G20 meeting in Brazil: IFAD, IICA join forces to promote rural food security, agricultural innovation

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THE International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA) are to broaden the scope of their joint work, with a focus on ensuring food security in rural areas through the promotion of investment, the digitalisation of agriculture, and the strengthening of value chains.

The decision is set out in a memorandum of understanding signed today by IFAD President Álvaro Lario and IICA Director General Manuel Otero in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, within the framework of the meeting of ministers of agriculture of the G20, which Brazil is chairing this year. Comprised of the countries with the world’s largest economies, the G20 is also regarded as the biggest forum for international cooperation.

IFAD and IICA have been working together since 1987, when they signed their first agreement aimed at improving the quality of life of rural dwellers in Latin American and Caribbean nations. The new agreement creates the framework for the implementation of projects in priority regions of Latin America and the Caribbean. IFAD and IICA will promote the sharing of knowledge and ideas in areas such as the promotion of investment promotion, the use of new information and communication technologies to enhance productivity and sustainability, and improved access to financing and markets for family farmers.

“We are proud to take the IFAD-IICA partnership to the next level with the signing of this memorandum of understanding. It is only possible to build resilient rural communities by investing in sustainable agricultural practices and markets in which all farmers are treated fairly, especially smallholders who supply most of the world’s food”, President Lario emphasized.

“By working together, through partnerships like this one, we will be able to increase the financing required, innovate on a large scale, and reach deep into rural areas, where investment is needed the most”, he added. For his part, Otero stressed that joint work between international organisations and governments, involving the private sector and civil society, is essential to address the challenge of ensuring food security and transforming agriculture, which is currently at the top of the global agenda. The Director General of IICA added: “In Latin America and the Caribbean, we have 17 million family farmers who are the mainstay of our food security, because they supply 60 percent of what we eat each day. We have to concentrate our efforts on helping them, and that is what IICA’s joint work with an institution as valuable as IFAD is all about”.

The G20 Agriculture Group was created in 2011 to promote international co-operation to address critical issues such as the sustainability of production, food security, and adaptation to climate change. The Ministerial Meeting of the G20 Agriculture Group is being chaired by Carlos Fávaro, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil. Senior officials from the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Farming, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) are also taking part, while IFAD is the only international financial institution participating in the discussions on agriculture.

Mato Grosso plays an essential role in the country’s dynamic agricultural economy. This state in central-west Brazil is the epicentre of Brazilian soybean, corn and cotton production and has the country’s largest cattle herd.

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