Minister of Haiti grateful for IICA’s support in rebuilding agriculture in his country
San Jose, February 12, 2010, (IICA). Prior to leaving for Rome, where he will meet with officials of international organizations, the Minister of Agriculture of Haiti, Joanas Gue, asked the donor community to support the portfolio of 20 agricultural reactivation projects which the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) prepared and has been promoting in coordination with his Ministry.
In his call for support, Minister Gue was very emphatic in saying that his Ministry needs to implement initiatives such as IICA’s, which are consistent with his “Program to Provide Emergency Support for Food Production in Haiti, in Response to the Hurricanes of the Summer of 2008 and the Earthquake of January 12, 2010, and for the Integration of Displaced Populations,” prepared with support from FAO and IICA.
The objectives of the program the minister is promoting are to reactivate agriculture, guarantee food security for the population and generate employment for the inhabitants of rural communities and for the1.5 million people forced to flee to rural areas form large urban centers such as Port au Prince.
In an effort to help promote the projects, the Director General of IICA, Victor Manuel Villalobos, is accompanying Minister Gue on his trip to Rome, where they will meet with officials of a number of international organizations to present the agricultural reactivation actions being proposed for both the short and medium terms.
The Minister also highlighted the importance of IICA’s helping to prepare the project profiles “taking into considering the past experience of IICA in Haiti, its experience in other countries of the Americas and also the experience of the many networks with which the Institute works.”
“I want to thank IICA’s General Director, Dr. Victor Villalobos, and its personnel, especially those in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Their participation in the preparation of the project profiles, which must be presented to donor organizations as soon as possible, is deeply appreciated. I also want to give special recognition to those countries that have come to the aid of Haiti, and would ask that they provide financing for these projects in the coming months and beyond, in the hope that their execution will help in solving the problems facing the Haitian people,” he stated.
He also stated that the emergency program being promoted and the IICA projects are aimed at providing direct support to agricultural producers in their efforts to increase food security in Haiti, create jobs and so reduce poverty. They will also help to restore the natural resources of rural areas, which in large part are seriously degraded.
During on his visit to Rome, Gue will meet with representatives of the Italian government, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
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