Susan Whelan discusses Canada's new approach to development aid and its strengthened support for Africa.

FORUM: Last September you launched "Canada Making a Difference in the World," a policy statement on strengthening aid effectiveness. What are the program's priorities, and how are you positioning Canada to play a leadership role in international development?

Whelan: A few years ago, the international development community committed to the Millennium Development Goals-halving hunger and poverty, improving education and health, empowering women, and preserving the environment-as measures of progress toward poverty reduction and sustainable development in developing countries. We want to do all we can to achieve these goals. At the same time, Canada has been working to strengthen the effectiveness of its aid to ensure that we are making a real difference in the world.

The main principles that define our efforts to make Canadian assistance more effective are supporting local ownership, improving donor coordination, untying aid, and focusing Canadian aid. An important part of focusing our aid efforts is to increase investments in selected countries and priority areas where we know we can have a positive and lasting impact.

FORUM: Where does Canadian public opinion stand on the issue of foreign assistance? How do you maintain or resuscitate public support for development aid and the age-old but ever-pressing problem of ending hunger and poverty?

Whelan: Social, economic, and environmental conditions in all nations are inextricably intertwined. Canadians know that we cannot be safe in an unstable world, prosperous in a poverty-stricken world, or healthy in a sick world. So, according to the people of Canada, working on reducing poverty to contribute to a safer, more equitable and prosperous world isn't just the right thing to do-it's our duty.

Canadians, both as individuals and in groups and organizations, have been assisting people in developing countries for several decades-longer than my department, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), has been in existence. Survey after survey tells us that Canadians want to help correct the gross global imbalance that confronts us today. Canadians want to work with people in developing countries to make sure that all people, no matter where they're born, have the opportunity to live up to their potential

FORUM: What accounts for Canada's substantial new commitment to development in Africa? Are there particular countries or sectors that you are focusing on in Africa? What will CIDA be doing differently this time?

Whelan: Africa lags well behind the rest of the world in terms of meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Africa's leaders have responded to this challenge with their own initiative-the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). In Kananaskis in June 2002, Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chrétien led the G8 leaders to adopt an ambitious Africa Action Plan in support of this new partnership. Canada is committed to development in Africa.

In December 2001 the prime minister announced an additional Cdn$1 billion in funding for Canada's aid program, including a special $500 million fund for Africa. The federal budget of February 2003-with an increase of 8 percent to the International Assistance Envelope-will allow us to better respond to development challenges and increase our focus on Africa. Canada will spend at least half of all new resources on addressing Africa's challenges. We will focus our programming on a limited number of key sectors linked to national poverty reduction plans such as agriculture, education, health and HIV/AIDS, and private sector development.

What will we be doing differently this time? Aside from focusing our aid in countries and sectors where we know we can have the most impact, we will shift our programming from supporting relatively small, individual projects to supporting larger, coordinated programs that are closely aligned with country priorities. Within three years we expect that more than 60 percent of our programming will go to key sectors such as education, health, and agriculture, and in some cases direct budgetary support, in cooperation with other donors and in keeping with countries' PRSP objectives. Our response to NEPAD, an African-owned development plan, is a good example of CIDA's new way of doing business.

FORUM: What role will NEPAD play in Canada's renewed efforts in Africa? What else can be done, in your opinion, on the international level to make development cooperation more effective in eliminating hunger and poverty?

Whelan: NEPAD embodies a philosophy based on renewing and strengthening partnerships among governments and their people, institutions and nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector. It recognizes that the primary responsibility for Africa's development rests with Africans themselves. It seeks to put in place the conditions that will lead to sustainable development and private sector investment, including good governance and the rule of law. This new partnership provides Canada with a strong, African-made vehicle to focus its aid on the continent and to ensure that what we do is in keeping with what Africans want for their own future.

What else can be done? To put it simply, we all-donors and developing countries alike-need to work together in closer collaboration. We can also strengthen our partnerships and go beyond traditional development assistance to include such things as expanded trade, debt reduction, and technical cooperation.

FORUM: As you noted recently, the private sector in developing countries and Canada will play an important part in CIDA's aid policy in coming years. How do you see the private sector contributing to solving developing-country problems of poverty, hunger, and malnutrition?

Whelan: Canada believes that the growth of the domestic private sector and well-functioning markets in developing countries and countries in transition is essential for poverty reduction. CIDA's new policy, Expanding Opportunities through Private Sector Development, strengthens our contributions to pro-poor economic growth-the kind of growth that actively engages and directly benefits poor men, women, and youth by opening access to markets and enabling them to use their own assets, natural resources, and capabilities to earn a decent and sustainable income. A dynamic private sector creates local suppliers of goods and services who can meet the needs of their own communities. And it develops a tax base necessary for financing programs such as health care, education, and environmental protection-programs crucial to making development truly sustainable. When the private sector functions well and equitably, everyone benefits. Think about small farmers, who in rural areas often make up the largest segment of the private sector in developing countries. These farmers often cannot realize their full potential because of poor policies, inadequate markets, and generally weak institutions. Creating an enabling environment in which agriculture can perform is crucial. For example, well-functioning agricultural markets can underpin a rural economy, help promote rural enterprises, and provide rural services. And, of course, small agricultural producers can tap into national, regional, and international markets.

FORUM: Given CIDA's commitment to sustainable rural development, what role would you assign to agricultural research in realizing that commitment?

Whelan: Research is critical to meet current and future challenges in the agriculture sector, and CIDA's policy-Promoting Sustainable Rural Development through Agriculture-reflects this. To remain sustainable and increase environmental and economic security for the poor, an agricultural system must be supported with new knowledge, new practices, and new technologies.

CIDA's programming in research and knowledge sharing over many years has played a key role in developing and sustaining local capacity for long-term agricultural research to improve farming techniques and products. Since they are the end users, farmers and farmers' associations must participate in setting the research agenda to ensure that it is relevant to their reality. Education and training for farmers and farming communities puts research into practice as farmers learn to analyze and define their own needs and to adapt research-generated varieties and agronomic practices to their own conditions.

Research is giving poor communities the skills they need to manage their biodiversity in ways that keep their agroecosystems diverse, productive, resilient, flexible, and protected. Research is improving market access by helping developing-country governments adopt policies to develop markets not only for farmers, but also for marketing cooperatives, nonfarm private sector entrepreneurs, and other off-farm activities in rural areas.

Clearly, there will be no sustainable rural development without advances in agricultural research.

FORUM: What do you see as the CGIAR's contribution to the task of sustainable economic growth and equitable globalization?

Whelan: CIDA believes that the CGIAR plays an important role in mobilizing cutting-edge science that contributes to food security, poverty eradication, and protecting the environment in developing countries. The CGIAR needs to be visionary and innovative in doing research-especially applied research-that the poor need to help them build better lives for themselves through agriculture. Continuing to work on research for the public good-targeting challenges faced by the poor in developing countries, brokering knowledge between advanced scientific committees and the poor, and creating and promoting stronger ownership by the beneficiaries-is an important contribution that the CGIAR can continue to make.

However, in order for the CGIAR to be able to make this contribution, donors must collaborate more effectively to ensure that the CGIAR system has a steady core base of resources. The proportion of core funding has substantially decreased over the past decade, which has weakened the CGIAR. That's why Canada recently significantly increased its core contribution to the CGIAR. The increased flexibility provided by core funding generally allows these research centers to pursue a broader agenda than that supported by direct project financing.