IICA and CAF to Promote Rural Development and Food Security in Latin America
September 19, 2022
CAF—development bank of Latin America—and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) signed an agreement to raise public and private investment in the agricultural, forestry and fisheries sectors, as well as to modernize institutions and enhance food security and sovereignty in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The agreement was signed in the framework of the event “Many Voices, One Region: Latin America and the Caribbean working on the 2030 agenda for sustainable development,” noted CAF executive president Sergio Díaz-Granados, and IICA director generalManuel Otero, who pledged to work together to contribute to the development of the agricultural and rural sector in the region.
“This strategic alliance with CAF is set to reinforce the pillars of a knowledge-intensive agriculture with a human face, and one that is practiced with full environmental responsibility. It is an alliance that, first of all, will help improve the quality of life and build a new rural environment, creating high-quality jobs and a more dignified future for the protagonists of rural life in our continent,” said IICA Director-General Manuel Otero.
“This agreement is important to boost the role of Latin America and the Caribbean in ensuring food security in the region, but also globally. The region’s added value is that it holds 28% of the land with potential for agriculture. We need to increase investment to develop and integrate agricultural technologies, improve farmers' technological know-how and create competitive infrastructure,” said CAF executive president Sergio Díaz-Granados.
📌.@manueloteroIICA speaks about 4️⃣ contradictions:
— CAF (@AgendaCAF) September 20, 2022
1️⃣If we are so important, why do we have to face a 41-percent food insecurity?
🎦 https://t.co/bAEsZXXdvK#LaVozDeLatam
🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/tiNJEGw8hM
The partnership between IICA and CAF will help strengthen value chains; access to technology and markets; build capacities at the producer level for the proper use and understanding of new technologies; planning of zoning, reclaiming and sustainable land use activities; and quality and traceability standards. It will also promote the creation and use of agricultural information systems, the promotion of green businesses based on Bioeconomy ventures, and the development of activities that foster the use of precision agriculture models, among others.
CAF and IICA maintain a close relationship in which CAF facilitates dialogue, strategies, and investment for agriculture through its capacity to finance and support the public and private sectors; while IICA provides technical support to the processes of investment and designing public policies in agriculture for the benefit of both the public and private sectors.