Make sustainable development processes in rural territories a priority focus area: meeting of leaders organized by IICA concludes with a call to governments and societies

San José, April 24, 2024 (IICA). At the Headquarters of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), in Costa Rica, more than 40 Leaders of Rurality of the Americas shared their experiences in a meeting held from April 16 to 20 that included several field visits, during which the honorees, recognized by IICA for their invaluable contribution to food security and environmental protection in the hemisphere, engaged in intensive discussions on sustainable development, financing, rural connectivity and cooperativism, among other topics.

At the meeting, where the leaders interacted with senior Institute officials and specialists and representatives of the private sector, the leaders had numerous opportunities to talk about their everyday work environment and pinpoint common aspects shared with fellow honorees. Following that interaction, they adopted the following declaration.

IICA Headquarters, San José, Costa Rica, April 24, 2024

FIRST MEETING OF LEADERS OF RURALITY OF THE AMERICAS

“Strengthening rurality through sustainable, resilient and inclusive production”

Declaration of the Leaders of Rurality of the Americas

1. In a world in which food, nutrition and climate security give growing cause for concern, and in which forms of production increasingly need to be sustainable and inclusive, it is imperative to recognize and appreciate the importance of the decisive contribution made by rural areas as a whole, their leaders and communities, who dedicate their knowhow, resources and efforts to guaranteeing an adequate supply of food produced in harmony with nature, playing a key role in building safer, more equitable and resilient societies.

2. Everywhere, leaders and communities work tirelessly to identify and address the barriers that prevent them from accessing healthy supplies in rural areas, organizing food education programs, establishing community gardens, promoting sustainable agricultural practices, implementing educational activities, reassessing the value of native crops, and collaborating with local and international organizations to develop innovative and sustainable solutions.

3. The First Meeting of Leaders of Rurality of the Americas brought together 29 women and 21 men from 21 countries in the Americas, all of whom have received the “Soul of Rurality” award created by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). The event took place at the organization’s Headquarters at the invitation of its Director General.

4. Within this framework, we leaders have reaffirmed our commitment and our responsibility to continue serving as guarantors of food and nutrition security, promoters of sustainable development, and guardians of the planet’s biodiversity, seeking to share successful experiences and building networks to increase productive potential and rural wellbeing in the countries of the Americas.

5. As a group, we represent everyone who produces, plants, harvests, creates, innovates, teaches and unites their community, and contributes to all the food we consume and every plot of productive land, and whose work therefore deserves to be acknowledged.

6. By sharing our experiences and life stories, and taking advantage of our diversity, one of our region’s strengths, we are constructing a common vision of the future for rural life in the Americas, making agriculture part of the solution to the challenges of the global agenda, such as climate change and food security, and calling for public policies from governments that are pro-nature, pro-agriculture and pro-farmer.

7. We declare our willingness to share successful experiences of innovation and good practices for sustainable agriculture, particularly those that improve living conditions in our communities; and our readiness to work with the different stakeholders in the agriculture and rural sector to reduce gaps in development.

8. Two of the most important issues we discussed are the environment and the effects of climate change. We reiterate that agriculture is part of the solution and recognize the scale of the challenge that the degradation of agricultural land and water management represent. Several of the experiences shared at the meeting involve alternative ways of overcoming those problems, including the development of the bioeconomy, the circular economy and bioinputs.

9. Another very important issue is gender equality, which is why we made an urgent call for the economic empowerment of women in rural communities, and for their importance in agricultural activities and rural development to be recognized, changing the paradigm of the roles of men and women in the countryside. We proposed that the different experiences be integrated to create a regional agenda on this issue, and for women to play a leading role in the transformation itself.

10. We also underscored the importance of ensuring that young people remain in the countryside, or are reintegrated into it, by providing them with genuine options for development, fostering and harnessing their innovative and entrepreneurial spirit, with the implementation of technologies and the strengthening of education and teaching, ensuring generational change in the territories.

11. We are convinced that one of the most important opportunities for improving agriculture and rurality is the incorporation of digital technologies. However, improving Internet connectivity in rural areas is an urgent necessity, as only four out of every ten people have access to the Web. The use of information and communication technologies needs to be democratized, strengthening both public policies and links with the private sector. We also highlighted the need to adapt technological innovations to local situations in order to change production methods, and make production more efficient.

12. We emphasize that these initiatives and undertakings require financing so they can continue and be expanded. The contribution that institutions such as IFAD and CAF can make in this regard is very useful, particularly with funding targeted at rural communities.

13. We underline the fact that such initiatives must be profitable, to generate income and ensure that communities remain strongly rooted in their territories, which in turn requires planning and the incorporation of value added.

14. We recognize the importance of promoting cooperatives and other forms of associative enterprises, as a means to unleash the potential of family farming. In this way, the risks for the small producer are reduced, guaranteeing they make progress on the economic ladder, and facilitating their competitiveness and incorporation into the market.

15. We call on the highest-level officials of the agriculture sector, the public and private sectors, civil society, and legislatures to carefully observe and contribute to the activities that occur in rural areas of the Americas, and to step up their efforts on behalf of the wellbeing of the communities.

16. We request IICA to continue to contribute to these efforts, so that the voices of the leaders of rural communities are heard, and the interests of the people who live and produce in rural areas are taken into account. We also ask the Institute and its partners to provide the technical collaboration that the leaders need so they can improve their productive activities in a sustainable manner.

17. We proposed that a “Network of Leaders of Rurality of the Americas” be created and consolidated, with IICA serving as its Secretariat. It is vital to create a means to interconnect and coordinate our efforts so that outstanding experiences can be disseminated, used and applied in similar situations elsewhere. To that end, we endorse and support the set of hemispheric actions proposed by the Director General at the end of the meeting (details can be found here).

18. The group thanked IICA and its Director General for their initiative aimed at recognizing rural leaders in the Americas, and for their commitment to working to ensure that such recognition facilitates connections with official organizations, civil society, and the private sector, to secure support for its causes.

19. The outcomes of this meeting should be communicated to IICA’s governing bodies, made up of the ministers and secretaries of agriculture of the 34 countries of the Americas that are members of the Institute, so that, with their support, spaces for interaction among rural leaders are created and expanded, in order that their proposals and suggestions be taken into account in designing public policies.

20. Only by working together can we build a future in which food security and environmental sustainability are a reality for all the inhabitants of the Americas and the rest of the world, especially in rural areas whose preservation is essential for the wellbeing of present and future generations.

Together, we can do this!

More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int