The highest authorities of the two entities met in Ottawa to discuss common concerns and identify actions on behalf of agriculture.
Ottawa, May 25, 2016 (IICA). The Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Víctor M. Villalobos, and the minister of Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, Lawrence MacAulay, met in Ottawa to discuss new fields of interest where the two institutions can support the development of agriculture in the Americas.
Villalobos noted that the countries of the hemisphere were ideally situated to begin feeding the world and must seize the moment to do so.
Some of the potential areas of cooperation between IICA and Canada could include facilitating market access, creating climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies for value chains, fostering the conservation of natural resources (water and soil) and promoting innovation and research.
“Canada, and Agriculture and Agri-food Canada in particular, has very significant scientific and policy capacity in these areas, we hope that additional collaboration opportunities can be identified so we can pool our resources to deliver on these important priorities”, said Villalobos.
Minister MacAulay pointed to the valuable relationship of cooperation that Canada enjoys with the Institute. He added that IICA was admired for its on-going support for capacity building through the local offices of its representatives in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Villalobos outlined the main results that IICA had achieved in 2015 and emphasized how important it was to see the Institute as a strong partner.
He also expressed his gratitude for Canada’s participation in the 2015 Meeting of Ministers of Agriculture, held on the Riviera Maya, Mexico, in 2015, where the great challenges facing agriculture were addressed, including: climate change, food insecurity, poverty and inequality.
MacAulay and Villalobos agreed that these challenges must be met if agriculture is to become more productive, sustainable and inclusive.
Joint work
The joint work between Canada and the IICA Delegation in that country, led by Representative Audia Barnett, has proved fruitful in areas such as biotechnology, agricultural health and food safety.
Barnett further explained that the Delegation’s regular contact with the Ministry has shed light on key issues on which joint action can yield a meaningful impact.
More information: audia.barnett@iica.int
