IICA, IFAD, FAO take part in discussion on technology access to overcome food insecurity with African farmers

The Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Manuel Otero, has undertaken an important working visit to Rome, where he will participate in a debate on food security with African farmers and meet with Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

In the Italian capital, Otero will also participate in a meeting with Álvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations agency for the fight against rural poverty, and the ambassadors of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC).

The second African Farmers’ Roundtable, to be held at the Augustinian Pontifical Institute, will focus on technology access for regenerative agriculture and combating food insecurity. It is being organized by the World Farmers’ Organization (WFO), the Global Farmer Network (GFN), Bayer food company, and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), together with IICA.

The event will take place at a time when IICA is strengthening its cooperation with Africa, based on its conviction that joint action between Africa and the Americas is a step in the right direction to transform agrifood systems and address the causes of food insecurity, malnutrition, and environmental degradation.

The two continents began strengthening ties in 2022 when IICA Headquarters in San Jose, Costa Rica hosted the Africa-Americas Ministerial Summit, during which the highest-level agricultural authorities of some 40 countries called for the creation of specific mechanisms to foster mutual learning and joint action between Africa and the Americas, based on science, technology, and innovation.

This year, IICA also launched, together with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the joint bi-regional “Living Soils” initiative which, after its successful rollout in the Americas, is designed to restore degraded land, rehabilitate acidic soils, increase agricultural and landscape productivity, and improve climate resilience in African agri-food systems.

The IICA Director General’s participation in the debate in Rome will be geared towards strengthening collaboration between the Americas and Africa to overcome food insecurity. This collective action will seek to foster a new generation of public policies, with special emphasis on the role that science and technology play in improving sustainability, restoring soil health, and protecting biodiversity.

Taking part in the event will be nine farmers from nine African countries who were selected utilizing a collaborative process between WFO, GFN, Bayer, and the UN food agencies headquartered in Rome. They represent different geographies, genders, value chains, and agricultural approaches.

FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, elected in 2019 and reelected for a second term in 2023, will welcome Manuel Otero to the organization’s headquarters. Qu, a rice-growing expert, has over 30 years of experience in hunger eradication projects.

During his working visit to Rome, the Director General of IICA will also hold meetings with Valerie Guarnieri, of the World Food Programme (WFP); Carmen Burbano, of the Executive Secretariat of the School Meals Coalition; and Roberto Colaminé, Deputy Director General of Cooperation for Development at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy.