According to a document prepared by the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the outlook for 2010 is for agricultural production to recover significantly in most the countries of the region, subject more to changes in climate and levels of international demand (still being affected by the recession) than to international prices.

The joint document “The Outlook for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Americas: a perspective on Latin America and the Caribbean 2010,” will be presented to the member countries of FAO at its 31st Regional Conference, being held this week (April 26-30) in Panama City, Panama.

The Headquarters of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), in Costa Rica, was the venue for a meeting involving the Boards of Directors of PROCITROPICOS and PROCIANDINO to discuss food security, climate change, agroenergy and biofuels.

PROCITROPICOS and PROCIANDINO are cooperative programs for innovation in agricultural technology whose members are organizations from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. In the case of PROCITROPICOS, its membership includes organizations from two additional countries: Brazil and Suriname. IICA serves as the Executive Secretariat for both programs.