IICA and Argentina highlight the value of science to transform agriculture

The Institute Inter-American Cooperation for Agriculture (IICA) and the Government of Argentina They agreed this Tuesday on the importance of science and technology to transform agri-food systems towards greater sustainability hand in hand with productivity.

The Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero, met in Buenos Aires with the Argentine Foreign Minister, Santiago Cafiero, and they discussed joint projects and the value of science and technology as key tools for the development of the agricultural sector, explained the Institute it’s a statement.

Otero and Cafiero “agreed that the decisions taken to transform agri-food systems must be based on science and that new technologies constitute an essential tool to move towards a more productive and sustainable agriculture,” IICA explained.

During the meeting, both officials highlighted Argentina’s role as a large food producer and owner of a very relevant inventory of technology and knowledge on agricultural issues, which is available for exchange and is already being shared with other countries in the region, he adds. the official information.

In this sense, Cafiero highlighted the role that IICA plays as a bridge institution for the transfer of this capital to Central American and Caribbean nations that seek to develop their agricultural production and that today are heavily dependent on food imports.

Argentina and IICA are jointly carrying out a technical assistance program aimed at improving the productive capacity of the Caribbean countries and strengthening their food and nutritional security.

This South-South and triangular cooperation initiative was established through the Memorandum of Understanding signed last April by the Ministry of Foreign Relations, International Trade and Worship of the Argentine Republic and IICA.

Otero highlighted on Tuesday the work of the Argentine Government that facilitated the obtaining of the consensus reached by the IICA member countries with a view to the United Nations Food Systems Summit, held last September.

The continent attended the global meeting with a document of 16 key messages that evidenced the relevant role of agriculture as part of the solution to the challenges facing the world, the role of science in the making of policies that are adopted and that agricultural producers must be duly represented in the debate on the transformation of agri-food systems.

Otero thanked Argentina for the support, through the White Helmets, its humanitarian aid organ, in the aid work to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a Caribbean country that this year faced an emergency due to the impact of the La Soufrière volcano eruptions.

White Helmets coordinated the shipment and delivery of a significant quantity of seeds that IICA obtained through donations made in Chile and Argentina, aimed at restarting agriculture in the island state, seriously affected by the volcano’s ashes, explained the Institute.