Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's address at the inauguration of Golden Jubilee celebrations of Afro-Asian Rural Development Organization

I am delighted to participate in this inaugural session of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Afro Asian Rural Development Organisation. I welcome each one of the distinguished participants from the friendly countries of Asia and Africa.

It was more than 50 years back that India took the initiative to host the 1st Afro-Asian Conference on Rural Reconstruction here in this historic city of New Delhi. The far-sighted leaders of Asia and Africa recognized the need for cooperation in the development of agriculture and rural development among the newly liberated countries of the South. This historic Conference led subsequently to the establishment of the Afro-Asian Rural Development Organization which stands today as a shining symbol of South-South Cooperation.

Over much of the last century, the people of Asia and Africa fought together, shoulder to shoulder, to liberate themselves from colonial domination. Today the challenges we face are different but equally daunting. There are threats to international peace. The processes of globalization and the growing inter-dependence among nations pose fundamental new challenges to our economic sustenance. We face the rising aspirations of our teeming millions who demand and deserve nutritious food, clean drinking water, quality education and affordable health care.

In India, we have attempted to bring about rural reconstruction through development programmes aimed at poverty alleviation, employment generation, infrastructure development and provision for social security. In recent years, rapid economic growth has provided revenues to fund a massive expansion in our anti-poverty programmes. We have learnt important lessons in the process of implementing them and have adapted our strategies for intervention. We have empowered and democratized local bodies to make them principal instruments of implementing targeted schemes and programmes. We have directed large resources towards human development to enable the poor to benefit from the processes of economic reform and modernization. With a view to softening the harsh edges of poverty, we have introduced a landmark employment guarantee scheme named after the Father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, that assures a hundred days of employment to every rural household. Many challenges remain and we continue to explore new ideas and new means to reach out to the poor, particularly in the most backward and remote areas of our country and areas beset with violence and conflict.

India has a vision for a partnership with Africa to deal with some of these common challenges of the 21st century. That is why we initiated the India-Africa Forum Summit process in the year 2008, during which the leaders of India and Africa agreed on a Framework for Cooperation for a sustainable and wide-ranging partnership in development.

The first area of cooperation identified under this framework was agriculture. The thrust of the first phase of cooperation in this sector is on capacity building. We hope and trust this will complement the good work being done by the Afro-Asian Rural Development Organization, which runs international training programmes in seven member countries.

India will provide more than 500 new scholarships over the next few years particularly in agricultural sciences. We have earmarked 700 Science fellowships named after the celebrated Indian Nobel Laureate C.V.Raman for Africa. 150 African students have already been awarded this prestigious fellowship. We are also conducting short term training courses in areas such as water conservation, livestock and fisheries production, farm mechanization and post-harvest processing & value addition.

We have also agreed to pool our intellectual resources in the area of development planning. Joint studies have been planned on cotton production in Africa and on integrated water resource development and management of five different river basins in Africa.

Institution building is another important facet of our cooperation. We have earmarked about US $ 100 million for establishing various institutions including the India Africa Institute of Agriculture and Rural Development, soil water and tissue testing laboratories, farm science centres, agricultural seeds production-cum-demonstration centres and rural technology parks in different parts of Africa. We hope that these initiatives will become intellectual hubs for agricultural studies and research for development.

We have to use science, innovation and entrepreneurship to give a boost to growth and employment in our rural economies. We are funding training and capacity building of 350 persons from Sub-Saharan Africa in the area of food processing.

We have approved lines of credit worth nearly US$ one billion for projects in rural Africa in the sugar sector, for rural power transmission and purchase of agricultural machinery.

We should encourage more investment and trade in agriculture between Asia and Africa. For this, the role of the private sector is also important. I am happy that Indian investment is flowing into Africa in areas such as agro-processing, agricultural machinery and floriculture. Indian farm technologies and practices are, I believe, quite relevant for African conditions and we should encourage such technology and investment flows. In the health sector too, Indian pharmaceutical companies are helping to combat AIDS in Africa.

Last year, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia and my friend, His Excellency Mr. Meles Zenawi made an important speech on the subject of ‘Green Economy and Structural Transformation in Africa’.

In that historic speech he said that the resource base of agriculture in Africa is very seriously threatened and that green development is central to transforming agriculture in the African continent. He also spoke of the enormous untapped renewable energy resources available in Africa, not the least being the bio-energy potential that would come with the greening of African agriculture.

I believe that in the future we will need to tackle the short term and long term environmental challenges that our economies face. Our scientists and experts have to reflect on technologies and processes that are most suitable for our rural conditions and circumstances, both in Africa and in Asia.

We have to work together to build a favourable international regime that enables us to access funds and green technologies for rural economic and social growth. We should put our heads together to work for the best outcomes at the Climate change negotiations and the forthcoming Rio + 20 Conference in Brazil.

In pursuing our common goals, we should draw upon our own knowledge, our traditions and wisdom. The Nobel Laureate Ms. Wangari Maathai emphasized the importance of a holistic approach to development, as exemplified by the Green Belt Movement, which linked environmental preservation with women's empowerment, democracy and peace. In her Nobel lecture she said "I have always believed that solutions to most of our problems must come from us".

At the last Indian Science Congress, I was delighted to meet the members of the tribal community of Koraput, in the Indian State of Odisha. They had just been honoured by the Food and Agricultural Organization which had accorded the status of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System to the traditional agricultural system they practiced.

So there is much to study and learn from each other.

Three quarters of the world’s poor live in Asia and Africa. Rural reconstruction and poverty eradication are, therefore, fundamental to our plans for sustainable development and inclusive growth. The Afro-Asian Rural Development Organization has the potential of playing a vital role in our collective battle against hunger, disease and despair that afflict large segments of populations in India and in Africa. I reiterate India’s full commitment to the ideals and objectives of the Organization and conclude by expressing our firm belief that the Organization will scale new heights under the distinguished leadership of Egypt. With these words I once again welcome all our guests, Their Excellencies, Ministers, Ambassadors from all friendly countries of Asia and Africa.