“Agriculture requires change in order to become more environmentally friendly” - David Williams, Manager, Natural Resources and Climate Change at IICA

Brasilia, June 18, 2012 (IICA).Agriculture, an activity that provides income for 20% of the population and is absolutely essential to food production, requires a paradigm shift in order to become more environmentally friendly.

In explaining the relevance of including the issue of agriculture in discussions at Rio-20 relating to sustainable development, David Williams, Manager of Natural Resources and Climate Change at IICA, stated that “agriculture plays an important role in achieving sustainable development”.

He further stressed that “it is vital that the Member Countries of IICA that are present at this Summit highlight the importance of agriculture in the decisions and agreements reached, and that this topic be placed on the sustainable development agendas, given its impact on natural resources”.

In a society that is more and more adamant with respect to social inclusion and the reduction of CO2 emission into the productive environment, the green economy is becoming once again one of the most relevant topics in global discussions.

Manuel Otero, IICA Representative in Brazil, pointed to IICA’ s strength in that country and its determination to move from “talk to action” with respect to the concept of a green economy. “How can we put into action this concept of a green economy and family agriculture? If what we understand by “green economy” is putting the individual and the family at the centre of natural resources with future generations in mind, what IICA is doing is to propose to its partners more and better policies for territorial management. To this end, we need to know where the stakeholders are and where the problems arise”.

The partners in this instance are the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MDA), the Secretariat of Territorial Development (SDT/MDA) and the Nucleus of Agrarian Studies and Rural Development (NEAD).

The IICA Representative in Brazil was referring to the results of the International Virtual Congress on Green Economy and Socio-productive Inclusion: Reflections for Rio+20, which pointed to the need to create a new model of development centered on the rural area-city link. The congress was organized in April by the Institute, in collaboration with the MDA.

The congress was organized in April by the Institute, in collaboration with the MDA.

Water and sustainability

Gertjan Beekman, Natural Resources Coordinator at IICA in Brazil, underscored the topic dealt with by the interngovernmental panel on climate change, which drew attention to a scenario worthy of note, i.e, the competitive use of water.

According to Beekman,“the regions whose geography currently favor water production can expect in the future to see the impact of a re-distribution of this resource that is so vital to food production, which means that governments will have to re-think their policies in terms of planning, and more importantly, in terms of the capacity of the infrastructure that is currently supporting the production system.

For more information, contact: 
david.williams@iica.int