The Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas met in Montego Bay
to attend the Week of Agriculture and Rural Life of the Americas, which was
inaugurated by the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Bruce Golding, on October 27 and
concluded on Saturday, October 31.
The challenges involved in ensuring food security were the
focus of attention of the participants, among whom were experts and dignitaries
such as the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Jose
Miguel Insulza, the Secretary General of the Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Barcena, the FAO Regional
Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, Jose Graziano Da Silva, and
the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on
Agriculture (IICA), Chelston Brathwaite.
The Minister of Agriculture of Jamaica and Chairman of the
event, Christopher Tufton, who chaired the event, called on the participants to
reach agreement on those urgent actions needed to improve agriculture and, as a
result, the quality of life for the rural population. “We must not allow this
meeting to become a talking shop,” he said.
Several speakers have agreed that current levels of food
insecurity are proof that the current development model has run its course.
Barcena announced the death of the “neo-liberal export model based on
commodities, which is now outdated and no longer environmentally sustainable.”
Brathwaite proposed the adoption of a new development model, “a
model that will facilitate a better urban-rural balance; a model that will call
for greater investment in rural areas, which are essential in ensuring social
and political stability; a model that will promote the competitiveness of
agriculture and rural economic activities; a model that will create jobs in the
rural economy.”
He added “The levels of poverty prevailing in our countries
cannot and should not continue. We must modernize our rural sectors, strengthen
rural communities and create conditions needed for the poor to fulfill their
dreams.”
Barcena underscored the urgent need for of “a long-term vision
of development which should be accompanied by public policy measures that
reconcile the urgent with the important, and by a strong State.”
“In Latin America and the Caribbean, we must focus our
attention on a new rurality because the neo-liberal export model based on
commodities, which is now outdated and no longer environmentally sustainable,
must become a thing of the past,” she noted.
For Graziano, “The terrible news that hunger is again on the
rise and that the estimated number of people suffering from malnutrition exceeds
100 million” forces us to do work more closely together as international
organizations to provide more support to the countries.
“We must seize this moment, when agriculture is again on the
political agenda at the highest level; now is the time to propose development
policies,” he added. Juan Rodolfo Delgado, Head of the Nicaraguan Delegation,
said “Greater cooperation for development equals more open trade.”
The Minister of Agriculture of Suriname, Kermewchend
Raghoebarsing, agreed on the need to reduce poverty and build capacities in food
security, but also demanded “an international context conducive to achieving the
objectives we have discussed here. This is a moral issue.”
Deputy Under Secretary of the United States, Burnham Philbrook,
said “Hunger is the moral issue of our time. But it is also an economic issue.
It is extraordinarily unwise for a civilization not to adequately and
nutritiously feed, and thereby not educate, its children.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, food security is a complex
issue with powerful agricultural economies juxtaposed with areas of insufficient
agricultural productivity. Hunger and poverty are compounded by high levels of
urbanization and skewed income distribution. For the poorest countries, an
increase in agricultural productivity and a decrease in post harvest losses are
two of the tactics to improving food security and unleashing economic
potential,” said the Deputy Under Secretary.
The Minister of Agriculture of Panama, Victor Perez, pointed to
the need to increase the profits of small-scale farmers and agreed with the
delegate from Colombia, Ventura Emilio Diaz, who advocated taking producers into
account when designing policies. At this Fifth Ministerial Meeting the
participants have discussed, from a regional perspective, the situation and
public policies related to food security and sustainable development, and the
role of the private sector in this process. In addition, several international
organizations have offered their perspective on the matter.
The Caribbean perspective was presented by the Director of
ECLAC for the Caribbean, Neil Pierre; the Andean perspective by Minister
Espinel; the Southern perspective by the National Director of Agricultural
Policies of Chile, Ivan Nazif; the Central American perspective by Alberto Mora;
and the Northern perspective by Alex McCalla, an emeritus professor from the
University of California at Davis.
For further information
patricia.leon@iica.int