In Brasilia, Delgado met with Tereza Cristina, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply of Brazil, who described the partnership with IICA as “crucial” for Brazilian family farming and regional consensus-building.
Brasilia, 22 January 2021 (IICA). The new representative of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in Brazil met with the country’s Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA), Tereza Cristina, who reaffirmed the importance of the partnership between the ministry and the specialized international agency in strengthening Brazilian agriculture.
“I would like to highlight the visit of the new IICA Representative in Brazil, Gabriel Delgado. The partnership between the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA) and the Institute is crucial for the development of projects that benefit Brazilian agriculture, particularly family farming, and that contribute to overcoming the sector’s regional challenges”, stated Minister Tereza Cristina in social media post.
Delgado, a citizen of Argentina, is an economist specializing in agricultural finance. He began serving as the IICA Representative in Brazil on 14 December.
“We discussed the importance of adopting a new perspective towards public goods, especially research institutions; the changes that technology triggers, not only in production, but also in producers’ attitudes; as well as the challenges facing agriculture in the future, including changes to food systems and the relationship between plants and animals and human health”, remarked Delgado after the meeting.
Also in attendance at the meeting were Fernando Schwanke, Secretary of Family Farming and Cooperativism of MAPA; Orlando Leite Ribeiro, Secretary of Trade and International Relations; Flávio Campestrin Bettarello, Assistant Secretary for Trade and International Relations; Francisco Basílio Freitas de Souza, special advisor to the Minister of Agriculture; and Christian Fischer of the IICA Delegation in Brazil, who served as Acting Representative in 2020.
Delgado also commented that “MAPA is IICA’s main partner in Brazil”, and that he is “honored to represent the Institute in a country that is an agricultural giant and where, despite all of the difficulties brought on by the pandemic, agricultural production generated 871.3 billion reais (about USD 170 billion) last year—a growth of 17%, according to recent data published by MAPA. Therefore, I face tremendous responsibility, but it is comforting to know that I can count on the Ministry’s efficiency, knowledge and remarkable technical specialists”, he added.
Born in the town of Coronel Suárez, in the province of Buenos Aires, Delgado is a producer specializing in extensive irrigated agriculture. He holds a Licentiate degree in Agricultural Economics and a Ph.D. in Finance, with a specialization in Rural Finance. He previously served as the Director of the former Political, Economic and Social Sciences Research Center (CICPES) of the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) of Argentina, now known as the Center for Research in Economics and Prospective Studies (CIEP). From 2013 to 2015, he was the Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of Argentina.
In 2010, he chaired the Argentinean Association of Agricultural Economics. Delgado has also served as an advisor and director in various entities related to agriculture and agribusiness, and has more than 20 years of experience teaching undergraduate and graduate courses at several universities in Argentina.
More information:
Institutional Communication Division at IICA
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int
