COMUNIICA reflects on a new development model

Print

COMUNIICA reflects on a new development model

Social and technological innovation, the strengthening of agrifood chains and rural tourism are some of the topics addressed in the latest issue of IICA’s technical magazine.

The latest issue of COMUNIICA, the technical magazine of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), focuses on a series of perspectives, experiences and viewpoints that could help to shape a new development model for the Americas.
“IICA has been emphatic in calling for a new development model based on the rural economy and agriculture in all its dimensions, to ensure, among other things, the supply of food, sufficient income, dignified employment and the preservation of natural resources, the foreword to COMUNIICA states.
In the latest issue of the magazine, readers can gain an overview of a number of important issues.
The first article, “Social and technological innovations in the new development model in rural territories,” calls for the promotion of new ideas within a framework of participation and solidarity in order to combine processes for the diversification of production with social inclusion policies such as the conservation, restoration and rational use of natural resources.
The article was written by IICA’s Director of Sustainable Rural Development, Carlos Jara.

IICA has been emphatic in calling for a new development model based on the rural economy and agriculture in all its dimensions.

“The second article, “Agrifood chains: a tool for strengthening the institutional framework of the agricultural and rural sector,” is based on work carried out by the Director of Agribusiness Competitiveness, Miguel García, and specialists Iciar Pavez, Hernando Riveros, Daniel Rodríguez, Frank Lam, Joaquín Arias and Danilo Herrera, whose particular areas of expertise are rural agroindustry, agribusiness and trade policies and negotiations.

This article examines the potential of agrifood chains as mechanisms for dialogue and tools for managing competitiveness and decision-making.

Another viewpoint is presented in “The United States Farm Bill and its impact on the WTO agricultural negotiations,” written by IICA’s Regional Specialist in Policies and Trade for the Southern Region, Antonio Donizeti.

The expert says this legislation “could have a negative impact on the Doha Round of the WTO trade negotiations that got under way in 2001 and has yet to be concluded, mainly due to the difficulties involved in reaching a consensus on agricultural issues.”

IICA’s technical magazine also contains an article entitled “Rural Tourism in Uruguay: a growing reality,” which considers the country’s competitive advantages in this field, thanks to its natural and cultural heritage.

The article was written by the President of the Rural Federation of Young People (FRJ) of Uruguay, Maren Mackinnon; Agribusiness Specialist Alejandra Betancur; and Adrián Sánchez, an intern at the IICA Office in Uruguay.

This issue of the magazine also includes an article entitled “From humanitarian aid to food security and income generation in Kwamalasamutu, Suriname.” It concerns one of the largest Amerindian communities in the south of that country, close to the border with Brazil, which was seriously affected by floods in 2008.

The authors are John King, the coordinator of an assistance project implemented by the IICA Office in Suriname and the Red Cross; Andrew Beker, a Peace Corps volunteer; Cromwell Crawford, IICA Representative in Suriname; and Field Assistant Brahma Ramsoedit. They describe their experiences and consider ways of improving the communities’ nutrition and food security in the wake of the devastation caused by extreme weather.

Finally, the article “You say “palta,” I say “aguacate” and they say “avocado.” Diversity in the agricultural terminology of the Americas” looks at the standardization of terminology in data retrieval systems.

The Thesaurus Specialist of the USDA’s National Agricultural Library, Lori Finch, and the Coordinator of the library’s AgNIC Secretariat, Melanie Gardner, give an overview of the thesaurus, the tool used to organize terms and express relationships between concepts.

A digital version of COMUNIICA is available at www.iica.int/Eng/prensa/comuniica

For more information, contact
federico.sancho@iica.int

IICA Connection is the electronic bulletin of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture. Writing and production: Office of Public Information and Institutional Image.
iicaconexion@iica.int