IICA and SICA strengthen cooperation ties
San Jose, Costa Rica, March 18, 2014 (IICA). At a meeting in San Jose today, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Central American Integration System (SICA) decided to step up their joint work on behalf of the region’s agricultural sector.
With that objective in mind, the Director General of IICA, Víctor M. Villalobos, and the Secretary General of SICA, Hugo Martínez, announced that their two organizations would draw up a work plan focused on strengthening institutions linked to Central American agriculture, the training of human resources, risk management, climate change and the promotion of rural area-based development.
Villalobos and Martínez met at IICA Headquarters, in Costa Rica. At the meeting, they decided to task the focal points of the two entities with providing follow-up to the plan by meeting regularly to discuss the progress being made and the implementation of the actions proposed.
Representatives of the Executive Secretariat of the Central American Agricultural Council (SECAC), which is based at the Institute’s Headquarters, also took part in the March 14 meeting.
“IICA offers its services to all the regional integration bodies involved in agricultural issues. Today we have reaffirmed our commitment to the Secretary General of SICA, having identified synergies for continued work together,” Villalobos observed.
Martínez pointed out that innovation and biotechnology could attract the interest of young people and increase productivity in rural areas. “We have to find a mechanism that attracts young people to the countryside; the challenge lies in convincing them of the importance of agriculture and making it attractive,” he remarked.
The IICA Director General and the SICA Secretary General also expressed satisfaction with the progress made in implementing the Central American Strategy for Rural Area-based Development (ECADERT) 2010-2030, which they cited as a model for other cooperation initiatives.
Audio recording: interview with Víctor M. Villalobos and Hugo Martínez (Spanish only)
Más información:
evangelina.beltran@iica.int