Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development is a specialised multilateral organisation of the United Nations. It is based in Rome and dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries. It is an incredibly important issue and it is one that I had the opportunity to discuss in Melbourne in April with the Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation, Dr Jose Graziano da Silva.

Seventy five per cent of the world's poorest people—1.4 billion women, children and men—live in rural areas and depend on agriculture and related activities for their livelihoods. The International Fund for Agricultural Development projects help poor rural people improve their food security and nutrition, raise their incomes and increase their access to financial services, markets, technology, land and other natural resources. Around the world the International Fund for Agricultural Development is a valued international development partner. It has a portfolio that is valued at US$10.3 billion, inclusive of co-financing. With the donor contributions made in 2011, the International Fund for Agricultural Development has a target of lifting 80 million people out of poverty between 2013 and 2015. The fund focuses on agricultural production and productivity, rural finance, support for women and Indigenous peoples and building institutions. Australia was a founding member of the fund back in 1977 but in 2004 decided to withdraw as a member owing to a misalignment with the then government's geographical and sectoral development priorities as well as internal governance issues. Australia's withdrawal came into effect in 2007.

Since Australia left the fund, the International Fund for Agricultural Development has gone through a major reform making it a highly regarded development partner by donor countries around the world and by the developing countries in which it works. In 2012, the Australian multilateral assessment of the International Fund for Agricultural Development concluded that it was performing strongly and delivering results, transparency and alignment with Australia's aid priorities and national interests. It is now timely that Australia renews its membership.

Australia's membership of the International Fund for Agricultural Development will complement and strengthen Australia's existing support for food security, rural development and poverty reduction, and provide a direct engagement with smallholder producers who are disproportionately represented among the poor and vulnerable. This is consistent with the fundamental purpose of the Australian aid program of helping people overcome poverty. It will address poverty issues in rural areas where the International Fund for Agricultural Development is focused and where Australia has an interest but limited current engagement. It will offer in-depth country and technical knowledge in regions and sectors where Australia wishes to expand but lacks expertise and it will offer expertise and experience in rural development in fragile and conflict-affected areas where Australia has a strategic interest but may not be able to directly engage.

We cannot overestimate the critical importance of food security to every human being. The physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food is surely a fundamental human right. But tragically for nearly a billion people in the world this is not the case. The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation estimates that nearly one billion people go hungry every day. Two-thirds of these people live in the Asia-Pacific region. They are our neighbours. In Sub-Saharan Africa almost one in three people suffers from chronic hunger. Climate change, drought, conflict, lack of resources and land to grow food all shape this gross inequality. The impact of these challenges is compounded by the high cost of food, higher even than the 2008 levels when the food crisis was at its peak. We can attribute the high cost of food largely to the failure of global food production to keep pace with growing demand. Population growth, income growth, changing diets and climatic variability are just some of the critical factors in this trend. Forecasts by the United Nations and World Bank indicate that this trend of high food prices is likely to continue for at least the next 10 years. The magnitude of this challenge cannot be underestimated.

Australia has long been at the forefront of global efforts to improve food security. We as a nation are very fortunate to enjoy food security ourselves. At the same time, we have had to grapple with issues like climate, water management and natural disasters that plague less food secure nations. And as a wealthy country we develop world-class research and expertise in these areas. This is something we can share. Food security is integral to Australia's aid program. Our approach to food security focuses on lifting agricultural productivity for agricultural research and development, improving rural livelihoods by strengthening markets and market access, and building community resilience with social protection programs. These three elements will together increase the food available in markets and in poor households and increase the incomes and employment opportunities of poor men and women.

Right now, Australia is responding to the emergency food needs of people in the Horn of Africa, increasing funding for rural development and pursuing trade policy reforms to open up markets and allow more free and fair access to food. The International Fund for Agricultural Development's approach to food security marries with our own. As I have said, it is dedicated to enabling poor rural people to improve their access to food and nutrition, increase their incomes and strengthen their resilience. The fund also works in regions of importance to Australia: Asia, the Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa. Developing countries value the fund's work, and this was made clear during the most recent replenishment of the fund in 2011. Argentina increased its pledge by 300 per cent, Indonesia by 100 per cent, Brazil by 25 per cent and India by 20 per cent: all during a time of economic hardship. The fund has reformed its organisational structure to increase efficiency, aligned human and financial resources with strategic objectives and expanded its role as a knowledge institution. For every dollar contributed, the International Fund for Agricultural Development mobilises another $6 for rural development.

In 2011 there was a review of the fund conducted by AusAID, which found that the fund had implemented significant reforms and that it was now considered by donors and developing countries to be an increasingly effective, results focused, value-for-money fund. The review recognised the fund's clear mandate to reduce rural poverty and hunger through working with smallholder farmers who are disproportionately represented amongst the poor, vulnerable and food insecure. Fund projects currently work with more than 36 million poor men and women, supporting them to become food secure through increasing productivity, access to markets including microfinance, and business development.

Renewing our membership of the International Fund for Agricultural Development is clearly in Australia's national interest. It will allow Australia to expand existing support for food security and help the world's most vulnerable to fight hunger. The fund has also increased its focus on Australia's priority region, the Asia-Pacific, with some 31 per cent of fund allocations going there at the end of 2011, as opposed to seven per cent at the time of withdrawal in 2004. The fund's senior management values Australia's unique technical expertise in tropical and dryland farming, fisheries, biosecurity and quarantine. We are considered to have attractive policy and regulatory approaches in these areas. Membership will also allow Australia to draw on the fund's considerable experience to strengthen Australia's own approach to food security and rural development in our aid program. Australia's priorities for engaging with the International Fund for Agricultural Development are: improving food security, raising incomes and strengthening the resilience of smallholder producers in priority countries for Australia; continued commitment to reform to improve governance and management of the organisation, including strength and focus on results and value for money; and ensuring disability inclusiveness and gender equality across all of the fund's programs.

Investment in the fund will not detract from existing support for food security programs. Financial contributions to the fund will be decided through the Australian government's annual budget process. The 2011 review of the fund conducted in-depth analysis of alternative additional food security funding mechanisms and found that rejoining the International Fund for Agricultural Development would be the best option for additional Australian support in this sector.

Finally, membership of this fund will allow Australian firms and Australian individuals to be engaged with or employed in fund projects. Only citizens of member states can work on fund projects. With the increasing urgency of our global food security challenges and obligations, this bill to enable Australia to rejoin the International Fund for Agricultural Development will have considerable benefit for not only our national interests but also for the billions of people worldwide who remain acutely vulnerable to food shortages and whose lives would be immeasurably improved if they could achieve the basic human right to food security. I commend this bill to the House.

Ms Anna Burke (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that this bill be now read a second time.