IICA calls for human health to be placed at the core of all agricultural health activities

San Jose, Costa Rica, July 24, 2014 (IICA). The Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Víctor M. Villalobos, speaking at the seventh Consultation Forum on Reform of the Countryside in Mexico, indicated that agricultural health and food safety is at the heart of agricultural productivity, human health and market competitiveness.

“People’s health should be the ultimate objective of every agricultural health policy or strategy,” he emphasized.

The purpose of the consultation on reform of the countryside, promoted by President Enrique Peña Nieto, is to establish a new public agricultural policy by holding national, state and territory-specific meetings aimed at promoting fair, productive, profitable and sustainable agriculture that will guarantee the country’s food security.

In his keynote address during the Forum’s opening ceremony, Villalobos made five concrete recommendations: appropriate policies; modern and strong institutions capable of responding to the needs; the development and use of sanitary and phytosanitary standards; pest monitoring and control mechanisms; and efforts to strengthen extension and access to technical services. “This also includes investment for research,” added the Director General of the inter-American agency.

The National Consultation Forum: Synergy for the transformation of the countryside— Health and Safety, held in San Luis Potosí, was the last but one of the eight meetings scheduled under Reform of the Countryside initiative.

Villalobos observed that agriculture was faced with a series of challenges that should be transformed into action strategies, including maintaining food safety, eradicating animal diseases and improving access to markets.

Attention must be paid to markets. “It is vital to open up markets and make them transparent, and to be able to participate in standards development, market new products and make use of new technologies. If these processes are placed on a sound footing, we will have more open and prosperous markets,” he commented.

IICA, which has been involved in the hemisphere’s agricultural sector for more than 70 years, is widely recognized for the work it does on behalf of its 34 member countries in fields like agricultural health and food safety.

The activity, held in the Convention Center in San Luis Potosí, was organized by the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), the National Health, Safety and Food Quality Service (SENASICA) and the Government of San Luis Potosí.

The participants in the augural ceremony of the meeting included Mexico’s Secretary of the Interior, Miguel Ángel Osorio; the Secretary and Undersecretary of SAGARPA, Enrique Martínez y Martínez and Ricardo Aguilar, respectively; the Governor of San Luis Potosí, Fernando Toranzo; and the Secretary of Agricultural Development and Water Resources (SEDARH) of San Luis Potosí, Héctor Rodríguez.

For more information, contact 
evangelina.beltran@iica.int