Ministers and other senior officials of the Southern Agricultural Council (CAS) express strong support for IICA’s work and urge other countries in the Americas to strengthen ties to tackle global challenges
Paris, May 29, 2024 (IICA). Ministers of agriculture and other senior sector officials from the countries that make up the Southern Agricultural Council (CAS) expressed strong support for the work of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) on behalf of rural development and as the catalyst for a voice that promotes the interests of the continent’s agriculture sector in international forums, and urged the organization’s 34 Member States to continue working together in an integrated manner.
The CAS held its 17th Special Meeting in Paris because the General Assembly of the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) is taking place in the French capital this week. The WOAH, the institution that coordinates the global response to animal health emergencies that pose a threat to food security, is celebrating its centenary this year.
The CAS is a ministerial forum for consultation and coordination of regional actions, made up of the ministers of agriculture of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, whose mission is to define the priorities of the agriculture agenda and adopt positions on issues of regional interest. It was created in 2003 and IICA operates its Technical-Administrative Secretariat.
Taking part in the meeting were Fernando Vilella, Secretary of Bioeconomy of Argentina and President pro tempore of the CAS; Fernando Mattos, Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries of Uruguay; Esteban Valenzuela, Minister of Agriculture of Chile; Carlos Goulart, Secretary of Agricultural Defense of Brazil; José Carlos Martin, President of the National Animal Health and Quality Service (SENACSA) of Paraguay; and Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA.
Other participants included Gastón Funes, Argentina’s Agricultural Attaché to the European Union (EU); Carlos Cherniak, Argentina’s Permanent Representative to the FAO; Daniela Acuña, Deputy Director of Chile’s Office of Agrarian Studies and Policies (ODEPA); Santiago Derqui, Chief of Staff at Argentina’s Secretariat of Bioeconomy; Martín Rapetti, Vice President of the Federation of Rural Associations of Mercosur (FARM); and Gabriel Delgado, Executive Secretary of the CAS and IICA Representative in Brazil.
The value of cooperation
In a declaration signed in Paris, the CAS underlined IICA’s key technical role, emphasizing its work as a specialized cooperation agency for agriculture dedicated to achieving agricultural development and rural wellbeing across the Americas.
The ministers also underscored the value of, and need for, the Institute’s technical cooperation in addressing a wide range of sector issues that transcend national borders and call for a regional approach.
In the declaration, IICA’s 34 Member States were urged to continue working together in an integrated manner within the framework of the Institute “to strengthen the links between our countries, promoting the sharing of information, capacity building, and work on the outlook for the challenges facing the sector.”
In collaboration with its Member States and private sector partners, IICA installed the Home of Sustainable Agriculture of the Americas at the last two United Nations Climate Change Conferences (COP 27 in Egypt and COP 28 in the United Arab Emirates).
The space was used to showcase to the world the progress achieved in making the continent’s agriculture more sustainable, and to get out the message that agriculture is the only productive activity that can sequester carbon and thus contribute to climate change mitigation. The Home of Sustainable Agriculture of the Americas will be also be part of COP 29 next November, in Azerbaijan.
This year, IICA is also representing the agriculture sector of the Americas in the G20, which is chaired by Brazil, through its participation in the Global Economy Initiative and in the discussions of the working group of agricultural chief scientists (MACS-G20).
More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int