The Northern Triangle of Central America is an extremely vulnerable area from a food security perspective, due to the depletion of natural resources and the impact of environmental degradation and climate change
San Jose, 7 March 2022 (IICA) – Argentina is to collaborate in the agricultural development of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras in a South-South cooperation project to be coordinated by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
The agenda of this ambitious initiative began to be defined at an online meeting with the participation of the ministers of Agriculture of the three countries that make up the Northern Triangle of Central America, along with officials from the Argentine Ministry of Agriculture and the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) of Argentina, as well as IICA professionals and representatives of the Central American Agricultural Council (CAC).
The Northern Triangle of Central America is an extremely vulnerable area from a food security perspective, due to the depletion of natural resources and the impact of environmental degradation and climate change. The situation of poverty and lack of job opportunities leads people to migrate; this is why increasing agricultural productivity and resilience is decisive in improving the lives of rural communities.
IICA has not only been providing technical support to the agricultural sectors of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, but has also alerted the world to the social, economic and environmental consequences of the situation of these three countries.
In fact, for the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit, IICA coordinated the production of a document that summed up the univocal position of the countries of the Americas, in which it drew attention to the difficult situation in the Northern Triangle of Central America.
The meeting identified some priority points on the cooperation agenda between Argentina and the three Central American countries and it was agreed that technicians from the INTA of Argentina would visit shortly on an exploratory mission. The INTA is an organization of excellence of the Argentine state system, generating knowledge and contributing technology and innovation to the agro-industrial sector since 1956.
“The contributions to improve our agriculture are most welcome, not only from a theoretical perspective but also on the ground, because this is the way to bring about change”, said David Martínez, El Salvador’s Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, who highlighted the contribution of IICA, due to its vast experience in agricultural development in the region. Martínez also proposed analyzing the possibility of extending the cooperation project to the other Central American countries.
José Ángel López, the Guatemalan Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, stressed the opportunity that having Argentine experience in agricultural production at their disposition represents for the countries of the Northern Triangle. “There are various sectors for cooperation. We have identified master plans for irrigation systems, cattle management and vegetation cover systems. The opportunities are endless”.
“It is time to focus our attention on South-South cooperation because we have a lot to learn and share with the countries in the region”, said López, who is acting president of the Central American Agricultural Council (CAC) and coordinates the regional agenda.
Laura Suazo, who recently assumed her post as Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock in Honduras, becoming the first woman to hold the position, drew attention to the need to incorporate technology into the agriculture sector in her country. “Only then can we reduce the poverty gap. Agriculture has to make a major contribution not only to the economy but also to social conditions. We face major challenges. And we hope to receive IICA’s support”.
On behalf of Argentina, the Undersecretary for Political Coordination of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ariel Martínez, stated that his country and the Central American nations face shared challenges in terms of food production.
“Argentina has a lot to contribute in terms of what tools are used to produce and the most useful innovations in terms of efficiency and sustainability. We are also ready to learn about how things are done in other countries”, he said.
The Executive Secretary of the CAC, Lucrecia Rodríguez Peñalba, made her organization available to collaborate in the project and conduct coordination work. She also left the door open for other CAC member countries to join the initiative. This Central American agricultural development organization is made up of Belize, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, the Dominican Republic, as well as El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
“In the CAC there is a good dynamic of cooperation and support and we also have a natural alliance with IICA”, she noted.
Agricultural engineer Felipe Solá, former Secretary of Agriculture and former Minister of Foreign Affairs for Argentina, also participated in the meeting. He stressed the need for this cooperation project to slow down emigration from the Northern Triangle of Central America caused by a lack of opportunities.
“The countries of Central America are severely affected by hurricanes and droughts. For them, climate change is not so much a question of reducing greenhouse gases, but one of defending themselves”, he said.
He also noted that “the main focus of concern is the universe of small farmers. Today many live in conditions verging on poverty. They also have a tendency to emigrate, which is something we have to stop, and this is related to the economic problems and high costs that they have to address in order to produce”.
IICA Director General Manuel Otero stated that the Institute is building bridges: “This is expressed in this meeting, which seeks to build a bridge between the fraternal countries of Central America and Argentina”.
He also noted that Argentina has “the greatest stock of technology and knowledge in the agricultural sector, if not in the world then at least on the continent”, and stressed that South-South cooperation is “cooperation between equals”.
“It is a matter of collaborating to reduce the gaps that limit development; to grow and construct a new identity as a continent. IICA is here to listen and to design an operational strategy to move from words to actions. We are proud to participate in this initiative”, he concluded.
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