The visit will run from November 27 to December 1, 2006.

The President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Lennart Bage, arrives in the country today for a one-week official visit. The UN official is expected to hold talks with top government officials and other development partners as well as visit some IFAD sponsored projects in Cameroon.

According to a press release from the organisation's office in Yaounde, the IFAD president will highlight the importance of promoting agriculture and rural development to reduce poverty and malnutrition in the country.

The projects to be visited included: the project to improve food security and rural incomes, and empower local communities which targets some 220.000 smallholder farmers in the Far North and Centre provinces of Cameroon, the roots and tubers development programme as well as the national micro-finance support project in Bikogo. Besides discussing directly with the farmers to know whether IFAD has been able to provide the tools they need to fight poverty, Lennart Bage will also be examining ways to better involve farmers in the drawing up and implementation of poverty reduction projects.

IFAD is a specialised UN agency dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. Since 1981, IFAD has financed seven programmes and projects in Cameroon to the tune of 83.8 million US dollars, that is, about CFA 41.9 billion. The organisation is currently working with the Cameroonian government to improve on its agricultural and rural development policy and strategy with its key partners.