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Strategic partnership between the FAO and IICA Offices in El Salvador

The Offices of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in El Salvador signed a letter of understanding on January 21.

This instrument falls within the context of the Letter of Understanding signed between the Director of the Regional Office of FAO, Jose Graciano Da Silva, and the Director General of IICA, Chelston Brathwaite. The aim is to consolidate an effective partnership that will strengthen the technical cooperation provided by both international organizations and will establish a general policy for joint actions and programs in response to the Mandate issued by the Ministries of Agriculture.

The document was signed by the FAO Representative in El Salvador, Francisco Muñoz, and the IICA Representative in El Salvador, Keith Andrews. The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Mario Salaverría, and the Presidential Commissioner for Agriculture, Carmen Elena Díaz Bazán de Sol, were the witnesses of honor at the signing ceremony.

The event was also attended by officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), representatives of the country’s agricultural production sectors and special guests.

The purpose of the agreement is to strengthen the technical cooperation provided by FAO and IICA in order to effectively support the efforts of the country’s agricultural sector. Both institutions have worked together in the past and now wish to promote a closer and more systematic approach to cooperation.

The parties will focus their activities on issues such as:

Promoting Food and Nutritional Security
Animal and Plant Health and Food Safety
Information Management, Agricultural Technology and Innovation
Rural Development and Environment to promote rural prosperity
International Trade
Execution of the AGRO 2003-2015 Plan
Promoting Agribusiness
Institutional Strengthening and Modernization

The Presidential Commissioner for Agriculture, Carmen Elena Díaz Bazán de Sol and the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Mario Salaverría, were witnesses of honor at the signing of the agreement.

The FAO Representative in El Salvador, Francisco Muñoz, and the IICA Representative in El Salvador, Keith Andrews, celebrate the signing of the agreement. They are accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Mario Salaverría, and the Presidential Commissioner for Agriculture, Carmen Elena Díaz Bazán de Sol.

Cooperation efforts will focus on the above-mentioned priorities, but will not be limited to these topics.

The IICA Representative explained that the United Nations and IICA have worked together for many years and that the letter of understanding serves to formalize these relations, ensuring a joint planning process every six months and a follow-up process to measure achievements and synergies and discover other areas where their interaction could be improved by including other partners, especially the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.

“The agreement that FAO and IICA have signed today is an expression of the need to focus not on ad hoc or improvised activities, but rather on formalizing relations and strategies in order to address challenges of greater complexity that are more promising for the country’s future”, Andrews explained.

He emphasized that agriculture in is undergoing a profound change and that it is now time to strengthen the idea of a truly modern, multi-functional agriculture, dedicated to products and services, and integrated with other sectors of society, including the urban sectors.

According to the FAO Representative, Francisco Muñoz, “this is a time to unite efforts; with a greater harmonization of international cooperation on agriculture in this country, it would be much easier to obtain achievements.”

Muñoz said that one of the first steps would be to organize a small workshop on the subject of food safety, taking advantage of all the international and hemispheric experience accumulated by FAO and IICA in this area. He said this issue has now become an essential requisite for agriculture as a result of the free trade agreements and the rules of the World Trade Organization.

The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Mario Salaverría, acknowledged that FAO and IICA are two leading international organizations that play an important role in ’s agriculture.

Salaverría noted that last year agriculture grew by 8.6%, which not only denotes an increase in productivity in the last four years, but also underscores the fact that agriculture has gradually taken on a more strategic role. He added that this role would be further strengthened by working together and uniting the efforts of FAO and IICA as contemplated in the letter of understanding.

Both institutions will appoint a liaison officer in their local Offices to provide follow-up during the two-year term of the agreement, a period that may be extended, if the parties so wish. The results of the joint actions and the achievements derived from these will be made public.

For more information contact
cindy.hernandez@iica.int

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