The 2021 Food Systems Summit: an opportunity for the Americas to showcase the efficiency and productivity of its agriculture sector
San José, 6 May 2021 (IICA) – The Americas must demonstrate the efficiency and productivity of its agriculture sector at the 2021 Food Systems Summit that has been convened by the UN Secretary General. Thus, the Western Hemisphere must influence the preparations for and development of the global meeting, clearly establishing in its final document that the great challenge is to produce more and better food for a mushrooming global population, while ensuring sustainability in its three dimensions: economic, social and environmental.
These concerns were raised by Ambassador María del Carmen Squeff, Argentina’s Permanent Representative to the UN, while addressing the XV Meeting of the High-Level Advisory Council for Food Security in the Americas. This body, comprised of personalities from various countries, is providing support for the technical cooperation activities of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), amidst the crisis ensuing from the pandemic.
Squeff indicated that, “We are working with various countries leading up to the Summit and are keenly aware that this could be an opportunity, but it could also be a problem. At its core, the convening of the Summit is calling into question methods of production, but our message should be that there is no need to change everything. We recognize that production activities must contribute to the fight against climate change. However, the bottom line is that we must produce more, while respecting the environment, because the global population is projected to increase by 2 billion over the next thirty years”.
The Argentinian diplomat urged all the countries of the Americas to actively participate in the dialogues and various activities leading up to the Summit, “to enable us to steer it in a direction that is useful. This is a topic that is dear to our region and that is critical in today’s world, given the increasing global food insecurity triggered by the Covid-19 tragedy”.
Along with the Ambassadors of Antigua and Barbuda and of the United States, Squeff is representing the Western Hemisphere on the Advisory Committee to the UN Secretary- General’s Special Envoy, Agnes Kalibata, who is overseeing the organization of the Summit, from the operational perspective.
On the other hand, IICA is a member of the Summit Champions Network—a body of individuals and organizations that are committed to its objectives—as a representative of the agriculture and rural sectors of North America, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Ambassador Squeff was emphatic about the need for the region to defend sustainable agriculture at the Summit, as an activity that generates jobs and fosters rural retention: “We must demonstrate that in Latin America, most livestock production is extensive and is practiced in harmony with the fauna and flora. Thus, we ensure animal welfare and harmony with the environment. Livestock systems can undoubtedly be improved, but we should not curtail meat production, because that would endanger food security”.
Furthermore, she said that “The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are food producers with proven levels of quality. Most of us are exporters. One of the markets we sell to is Europe and we are all aware of the difficult conditions that that continent has imposed before it will accept products from other regions”.
The Argentinian diplomat also asked that the participants consider the crisis amidst which the global meeting would take place: “Today the world is experiencing a tragedy. This cannot be overlooked at the moment when we are determining where we should place our priorities”.
The members of the High-Level Advisory Council on Food Security in the Americas, who have made significant contributions to the agriculture sector in the political, entrepreneurial and academic spheres, are Gloria Abraham (Costa Rica), Chelston Brathwaite (Barbados), Carlos Gustavo Cano (Colombia), Cassio Luiselli (Mexico), Elsa Murano (United States), Martín Piñeiro (Argentina), Álvaro Ramos (Uruguay), Roberto Rodrigues (Brazil), Eduardo Trigo (Argentina), José María Sumpsi (Spain) and Silvia Sarapura (Peru/Canada).
The meeting was also attended by Manuel Otero, the Director General of IICA; Lloyd Day, Deputy Director General; and the Director of Technical Cooperation, Federico Villarreal.
Otero remarked that the Food Systems Summit will offer an opportunity to reinforce multilateralism and warned that production systems “have to be transformed, but we must also recognize their positive aspects”.
Thus, he pointed out the transformations that are already taking place are aiming to ensure that agriculture is practiced in harmony with the environment, fostering inclusion and prioritizing its contribution to proper nutrition and human health.
Otero stressed that, “There are three principles that are guiding us. Firstly, farmers should be heard, because without them, there will be no raw materials to produce food. Secondly, science and technology play an essential role today and will do so in the future. Thirdly, agriculture is part of the solution to problems, such as climate change, notwithstanding the issues that we must be corrected”.
On the other hand, Martín Piñeiro, Director General Emeritus of IICA, reflected that the Summit, “will be a historic occasion, as it will represent a re-organization of the entire agrifood industry, including agriculture”. Therefore, he maintained that the region must seek to influence its results. In fact, he said that “In principle, the meeting appears to be dominated by views that we do not share and there are many underlying economic interests”.
Gloria Abraham, former Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Costa Rica and the country’s current Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), lamented the fact that the title of the summit refers to food systems, rather than agrifood systems. “From the get-go, the title is incomplete, because it fails to recognize that food is sustained by the agriculture industry and the transformation of its products. For our region, which is a food exporter, the meeting poses major risks. Today, we are already witnessing a series of measures adopted in the name of environmental sustainability, but which are almost protectionist”, she exclaimed.
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Institutional Communication Division
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int