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Dr Kanayo F. Nwanze visits Warwick to discuss eliminating poverty in all his forms

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Dr Kanayo F. Nwanze visits Warwick to discuss eliminating poverty in all his forms

On Tuesday 1 March, Dr Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), returned to Warwick to deliver a Warwick Policy Lab guest lecture.

The title of the talk was "Connecting the dots: how development grows peace and stability", and he discussed how one of the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is to eliminate poverty in all his forms.

In his talk, Dr Nwanze reminded us that poverty is concentrated in rural areas, so addressing the problems of the rural population is crucial for achieving this goal. He also pointed out the importance of the rural sector for food sustainability which increases its relevance.

Watch the lecture

The full lecture from Dr Nwanze is available to view on YouTube below:

Climate change, inequality and conflict are key for understanding poverty, for example climate change has caused extreme weather conditions that have affected crops and caused internal migration which worsens inequality and provides grounds for internal conflict, citing how the current migration crisis is the biggest crisis since WWII.

Dr Nwanze put forward that in order to achieve the very ambitious goal of eradicating poverty, rural areas have to become sustainable and that there is a need for organisation change - small farmers need to be supported, and there should be greater incentives to invest in the food system chain.

He advised the next generation should recognise the importance of this sector and should invest a greater amount of human resources and work in partnerships with small empowered farmers, and that students should look at this sector not just for job opportunities but that they should look to create these opportunities.

This was the second time Dr Nwanze has spoken to students, after visiting in January 2015 where he spoke about "The Cost of Inaction” and addressed policies to alleviate poverty.