jared laurels
Newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday, November 9, 2022, p. eleven
The health emergency caused by covid-19 caused a two-decade setback in environmental, economic, health and social matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, warned the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), which pointed out that the ravages of the pandemic show that in the region there are 44 million more people than in 2019 in food insecurity and an additional 209 million in poverty.
Manuel Otero, director of IICA, stated the above and added that by the end of 2022, a 7 percent drop in gross domestic product is estimated in the region, as well as an accumulated annual inflation of 8.1 percent and an increase of 28.1 in international prices of food that make up the family basket.
Faced with this complex scenario, he assured that agriculture can lead the economic and social recovery of the countries, by assuming more comprehensive roles with links to different sectors, such as industrial, commercial and health, not only -he said- to provide more healthy at more affordable prices, but to generate jobs and income.
Participating in the virtual seminar Challenges of Agrifood Innovation in the face of New National and Global Trends, he called for the acceleration of the use of digital technologies in the field to face the multiple crisis
global situation, a situation that is aggravated by the conflict in Ukraine in the face of uncertainty due to the closure of markets, increase in fuel prices, fertilizers and other inputs.
The director of the regional organization rejected the frontal attacks
that agriculture is a failed model
because -he maintained- it is only required make adjustments
in the way in which this productive activity is carried out for a more rational use of natural resources.
