IICA Executive Committee endorses results of technical cooperation

San Jose, Costa Rica, October 10, 2012 (IICA). In a detailed report, the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Víctor M. Villalobos, presented the main results of his organization’s work over the last year to this year’s meeting of the Executive Committee, one of the Institute’s highest governing bodies.

During the meeting, IICA offered to strengthen its technical support for agriculture in the areas of innovation, climate change, and food security, in response to express requests from the member countries.

The two-day meeting formed part of the activities organized to commemorate the Institute’s seven decades of existence. “Celebrating 70 years of IICA’s existence is to celebrate 70 years of inter-American integration,” affirmed Daniela Raposo, a member of Argentina’s delegation.

“I would like to congratulate and thank the Director General for his exhaustive report. Presenting the results in such detail is important for the countries and for forging new partnerships, because one can see precisely in which areas IICA is working,” remarked Daryl Nearing, head of Canada’s delegation.

Mr. Villalobos presented the results achieved in relation to each of IICA’s strategic objectives. Among the initiatives aimed at improving the productivity and competitiveness of agriculture, for example, in the Caribbean the Institute is promoting 14 projects to strengthen national innovation systems, and in Central America, 11 technological innovations for maize and beans.

In the area of rural development, the Institute is supporting the design of policies for the management of area-based development in seven Central American countries. In El Salvador, it is also actively involved in the implementation of the government’s Family Farming Plan (PAF), under which 13,500 farmers have attended field schools to learn technical and organizational skills, as part of the objective of increasing agriculture’s contribution to food security.

With regard to the efforts to adapt agriculture to climate change and mitigate the phenomenon’s effects, Villalobos underlined the support provided to the countries in the run up to the Rio+20 Summit, and the implementation of the program on the issue in nine nations.

A total of 437 cooperation projects are being implemented in the 34 member countries. The IICA Director General’s complete presentation can be downloaded here.

Comments of the delegations

U.S. Under Secretary of Agriculture Michael T. Scuse congratulated the Director General of IICA on his results-based approach and noted that, since its creation in 1942, the Institute had been a strategic partner for addressing issues such as international trade, nutrition, food security, climate change, and innovation.

On behalf of IICA, Villalobos thanked the U.S. for the trust it placed in the organization and the extra-quota resources it had provided to allow the Institute to continue working towards the goal of competitive and sustainable agriculture.

With that objective in mind, the Institute had prioritized the promotion of agricultural innovation as a tool for development, an emphasis that had been well received by the countries.

The Vice Minister of Agriculture of Panama, Gerardino Batista, observed that, “The key formula for moving the sector forward is a combination of knowledge, innovation, and technology.” He also noted that IICA had a great deal to contribute in those areas.

Mexican delegate María de Lourdes Cruz commented that innovation was essential to forge a link between smallholders and the markets, and that the Institute’s actions were geared to that objective.

Biotechnology and strategic partnerships were two of the other issues highlighted by the countries.

The Vice Minister of Rural Development of Ecuador, Silvana Vallejo, said more information was needed on the advantages and disadvantages of agro-biotechnology. “Since there are successful experiences, let us continue producing information, with the neutrality and respect for the position of each country that characterizes IICA,” she added.

The Minister of Agriculture of Guyana, Leslie Ramsammy, agreed that more information was needed to reach agreement on a policy. “Not having a regional position prevents from us from moving forward and taking maximum advantage of this kind of technology,” he remarked.

The Director General of IICA agreed that more information was needed so that the countries could take science-based decisions.

Mr. Villalobos also drew attention to the partnerships established over the past year with four international research centers: the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the International Potato Center (CIP), and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Nicaragua’s Director of International Cooperation, Claudia Tijerino, pointed out that these partnerships had made it possible to increase the level of cooperation offered to the countries. Tania López, Vice Minister of Agriculture of Costa Rica, added that, “Establishing close ties with these centers was a wise decision.”

One of the projects that received most plaudits in the meeting was the one carried out in Haiti to provide young people with agribusiness training. According to Colette Blanchet, head of Haiti’s delegation, young people in her country’s rural areas had received instruction in issues of great importance, such as the establishment of links with the markets.

The Minister of Agriculture of Dominica, Walter Matthew Joseph, underscored the need to ensure the continued existence of projects of this kind.

IICA Director General Víctor M. Villalobos explained that these initiatives could be replicated in other Caribbean countries, in the form of short courses, to attract young people to agriculture once again. He also underlined the need to revamp the curricula of agronomy courses in the Americas, to bring them into line with today’s challenges.

With regard to the training of new professionals for agriculture, he highlighted the program financed by Mexico that offered 100 grants per year for postgraduate studies. Twenty-seven young people had already begun their courses, and a further 69 would be doing so in January 2013.

IICA’s Executive Committee decided to make water and agriculture the theme of the next meeting of the Inter-American Board of Agriculture, the Institute’s highest governing body. The meeting is due to take place in Argentina in 2013.

Before that, the Executive Committee will be meeting again, this time in Mexico, at the invitation of that country’s delegation.

For more information, contact: 
evangelina.beltran@iica.int