IICA delivers message from ministers of agriculture to preparatory meeting for the next Summit of the Americas

*Héctor Iturbe (right) is the special advisor of the Director General of IICA* *and was the Technical Secretary of the Meeting of Ministers. At left, William Berenson, legal advisor of IICA.*

Washington, D.C., November 8, 2011 (IICA). The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) presented the results of the recent Meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas to the Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG), which is meeting in Washington, D.C.

Representatives of the 34 Member States that make up the SIRG are meeting to prepare the text that the leaders of the hemisphere will sign at the Sixth Summit of the Americas (Colombia, April 2012).

The ministers of agriculture gathered in San Jose, Costa Rica, on October 19-21 of this year to attend the Ministerial Meeting, the motto of which was “Sowing Innovation to Harvest Prosperity.” At the close of three days of dialogue, they approved a declaration in which they underscored the importance of increasing investment in agriculture as a means of reducing hunger and poverty and, in this way, helping to improve social stability in the hemisphere.

The Ministerial Declaration was delivered to Colombia, the country that is chairing the SIRG and will host the Sixth Summit. The goal was for the Heads of State and Government accept the document and renew their commitment to promoting agricultural and rural development.

IICA presented the declaration to the SIRG at the request of the Chair of the Meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas, Gloria Abraham, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Farming of Costa Rica.

Addressing the SIRG, Hector Iturbe, Special Advisor to the Director General of the Institute, underscored the key role innovation can and must play in making agriculture more productive, sustainable and inclusive. Only through innovation can food security in the region be improved, he affirmed.

In April 2012, the 34 Heads of State and Government of the hemisphere will attend the Sixth Summit of the Americas “Connecting the Americas: Partners for Prosperity.” The most pressing challenges will be addressed from the perspective of four sub-topics: poverty and inequity, citizen security, natural disasters and access to technology.

For more information, contact:
hector.iturbe@iica.int