For the first time at the hemispheric level, the ministers will discuss how to incorporate integrated water management into the development of agriculture in the region.
Buenos Aires, September, 2013 (IICA). The ministers of agriculture of the hemisphere will meet in Buenos Aires, beginning on September 24, to discuss strategies for the development of the agriculture sector and, in particular, to analyze the indissoluble relationship between water and agriculture and propose actions to promote integrated water resources management in the region.
During the Meeting of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas 2013, organized by the Government of Argentina with support from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the highest-level representatives of the hemisphere’s agricultural sector will discuss –for the first time– how to improve the use of water while at the same time increasing the productivity and sustainability of agriculture. In fact, the theme of the meeting will be “Water to feed the land.”
During the meeting, which will be held from September 24-27, the ministers will also meet as the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA) to reach agreement on actions to strengthen IICA. The IABA is the highest-level governing body of this specialized agency of the Inter-American System.
The Meeting of Ministers is expected to produce a hemispheric agenda under which the agriculture sector will promote the sustainable management of water resources, and a call for greater regional coordination to tackle that challenge.
Some weeks ago, in Santa Cruz in Bolivia, the ministers of agriculture who make up the Southern Agricultural Council (CAS) expressed strong support for the objectives of the meeting in Buenos Aires, noting that it would open a window of opportunity for developing coordinated solutions to improve the use of water in the agriculture sector.
In addition, at the meeting of IICA’s Executive Committee held in Mexico in June of this year, the delegates of a dozen nations recognized the strategic importance of analyzing the relationship between water and agriculture, as well as water’s impact on family farming.
For more information, contact:
gino.buzzetti@iica.int
sagyp@minagri.gob.ar
