Growing opportunities to finance agricultural programs
San Jose, Costa Rica, 31 May 2010, (IICA). Solidarity beyond the crisis: this is the slogan of the World Summit on the Future of Haiti, which will take on June 1-2 at Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and will be attended by a delegation from the Inter-American for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) with the aim of supporting actions to rebuild agriculture in Haiti.
This Summit was convened by the Government of the Dominican Republic to “seal a sustainable commitment” to Haiti, according to a statement by Dominican President Leonel Fernández, who issued a first invitation to this event at the recent meeting of the Rio Group held in March in Cancún, Mexico.
During the World Summit, a parallel meeting will take place to discuss the Investment Plan for the Agricultural Sector of Haiti, prepared by the country’s Ministry of Agriculture with the assistance of specialists from IICA, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Bank (WB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the US State Department.
This meeting will be chaired by the Ministers of Agriculture of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Joanas Gué and Salvador Jiménez, respectively, and will be attended by representatives of various international organizations.
The Director General of the IICA will be represented at the meeting by François Dagenais, the Institute’s Director of External Financing and Investment Projects, who will be accompanied by the Representatives of the IICA Offices in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Alfredo Mena and Manuel Sánchez. This delegation aims to provide ongoing liaison and support to the technical assistance plans in agriculture implemented in that Caribbean country.
Long before the earthquake of January 12, IICA was already implementing a number of initiatives in Haiti, mainly projects related to animal health, food security, job creation and fruit production. These efforts are being financed with resources from different agencies such as the WB, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA-Canada), Oxfam-Quebec and the European Union (EU), and by donor countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the United States, the Dominican Republic and Barbados.
In addition, progress has been made in the “Emergency and Support Program for Food Production in Haiti,” prepared by that country’s Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR) with the support of IICA and other international organizations. This initiative is a response to the four hurricanes of the summer of 2008, the earthquake and efforts for the integration of the displaced populations.
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