Delegates of 17 countries approved IICA’s work plan for the next four years
San Jose, 18 July 2018 (IICA). Delegates of 17 countries approved the new institutional action plan for the period 2018-2022 of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), which seeks to strengthen agricultural activity and rural development in the hemisphere.
The 2018-2022 Medium-term Plan (MTP) focuses on matters related to bioeconomy and production development; territorial development and family farming; trade and integration; climate change, natural resources and risk management; and agricultural health and food safety. The Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero, presented the plan during the annual meeting of the Institute’s Executive Committee.
“These five core programs represent a formidable challenge because we must reassess our role, focusing clearly on knowledge management, which will enable us to make a valuable contribution to agriculture by bolstering the technical capabilities and resources of the institution,” stated Otero when presenting the plan to one of the governing bodies of IICA, an entity that promotes agricultural development in the Americas.
“There are two other areas that will also be of great importance and which will represent cross-cutting issues in the five core programs: gender and youth, as well as innovation and technology. These are highly relevant and pressing issues in today’s world; we cannot achieve real progress with respect to agricultural development unless we address these matters,” he added.
The Executive Committee is comprised of 12 Member States elected for a two-year period, based on the principles of partial rotation and equitable geographical distribution. Its Regular Meetings are held annually. Currently, the Committee is made up of delegates from Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Representatives from Argentina, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala and the United States were also in attendance.
The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Honduras, Mauricio Guevara Pinto, presided over IICA’s Executive Committee session.
During the presentation of the 2018-2022 Medium Term Plan, Otero underscored the importance of adopting differentiated strategies to help to overcome stumbling blocks to development, particularly in Central America and the Caribbean, emphasizing a thrust to develop a new model of strategic alliances that would maximize IICA’s contributions.
To this end, he also mentioned the formalization of agreements with the Central American Integration System (SICA) and with the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA) and significant rapprochement with the IDB, the World Bank, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and UN Women.
About IICA
IICA is the specialized agency for agriculture in the Inter-American system, with a mission to encourage, promote and support its 34 Member States in their efforts to achieve agricultural development and rural well-being through international technical cooperation of excellence.
More information:
José Alfredo Alplízar
jose.alpizar@iica.int