The agriculture sector of the Americas shone brightly at COP29, where it demonstrated to the world that it is essential for food and environmental security

Baku, Azerbaijan, 22 November 2024 (IICA). The agriculture sector of the Americas made its voice heard through its outstanding participation in COP29, demonstrating the essential role it plays in ensuring global food and environmental security, and the fact that farmers are the victims, not the cause, of abrupt changes in climate and increasingly intense and recurring weather phenomena such as droughts and floods.

Thus, at the most important international event for political and technical negotiations on the future of production methods and consumption around the world, farmers in the Americas had an influential voice, and the science- and innovation-based solutions to the climate crisis they are implementing in rural areas attracted a great deal of interest.

The pavilion that the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) installed with its private and public sector partners in the Olympic stadium in the city of Baku was a space where producers and representatives of governments and agricultural organizations from across the continent were able to demonstrate that agriculture is part of the solution to the environmental challenges facing the planet.

The more than 50 presentations that were made ensured that the voices of agriculture were heard in a key sphere for the international public agenda, from which it had been absent until recently.

This was the third consecutive time that IICA and its partners participated in the COP (they also had their own pavilion at COP27 in Egypt and COP28 in the United Arab Emirates), demonstrating the agriculture sector’s commitment to sustainability and the resilience of production, which is currently being affected across the continent and around the world by increasingly frequent and extreme climate events.

The pavilion, called the Home of Sustainable Agriculture of the Americas, attracted a great deal of attention. The United Nations Climate Change Conference, held this year in the capital of Azerbaijan, brought together 65,000 people from nearly 200 countries.

Financing and technologies

“The transformation of the agriculture sector in our region is already underway, and we are accomplishing it as quickly as we can. But we need our farmers to have better access to financing and new technologies to speed up the process even more,” explained the Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero, at one of the official events at the COP.

Professor Rattan Lal, regarded as the world’s leading expert in soil science, was one of the key figures present in Baku, where he argued that farmers should be paid for carbon sequestration, which contributes to the conservation of the planet’s ecosystems. “Farmers are the main actors in production and environmental care, so public policies that reward them should be promoted,” said Lal, who is an IICA Goodwill Ambassador.

Another figure who attracted a great deal of attention was Michael Kremer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, who added his voice to those of farmers at the IICA pavilion at COP29, showcasing agricultural innovations that promote climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Also taking part were ministers of agriculture from the region, such as Uruguay’s Fernando Mattos, Belize’s José Abelardo Mai, and Dominica’s Roland Royer. Mattos pointed out that the economic and social dimensions of agriculture are as important as environmental considerations, and also noted that some farmers in the region are abandoning rural areas because their production has fallen prey to climate variability, which has serious repercussions in the countries.

The ministers of Belize and Dominica explained how the increased frequency and intensity of hurricanes and storms is impacting Caribbean agrifood systems, and called on developed countries to honour their financing commitments.

Financial fund

To mobilize the financial resources needed to strengthen the resilience and sustainability of agriculture across the continent, in Baku IICA launched the Hemispheric Fund for Agricultural Resilience and Sustainability (FoHRSA), a groundbreaking mechanism for managing and implementing resources to build institutional, technical and administrative capabilities.

Private sector partners were also key players at the Home of Sustainable Agriculture of the Americas, where they exhibited examples of new practices developed to protect natural resources, which are raising productivity despite the more adverse weather conditions. They also informed visitors of the role that agrifood systems play in the social and economic life of countries.

The main actors in the animal production value chain in the United States, partners in the Protein PACT, took part in several panels and shared information about their work, which reflects their commitment to the wellbeing of people and animals, and action on climate.

Also taking part in the discussions on the present and future of agrifood systems were CropLife International, the United States Dairy Export Council (USDEC), the agricultural science and innovation company Bayer, and food company BRF/Marfrig.

Other actors who provided details of their work and presented their vision on the relationship between agrifood production and environmental protection were Carbon Asset Solutions, a global leader in climate solutions for agriculture; the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC); the U.S. Grains Council; corporations such as Elanco, JBS, PepsiCo, Inspiratus Technologies and BIO; and the Organization of American States (OAS).

A wide range of issues involved in many different aspects of the relationship between agrifood systems and environmental conservation were addressed at COP29 thanks to the efforts of IICA and its partners.

The use of nature-based solutions to adapt agrifood systems, biofuels as a solution to the energy transition, the impact of the climate crisis on Caribbean nations, South-South Cooperation to speed up transformations, and ways to close financial gaps, were some of the issues discussed in depth.

There were also events on the role of the bioeconomy in the sustainable development of Latin America and the Caribbean, the importance of the circular economy, sustainable livestock farming, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through improvements in animal health.

In Baku, the Home of Sustainable Agriculture of the Americas made it possible for the voice of the sector to be heard in the environmental negotiations, and paved the way for COP30 in 2025. Due to be held in Belem do Pará, Brazil, next year’s event will afford the continent’s agrifood systems another great opportunity to demonstrate their potential to serve as a solution to the challenges facing humanity.

More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int