High-level agricultural authorities of countries in the Northern Region of the Americas noted that technological innovation, transparency and joint work are key to boosting intraregional trade amidst the current health crisis.

This was announced by Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, at a ceremony in which the 2019 Nobel Prize winner for Economics was named an IICA Goodwill Ambassador. The focus will be family farming.

The endorsement was in response to a presentation by Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA (Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture), summarizing the 2019 Annual Report, which outlines the accomplishments of the agency for rural and agricultural development of the Americas. Otero also referred to the rigorous efforts of IICA during the months of the pandemic.

Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA, will present Kremer with the award during a ceremony that will include the participation of the ministers of Agriculture of Brazil and Colombia, Tereza Cristina and Rodolfo Zea Navarro.

A Creole version of the campaign “El Campo se cuida” (“The countryside takes care of itself”) had been launched in Chile within the framework of a joint initiative between IICA and the companies ANASAC and UNIFRUTTI, given the large number of Haitians who work the land in that Andean country.

Directors general of both institutions visited areas where food is being grown to alleviate effects the health crisis.