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In This Issue

IICA sets up High-Level Technical Committees to Tackle the Major Challenges Facing Agriculture

Special Feature: Flagship Project on Competitiveness and Sustain-ability of Agricultural Chains for Food Security and Economic Development

Five IICA-MIOA Projects will Strengthen the Agricultural Market Information Systems in Americas

Internship in Office

Negotiating in the Heat and Under Pressure: the UNFCCC COP20

Agriculture and Environment Ministers Dialogue at the COP20

Specialists Promote Agenda for Advancing Agricultural Insurance in LAC

USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum

IICA Participates in the 2015 USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum Session on USDA Market News

IICA Launches Virtual Food In-spection School in Central Ameri-ca and the Dominican Republic

IICA continues to be present at the meetings of the Permanent Council of the OAS

Regional Mechanism Sponsored by IICA and the IDB Receives $1.8 million to Address Climate Change in LAC

FONTAGRO to Support Projects to Improve Milk and Honey Pro-duction and an Early Warning System for Coffee Rust

PROCINORTE Explores Synergies on Agricultural Research and Outreach with Latin America

What Chinese Finance Means for Latin America

Upcoming Events

From the Desk of the Representative

Welcome to our first edition of 2015!

For IICA, 2015 is proving to be a very challenging, productive and exciting year. A year of results, but also a year in which our institute will continue to seed the seeds of prosperity for agriculture in the Americas, starting with the full fledge implementation of our four Flagship Projects which have been designed to provide a coordinated institutional action to achieve significant results in four strategic areas: Competitiveness, Family Agriculture, Resilience and Social Inclusion. This represents a new way to provide technical coopera-tion for our Institute aimed to respond to demands from our Member States and to use our resources more efficiently and transparently. Our office in the United States continue to work together with Headquarters and other offices and units across the Hemisphere, to increase IICA visibility and image as the leading institution for technical cooperation in Agriculture and for the development of rural territories in our continent. We hosted the “Fifth Annual Symposium For Facilitating The Development of Agricultural Insurance In The Americas” in February, conducted several conversations with key private sector actors including the Grocery Manufacturers Associ-ation and the National Pork Council, visited with several NGOs and cooperation partners, and continue to work together with the USDA in the advancement of USA interests. Pro-fessionals from our office have worked intensively during this period to support technical activities around different countries either by leading capacity building activities or by co-operating in the execution of the activities defined in our flagship and externally funded projects. IICA continues to work on increasing capacity of agricultural stakeholders and actors by working closely with the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and the Market Information Organization of the Americas (MIOA), supporting the capacity of agricultural authorities to deal with environmental issues by promoting the dialogue of ministers of agriculture and ministers of the environment during the COP20 at Lima; and by the launching of the Virtu-al Food Inspection School in Central America, among others. From the USA, there have been several important news relevant to the IICA mission. One has been the proposal by President Obama for the creation of a single, stand-alone agen-cy for food safety, as an effort to better monitor the quality of the food we consume (Safe Food Act 105). This new agency will combine the responsibilities that are currently han-dled either by FDA or USDA and will increase the efficacy and efficiency of the process of food inspection increasing the safety of the nation food supply. Other initiative of great relevance has been the request made by President Obama, to allocate 1 billion dollars per year, for five years, starting in the 2016 budget, to promote “…prosperity, security and good governance in Central America…”working in three pillars: Prosperity and Re-gional Integration, Enhancing Security and Promoting Improving Governance. We are still awaiting to know how these resources are going to be allocated, however the Presidents of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras have launched the initiative “Alianza para la Prosperidad del Tríangulo Norte” with the support of the IDB and the USA. 2015 promises to be an exciting and busy year for all of us in agriculture.

Sincerely, Dr. Miguel García-Winder,

IICA Representative in the USA, Head of CAESPA

IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015

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IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015

IICA sets up High-Level Technical Committees to Tackle the Major Challenges Facing Agriculture more Effectively

On officially launching its four flagship projects for the next several years and announcing the strengthening of its capabilities in agricultural health and food safety (AHFS), IICA set up five high-level technical committees that will un-derpin the efforts of the organization and its member countries to promote agriculture and rural well-being. The committees are comprised of members of the Institute’s own staff and internationally renowned external advisers specializing in areas that IICA re-gards as strategically important for meeting the challenges of agriculture in the Americas. The groups began their work during a meeting held at IICA Headquarters in Costa Rica. “Strengthening the Institute’s technical capabilities calls for changes, to ena-ble us to evolve into an organization better prepared to respond to the current

challenges facing agriculture,” commented Víctor M. Villalobos, the Director General of IICA. He listed the challenges in question: bridging the gaps in productivity and competitiveness, reducing vulnerability to climate change and the degradation of natural resources, promoting the inclusion of women, young people, indigenous groups and people living in extreme poverty, achieving food and nutrition security, and tapping the opportunities for innovation in each country. To support the efforts of its 34 member countries to meet those challenges, IICA will now carry out its work through the following four flagship projects (FP) and one cross-cutting area of work: Resilience and comprehensive risk management in agriculture Competitiveness and sustainability of agricultural chains for food security and economic development Inclusion in agriculture and rural territories Productivity and sustainability of family agriculture for food security and the rural economy Agricultural health and food safety (cross-cutting area of work). The advisers on resilience are the Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries of Uruguay, Tabaré Aguerre, and Allan Lavell, an associate researcher and coordinator of the Social Studies on Risks and Disasters Program of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO). In the case of agricultural chains, the advisers are the coordinator of the Agribusiness Center of the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Brazil, and that country’s former Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Supply, Roberto Rodrigues, and the Chair of the Commission on Competitiveness of Mexico’s Consejo Coordinador Empresarial, Armando Paredes Arroyo-Loza. The adviser on inclusion is Julio Berdegué, President of Chile’s Latin American Center for Rural Development; while the adviser for fami-ly agriculture, José María Sumpsi, is a professor of the Department of Economics and Agrarian Social Sciences of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Finally, Jessica Mahalingappa, the Administrator for Trade and Capacity Building of the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), is the adviser on AHFS. “It is vitally important for IICA to be able to avail itself of the advisory services of the technical committees, in order to keep abreast of the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in relation to the flagship projects or agricultural health and food safety. The external advisers will also play a strategic role, ensuring that their vision and experience as part of global, cutting-edge institutions, organiza-tions and companies is reflected in our activities,” the Director General of IICA pointed out. The external advisers were agreed on the need to address the challenges facing agriculture in the Americas with actions designed to achieve concrete results, as IICA proposes to do. Read more about the technical committees here.

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Special Feature: Flagship Project (FP) on Competitiveness and Sustainability of Agricultural Chains for

Food Security and Economic Development

IICA´s Strategic Plan (SP) 2010-2020 and Medium-Term Plan (MTP) 2014-2018 reflect a new orientation in the Institutional efforts to help member countries address their challenges and take advantage of the opportunities that have opened up in the new context of agriculture, which is characterized by an increased demand for food, more demanding consumers, stronger competition, more volatile international markets, dwindling natural resources and problems related to the inclusion and linkage of small- and medium-scale pro-ducers in agricultural markets, among other issues. IICA will help member countries to improve the competitive performance of agricultural chains, to promote sustainable development of family farming and to increase the resilience of agricultural systems. It will also help strengthen the contribution of agriculture to development of rural territories and food safety. One of the four flagship projects included in the Medium-Term Plan is the project on Competitiveness and Sustainability of Agricultural Chains for Food Security and Economic Development. The General Objective of the Flagship Project (FP) “Competitiveness and Sustainability of Agricultural Chains for Food Security and Economic Development” is to im-prove the competitive and sustainable performance of agri-cultural chains as a whole and of all their links through poli-cy management, strengthening of institutions and of public-private capacities, and providing support for technological, entrepreneurial, institutional and commercial innovation processes. The Project is organized in four components: policies and institutions for competitiveness of agricultural chains, man-agement of chains and agribusiness capabilities, innovation for productivity, efficiency and sustainability of agricultural chains, and access and linkage of agricultural chains to markets. The following illustration explains the expected results by component. The Strategy of this FP is based on six key elements: 1. Stress technical cooperation in areas in which IICA has experience and capacity and an institutional history. 2. Development of international public goods needed to achieve the Project objectives. 3. Anchoring of project activities in countries and specific chains. The prioritized countries are: Argentina, Costa Rica El Salvador,

Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela , and Uruguay 4. Progressive implementation approach: first on Prioritized countries and chains, followed by regional, plurinational and hemispher-

ic activities to expand results and experiences, and finally by scaling up to other countries and chains 5. Take advantage of knowledge, lessons learned, prior efforts, experience and technical capacities of Countries and Offices. The

Partner Countries are: Canada, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, United States 6. To promote strategic partnerships with public and private institutions and to generate projects to attract external financial re-

sources. Recognizing that The United States of America is one of the key partners for the successful implementation of this FP, the Project Leader and Component 1“Policies and institutions for competitiveness” Coordinator are based in IICA´s Office in the USA. The out-comes of the project, along with those of the other flagship projects to be carried out, should help improve the economies and the wellbeing of rural areas; the sustainable management of natural resources; the resilience of agriculture; inclusion, especially of family farmers, young people and women in agriculture; and food and nutritional security. More information: Daniel Rodriquez, Leader of Project: daniel.rodriquez@iica.int

IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015

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Five IICA-MIOA Projects will Strengthen the Agricultural Market Information Systems in the Americas This year, priority will be given to strengthening the Agricultural Market information Systems of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Strengthen the Agricultural Market Information Systems and increase the competitiveness of the agricultural chains are the main targets for five projects that will be implemented by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Market Information Organization of the Americas (MIOA). These initiatives are being funded by the United States Department of Agricul-ture – Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS) and implemented in the IICA and MIOA member countries. "The implementation of those projects will contribute to consolidate technical cooperation strategies with new partners to strengthen the Agricultural Market Information Systems and complement the objectives of the IICA Flagship Pro-ject: Competitiveness and Sustainability of Agricultural Chains for Food Secu-rity and Economic Development", informed the International Agribusiness Specialist and MIOA Technical Secretary, Mr. Frank Lam. The projects being implemented are: Agricultural Market Information Knowledge Management: This project has the objective to collect and disseminate

knowledge, related to the agricultural market information and intelligence, among all the agricultural chain stakeholders. Strengthening the relationship between the Agricultural Market Information Systems and the private sector: This pro-

ject looks to identify innovative strategies to disseminate more effectively the agricultural market information and respond the needs of the agricultural market information to the private sector.

Inclusion of the agricultural market information and market intelligence concept in the academic curriculum of high-er education institutions: This project seeks the incorporation of these concepts in the formation of future professionals as an effective tool for agribusiness decision-making.

Agricultural Market Information Systems Technological Improvement: This project will develop a cloud-based data-base to facilitate the management, analysis and dissemination of standardized agricultural market information.

Wiki for Agricultural Products: This technological tool will be created to allow users to share information on agricultural products traded in the hemisphere, and it will be implemented in coordination with the Participation Agency Pro-gram Agreement (PAPA) Project of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

To start the implementation of these projects, the MIOA Executive Committee met at IICA Headquarters in Costa Rica on Febru-ary 25th—27th, 2015 as well as to review its Strategic Plan and define the working plan that will strengthen the agricultural market information systems in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia for this year. MIOA is a cooperation network made up of institutions from 33 countries in the Americas with the mission to promote the ex-change of agricultural information on markets and products and seeks cooperation mechanisms for its member countries. More information: frank.lam@iica.int

IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015

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“I received a once in a lifetime opportunity, which was the outcome of the hard work and effort from

IICA, Queretaro’s Government, The Washington Center and my University Tec de Monterrey. I had a

very valuable experience both on the professional and the personal side. I am very grateful to IICA’s

team in the USA for letting me have exposure to a new perspective of my professional career, and for

making me feel part of the team every single day.” – Gabriela Arteaga.

Gabriela Alejandra Arteaga Arredondo, recently graduated as a Food Industry Engineer, from the

state of Querétaro in Mexico, completed a three-month internship at the IICA office in the USA. During

her time at the Institute, Gabriela focused on providing support to IICA’s Food Safety Specialist, work-

ing closely on the recent changes related to the Food Safety Modernization Act, from the US Food and

Drug Administration.

Gabriela’s work contributed to have a successful culmination of IICA’s efforts in delivering together with USDA, course-workshops for

stakeholders in member countries who are interested in exporting products to the United States of America.

“These course-workshops, together with the assessment tool that our Food Specialist has developed, will be very useful for producers

to have a stronger knowledge and awareness for compliance on Food Safety, as well as get them prepared for responding to the new

requirements from FDA.” – Gabriela Arteaga

Among the countries that received IICA’s support through the abovementioned activities were Panama, El Salvador, Honduras, Guate-

mala, and Costa Rica, being the last one an opportunity for Gabriela to assist IICA’s personnel directly in the event, and working with

100+ stakeholders related to Agricultural and Food Processing sectors.

Apart from her Food Safety focused work, Gabriela also developed a Project Proposal for her government back in Queretaro, where

she intends to help producers increase their income and their access to commercialization through value added products and improved

production processes.

Gabriela has returned to Queretaro, where she will complete the process for going to Texas Tech University and keep on working on

Food Safety Modernization Act projects during the Spring semester of 2015.

Internship in Office from September—December 2014

IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015

Gabriela Alejandra Arteaga

Arredondo

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Negotiating in the Heat and Under Pressure: the UNFCCC COP20 in Lima

By Kelly Witkowski, Agriculture and Climate Change Officer, IICA

In December of 2014, the hottest year on record, over 11,000 people met in Lima, Peru, to participate in the negotiations and side events of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) twentieth Conference of the Parties, or COP20. In 2020, the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which set binding emissions reduction targets for the industrialized countries who signed it, will end. Thus, a new global climate agreement needs to be in place by the COP21 in Par-is in 2015 to ensure it can be implemented by 2020. COP20 was a very important stepping stone on the way to the Paris as it was expected to lay the groundwork for the next agreement.

Agriculture is one of the sectors most vulnerable to climate change and it is expected that there will be significant negative im-pacts on production, food security and human well-being as a result. Yet it is also the source of 24% of global emissions if land use change and deforestation is included. Latin America and the Caribbean produces approximately 10% of global emissions, in which the agricultural sector plays a large role.

Despite this, agriculture has not been well integrated into the negotiations to date. The situation was no different during the COP20 where the focus was largely on advancing towards defining a plan for the pre-2020 period and the content of the Intend-ed Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), and on advancing the negotiating text for the new agreement following the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol.

Though some progress was made in Peru, the reaction has been mixed and many are concerned that the outcomes do not set enough of a solid foundation to enable success in Paris. There were advances made on the draft of the negotiating text for the 2015 agreement and the outcomes document, called the “Lima Call to Action”, lays out a framework for the submission of the INDCs. However, many believe it sets a low bar, as the decision adopted only suggests what information to include in the INDCs rather than specifying requirements, and does not mandate an ex ante review of the content. This will make comparison and aggregation of the individual country commitments difficult.

Many Parties advocated for the INDCs to include a balance between mitigation, adaptation and means of implementation. The final language of the Lima Call to Action “invites all Parties to consider…including an adaptation component”.

There have been some positives advances for the agricultural sector both in the run up to the Conference and in Lima, though the sector was not emphasized significantly in the formal discussions there.

The Global Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture was launched at the UN Climate Summit late last year. Several countries in the region are now members, including Grenada, the United States, Costa Rica and Mexico.

Several LAC countries have or are planning to develop NAMAs (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions) for the sector, for

IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015

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example, Costa Rica for coffee and livestock, Peru for agricultural waste to energy, the Dominican Republic for pig farms, and Uruguay for sustainable production with low-emission technologies in agriculture and agroindustry.

Several countries, among them Chile and Guatemala, had representatives for the Ministry of Agriculture on their national delegations for the first time.

The Global Landscapes Forum placed more emphasis on the role of agriculture in sustainable landscapes this year. During that Forum, an inter-ministerial dialogue entitled Forging Synergies between Agriculture and Environment, To-wards a Common Agenda against Climate Change was organized jointly by IICA and The Center for International Forest-ry Research (CIFOR). The event provided a politically neutral space in which ministers from agriculture and from envi-ronment recognized the need to work more closely together and to develop a shared vision to successfully confront the serious challenges presented by a changing climate.

Many side events also discussed the importance of mitigation and an adaptation of agriculture, with participation of rep-resentatives across public, private and civil society from the local to the international scale.

In the months leading up to the COP21, there will be several opportunities to gauge how agriculture might be further consid-ered in the negotiations.

One of these will be the views (or submissions) to be sent by the Parties to the body of the COP that provides information and advice on scientific matters. Submissions were requested on agriculture issues related to the development of early warning systems and contingency plans in relation to extreme weather events and its effects, and on the assessment of risk and vulnerability of agricultural systems to different climate change scenarios at regional, national and local levels.

Also in late March, countries are expected to submit their INDCs to the Secretariat detailing their plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions and also potentially describing their adaptation activities and needs. There it will be evident if countries are priori-tizing action in the agricultural sector (most likely on the adaptation side) and if together, the Parties’ contributions are ambi-tious enough to meet the goal of the Convention: to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations "at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human induced) interference with the climate system" and achieve this “within a time-frame suffi-cient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened, and to ena-ble economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner."

More information: kelly.witkowski@iica.int

IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015

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Agriculture and Environment Ministers Dialogue at the COP20 in Lima

In early December 2014, Ministers, Vice Ministers and other Senior Agriculture and Environment officials from seven Latin American countries participated in an inter-sectoral dialogue held during the 20th Conference of the Parties (COP 20) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Lima. The dialogue, promoted by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) was part of the activities of the Global Landscapes Forum. Entitled “Forging Synergies between Agriculture and Environment, Towards a Common Agenda against Climate Change”, it involved senior officials from Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru. During the dialogue, the ministers and deputy ministers affirmed the need to work in a more coordinated manner to promote climate change adaptation and mitigation by means of more sustainable forms of production. They expressed readiness to un-dertake joint activities involving the two sectors such as improvements in extension services and training in ecosystems ap-proaches, to facilitate adaptation to climate change, “State policies should be used to promote joint work, to move towards more environmentally efficient production systems,” sug-gested the Director General of IICA, Víctor M. Villalobos, who moderated the dialogue. Peter Holmgren, the Director of CIFOR, highlighted agriculture and forestry’s areas of common interest. “They are sectors that must move forward together,” he ob-served. IICA at COP20 website

IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015

Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Agriculture and Environment

met in Lima with support of IICA and CIFOR.

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Specialists Promote Agenda for Advancing Agricultural Insurance in Latin America and the Caribbean

More than 25 specialists from Latin America and the Caribbean met in Washington on February 13th, 2015 to discuss the successes, challenges, and priorities of agricultural insurance in the hemi-sphere, with a view to promoting options that make it possible to tackle the challenges posed by climate change. The symposium, an event organized annually by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), focused on a review of the current situation of countries in the region with regard to this issue, as well as the key role that the financing and creation of pub-lic-private partnerships play in the industry’s consolidation. The Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Albert Ramdin, took part in the meeting and high-lighted the need for the countries to move ahead with the develop-ment of risk management tools, with emphasis on small and medi-um-sized producers. “In light of the natural hazards that pose such a risk to the agricul-tural sector, preparedness is essential, not just action after a disas-ter has occurred. Within the broad framework of risk management, agricultural insurance can be a vital tool for coping with extreme weather events,” Ramdin observed. David Hatch, IICA specialist in agricultural insurance, seconded Ramdin’s remarks and pointed out that over 80% of farms in the region were run by smallholders. “To help this segment of the population improve the techniques it uses to adapt to climate change, it must be afforded access to agricultural insurance and adopt risk management practices effectively and collectively,” Hatch remarked. He added that smallholders played a key role in food security and the impact of climate call for the development of tools to re-duce their vulnerability. “Developing sustainable insurance programs in each country is imperative,” he emphasized. IICA, in tandem with the public and private sectors, has been promoting the development of agricultural insurance in the Ameri-cas for more than 10 years. View the event webpage about the “Fifth Annual Symposium For Facilitating The Development of Agricultural Insurance In The Americas” More information: david.hatch@iica.int

The IICA Representative in the USA, Miguel García-Winder; the Assistant

Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Albert Ramdin;

and the IICA specialist in agricultural insurance, David C. Hatch.

IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015

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2015 USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum: Smart Agriculture in the 21st Century

A Discussion on Innovation, Biotechnology, and Big Data

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) held its 91st Annual Agricultural Outlook Forum 2015 on February 19– 20, 2015 in Arlington, Virginia. The theme this year focused on Smart Agriculture in the 21st Century, A Discussion on Innovation, Biotechnology, and Big Data. The main take home messages about the outlook for US Agriculture, which are relevant to Latin American agriculture, were delivered by Rob Johansson, USDA Acting Chief Economist:

Productivity gains have resulted in a long-run downward trend in agricultural commodity prices in real terms since World War

II (see figure).

Looking forward into 2015 and out over the next 10 years, real output growth is projected to keep pace with or exceed de-

mand, reflected in a declining but flattening long-run price trend.

The dollar began to appreciate in 2014 and will likely continue into 2015, making US imports cheaper and US exports more

expensive.

With agricultural prices expected to be lower, the USDA projects payments to producers enrolled in the new Farm Bill pro-

grams to be higher than $6 billion in 2015.

The historically high commodity prices of the last several years encouraged investment and expanded the production of

many crops. Those large crops for many grains and oilseeds have allowed for the rebuilding of stocks for most commodities.

Larger stocks domestically and globally mean prices are likely to be less sensitive to adverse market conditions and could

stabilize price volatility even if a major production shortfall were to occur in 2015. For more information on the concepts, approaches, the climate change response framework and adaptation demonstrations can be found in: http://goo.gl/e59P3N. For more information go to http://www.usda.gov/oce/forum or contact miguel.garcia@iica.int and joaquin.arias@iica.int

IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015

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IICA Participates in the 2015 USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum Session on USDA Market News

On February 19th, 2015, Dr. Miguel García-Winder, IICA Representative in the USA, participated on behalf of IICA’s Deputy Director General Lloyd Day, in a session on USDA Market News at the 2015 USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum. The session was moderated by Terry Long, Fruit & Vegetables Market News Director, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), USDA. Long shared that the USDA data serves as the information life-line for America’s agricultural economy. He stated that Market News which celebrates 100 years this year, began as an experiment in Hammonds, LA in 1915 to track strawberries. The USDA Market News data reporter motto has been to “Get it. Get it right. Get it out.” The dissemination of the Market News has evolved over the years from telegraph, teletype, radio, TV, fax, computer to handheld devices. (See USDA graphic below)

Similarly, Long stated that the federal-state partners and report-ers are all trained in USDA’s market system, ensuring con-sistency regardless of the source. Looking ahead, Long con-cluded that the Market Analysis and Reporting Service is on the horizon and it is USDA’s contribution to big data. Dr. Miguel García-Winder, presented on Market News in the Americas. He shared insight into the work of the Market Infor-mation Organization of the Americas (MIOA). MIOA is led and supported by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and For-eign Agricultural Service (FAS). MIOA has improved the capaci-ty of reporters work to gather real price of commodities. This organization will continue to partner with organizations around the world. Dr. García shared that 33 countries in the Americas work to-gether to promote information, improve food safety and develop trade opportunities. He said that “Market information is the life-blood of market economy, it levels the playing field and facili-

tates sales and trade. Last week's data does not help today’s trading. We need timely data and strong infrastructure to support it. Without a national market information system, opportunities for producers and agri-businesses are lost and it is about market intelligence, not just market data.” Dr. García concluded by saying that “if we are going to have united trade, we need transparen-cy and to speak the same market language.” Other speakers in this session included Dave Lehman, Managing Director, CME Group who presented on “The Value of Market News” by highlighting how information has value throughout the supply chain. The final speaker, Bob Young, Chief Economist, American Farm Bureau Federation spoke on “The Future of Market News”. He discussed a vision for the future of a smarter Mar-ket News for American agriculture. View presentations from event. “For 100 years, AMS has provided free, unbiased price and sales information to assist in the marketing and distribution of farm commodities.” - www.ams.usda.gov The USDA Market News celebrate 100 years. This video commemorates this accomplishment.

Dr. Miguel García-Winder,

IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015

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IICA Launches Virtual Food Inspection School in Central America and the Dominican Republic

Nearly 300 food inspectors in Central America and the Dominican Republic embarked on a training process that will enable them to update their knowledge and exchange experiences about their work through a series of courses organized by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). The courses are intended to facilitate the harmonization of the food safety controls of the countries concerned and promote trade in foodstuffs in the region. Under the aegis of the Regional Virtual Food Inspection School for Central America and the Dominican Republic (ERVIA), the training activities are carried out via IICA’s Moodle platform, available on its website (http://moodle.iica.ac.cr/moodle/). One of the ultimate aims of the courses is to teach small and medium-scale producers good agricultural practices based on ef-fective inspections during the primary production phase. Divided into six modules, the training deals with subjects such as the basics of food chemistry, the risks associated with safety, good agricultural practices, risks and controls related to meat storage processes, legislation and modern inspection principles. The project aims to train between 25% and 35% of the food inspectors in each country by the time it concludes in 2016. Next year the virtual school will offer representatives of the private sector the opportunity to participate in the initiative; and a course for food safety auditors will also be available by the end of the project. The objective of the project is to offer food inspectors basic information about technical and attitudinal elements, with a view to promoting the modernization and mutual recognition of national food inspection systems. Thus, the project will contribute to the region’s development by facilitating trade and promoting the consumption of safe food. The ERVIA has been endorsed by the Central American Agricultural Council (CAC), comprised of the ministers of agriculture of the eight countries, and by the Council of Ministers of Health of Central America and the Dominican Republic (COMISCA). It is also consistent with the provisions of the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which calls for the establishment of standards related to good agricultural practices and prevention systems to improve safety in food production and in processing plants. Read more about these training courses here. More information: ana.cordero@iica.int

IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015

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IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015

IICA Continues to be Present at the Meetings of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States

OAS Permanent Council Approves the Plan of Action of the Social Charter of the Americas On February 11th, 2015, the member states of the OAS approved the Plan of Action of the Social Charter of the Americas. As stated in the plan, “The purpose of this Plan of Action is to set goals and strategic lines of action in the areas of labor, social protection, health, food and nutrition, education, housing and basic public services, and culture, in order to help to achieve the principles, purposes, and priorities contained in the Social Charter of the Americas, ac-cording to the reality of each member state. “This Plan of Action reflects the member states' determination and commitment to eradicate poverty and hunger and urgently address the se-rious problems of social exclusion and inequality at all levels to achieve equity, inclusion, and social justice, while recognizing that member states experience varying degrees of progress with respect to the areas proposed.” IICA Representative in USA ,Dr. Miguel García-Winder, spoke on behalf of IICA’s Director General Dr. Victor Villalobos at this meeting. He shared IICA’s perspectives on the social goals of the region and stressed the importance of the Social Charter and its Plan of Action. Dr. Garcia stated “ today more than ever, agriculture takes a new dimension, not only because being the activity that produces foods that allow us to live, but also because agriculture is at the intersection of the great problems of humanity: food security, combating poverty, sustainability and climate change, Faced with this challenge, IICA reiterates our commitment to redouble our efforts to achieve the goals that the Social Charter offers us.”

OAS Elections Among the most relevant issues reviewed during this new period of regular and special sessions, were the presentations of the Candidates to Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General to the OAS for the period 2015-2020. Minister of Foreign Rela-tions of Uruguay, Luis Almagro, is the sole candidate for Secretary General of the Organization. The current Permanent Repre-sentatives of Guyana, Ambassador Bayney Karran, and of Belize, Ambassador Nestor Mendez, are the candidates for Assistant Secretary General. The elections for both, Secretary and Assistant Secretary General will be on March 18th, 2015 in Washington DC.

Summits of the Americas: The first two Regular Meetings for 2015 of The Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG) and the Joint Summit Working Group (JSWG), were held in Panama on January and February, respectively. During this two first meeting of the year, delegates discussed and agreed on re-vised versions of the document: “PROSPERITY WITH EQUITY: THE CHALLENGE OF CO-OPERATION IN THE AMERICAS” MANDATES FOR ACTION. On April 10-11, 2015 the Heads of State and Government of the Americas will address the Seventh Summit central theme, “Prosperity with Equity: The Challenge of Cooperation in the Americas", within which will be discussed several sub-themes, among them security, energy, health, education, migration flows, democratic governance, and citizen participation.

The Summit, which occurs every three years, offers the opportunity for countries to jointly define a hemispheric agenda at the high-est level to address urgent challenges and propel positive change.

Dr. Miguel García-Winder

Photo: OAS

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IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015

Regional Mechanism Sponsored by IICA and the Inter-American Development Bank Receives $1.8 million to Address Climate Change in

Latin America and the Caribbean

The Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology (FONTAGRO) promotes the development and transfer of technologies that facili-tate the adaptation of small scale agriculture to climate change and contribute to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. The fund operates in 15 countries that include some that are very vulnerable to climate change, such as those in Central America and the Andean Region. To date, FONTAGRO has worked to promote capacity building on climate change among scientists and recently it carried out training on technologies for measuring greenhouse emissions from livestock production. The workshop was held at the agricultural national research institute in Chile in January 2015, with participation from 12 scientists from various member coun-tries. The Fund is also raising awareness on the need to invest on small farmer innovation recognizing that it takes ingenuity and persistence to make a small farm work in this globalized economy, especially with the added pressure of climate change. FONTAGRO will now expand its actions on climate change in the agricultural sector, thanks to a contribution of US $1.8 million from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). FONTAGRO will contribute US$1.05 million and it is estimated that the executing countries will contribute at least $3 million. In total, this effort will mobilize more than $5.8 million. The funds will be used to support projects that promote the adaptation of family agriculture to climate change. It will also enable smallholder farmers to share their experiences and strategies to increase their resilience and capacity to adapt. "The program is a direct contribution to the design of mechanisms and technology, following the resolutions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The implementation of these projects through FONTAGRO allows the participation of at least 15 countries in Latin America, which may develop projects for adaptation and mitigation” said José Luis Repetto, FONTAGRO President and also the vice president of the National Agricultural Research Institute in Uruguay. FONTAGRO is sponsored by the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). This unique regional cooperation mechanism promotes innovation to increase the competitiveness and food security of family farmers. Created in 1998, the Fund has a capital of US$100 million contributed by Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Spain, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela. FONTAGRO operates through a Technical Administrative Secretariat based at the IDB in Washington DC. To date, FONTAGRO has invested US$82 million in 98 regional projects, including contributions from other funders and implementing institutions. More information: priscila.henriquez@iica.int

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FONTAGRO to Support Projects to Improve Milk and Honey Production and an Early Warning System for Coffee Rust

This fund, supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and IICA, invests in research and innovation projects to benefit family agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean.

During its extraordinary board meeting in Panama on February 23rd –24th, 2015, the Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology (FONTAGRO) Board of Directors approved funding for three new regional initiatives for the devel-opment of family agriculture in light of the challenges posed by climate change. A system for improving dairy and honey production and an early warning system for coffee rust are the focus of the new projects supported by the Fund to strengthen family agriculture in the Region. Two agreements to launch new projects were also signed during the event. The first aims at reducing damages caused by the coffee stem borer in plan-tations affected by climate change in Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. The second project will improve the water use efficiency in rice production in Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. FONTAGRO’s projects are carried out through innovation platforms with the participation of farmers, researchers and the private sector.

The Board also discussed the establishment of new partnerships for research and innovation to build capacity among its members. Visible results While in Panama, the FONTAGRO board visited the research station of the National Agricultural Research Institute of Panama (IDIAP) in Rio Hato, to see first-hand the results of a rice research project implemented jointly between Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, supported by FONTAGRO. With this initiative, new varieties that have contributed to improve the production and competitiveness of this crop have been developed. In Panama, the new varieties are planted in 60% of the area cultivated with rice. “This Project has been one of FONTAGRO’s most successful, mainly due to its economic and social impact. It also demonstrates that the work between farmers and governmental research organizations contributes to positive exchanges in the region” stated FONTA-GRO’s President José Luis Repetto. FONTAGRO is a unique regional cooperation mechanism that promotes innovation in family farming, food security and agriculture competitiveness. Sponsored by the IDB and IICA, FONTAGRO, uses the interest it accrues on the $100 million fund provided by its member countries to carry out innovation projects. FONTAGRO also works in partnership with several donors, including the Govern-ments of New Zealand and Korea. The Fund was created in 1998 and has 15 member states: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, España, Hondu-ras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay y Venezuela. For more information: priscila.henriquez@iica.int

IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015

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PROCINORTE Explores Synergies on Agricultural Research and Outreach with Latin America The Board of Directors of PROCINORTE discussed common interests and opportunities to develop joint projects and contribute to agricultural research in Latin America. Scientists from the four PROCINORTE task forces presented the 2014 results of the collaboration between Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Branch, the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, and the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Forestry and Livestock in Mexico. Among the most promising developments is a tool to measure fruit maturity in the field that could potentially save thousands of dollars to producers by avoiding de-stroying fruits to measure dry matter, as is currently done. This long-term project has been carried out in avocado orchards in Nayarit, Mexico, in cooperation be-tween researchers and producers. Other activities include training scientists and regulators in highly accurate diag-nostic techniques for important animal diseases such as avian and swine influen-zas and bovine tuberculosis. Carried out in specialized laboratories in the US and Canada, these activities aim to harmonize the use of these tools.

PROCINORTE also works to prevent the spread of invasive pests which is facilitated by the increases in temperature due to climate change. Scientists from Mexico were trained on the identification of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, an insect pest that is widespread in the continental US and has been reported in Ontario. The scientists predict that if it spreads to Mexico, be-tween seven to nine generations of this insect could develop per year and could cause massive damage to important food crops such as beans and maize. Strengthening the capacities of scientists in the member countries has been always a priority for PROCINORTE, and the effort has recently extended to include researchers from Latin America. For example, germplasm curators from Bolivia, Guatemala and Belize have been trained in the use of Global-GRIN, a documentation system for germplasm collections, already imple-mented by PROCINORTE countries.

During its meeting at IICA headquarters on February 25th, 2015, the members of the PROCINORTE Board of Directors ex-plored opportunities to link the knowledge generated by PROCINORTE with other research organizations in Latin America. IICA will play a crucial role in this endeavor as it also supports other regional networks that work in many areas of common interest. “Genetic resources, animal and plant health, and fruit production are areas of interest within the IICA flagship projects and many synergies with PROCINORTE are being explored” indicated Salvador Fernandez, IICA’s Director of Technical Cooperation. For more information: priscila.henriquez@iica.int

Surveys in Mexico to monitor invasive pests. Photo:

INIFAP

Surveys in Mexico to monitor invasive pests.

Photo: INIFAP

IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015

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IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015

What Chinese Finance Means for Latin America On February 26th, 2015 the Inter-American Dialogue's China Program hosted an event “Lender of Last Resort?: What Chinese Finance Means for Latin America” which discussed the newest findings on Chinese finance in Latin America through its database. Speakers at this event included Kevin Gallagher, Associate Professor of Global Development Poli-cy, Boston University, Geoff Dyer, reporter, Financial Times, and Haibing Zhang, deputy director of the Institute for Economic Comparative Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies. Key elements of the discussions follows: 2014 the second highest year on record for Chinese finance in Latin America, with loans reaching USD 22 billion. Chinese

loans were higher than that of the World Bank and the IDB combined. The major recipients of loans from China are in descending order: Venezuela (US56.3 since 2007 or 43% of total), Argentina

and Brazil. The focus is on Latin America's extractive and infrastructure sectors. This reason comes from China’s experi-ence that infrastructure is a necessary first step for sustainable development.

Most lending comes from China Development Bank (US83 billion since 2005), China Export-Import Bank (USD20.9 billion). Both policy banks were created to support the government, however, other banks like ICBC and Bank of China are also im-portant lenders in the Region.

Most loans denominated in dollars, so there is some exchange rate risk exposure. A lot of discussion went around the idea of, if China is trying to replace Washington Base institutions? The background is that

the preference for China loans is because they are not subject to meddling in domestic policies nor China promotes the con-ditionalities on loans that the IMF or World Bank would.

The consensus was, however, that they actually want to complement or partner instead of competing with the World Bank or the IDB. In fact, China can learn much from DC institutions to avoid the risk of default. It is clear that the loans are not gifts, so China expects a payback.

The general public in China are very skeptical about the government lending money to developing countries, so China very much expects a pay back of the loans and no risk of default.

China's interest in promoting regional Banks (in the context of BRIC or CELAC countries) is because multilateral means of providing loans (BRIC/World Bank or IDB) should be more effective than the bilateral way country-to-country of lending nego-tiations. Also, since in bilateral lending there is no formal system to confront the risk of default, institutions like the BRICs can put more pressure to countries to pay back.

Regional Banks could be key to promote the urgent needed interregional investment in LAC instead of bilateral lending for investment only at the country level.

Concerns were expressed about the lack of environmental standards in investments made with Chinese capital in LAC. However, as the environmental indicators published by Yale University show, LAC countries show better standards than China.

The China-Latin America Finance Database can be accessed: http://www.thedialogue.org/map_list For more information contact Joaquin.arias@iica.int

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Phone: 202-458-3767

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March 16th -18th, 2015 - Third Global Science Conference: Climate Smart

Agriculture 2015, Montpellier, France March 24th – 25th, 2015 - GWHCC Business Expo – International Symposium –

Promoting Trade Among the Americas, Washington, D.C. March 25th, 2015—Presentation of IICA’s Annual Report to OAS Permanent

Council, Washington, D.C. April 10th – 11th, 2015 – Summit of the Americas, Panama City, Panama April 13th – 14th 2015 - World Strategic Forum, Miami, FL April 16th, 2015 - The Chicago Council Global Food Security Symposium,

Washington, D.C. July 15th – 17th, 2015 - Thirty-fifth Regular Meeting of the Executive Committee,

IICA Headquarters, Costa Rica

IICA Office in the USA Newsletter—January—February 2015