Strong support for technology and innovation in agriculture
San Jose, March 11, 2010 (IICA). The Executive Committee of the Forum for the Americas on Agricultural Research and Technology Development (FORAGRO) held its Ninth Meeting on March 9-10 at the Headquarters of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), in Costa Rica.
The meeting was attended by representatives of public and private research institutions, the academic sector, NGOs, farmer organizations, international agencies and cooperative programs from the Americas, who reached agreement on the principle points of its 2010-2012 Plan of Action.
According to Enrique Alarcon, Technical Secretary of FORAGRO, which operates within the Technology and Innovation Area of IICA, “The plan is aimed at strengthening and consolidating the Forum in response to the changes taking place in agriculture and the institutional framework at the national, regional and global levels.”
FORAGRO, created in 1996, is a forum for dialogue and the promotion of hemispheric cooperation and fosters greater articulation and strategic partnerships among the different stakeholders that make up the Regional Research and Development System of the countries of the Hemisphere.
During the inauguration of the event, IICA Director General Victor M. Villalobos said “Agriculture must be more competitive, which means we must produce more and, in light of different climatic phenomena, be more efficient and reduce vulnerability through research and more innovation in technology.”
Villalobos also called attention to the importance of creating strategic partnerships between countries and national and international institutions to find technological answers to the challenges of agriculture. It is widely recognized that today the magnitude and complexity of the problems and opportunities exceed the capacities of a single institution. Therefore, IICA strongly supports hemispheric cooperation among countries in the areas of technological innovation, and partnerships with international research centers.
In the new plan of action, cooperation is at the heart of a strategy aimed at finding and studying technological solutions to the problems of agriculture, helping to improve food security, environmental sustainability and social inclusion.
It is expected that in the coming years the Forum will focus:
- Conducting analytical studies on the state and performance of agriculture and technological innovation in the Hemisphere, with a view to developing and updating periodically the FORAGRO agenda and supporting the design of national and regional policies on technology;
- Promoting studies on priority topics that will lead to the identification of hemispheric actions; and
- Promoting further institutional innovation for research and technology development through cooperation among regions.
FORAGRO will hold its Sixth International Meeting in Lima, Peru, in 2011.
For more information, contact
manuel.messina@iica.int