During the annual summit of Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), which was held in Rwanda, America and Africa strengthened their cooperation ties to advance food security between the two continents.
The AGRF attended on behalf of the American continent on Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), a specialized agency in the region that supports the efforts of 34 Member States to achieve agricultural development and rural well-being.
“Cooperation occurs among equals and that is what we are. That is the essence of South-South Cooperation, in which we strongly believe, because it means building bridges. That is the reason why we prioritize dialogue between the Americas and Africa”, declared the Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero.
“The deeper the crisis, the more cooperation we need,” said Manuel Otero, on the confluence of climate change, the lasting economic and social effects of the covid-19 pandemic and the increases in energy, food and fertilizer prices due to the war in Eastern Europe.
Otero stressed that Africa and America add up to 39% of the world’s forests and 51% of carbon reservesin addition to a large part of the ecosystems of environmental and productive value on the planet.
“We are here to transform that potential into action, in a way that improves the quality of life for those who live in rural areas. We have to convince ourselves that Africa and the Americas have a joint past and present and a future to offer the world,” Otero said.
The president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Agnes Kalibata, said that South-South Cooperation has been developing for a long time, but currently it is necessary to deepen it.
“Today the question is how we walk together. We already have a number of joint projects, from which African, Latin American and Caribbean countries benefit. In my country, Rwanda, we have a great connection with Brazil, which has taught us how agriculture can contribute to economic development. We have to get to know each other better, and the more we advance, the more we will grow,” said Kalibata.
The regional head for East Africa of AGRA, Jean Jacques Muhinda, highlighted the potential for the exchange of products between the two continents and called for intensifying the exchange of scientific and technological knowledge to make agricultural activity more sustainable and resilient.
Senior officials also participate in the forum, such as the Minister of Agriculture and Food and Nutritional Security of Barbados, Indar Weir; the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Mozambique, Olegario dos Anjos Banze; the Minister of Agriculture of Guyana, Zulfikar Mustapha; the Director of Innovation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply of Brazil, Sibelle de Andrade Silva.
America and Africa have been intensifying their relations in agricultural matters with events such as the Ministerial Summit on Agrifood Systems, which took place last July, in which both continents agreed to strengthen their cooperation to face the challenges in terms of food security and environmental sustainability.
What is IICA?
This is the specialized agency for agriculture of the Inter-American System that supports the efforts of 34 member states to achieve agricultural development and rural well-being.
“Founded 80 years ago, the entity provides cooperation through close and permanent work to the Member States, whose needs it promptly attends to. IICA’s most valuable asset is the close relationship it maintains with the beneficiaries of its administration, and it has extensive experience in areas such as technology and innovation for agriculture, agricultural health, food quality and safety, international agricultural trade, family farming, rural development, management of natural resources and bioeconomy”, says the organization.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
TIME
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