International Organizations Agree to Safeguard Latin American and Caribbean Food and Agricultural Systems
5 mayo 2020

NUTRITION

COVID-19. On April 9, representatives of the food and agriculture sector of 11 international organizations met in Chile and agreed to help countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to secure their food systems and maintain agriculture and food trade while the coronavirus pandemic lasts. It is expected that in the coming weeks the agencies will work together to promote the exchange of good practices between countries and sectors.

Specifically, the organizations said they will focus their work on keeping agri-food trade going, expanding social protection schemes to ensure food security for vulnerable populations, common sanitary and phytosanitary standards and increasing intraregional trade.

To coordinate their actions, the organizations have established a virtual communication platform and arranged to meet every two weeks. They also stated that they would coordinate their technical assistance to support the design and implementation of measures to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on the sector and the monitoring of the effects of the disease on food and agriculture. 

Among the group of organizations mentioned are the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Security Agency (CAHFSA), the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the International Regional Organization for Plant and Animal Health (OIRSA, in Spanish), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

Next steps

On April 9, a group of international organizations, including FAO, ECLAC and IDB, agreed to work to safeguard the food systems of Latin American and Caribbean countries during the coronavirus pandemic. In this context, they stated that maintaining agriculture and food trade was a priority. In the coming weeks, the agencies are expected to work together to safeguard food security for the population and to provide technical assistance where necessary. The organizations will also implement a platform for the exchange of information on measures and good practices adopted by the various countries in these areas.

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