Today, Foreign Minister Felipe Solá and the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Manuel Otero, signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the Development of a Triangular Cooperation Programme.
“We are truly pleased to sign this Memorandum, we believe that it will be very useful and know that the people in charge are very experienced and up-to-date with regard to technological change in the world,” Solá stated during the virtual event, adding that “millions of people’s lives have changed due to the pandemic, including the lives of the farmers targeted by cooperation programmes such as these.”
Joined by Guillermo Justo Chaves, Chief of the Private Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Juan Ignacio Roccatagliata on behalf of the General Directorate of International Cooperation, the Foreign Minister stated that “the common denominator is the need to increase productivity through the use of technologies (for input management) as well as industrial productivity,” and highlighted the commitment to expansion and organization, which calls for technological change in the agricultural sector.
IICA has a long history of support for Argentina’s initiatives aimed at guaranteeing food security, the strengthening of family agriculture and sustainable development. IICA’s capacities are thus added to Argentina’s widely recognized expertise on different matters within the scope the Institute, such as the availability of highly skilled human resources and specialized agroindustry services, which are intended to improve productivity with the lowest possible environmental impact.
These capacities have allowed IICA and Argentina to consolidate a cooperation partnership for work with other countries, which has grown in recent years through specific triangular cooperation projects. Such projects include the successful API-CARIBBEAN project, a joint technical cooperation action through the Argentine Fund for South-South and Triangular Cooperation (FO.AR) that was carried out with Caribbean countries in order to improve agriculture and rural life.
The signing of this document is the result of joint efforts to deal with the challenges ahead in matters of food security and rural development, within the context of a complex global context. In this regard, the agreement serves as a roadmap for the planning of joint and coordinated activities between the Argentine Foreign Ministry and IICA, with a focus on social and economic development, through the efficient use of human, technological and financial resources.
The agreement is the result of collaborative efforts between IICA and the General Directorate of International Cooperation, with the participation of various government actors. This showcases the commitment to continue strengthening the partnership between the Argentine Cooperation and IICA.
