The meeting of IICA’s Executive Committee concluded in Mexico, with the countries expressing their satisfaction with the results of the technical assistance provided to agriculture in the hemisphere.
Mexico City, June 20, 2013 (IICA). The meeting in Mexico of the Executive Committee of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), which concluded on Tuesday, made it possible to advance toward the construction of a regional agenda for integrated water management, at a time when strong competition for natural resources, climate change and food insecurity are the order of the day.
In Mexico City, at a meeting chaired by Ricardo Aguilar, Under Secretary for Food and Competitiveness of Mexico, senior agricultural officials from all parts of the hemisphere discussed a technical proposal prepared by the Institute to support the development of a regional agenda, although some countries made recommendations based on their specific needs.
Delegates from a number of countries recognized the strategic importance of discussing the relationship between water and agriculture, especially where family agriculture is concerned.
The delegations also accepted the management report of the Director General of IICA, Víctor M. Villalobos, and were informed of the progress made in strengthening the strategic partnerships that the Institute maintains with organizations linked to the agricultural sector of the Americas.
Villalobos gave an overview of the results of the technical assistance provided in the areas of innovation for agriculture, agribusiness, area-based development and rural well-being, natural resources management and adaptation to climate change, agricultural health and food safety, and food security. IICA is currently implementing nearly 450 projects in these fields.
The meeting also reviewed the work with the Market Information Organization of the Americas (MIOA), the Tropical Agriculture Research and Agriculture Center (CATIE), and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI); and with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as well as centers of the CGIAR (formerly, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) located in the hemisphere.
Towards the end of the meeting, Mexico presented the candidacy of Víctor M. Villalobos for the position of IICA Director General for the period 2014-2018. The election will be held at the Meeting of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas, slated for September 23-27 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
At that meeting, the ministers will discuss the ideas and recommendations presented in the technical proposal on integrated water management. They will also meet as the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA)—IICA’s highest governing body—and issue a declaration that will orient the support actions that the Institute will implement to contribute to the attainment of the objective of integrated water management.
Endorsement of the ministers of agriculture
Javier Ponce Ceballos, Minister of Agriculture of Ecuador, said that integrated water management was a strategic issue. “Water management has a political and social dimension that we cannot ignore. Hence, it is one of the greatest challenges for regional integration,” he observed.
“Water and family agriculture are closely connected,” Ceballos added, and the IICA Director General seconded his remarks: “Family agriculture has a lot to do with food security but how we use water to produce food is also a big factor,” Víctor M. Villalobos commented.
The IICA member countries have time until 45 days before the meeting of ministers in Buenos Aires to make further observations on the technical proposal.
“We are very keen to meet the countries’ expectations with respect to the goal of achieving integrated water management, an issue on which agriculture’s contribution will be of key importance,” IICA’s Director General added.
For more information, contact:
evangelina.beltran@iica.int
