IICA calls for strengthening investment in agriculture in the Americas

San Jose, July 16, 2015 (IICA). The Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Víctor M. Villalobos, urged the entity’s member countries to strengthen IICAs finances, so ‘that more tools can be put in place for implementing actions that will drive the agricultural sector in the Americas.

This revitalization would allow for maintaining and increasing the technical cooperation actions that are being implemented in the 34 member countries.

“Overcoming the current difficulties and allocating more resources to cooperation requires that the Institute be re-launched; this means adapting it to current times, which demands a different way of dealing with agriculture’s challenges,” stated Villalobos at the meeting of the Executive Committee of IICA.

According to José Alpuche, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Agriculture of Belize, IICA has proven the benefits of its work, which is why we must invest in its strengthening. “It has presented good results, so we must take into account that the world has changed and that it is necessary to underscore agriculture,” he stated.

Bryce Quick, Associate Administrator and Chief Operating Officer of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), agreed with Alpuche. “The Institute has evolved and it is necessary to define how we are going to support it. I believe that in order to face the challenges of the agricultural sector, we will need a strong organization to carry out the work we know is critical for our countries,” he stated.

In addition to these countries, delegates from Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, El Salvador, Grenada, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay also participated in the meeting of the Executive Committee of IICA.

Representatives from the United States, Mexico, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Honduras also participated in the meeting but are not a part of the 2015 Executive Committee.

Results-based management

According to the Director General of IICA, the new cooperation model, underway since 2014, has allowed the Institute to achieve 147 results benefitting agriculture in the hemisphere, in areas such as agricultural chains, rural inclusion, family agriculture, mitigation of and agriculture’s adaptation to climate change, and agricultural health and food safety.

“We have grouped all of our technical capacity under topics that seek to address the diverse and complex reality of the sector, in which challenges are linked together and must be dealt with efficiently and responsibly,” stated Villalobos.

During the inaugural session of the meeting, Villalobos presented an overview of IICA’s main accomplishments over the past couple of years. He highlighted the rapprochement promoted between Latin American and Caribbean countries with African nations to analyze proposals for international food safety standards and to drive multilateral agreements within the framework of Codex Alimentarius.

This encounter, organized by the government of the United States and IICA, was the first to be held between the two regions, and brought together 45% of the member countries of Codex.

Another result highlighted by Villalobos was the launch of the Central American Program for Integrated Coffee Rust Management (PROCAGICA), funded by the European Union, which seeks to promote actions for the integrated management of this disease and drive the genetic improvement of coffee with coffee rust tolerance and cup quality.

In his opinion, one big accomplishment was promoting the participation of the agricultural sector of the Americas at the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (known as COP20), held in Peru in 2014.

Within this context, IICA facilitated the dialogue among over 20 authorities from Environment and Agriculture ministries of the Central, Andean, and Southern regions of the hemisphere. An expected outcome of this meeting is the development of a common agenda for both sectors.

Additionally, with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, the Institute is developing the Energy and Environment Partnership (EEP) in the Andean Region, which has benefitted 133 rural communities through the implementation of technologies based on renewable energies, which are useful for improving production and living conditions.

“One of IICA’s greatest efforts centers on capacity development; proof of this is the scholarship and internship program it is executing with support from the Mexican government, which has benefitted over 140 professionals in 18 member countries of the Institute,” stated Villalobos.

Along the same lines, with support from the General Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) of Mexico, 497 agricultural technicians from 21 countries in the Caribbean have been trained by Mexican professionals, with the goal of promoting the development of Caribbean agriculture.

More information:
evangelina.beltran@iica.int