IICA strengthens efforts to guarantee food security

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) is focusing all of its technical cooperation actions on supporting the efforts that countries in the Americas make to guarantee food security, agricultural sustainability and the resilience of rural inhabitants.

The determination of IICA's General Director, Manuel Otero, in light of the global pandemic caused by the new coronavirus, establishes that IICA's five strategic programs (Bioeconomy and Productive Development, Territorial Development and Family Farming, International Trade and Regional Integration, Climate Change, Resources Natural Resources and Productive Risk Management, and Agricultural Health, Safety and Food Quality) must dedicate all their actions to mitigating the current and future impact of the coronavirus on the agricultural sector in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

“The well-being and food security of our populations are at stake. The current situation makes more technical, effective and excellent cooperation essential”, stated the Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero.

Through its program Agricultural Health, Safety and Food Quality (SAIA), IICA will support the promotion of protocols and recommendations for handling agricultural products that ensure traceability and safety.

IICA will also collaborate in the preparation of remote diagnoses of the sanitary and phytosanitary early warning systems of its member countries.

“It is important to strengthen national and regional capabilities in intelligent surveillance systems, risk management, preparedness and response to sanitary and phytosanitary emergencies, through the incorporation of technological tools and information, to which producers have access”, stated the IICA SAIA specialist , Ana Marisa Cordero.

“Promoting good agricultural and manufacturing practices in food production, harvesting, handling and transportation is an opportunity for farmers, by counting on a supply of quality products to support the food supply,” he added.

It will also support developing countries with territorial policies with an emphasis on the supply and demand of fresh food, as well as providing visibility to producers in how they manage their operations, in coordination with the ministries in charge of Agriculture.

“We are redesigning public policies that help this productive segment to guarantee the supply of food and generate confidence in the demand for the food consumed”, indicated Mario León, manager of the food supply program. Territorial Development and Family Farming from IICA.

The International Trade and Regional Integration will focus on the themes of market diversification and products with greater added value and electronic commerce.

“We have experiences and methodologies that facilitate market diversification, to reduce the risk of dependence on a limited number, as well as the identification of commercial partners to favor production chains that strengthen export capabilities, so that companies and producer organizations can start successful export processes, once the situation is normalized”, explained the manager of this program, Daniel Rodríguez.

Governments and the agroindustry will contribute with value-adding strategies, organic processed products, fair trade and the adoption of agricultural commercial information, with the aim of exchanging experiences and knowledge, and to provide commercial recovery initiatives now.

Through its Climate Change, IICA will promote actions to highlight the importance of comprehensive risk management and the efficient use of natural resources - especially water -, together with the fundamental role of innovation and new technologies in ensuring the recovery of the agricultural sector after the pandemic, improving their resilience and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Through the program Bioeconomy and Productive Development, the intensive use of knowledge about resources, processes, technologies and biological principles will be encouraged for the sustainable production of goods and services. For example, in one of the ethanol production links, 96° alcohol is obtained, which could be used to produce gel alcohol.

“Each program provides instruments, experiences and knowledge that will allow us to contribute to a broader vision of the design of agricultural and rural policies that, now and in the near future, will require countries to move towards a safer world”, concluded the Director of Cooperation IICA technician, Federico Villarreal.