The Director General of IICA, Víctor M. Villalobos, qualified Mexico as a reference for agriculture in the hemisphere and underscored its importance in the history of the Institute. IICA was recognized by the Under Secretary of Agriculture in Mexico, Mariano Ruiz-Funes Macedo, as a driving force behind international cooperation and public-private partnerships for the improvement of the agriculture sector in the hemisphere.
Mexico City, 7 November, 2012 (IICA). The Director-General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Víctor M. Villalobos, was the main speaker at the celebration of the 70th anniversary of this organization, held at the Polyforum Siqueiros, where he made a presentation entitled “Mexico-IICA: Common history and shared challenges.”
Villalobos underscored the fact that the current development model has been inadequate in resolving the issue of poverty in the rural areas, where the poorest populations reside. “What is true for the rest of the world, is also true for the Americas”, said.
“However, there is a great difference: the enormous potential that we have as a region to respond to those major challenges, that IICA has synthesized into the need for competitive, sustainable, and inclusive agriculture”, added Villalobos, who is of Mexican origin.
The event, in which more than 200 persons participated, was attended by representatives of the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives, as well as the IICA Representative in Mexico, Gino Buzzetti. Also in attendance were members of the diplomatic corps and international organizations accredited to this country, leaders of the agricultural sector, academics, researchers, and staff members of the international organization.
Villalobos outlined a number of facts that are true today for agriculture throughout the world, for example, that current and future agriculture will have a more significant role to play in economic growth and social welfare: “This consensus is being expressed even in forums in which agriculture and food security are not usually raised; at least not as central topics”, he expressed.
The most important of these forums was the VII summit of the G20, held in Mexico this year, in which the issue of food security was promoted and the subject of price volatility for raw materials was addressed. He also mentioned other meetings that have reached explicit commitments in this regard, such as the Summit of the Americas or the OAS General Assembly.
Importance of innovation
Víctor M. Villalobos, the first Mexican to hold the position of Director-General of IICA, referred to the importance of innovation: “Innovate in order to find more efficient ways to produce, so that we can feed a population that will reach 9 billion within four decades; innovate in order to produce in a sustainable manner in order to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases from agriculture, today estimated at 30% of total emissions.”
He continued: “Agricultural activities cannot continue to use 70% of available water, which means that innovation is needed in order to produce with less water. Perhaps, in a new paradigm, productivity should be measured by the amount produced per liter of water.”
Villalobos highlighted the fact that the relationship between Mexico and IICA also has to do with the country’s foreign policy and with one of its basic tenets: international cooperation for development.
“Mexico has been a great reference for agriculture in the hemisphere for decades, hundreds of citizens from IICA member countries have been trained in its higher education centers, and today, its generosity finds expression in a fellowship program that, with the support of CONACYT and the collaboration of IICA, is enabling students from around the hemisphere to do graduate-level courses in educational institutions in Mexico”, he added.
The Director-General of IICA also manifested his desire for success and offered the institutional support of IICA to Mexican President-elect, Enrique Peña Nieto: “As the person in charge of an international organization that is both public and multilateral, I am making the tremendous technical capability of the Institute available to you. This is what we have done for the past 70 years, this is how we work in our 34 member countries, each being of equal importance.”
Need for partnerships
At the event, the Under Secretary of Agriculture of the SAGARPA, Mariano Ruiz-Funes Macedo, confirmed that IICA has been the driving force behind international cooperation and public-private partnerships, and stated that the Institute has served as a bridge between agencies and countries for the exchange of innovations that enable agriculture to be more productive within the hemisphere.
He explained that Mexico had developed schemes, with the support of IICA, to promote issues such as agricultural productivity and sustainability of natural resources. One such mechanism is the Intergovernmental Program for Cooperation on Climate Change, a technical and scientific network that integrates the actions of researchers, academics, and technical personnel in order to generate information and develop the capacity to cope with this phenomenon.
Furthermore, underscored Ruiz-Funes, Mexico was the driving force behind the consolidation of the INNOVAGRO Network, through which representatives of IICA member countries and other nations carry out efforts to take agricultural innovations into the field. “In Mexico, and particularly in the SAGARPA, we are very satisfied with the collaboration that we have had in recent years, which it has enabled us to work in a coordinated manner in the development of capabilities, innovation, strategic planning, supervision and evaluation of programs”.
As part of the celebration of the 70th Anniversary of IICA, the Pedro Trujillo García Prize was established, and will be awarded to the most outstanding graduate-level student within the CONACYT fellowship program.
Más información:
gino.buzzetti@iica.int
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