Addressing the Ministers of Agriculture of the region, Pingali stated that agricultural research and development in Latin America have made it possible to combat poverty and hunger elsewhere.
San José, Costa Rica, October 27, 2011 (IICA). According to Prahbu Pingali, of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the investments made by the countries of Latin America in research and development (R&D) in agriculture, and the innovations such activities have yielded, extend beyond borders and contribute to food security around the globe.
Attending the Meeting of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas 2011, held recently in San Jose, the Deputy Director of Agricultural Development Policy and Statistics with the Gates Foundation stated that “Latin America is a very important player in the global technology transfer process and can invest much more in its own innovations to help the world in its efforts to combat poverty and hunger.”
In an address marked by optimism regarding the role of the region, Pingali recalled that, beginning in the second half of the 20th Century, the research done in some Latin American countries to improve crops such as wheat, corn, sweet potato and cassava was exported to nations in southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, helping them to survive periods of famine and, in the case of India and Pakistan, to become self-sufficient in terms of food.
“Agricultural innovations generated in Latin America have also had an impact in the fields of agronomy, soil management, post-harvest storage and education,” he added.
The way in which these advances, promoted by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), coincide with the objectives of the Gates Foundation in Asia and Africa was the subject of his keynote address to the Meeting of Ministers, organized by IICA and hosted by the government of Costa Rica.
Comprehensive growth
Agricultural innovations, in addition to increasing the protein content of certain staple foods in Latin America and making them more disease and drought-resistant, also helped power the economies of some countries in the region (Brazil, Argentina and Mexico) as a result of increased agricultural trade, Pingali said.
“R&D in agriculture was complemented with investment in transportation and irrigation technology and efforts to strengthen markets and improve policies,” he added.
He drew special attention to the work being done by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) to recover soils for agriculture, which has enabled Brazil to increase production without increasing significantly the area under cultivation. Two of the innovations introduced are the use of seeds that are tolerant to the high acidity of the soil, and the reduction of tillage on farms to allow for an increase in biomass in the soil.
In sub-Saharan Africa, where 83% of the land is too degraded for agriculture, the Brazilian experience could help to increase the productivity of crops, considering that, according to Pingali, investment in R&D in agriculture can lead to increases in yields of between 40% and 50%.
“We need to find ways to increase the capacity for research and development and to share the knowledge with small-scale farmers,” he said.
“Earth University in Costa Rica and El Zamorano in Honduras offer educational programs that combine theory and practice in the area of agribusiness, and their graduates are fully integrated into the new value chains. This approach could be useful in Africa,” he added.
“At the Gates Foundation, we are convinced that innovation makes agriculture more productive and that the sector can become a driving force for the economy, while reducing poverty and hunger. This is why we want to form partnerships that will make it possible to share innovations from Latin America with other regions of the world,” he stated.
For more information, contact:
hector.iturbe@iica.int
