Check against delivery

Minister of International Development Ms. Hilde F. Johnson
EARTH Seminar, Lysebu Hotel
3. September 2003

Sustainability, Education and the Management of Change in the Tropics

Distinguished guests and participants,

It is an honor for me to welcome you to Norway for this fifth and last seminar in the series on "Sustainability, Education and the Management of Change in the Tropics", SEMCIT.

On behalf of the Norwegian government, let me say how pleased we are to be able to support the SEMCIT seminar series organized by EARTH University, Salzburg Seminar and NORAGRIC (Agricultural University of Norway). I believe this to be a most worthwhile investment. Sharing experiences and spreading the news of innovative approaches to higher education in agriculture and natural resource management are crucial if we are to succeed in raising living standards for the world’s rural poor.

The seminars have brought together key people involved in agricultural education in the tropics, and have become an important forum for exchange of ideas in this field. I was particularly pleased to see the presentation of this initiative featured at the World Summit in Johannesburg last year.

My wish for you will be that these next few days, spent so far away from the tropics, will yield fruitful discussions and conclusions that may help define our common approach to the challenge of addressing rural poverty in the years to come. As an anthropologist with my speciality on peasant anthropology and rural reforms in Tanzania, I take a great interest in your work.

A Chinese proverb says:

If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.

I agree. In international development we would like to be able to plan not only for one lifetime, but for several lifetimes ahead. This requires a focus on the long term process that leads to a better life for the many who suffer.

Education is important in all countries, but in few places does education make such a dramatic difference as in the developing world. The right kind of education can make the difference between a life in poverty and a life of relative comfort for a man, a woman, a child. The issues and solutions discussed over the course of the SEMCIT five-year program hold great promise for the rural poor around the world. I commend you for demonstrating to the world that academic institutions do care, that they share a commitment to solving major global challenges like rural poverty, that they are involved in the global fight for a fairer and more just world.

It is my hope that the reports and findings that have emerged through your collective efforts will become required reading for all of us working in the fields of rural development and development aid.

An increasingly interdependent world of rapidly changing social, economic, technical and natural environments poses great challenges for agriculture and its institutions. But many countries and educational institutions have failed to adapt and respond to the needs and realities of their rural sectors. Curricula and teaching methods are often irrelevant. Economic restructuring and financial crises force change and threaten tradition. Yesterday’s education is not sufficient for future development - neither in the developing world nor in the developed one.

In 1988 the World Bank pointed out that Africa required highly trained people and top-quality research for devising the policies and plans and carrying out the programmes essential to economic growth and development. Preparing people for responsible positions in government, business life, and the professions was viewed as one of the main functions of Africa’s universities.

A decade later, with three quarters of the world’s poor living in rural areas, dependent on agriculture, a global analysis by FAO found that a majority of the world’s agricultural universities, including many in Africa, still had little contact with, or influence on, the rural societies they were meant to serve.

The essence of the problem was expressed most aptly by an African leader:

"Again and again, the people dance to welcome the University and bring their fishes and best wishes on the day of inauguration. But if they ventured to show up at the gates on the day after inauguration, they find that no one there knows their name or understands their language."

For all of us who work in development, our goal should be to support efforts that "speak their language", the people’s language, and provide a way to a better life for as many of them as possible. This is the challenge for the global community, a challenge that has found its rightful place on the agendas of all world leaders.

Listen to the words of Peter Magrath, President of the US National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, as he describes the challenge facing us all, north and south, east and west:

"Reform in any university anywhere in the world cannot occur unless there is a vision passionately believed in and furthered by leaders. If we want change or reform, it will not happen casually or simply by its bubbling up within a university. There may be ferment for change and a desire for adaptation. But change will not occur unless there are leaders willing to step up and step out and provide direction and articulate a vision that can unite men and women to work for needed change, building on the accomplishments of the university and its history, but pointing unequivocally to the future."

He spoke of university reform, but his words may as well be applied to development reforms worldwide. Based on what my friends in academia tell me, both types of reform may face similar challenges...

As Dr. Magrath emphasizes, change is not possible unless we have leaders who are willing to step up and articulate a vision. On the world stage, we now have such a vision - for improving the lives of the poorest. This vision is expressed in the Millennium Development Goals, the MDGs. World leaders agreed at the Millennium Summit in 2000 to do their utmost to reach these goals. A road map was laid out. In Monterrey, Mexico, and again in Johannesburg last year, we agreed not only on the goals, but on how to reach them. A major effort to fight world poverty is on its way, a commitment not seen before. Yes, there have been numerous efforts from many organizations and governments and important people to improve the lot of the poorest. But, as Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of the UNDP said: We have actually never really tried to reach them. Really tried.

We have now, in effect, a global compact between developing and developed countries. We agreed, - for the first time – to monitor progress. The MDGs have placed the interest of the poor and underprivileged at the top of the international agenda. Heads of state, including the G8 leaders, cite them frequently, and agree that poverty is the greatest scourge of our time. They promise to combat poverty by co-operation, by financial assistance, by implementing policies which are coherent, consistent - and caring. This, I believe, is a major breakthrough in international politics. Never before have we seen such a concrete and committed effort from all major world leaders. What we all expect now is follow-up and action.

The goals are ambitious. We have committed ourselves to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. We are committed to reducing child mortality by 2/3 and to achieve universal primary education. We are committed to promoting gender equality and empower women. Poverty and environmental degradation is a most dangerous mixture - we have committed ourselves to ensure environmental sustainability. We have committed ourselves to combat HIV/AIDS and malaria.

The main responsibility lies with the countries themselves. They have to improve their performance and policies in all these areas (MDG 1 – 7).

The goals most relevant for you is the commitment to halve the number of people suffering from hunger. Here, food security and agricultural development is crucial. The other most relevant goal is the one on education and environmental sustainability. But it cannot happen without the assistance of the rich countries.

In the 8 ^th> Millennium Development Goal, the rich part of the world has committed itself to do what is necessary in a global partnership to eradicate poverty. We have committed ourselves to change policies, to develop a more open trade and investment system. We have committed ourselves to deal comprehensively with developing countries’ debt problems, and to provide access to affordable essential drugs. We have committed ourselves to increase development assistance. And there is more.

We have a job to do. There is very little time. We need all the help we can get.

From the Norwegian side, we will do our part - in all these areas. We plan to increase the level of ODA from the current 0.93 percent to one percent of gross national income by 2005.

The Government last year launched an Action Plan for Combating Poverty in the South towards 2015. The Action Plan provides an overall strategy for Norway’s efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. It underlines that education is a major weapon in the fight against poverty.

The Action Plan particularly emphasizes efforts to improve education linked to national poverty strategies - through development assistance, and through support for international organizations working in this field. My government has designated education as "Job number 1" through our education strategy, and we have intensified our efforts to reach the goal of "education for all" by the year 2015. We plan to increase the share of our ODA earmarked for education to 15% by 2005. This may translate to up to an extra 1 billion Norwegian kroner (or 110 million US dollars) for education in development over the next 3 years.

We wish in particular to support education that focuses on the poor and on women. We believe education to be a most important tool to combat poverty and promote democracy - and we believe education to be a right for all. Norway may be a small actor on the world stage, but our hope is that our education strategy, launched in Tanzania earlier this year, may inspire other donors and other international organization to follow suit. This is also linked to the strategy already in place for higher education and research.

The Norwegian government has since 1993 supported a scholarship program for EARTH University students from Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras. Half of the scholarships are earmarked for women. I am proud and pleased to know that 125 candidates have completed, or are in the process of completing, their agricultural studies under this program. This is an excellent example of what we can achieve together.

The Norwegian government is also in the process of presenting a comprehensive Action Plan on agricultural development, based on the recommendations of a consultative group led by Stein Bie, former Director General of ISNAR. Their report, from February this year, yielded a number of valuable conclusions on how agriculture can be a way out of poverty, and gives advice on how best to use public funds in this area. Support for projects like EARTH University and CGIAR, The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, gets high marks in the Bie report, as an effective way to give agricultural expertise a stronger voice.

According to IFAD’s former president, Fawzi Hamad Al-Sultan, the livelihoods of 75 per cent of the approximately 1.2 billion people who make up the world’s poorest today are linked directly or indirectly to agriculture. Development experience shows that the number of poor can be reduced dramatically by good government policies and through education, research, training and infrastructure strategies that promote widespread growth in rural areas, higher farm incomes and increased demand for related products and services provided by the rural non-farm sector.

Many agencies, donors and developing countries are now beginning to recognize in their poverty reduction strategies the decisive place of agriculture and rural areas in broad economic development.

Governments and universities, as well as bilateral and multilateral development agencies, have in the recommendations from the SEMCIT seminar series a valuable tool for rural development and education in the years to come. I commend all of you on your efforts, and thank you for your contributions over the past five years. It is my hope that your advice will become "food for action" for policy makers in all areas of the world, on all levels of development policy.

I believe bilateral and multilateral donors have a particular responsibility to listen, and listen well, to the visions and recommendations from you. These recommendations have been formulated, discussed, reshaped, and discussed again, then reformulated some more by real people, real practitioners of agricultural education, real farmers and real policy makers - all living their daily lives in the realities of Africa, Asia and Latin America. If we really mean what we say about "ownership" and about "listening to the views and priorities on the ground", now is the time to prove it. It is our duty, as development partners and actors, to listen carefully during thee next couple of days, and to take note of what is said here, in the crisp, definitely non-tropic, air in the woods outside Oslo.

All of us in this room today are here because we know that a major effort in agricultural development and education is crucial if we are to free millions from the prison of poverty. We are trying to use our collective wisdom and enthusiasm to improve the life of, in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s words, "the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid".

The challenge is formidable, but we know it can be met - if we work together, towards the same goals. It is possible!

We have seen several breakthroughs the last few years:

We have seen a breakthrough on debt relief.

We have seen a breakthrough on the broad commitment to the Millennium Development Goals.

We have seen a preliminary breakthrough on trade and development – the Doha Development Agenda. Now we must deliver in Cancun this month.

We have seen a breakthrough on resources for development assistance. The increases are significant.

We are not there yet, but we do see progress.

To reach the Millennium Development Goals, we need not only committed governments, but also dedicated partners in civil society, partners like you. The role of educators and researchers is crucial, if we are to truly provide development for a lifetime or more. Reaching the Millennium goals implies change.

I certainly look forward to reading the SEMCIT recommendations, and encourage you to distribute them widely.

On the conclusion of your seminar series, I congratulate you on what you have done.

Change is necessary. Change is imperative.

My message for you is this: You can make a difference! You can make a difference, not only in you own lives, but in the lives of many, now - and in lifetimes to come.

The time for change is now.

Together we can make it happen.

Thank you.