Director General of IICA highlights opportunities for cooperation between Africa and the Americas in facing global food security challenges

San Jose, 26 July 2022 (IICA) - Ahead of the first Summit on Agrifood Systems, to be attended by ministers of Africa and the Americas next week in Costa Rica, the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Manuel Otero, underscored the joint responsibility of the two continents in addressing global food security challenges, and highlighted opportunities for collaboration.

The first Summit of Africa and the Americas on Agrifood Systems will seek to enhance bi-regional cooperation amid global threats to food security. The forum is being organized by IICA, the African Union Development Agency - New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

The three organizations agree that both continents face common challenges in advancing towards agrifood system transformation and will therefore benefit from more intensive discussions and sharing of experiences to foster collaboration within the framework of South-South Cooperation.

“The two continents have several things in common: tropical agriculture, an incredible wealth of biological resources, good practices to share, and, above all, tremendous responsibilities in overcoming the challenge of global food insecurity”, said Otero in his welcome message to the delegations that will soon arrive in San Jose, Costa Rica, to participate in the Summit.

“In this challenging context, the Americas and Africa are two key continents for guaranteeing global food security and environmental sustainability given their abundant natural resources, biodiversity and opportunities based on tropical agriculture.

The ability to adequately respond to this challenge will depend on rapprochement and dialogue, which must involve governments”, added Otero, who also noted that “the meeting of ministers expresses IICA’s conviction to serve as an institution that builds bridges and looks outward to the world from the Americas”.

Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA; Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA; and Nardos Bekele-Thomas, Executive Director of AUDA-NEPAD, will open the ministerial meeting on July 27.

The Africa-Americas Summit will take place at a time when the war in Eastern Europe has destabilized world commodity markets and global trade flows, leading to an increase in global food and input prices.

The war in Eastern Europe has also negatively impacted recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic in many countries of Africa and the Americas, where food security has worsened and is expected to continue deteriorating.

The face-to-face meeting, which will be attended virtually by some participants, will be the most important event within the framework of joint efforts between leaders of Africa and the Americas to align their priorities based on productive, environmental, cultural and historical similarities and common challenges with respect to agrifood systems. 

The Summit is expected to shed light on the role that Africa and the Americas can play in shaping global food and environmental security in the future, as well as open up opportunities for cooperation in the areas of science, technology and innovation with a view to building resilient and sustainable agricultural systems.

At the Summit, ministers and officials will identify areas of joint work and cooperation between the two regions, as well as the operational and financial mechanisms required to mobilize the necessary resources. In this regard, they will focus on five key areas, which are crucial to increase the productivity, inclusivity and sustainability of agrifood systems:

• Science, technology and innovation, including biotechnology
• Climate change and resilience
• Digital agriculture
• Institutional innovations and policies for social inclusion, safety nets, health and nutrition, and the recovery of degraded natural resources
• Fostering a fairer and more transparent international food trade system

More information:

Institutional Communication Division

comunicacion.institucional@iica.int