Brasilia, 9 March 2018 (IICA) -- The ministers and deputy ministers of agriculture of various Caribbean countries will be arriving in Brazil on Monday, 12 March as part of a mission led by the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Manuel Otero. The main purpose of the visit is to facilitate access to new technologies and cooperation, and diversify the trade of nations that are vulnerable in terms of food security and the effects of climate change.
The ministers and deputy ministers of agriculture of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, The Bahamas, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Suriname will participate in the event “South-South Cooperation/Brazil-Caribbean” on Monday, 12 March at 15:00 hours at the IICA Delegation in Brasilia with their counterparts from the ministries of social development, Osmar Terra, and agriculture, livestock and supply, Blairo Maggi, and with the President of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), Maurício Antonio Lopes.
Others taking part in the mission include senior representatives of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI).
The event will begin with presentations by the Brazilian ministers of state and the President of EMBRAPA. Otero will then provide details of “IICA’s New Technical Cooperation Model” and Brazil’s National Secretary for Food and Nutrition Security, Caio Rocha, will describe his country’s public policies for family farming and how they relate to food and nutrition security.
“This mission’s arrival in Brazil marks the fulfillment of a specific commitment I made at the start of my administration — that of making IICA an institution that serves as a bridge between countries, regions, international agencies and issues, developing a new solidarity within our continent. We are determined to ensure that the Americas cease to be the continent with the lowest levels of trade among its countries,” Otero said.
On Tuesday, 13 March, the second day of activities in Brasilia, the Caribbean ministers and representatives will visit a unit of EMBRAPA that operates a climate simulation chamber for the production of vegetables under different environmental conditions, and a station where organic fertilizer is produced. They will then attend a lecture on good vegetable production practices for family farming.
The officials will also visit the Federal District’s Wholesale Produce Market (CEASA), where they will learn about a food procurement program, an example of a public policy for the purchase, distribution and marketing of the agricultural production of family farmers.
The ministers’ activities in Brazil will conclude with meetings with the Minister of Social Development, the Director General of IICA and Brazilian parliamentary leaders heavily involved in the agriculture sector.
After their visit to Brazil, the Caribbean ministers will travel to Argentina.
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