Alongside ministers of the Americas, Asia and Africa, Director General of IICA will participate in dialogue on food security and resilience organized by the World Food Prize foundation

Mexico City,10 July 2024 (IICA) – The Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Manuel Otero, has undertaken an important working visit to Mexico, during which he will engage in dialogue with public and private sector officials from various countries on food security and efforts to enhance farmers’ resilience. 

At the headquarters of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Texcoco, Otero will participate in the second “DialogueNEXT” series of debates hosted by the World Food Prize foundation, which has partnered with IICA to foster food security and drive agricultural innovation in the region.

Headquartered in Iowa, United States, the foundation hosts the DialogueNEXT series in an effort to bring these discussions to different parts of the world, following in the footsteps and honoring the legacy of Norman Borlaug, considered the father of modern agriculture.

At the event, Otero will participate in a panel comprised of Reuben Mtolo Phiri, Minister of Agriculture of Zambia; Mohammed Abdus Shahid, Minister of Agriculture of Bangladesh; Laura Suazo, Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock of Honduras; Mustapha Zulfikar, Minister of Agriculture of Guyana; and Víctor Villalobos, Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development of Mexico.

Julio Berdegué, who has been named Mexico’s next Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development by incoming president Claudia Sheinbaum, will also take part in the discussions.

The session will allow for sharing positive experiences regarding ways in which governments, together with public and private research centers, have contributed to improving the resilience of agrifood systems.

The IICA Director General will also tour the facilities of CIMMYT, with which IICA will sign an agreement to further joint work in topics such as technological innovation, natural resource management, agronomic practices, the environment, genetic resources, climate change, food security, the evaluation and formulation of studies and projects, as well as public policy development and management. 

Important meetings

Otero will hold bilateral meetings with the Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development of Mexico, Víctor Villalobos, and with his successor as of October 1, Julio Berdegué. He will also engage in discussions with Cary Fowler, U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security and recipient of this year’s World Food Prize, considered the Nobel prize in the field of food and agriculture, for his exceptional contributions to eradicating hunger on the planet.

During his visit, Otero will be accompanied by IICA Deputy Director General Lloyd Day, as well as the Institute’s Representatives in the United States and Mexico, Margaret Ziegler and Diego Montenegro, respectively.

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