Inter-agency report recommends that the G20 promote investment and innovation in agriculture

*México asked to the cooperation agencies to propose specific actions to increase agricultural productivity, specially between small producers.*

San José, Costa Rica, June 12, 2012 (IICA). In order for agriculture to overcome the challenges it currently faces, such as responding to the demand for food for a growing population, within a context of limited natural resources, a strategy must be developed that leads to sustainable increases in productivity, based on significant growth in investment and in agricultural innovation systems.

This strategy requires coordinated action by the governments and the private sector and needs to be built through management of natural resources, by implementing macro policies that favor investment in and for agriculture.

With this in mind, 12 technical cooperation agencies –including IICA– presented to the international community, on June 12, the report entitled “Sustainable Agricultural Productivity Growth and Bridging the Gap for Small Family Farms”, which has already been used as input into the discussions of the Agriculture Group of the G20 High Level Task Force, and which contains ideas that can contribute to the decisions to be taken at the Summit of Leaders of the largest economies in the world, to be held in Los Cabos, Mexico, on June 18 and 19 of this year.

The Inter-American Institute (IICA) participated in the preparation of the report, along with the World Bank, Biodiversity International, CGIAR, FAO, IFAD, IFPRI, OECD, UNCTAD, the Coordinating team of the High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis, WPF and WTO.

Mexico, which occupies the interim chairmanship of the G20, requested that these entities recommend practical actions to increase agricultural productivity, particularly among small-scale producers. Additionally, a report was submitted to the leaders on the progress achieved with respect to the Action Plan agreed to in Paris in 2011.

Among the measures identified for unleashing the potential of developing countries, the inter-agency report highlights the importance of creating the ideal conditions for channeling investment flows towards agriculture, setting innovation priorities and investing in them, improving international collaboration in carrying out research, bridging the gap in current agricultural productivity and paying careful attention to the use of natural resources, especially water.

For more information, contact:
miguel.garcia@iica.int