On the initiative of its Director General, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) created the Forum for Leaders in Agriculture. The first participant in that Forum, held from February 1 through 3, was the new Minister of Agriculture of Saint Lucia, Ezechiel Joseph.

The program for the Forum, held at IICA Headquarters in Costa Rica, is especially designed for new ministers of agriculture and other leaders who are interested in a modern vision of agriculture and rural life in the Americas. The agenda included a broad-based dialogue on IICA and its role in the development of the hemisphere; the role of agriculture and agribusiness in development; the challenges and opportunities for agriculture in the XXIst century; and the responsibilities of ministers as members of the Inter-American Board of Agriculture, the highest Governing Body of IICA and as participants in the ministerial meetings on agriculture and rural life in the context of the Summit of the Americas process.

The recent visit to IICA Headquarters by a group of Executive Directors from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) was an opportunity to cement, at the highest levels, ties between the two organizations, in aid of agriculture and rural development in the countries of the Americas, the Director General of IICA said.

The Week of Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas will be held in Antigua, Guatemala, from July 23 through 27. The Fourth Ministerial Meeting and the Fourteenth Regular Meeting of the Inter-American Board of Agriculture will be held as part of that event.

The ceremony to launch that Week was held on February 8 in Guatemala City. It was attended by diplomats, representatives of international organizations and of secretariats in the Office of the President, ministers of state and a broad representation from the business community, including the cooperative movement and civil society, which make up Guatemala’s private agricultural sector.

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and IICA entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to cooperate for the continued adoption of agricultural biotechnology in the Americas as part of IICA’s Hemispheric Biosafety and Biotechnology Program (HBBP).

Both organizations will promote initiatives in agro-biotechnologies that benefit the Americas, such as the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Codex Alimentarius, the International Plant Protection Convention, and World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements.

In February, the Director General of the Institute distributed audiovisual materials to all of the ministers of agriculture of the hemisphere to support efforts to prevent Avian Influenza.