San Jose, July 28 (EFE). Senior officials from America and Africa on Thursday agreed on the importance of enhancing cooperation in science and technology in agriculture to advance toward sustainable development on both continents.
“Cooperation in science, technology and innovation must be at the heart of enhanced cooperation between Africa and America to realize the potential of both continents, and enhance their role as guarantors of global food and nutrition security,” the participants at the Science, Technology and Innovation table concluded at the Africa-Americas Summit on Agri-Food Systems.
The event, organized by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA), the African Union Development Agency – New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) meets in Costa Rica Ministers, Deputy Ministers and senior officials of Agriculture, environment, science and technology from 40 countries.
The meeting aims to strengthen cooperation between America and Africa to face global food security challenges.
Another conclusion of the event is that both regions can cooperate with the aim of creating productive, sustainable and inclusive agricultural sectors that contribute to sustainable development in a homogeneous manner.
“Brazil today is an agricultural powerhouse thanks to the investment we have made in science, technology and innovation. The Ministry of Agriculture directs its strategies that predict the future of Brazilian agriculture and agriculture and also to conduct a process of collaboration in contemporary agriculture, with the Americas, Africa and other continents”, said the Minister of Innovation, Sustainable Development and Irrigation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock The catering from Brazil, Clipper Oliveira Soares.
The official stressed that the summit is important “to share our vision, to work together on a low-carbon agenda, for critical inputs, with an African and Latin American network to reduce costs to producers.”
For his part, Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Osimi Olurutimi Akinbamejo, commented that the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of science, technology and innovation for the well-being of the population.
“Progress in this area is necessary not only to recover from this crisis and future crises, but to face other global challenges such as poverty, malnutrition, disease, food insecurity, inequality, climate change and many more,” he said.
Summit participants identified priority areas for the application of science, technology and innovation that should include crops, livestock, current agricultural productivity, management productivity and management of digital and precision agriculture.
The summit is supported by multilateral credit, cooperation and private sector organizations such as Bayer, the Development Bank for Latin America (CAF), the World Bank Group, Microsoft, Rabobank, Syngenta and the US Secretary of Agriculture (USDA). EFE
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