Nations will promote agricultural development to strengthen food security in the Americas

Cochabamba, Bolivia, June 7, 2012 (IICA). The member countries of the Organization of American States (OAS) announced their decision “to promote agricultural development, with the goal of strengthening food security within the framework of national, regional and international development policies.”

According to the Declaration of Cochabamba on Food Security with Sovereignty in the Americas, approved by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs at the conclusion of the OAS General Assembly (Bolivia, June3-5), the nations also pledged to eradicate hunger and malnutrition in the hemisphere and to support efforts to develop a joint agenda on this topic.

In this regard, the Assembly instructed the OAS General Secretariat to strengthen coordination with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, in order to promote and link the following aspects:

• Support for the design and implementation of multilateral efforts aimed at strengthening the area of food and nutritional security in the region; 
• Promoting the creation and strengthening of cooperation programs, projects, and activities, in order to share knowledge and encourage development in MSMEs, universities, communities, and other production units in the area of food security; 
• Research and agricultural development, and their funding, through international cooperation, particularly of a South-South, horizontal and triangular nature; public-private partnerships; and applied science and technology networks; and 
• Promoting the strengthening of national and local capacities to create and analyze information and to implement and monitor policies, programs, and projects on food issues.

Victor M. Villalobos, Director General of IICA, stated that the development of innovative policies will make it possible to increase the contribution of agriculture to food security. “In our judgment, it will be essential to have public policies aimed at promoting competitive, sustainable and inclusive agricultural development. All of this will require investment and innovation in this sector,” he said.

As input for the General Assembly, IICA prepared a document entitled “Food Security in the Americas”, which underscored the importance of developing more efficient and transparent markets, promoting free international food trade, developing programs to increase access to food for vulnerable segments of society, adapting agriculture to climate change and variability, and reducing and mitigating the impact of agriculture on the environment.

These points were addressed in the Declaration of Cochabamba in which the Ministers also asked the OAS Permanent Council to convene a special meeting on food and nutrition security in the Americas, with the participation and input of specialized agencies, such as the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, the Pan American Health Organization, the World Food Program, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the Inter-American Development Bank, the “Latin America and the Caribbean without Hunger 2025” initiative, and the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute, among others.

In the final version of the document adopted by the General Assembly, the countries also announced that they will work to have the topic of food and nutritional security included in the discussions of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development RIO+20, to be held in Brazil on June 20-22.

For more information, contact: 
james.french@iica.int
Full report on food security - Executive Summary