Participant Reactions: Bernard Njonga

Bernard Njonga, Secretary General, Service d’Appui aux Initiatives
Locales de Developpement (SAILD), Cameroon
Mr. Njonga gives a brief overview of lessons learned from the last day of the conference and directions for future efforts.

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Participant Reactions: Roy Steiner

Roy Steiner, Senior Program Officer for Agricultural Development, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
“There really is momentum gathering around agricultural development in particular…In an area that’s really been neglected for two decades, I think the world is recognizing that agriculture is critical to poverty and there’s going to be real sustained, serious investment and thought into [...]

Participant Reactions: Tom Arnold

Tom Arnold, Chief Executive Officer, Concern Worldwide
“The ultra poor are a category that need particular policy interventions…and building on that insight and working out the policy implications of that is of crucial importance.”

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Participant Reactions: Kamal Hyat

Kamal Hyat, Chief Executive, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund
Mr. Hyat reflects on several lessons learned from the conference, stressing the importance of the “human side” (of development), reminding us that “people only respond to good initiatives.”

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Participant Reactions: Yin Yin Nwe

Yin Yin Nwe, Representative, UNICEF China
Ms. Nwe discusses the challenges ahead for alleviating the suffering of children in China, even while acknowledging that China has made “remarkable progress in reducing child poverty.”

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Participant Reactions: Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere

Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere, Director, International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR)
Mr. Asenso-Okyere discusses the importance of innovation systems not only for sharing information with poor farmers in developing countries but also for empowering them to be able to apply this knowledge on their own farms in order to increase productivity and income.

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Participant Reactions: Vijay Kumar

Vijay Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, Society for the Elimination of
Rural Poverty
Mr. Kumar discusses his impressions of the conference following the first day of presentations, citing the value of having the “large participation of all the countries of the world.”

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Participant Reactions: Fezile Makiwane

Fezile Makiwane, Chief Executive Officer, South African Social Security Agency, South Africa
Mr. Makiwane shares a brief answer to the question he posed during his presentation: How can social security schemes be designed for low income countries to effectively provide for the poorest?

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Participant Reactions: Peter McPherson

Peter McPherson, President, National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges; and Chairman of the Board, Dow Jones, USA
“The need to focus on rural people and agriculture increases. The need to focus on Africa…has refined for me the issues we need to look at.”

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