Presidents, Nobel prize winners, senior government officials and rural leaders will mark the opening of the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture 2023 in Costa Rica

San José, 3 October 2023 (IICA) – The Presidents of Guyana and Panama, a Nobel Prize laureate for Economics, a World Food prize recipient, ministers from 32 countries, private sector representatives and rural leaders from Chile, Guyana and Honduras will all mark the opening of the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas 2023 in Costa Rica, aiming to reach a consensus on how to strengthen regional agricultural production and food security, in harmony with the environment.

The biennial meeting organized by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), will be opened by Manuel Otero, the Argentine Director General of the specialized agency for agricultural and rural development, along with the Presidents of Guyana and Panama, Mohamed Irfaan Ali and Laurentino Cortizo Cohen, respectively; the Chilean rural leader, Alfredo Carrasco; and Brazil’s Minister of Agricultural Development and Family Farming, Paulo Teixeira.

Also speaking at the opening of the meeting that will end on Thursday, October 5, will be the Secretary for Hemispheric Affairs of the Organization of American States (OAS), James Lambert; Minister of Climate Change and the Environment of the United Arab Emirates  (host country of COP28), Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri; the CEO of the World Food Prize Foundation, Terry Branstad; and the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Costa Rica, Víctor Carvajal.

Otero remarked that, “During the Conference, there will be a meeting of the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA), which is IICA’s highest governing body. In my view, this meeting is extremely important, as it will enable us to propose joint actions to strengthen the role of agriculture in the region as a guarantor of global food security and sustainability, at a time when crises triggered by the climate, economic issues and warfare and changes in the global context are creating the need for a renewed, more productive and resilient agriculture sector”.

Other senior government officials, representatives from international organizations, world renowned academics and representatives of the production and industrial sectors will take part in the discussions.

“A Hemispheric Partnership for Food Security and Sustainable Development” is the slogan of the meeting, where the ministers will seek to promote strategic partnerships involving both the public and private sectors and to enhance the role of technical cooperation in strengthening the agriculture sector.

The Conference of Ministers of Agriculture 203 will address issues such as social inclusion and family farming; climate change mitigation and adaptation; the water crisis; the incorporation of digital technology; funding of science and applied research for agriculture and international trade, to name a few.

Rattan Lal, 2020 World Food Prize laureate, IICA Goodwill Ambassador, IICA Chair in Soil Sciences and Director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center (CMASC) at Ohio State University in the United States; and Michael Kremer, 2019 Nobel Prize laureate for Economics and Professor at the University of Chicago, will also attend the opening, as well as take part in the program of the Conference of Ministers.

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