Reinforcement of policies, research, innovation ecosystems and markets: key to strengthening the role of the bioeconomy in transforming food systems in Latin America and the Caribbean
San Jose, 21 May 2021 (IICA) – The growth of biofuels, coupled with tangible advances in biotechnology, low carbon agriculture, and biodiversity business, demonstrates that the bioeconomy is gaining ground in Latin America and the Caribbean. However, more progress needs to be made in areas like public policy, investment in public and private research, bio-initiative ecosystems, and developing markets for the new by-products.
Those were the conclusions reached during the second virtual dialogue promoted by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) for the purpose of consolidating the voice and unifying the position of the agricultural sectors of the different countries in the Americas in preparation for the UN Food Systems Summit 2021.
Another important point raised during the discussion by Guy Henry, Research and Strategy Director of the French Agricultural Research Center for International Development (CIRAD, by its acronym in French), was the strong link that exists between health and the bioeconomy, an issue that has been reintroduced as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The second dialogue, entitled “Bioeconomy and the Transformation of Food Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean”, was organized by IICA and the International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research (ICABR), along with the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange, CIRAD (France), Allbiotech (the Latin American network of young leaders in biotechnology), and the Colombian company Suricata.
In his message to the hundreds of experts in attendance at the meeting, Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA, underscored the role of the bio-based economy “in ensuring access to healthy, nutritious foods for everyone, while promoting high-value, competitive industries with environmentally friendly production”.
Henry, from CIRAD, maintained that “an important outcome of the pandemic is that it reintroduced health as part of the bioeconomy. In 2009 and 2010, when we were just starting to talk about the bioeconomy with the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) in Paris, the health sector was very important. In Latin America, however, over the last ten years, we have hardly spoken about health. We still need to reinforce science, technology, and innovation, and one way to do that is through international cooperation”.
At the meeting, Hugo Chaverría, Manager of IICA’s Bioeconomy and Production Development Program, presented a document for contribution to the dialogue and Summit drafted by the specialized organization in agricultural and rural development of the Inter-American System in conjunction with ICABR.
“The document defines the bioeconomy based on three elements: new science and technologies, particularly technological convergence; resources and biological principles; and the ability to sustainably offer goods and services to the entire economy”, explained Chavarría.
Based on this definition, “we have defined five main ways in which the bioeconomy contributes to strengthening and transforming food systems”, he stated.
He associated the first with “gains in efficiency and sustainability of food system processes at the hand of technological convergence”, an important aspect in a region where the average production in tons per hectare can differ by up to 10 times.
The second way in which the bioeconomy has a positive influence is related to its impact on transforming rural territories, generating income, jobs, and development by encouraging the local industrialization of biomass from agriculture, livestock, fisheries, and forestry.
Thirdly, Chavarría explained that new technologies, and especially the synergy between biology, ITC and digitalization, the engineering sciences, robotics, and artificial intelligence, allow for a more efficient and sustainable use of food system resources by adding value on a cascading basis.
“It’s about fully leveraging production, with a rise in productivity and producer incomes, thanks to the generation of co-products from primary and residual biomass, including a series of biomaterials for the energy, pharmaceutical, food, chemical, agricultural, and cosmetic industries”, he stated.
The fourth way the bioeconomy contributes to strengthening agri-food systems in the region is by improving health and nutrition, while the fifth is related to promoting environmental sustainability and climate resilience.
“The three main pending issues are the need for greater risk capital in terms of volume, better public policies that promote science and technology-based ventures, and access to infrastructure and equipment”, commented Daniel Domínguez Gómez, Executive Director of Allbiotech.
Advances and challenges
The discussions acknowledged the advances in biofuels, biotechnology, bioenergy, low carbon agriculture, and biodiversity business, as well as the need to gain ground on central issues like communication, public policy, public and private investment, and the development of bio-initiative ecosystems and markets for the new bio-based products.
“There is no doubt that the bioeconomy has huge potential to transform the food systems in Latin America, but institutional, political, and even market-based factors exist that can either hinder or promote the opportunities offered by the bioeconomy to transform these systems”, stated Ramiro Costa, Chief Economist for the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange.
“We need to improve our management of investment and research resources, which are concentrated on certain activities and tend to overlook other high-potential bio-based activities, and not necessarily because of prioritization based on a macro-objective”, he added.
Costa also remarked that “often, sustainability topics are posed as an added cost and not necessarily how to leverage the vision of the bio-based economy to not only promote sustainability, and also to improve productivity, and, in turn, the financial resources of companies”.
Meanwhile, Chavarría pointed out that while some countries in the region have established exclusive bioeconomy-related policies and strategies, a significant gap still exists with regards to other nations, especially those in Europe.
The discussion also underscored the role of supranational environmental and trade regulatory agencies—which are responsible for establishing the new requirements in international markets to drive the bioeconomy—and technical cooperation organizations—like IICA—to coordinate a global and regional agenda to deploy knowledge and leverage best practices and lessons learned from other countries.
One proposal from the dialogue was that the development of bio-initiatives in the region requires new opportunities to access non-repayable government funds and seed capital. Another challenge highlighted was the need to improve communication on the bioeconomy, not only to shed light on its opportunities and potential in all strata of society, but also to involve other actors in building policies, investments, and projects.
“To improve the communication and awareness of the bioeconomy, we need to create a better connection between the different private actors in the food system and researchers, academia, and public policy makers,” said Pedro Rocha, IICA Specialist in Biotechnology and Biosafety.
It was also suggested to include teaching on the bio-based economy in elementary and high school, in addition to increasing knowledge of market needs in order to develop the paths with more potential for the region’s bioeconomy.
“To that end, we are developing an action-oriented hemispheric agenda spearheaded by IICA that can convey the voice of the agricultural sector of the Americas, as well as proposed actions”, explained Federico Villarreal, Director of Technical Cooperation at IICA.
He further emphasized the need for “the voice to be accompanied by proposals made from within the region”, while also highlighting the importance of strengthening public and private cooperation.
The dialogue on bioeconomy and food systems followed the cycle’s opening event entitled “Cooperative Enterprises and their Contribution to Food Systems”, jointly organized by IICA and Cooperatives of the Americas.
More information:
Institutional Communication Division
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int