that IFAD is helping to finance in the West African nation is the Small Horticultural Producer Support Project, which seeks to boost rice production.

Begun in 2001, the initiative is IFAD's first thematic project focusing on small-scale irrigation related mostly to vegetable production and marketing in the region.

The Rome-based agency is also working with the Government on devising a project to strengthen rice, cassava and yam production among rural groups made vulnerable by the global food crisis.

During the two-day visit to Abidjan, Mr. Nwanze – who took up his post this past February – also looked at how to speed up the preparation of a country strategic opportunities programme (COSOP), a tool used to ensure that IFAD country operations produce a positive impact on poverty.

Designed through a process of wide consultations with a number of stakeholders, the COSOP reviews the specific rural poverty situation in a country, and is used for making strategic choices about IFAD operations in a country as well as identifying opportunities for IFAD financing.

Since 1984 IFAD has invested $66.7 million in seven programmes and projects in Côte d'Ivoire.
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BAN URGES STEPS TO REVITALIZE AGRICULTURE, ENSURE FOOD SECURITY FOR ALL

BAN URGES STEPS TO REVITALIZE AGRICULTURE, ENSURE FOOD SECURITY FOR ALL
New York, May 13 2009 2:00PM
Warning that the global food crisis is far from over, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged Member States to agree on a set of decisions that will revitalize agriculture, support small farmers and promote food security for all.

"The food crisis is not yet behind us. Indeed, it may have widened its scope," Mr. Ban told the opening of the high-level segment of the Commission on Sustainable Development in New York.

The two-week session of the Commission, which began last week, is expected to culminate in policy decisions in areas such as agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertification and Africa.

Mr. Ban said that high food prices mean 100 million people in low-income countries are at risk of joining the ranks of the malnourished. As a result, the World Food Programme (WFP) will need to increase its budget from $500 million to $750 million to maintain its operations.

At the same time, he noted that there is broad-based international support for addressing this issue. In particular, he was pleased with the Commission's initiative to convene a ministerial roundtable on a sustainable green revolution for Africa.

"Investing in an African green revolution will serve not just food security but progress across all the Millennium Development Goals, including environmental sustainability," he said, referring to the set of anti-poverty targets global leaders have pledged to try to achieve by 2015, known as the MDGs.

"To achieve a Green Revolution, African farmers, must have access to land and security of tenure. They also need access to markets, technology and improved infrastructure," he stated, adding that this includes women farmers.

In the midst of a global recession, things can deteriorate "frighteningly fast," the Secretary-General pointed out, saying "it is but a short step from hunger to starvation, from disease to death."

The international community, he said, must offer short-term emergency measures to meet critical needs. But it must also make longer-term investments to promote food production and agricultural development, enhance food security and maintain and accelerate momentum towards the MDGs.

"The decisions taken here must help to revitalize agriculture and support the productivity and resilience of small farmers, in particular, to achieve food security for all," Mr. Ban told delegates.
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STEPS TO BOOST FOOD SECURITY SHOULD BENEFIT BENIN’S MOST VULNERABLE – UN EXPERT

An independent United Nations human rights expert has welcomed Benin's efforts to boost food security, while stressing that they should not only increase production but also improve the lives of the country's most vulnerable.

Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, focused his 11 to 20 March visit on the situation of three vulnerable groups: small farmers, the urban poor and detainees. Small farmers, the largest of the three in terms of size, deserved particular attention, according to a news release issued at the end of his visit.

His visit took place as strategies are being devised to revitalize the country's agriculture as well as for rural land reform. In addition, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is entering the final phase of negotiation of an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union.

Mr. De Schutter welcomed the "significant" efforts by the Government to strengthen food security, particularly in anticipation and reaction to the increase in food prices in early 2008.

He also welcomed the plans to revitalize agriculture, and hailed the decision to place agriculture at the centre of the country's development.

"The Special Rapporteur highlights that the agricultural revitalization should achieve not only an increase in total production thus allowing the country to be less dependent on imports due to a diversification gained from food crops, but in particular it should lead to an improvement in the enjoyment of the right to food of the most vulnerable," according to a news release.

In addition to the plight of small farmers, the urban poor and detainees, Mr. De Schutter said that the situation of women and their access to productive resources should be a priority, adding that proposed land reform measures will have an important impact on these groups.

He noted that their situation should also be taken into account when evaluating Benin's entry into regional and international markets.

Over the course of his 10-day visit, the Special Rapporteur met with Government officials, the judiciary, officials dealing with the issue of food security, UN agencies and aid organizations. He also talked with farmers and their families, researchers and members of civil society to better understand the food situation in the West African country.

Mr. De Schutter, who, like all Special Rapporteurs, carries out his work in an unpaid capacity, will submit a full report on his visit to Benin to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council.
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