IICA Deputy Director General pays working visit to Canada to strengthen ties with the country’s government and productive sector
Ottawa, Canada, May 14, 2024 (IICA). The Deputy Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Lloyd Day, paid a working visit to Canada, a country that continually expresses its support for the agency’s work in the principal international forums, and for a science-based transformation of agriculture that places farmers at center stage.
Lloyd met with representatives of the government, the productive sector and academia, and was informed of the policies that Canada is implementing to promote innovation and the sustainability and competitiveness of agriculture. The participants in the meeting included Stefanie Beck, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Assistant Deputy Minister Tom Rosser, and Deputy Director Daryl Nearing.
Accompanied by IICA’s Representative in the country, Jean-Charles Le Vallée, the Deputy Director General also met with officials from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the state entity responsible for ensuring the safety of plant- and animal-based products.
IICA has worked with the agency for many years on pest and disease prevention issues across the Americas.
In Canada’s capital, Ottawa, Day met with the Managing Director of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI), Tyler McCann, and Claire Citeau, the organization's agrifood trade specialist. CAPI is a place where leaders of Canada’s agrifood sector come together to discuss major issues. A non-profit organization set up 20 years ago, it works with different entities to fulfill its mission of boosting productivity and the sustainability of production.
A working meeting also took place with Justine Hendricks, President and CEO of Farm Credit Canada, an entity that provides financing to small farmers to safeguard the future of food production and the permanence of farmers in rural areas. Various projects that the two organizations could implement together were discussed. Day also met with the President and CEO of Croplife Canada, Pierre Petelle. This association of companies dedicated to innovation in sustainable agriculture partners with IICA.
Finally, an important meeting took place with more than a dozen representatives of the business sector. It was hosted by the Canada Grains Council, a leading national organization that represents the interests of Canada’s agriculture sector and the food sector’s entire value chain, including technology firms and food processers, and public research institutions. The meeting was chaired and led by Erin Gowriluk, the President of the Canada Grains Council.
Meetings with members of academia
In Quebec, Day was received by Denis Roy, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food at Université Laval, as well as Rector Sophie D’Amour and Vice Rector François Gélineau.
In Canada, the IICA Deputy Director General also visited Développement international Desjardins, which promotes the economic empowerment of vulnerable populations by affording them access to financial services; SOCODEVI, the largest organization of cooperatives and family farmers in North America, which works to improve lives in developing countries; and the Canadian Cattle Association, which promotes sustainable practices in animal production and partnered with IICA for the Home of Sustainable Agriculture of the Americas project, under which a pavilion was set up at the last United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in the United Arab Emirates.
More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int