International Conference on Public Policy and Family Farming –bringing together experts in the search for solutions to the challenges of smallholder production –comes to a close.
Santiago, Chile, November 6, 2014 (IICA). Public sector leaders, academics and technicians agreed that strengthening family agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) urgently requires policies that respond to the reality of the rural sector and involve the farming community’s participation in decision-making, in particular that of women and young people.
This was one of the main conclusions of the International Conference: Public Policy and Family Agriculture in LAC, held on November 3 and 4 at the headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile.
Within the framework of the International Year of Family Farming, the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Victor Villalobos, highlighted the importance of this production activity and stressed that the inclusion of younger generations is essential for its development.
“Agriculture should provide incentives for young people to remain within their communities; we must teach our young people to love the countryside and make family agriculture a more competitive, efficient, sustainable and inclusive activity”, he remarked.
ECLAC’s Deputy Executive Secretary, Antonio Prado, agreed, pointing out that the sector faces major challenges such as developing feasible policies –within a context of changing production patterns –that facilitate generational relay and promote capacity-building among farmers.
Raul Benitez, FAO’s Regional Representative for LAC, said the world was watching what our region was doing to support family agriculture.
According to IFAD’s Alvaro Ramos, and Pascal Delisle –Head of the Regional Delegation of French Cooperation in the Southern Cone and Brazil –it is important to put an end to the subordination of family agriculture with respect to other sectors and markets, as well as to improve its statistical visibility and link family farming to the post-2015 development agenda.
At the meeting, the National Director of the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research and Policies Office, Claudia Carbonell, referred to the policies under consideration in Chile for including family agriculture in the development process, with emphasis on equality through labor and education reforms.
The activity included the presentation of the book “Public Policy and Family Farming in Latin America and the Caribbean: Outcomes, Challenges and Prospects”, charting the success stories of policies implemented in 11 countries throughout the region.
The Director General of IICA endorsed the institutional commitment to provide cooperation to member countries on issues such as the productivity and competitiveness of chains, inclusion in rural areas, comprehensive risk management for mitigating and adapting to climate change, and the sustainability of family agriculture for food security and the rural economy.
The event was organized by FAO, ECLAC, IICA, the International Center for Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD) and the Chilean government, in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Más información:
alejandra.sarquis@iica.int
