WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/AG/GEN/97 
4 November 2011  
 
(11-5607) 
Committee on Agriculture Original:   Spanish 
  
 
THE MARRAKESH DECISION AND FOOD SECURITY:  CONTRIBUTION OF THE 
INTER-AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR COOPERATION ON AGRICULTURE (IICA) 
IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 
 
Submission by IICA 
   The following submission, dated 2 November 2011, is being circulated at the request of the 
Inter-American Institute for C ooperation on Agriculture (IICA). 
 
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 1. The main purpose of this document is to pr ovide a summary of the activities carried out 
within the framework of IICA's commitment to f ood security in Latin America and the Caribbean, 
in the light of agriculture's importance as a source of income and food in the countries of the region 
and the current rise in, and con tinuing volatility of, food prices. 
2. IICA has always been committed to the food securi ty of the Americas.  One of the strategic 
objectives of its 2010-2014 Medium-Term Plan  is "to improve agriculture's contribution to food 
security" and to this end, it supports its member States in the development of national food security 
strategies and the implementation of national agricult ural investment plans with a view to improving 
not only food production and quality, but producers'  incomes, in particular those of small and 
medium-scale producers.  These principles were ratifi ed at the recent meeting of the Inter-American 
Board of Agriculture, held at IICA headquarters in October 2011. 
3. To meet these objectives, IICA implements t echnical focus programm es in the following 
areas:  innovation for competitiveness;  agribusiness and marketing;  territories and rural well-being;  
and health and safety.  It also implements cro ss-sectoral programmes on natural resources and climate 
change, and food security.  All of these programmes seek to contribute to agricultural development 
and food security in the Americas through actions to  improve access to food, food availability, and 
food stability and utilization (the pillars of food secur ity).  IICA's Centre for Strategic Analysis for 
Agriculture (CAESPA) is also working on a number of food security-related lines of action, one of 
which involves strategic research and analysis for agriculture. 
4. IICA, in conjunction with the Economic Commi ssion for Latin America and the Caribbean 
(ECLAC) and the Regional Office for Latin Americ a and the Caribbean of the Food and Agriculture 
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) , recently published the annual report " The Outlook for 
Agriculture and Rural Development in the Americ as:  A Perspective on Latin America and the 
Caribbean 2011-2012 ", which describes the progress made in ag riculture in recent years and presents 
an overview of rural development and food security in the region. 
5. To carry out its functions, IICA has established institutional thematic networks  for technical 
cooperation, which act as an internal tool for coor dinating and bringing together teams with a view to 
enhancing technical capacity, sharing knowledge, id eas and experiences, and building a constantly G/AG/GEN/97 
Page 2  
 
  updated critical mass.  The thematic food security  network currently comprises 32 technicians and 
covers all the Latin American and Caribbean countries.
1 
6. A number of IICA projects relating to food security in Latin America and the Caribbean have 
been financed by strategic countries and allies.  Such projects include: 
(a) A support programme for food security and employment generation in rural areas of 
Haiti, implemented in response to the 2010 earthquake with financing from the 
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). 
(b) IICA participates in the technical a dvisory committee of the World Food 
Programme's Purchase for Progress (P4P) programme and is involved in implementing this programme in four Member countries, including Guatemala, 
Honduras and Nicaragua. 
(c) IICA and the Tropical Agricultural Research  and Higher Education Centre (CATIE) 
implement a joint action programme in th e countries where they work (mainly 
Central America).  This programme covers agriculture and climate change;  innovative production (linked to food secu rity);  institutional frameworks and 
capacities for sustainable land management;  food security in small-scale agriculture;  
and knowledge management. 
(d) In Haiti, IICA is implementing two projects to enhance food security and chains;  
in Central America, it has launched the Regional Programme for Research and Innovation in Value Chains (PRIICA), which is funded by the European Union. 
(e) A technological innovation strategy to im prove the productivity and competitiveness 
of production chains in Central Am erica and the Dominican Republic, and 
a programme on the adaptation of maize and beans to climate change in Central America and the Dominican Republic, with IDB funding. 
(f) A project to enhance food productivity and quality, and thus food security, in Central 
America and the Dominican Republic, th rough innovation and the transfer of 
technology to small-scale producers of st aple foods.  Funding provided by Chinese 
Taipei. 
(g) An "agricultural innovation network" proj ect to promote innovation and technological 
research in respect of staple crops.  Phase III of the project is currently under way and 
focuses on identifying and disseminating technological innovations for maize and beans which can be replicated throughout the central region.  This project is 
implemented with Swiss cooperation. 
(h) A project on the adaptation of maize and beans to climate change.  Funding from the 
Republic of Korea via the IDB. 
(i) IICA supported the formulation of the Regional Food and Nutrition Security Policy 
for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). 
(j) IICA, in association with the Institute of  Nutrition of Central America and Panama 
and the Secretariat of the Central American Agricultural Council (CAC), is 
                                                      
1 To access this network, write to karol.alpizar@iica.int  or telephone +(506) 2216-0441.  G/AG/GEN/97 
 Page 3 
 
 
  participating in the preparation of the Re gional Food and Nutrition Security Agenda 
for Central America. 
7. This year, IICA approved the project " Agriculture's contribution to food security, 
2011-2014 ", which is implemented by the cross-sector al coordination programme on agriculture and 
food security in collaboration with IICA technical focus programmes and CAESPA.  The general aim 
of this project is to support the strengthening of the food security-related institutional framework in 
member States, with a view to enhancing the contribution to food security made by small and 
medium-scale producers (including those involve d in family farming) and reducing producer 
vulnerability. 
8. At the end of 2010 and throughout 2011, vari ous seminars and workshops were held on 
public food security policies.  In Novemb er 2010, an international seminar entitled " Agriculture and 
climate change:  institutions, policies and innovation " was held in Santiago, Chile.  This seminar, 
organized by ECLAC, FAO and IICA, looked at how climate change can affect the four pillars of 
food security (food availability, access to food, supply  stability, and consumers' ability to utilize food 
taking into account its safety and nutritional value) , the challenge that climate change poses to food 
security, and the synergies and trade-offs between f ood security and climate change mitigation targets. 
9. A second workshop entitled " Central American intersectoral policy dialogue to address food 
price hikes and volatility:  challenges and opportunities " was held in El Salvador in June 2011.  
It was organized by ECLAC, FAO, IICA and the Regional Technical Assistance Unit.  Here, IICA examined the policy measures taken by Central Am erican countries to boost food production and 
promote food security. 
10. In September 2011, an international workshop on food security, climate change and trade was 
held in San José, Costa Rica.  This workshop was organized by IICA, the Central America and 
Haiti office of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), the technical office of the Spanish 
Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) in Costa Rica, and the Latin American 
Trade Network.  The purpose of the workshop was to analyse the inter-linkages between trade, 
climate change and food security with a view to  supporting the Ministries of Agriculture, Natural 
Resources, the Environment, and Trade of the tropi cal Americas region in the formulation of public 
policies in these areas.  It is hoped that the outcome  will be a regional medium-term research proposal 
for generating knowledge, with clear ly defined financing mechanisms, which would make it possible 
to define better strategies and policies. 
11. For further information on IICA activ ities in this field, please contact: 
 Rafael Trejos Solórzano 
 Manager of the IICA Centre for Strate gic Analysis for Agriculture (CAESPA) 
 E-mail: rafael.trejos@iica.int  
 Tel.: +(506) 2216-0218 
 
Adriana Campos Azofeifa 
Trade Policy and Negotiations Specialist E-mail: adriana.campos@iica.int  
Tel.: +(506) 2216-0170 
 12. For more information, please visit the IICA website at http://www.iica.int . 
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