Electronic bulletin of
June 30 - August 15, Year 5. Nº8
IICA Connection is the electronic bulletin of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). It will be sent bi-monthly to your e-mail address with information on recent activities of the Institute. We welcome your comments at the following address: iicaconexion@iica.int
Week of Agriculture and Rural Life of the Americas comes to a successful conclusion
The event brought together delegations from IICA’s Member States and public and private stakeholders to discuss issues high on the global agenda.
They signed an agreement designed to promote among the stakeholders a more comprehensive view of agriculture and the rural milieu and a new way of working in both.
At the end of the Week of Agriculture and Rural Life of the Americas, the delegates of the countries meeting in Antigua Guatemala expressed satisfaction with the outcome and agreed that the decisions taken would help improve rural life in the hemisphere.
In the city of Antigua Guatemala, the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Chelston Brathwaite, presented the report “Agriculture and the new challenges of development,” which describes the overarching trends in agriculture and rural life in the hemisphere.
Representatives of civil society and agribusiness leaders met during the Week of Agriculture.
The winners received their awards from the Chairman of the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA) and Minister of Agriculture of Guatemala, Bernardo Lopez.
The heads of delegation affirmed that it was not just a case of creating a new form of agriculture. Civilization was entering a new stage and the agricultural sector could help achieve new levels of development.
Week of Agriculture and Rural Life of the Americas comes to a successful conclusion
27 July marked the conclusion of the Week of Agriculture and Rural Life of the Americas. For an entire week, agriculture in the hemisphere took center stage in the beautiful colonial city of Antigua Guatemala.
Several hundred participants from 34 countries took part in the event. Inside the walls of a 16th-century Dominican convent, they sought answers to the challenges of the new millennium, broke with existing paradigms, reached agreements and decided to continue working together for the good of agriculture in the hemisphere.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA) of Guatemala and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) organized the event together.
The Week included four major, large-scale activities: the Forum of Ministerial Delegates (GRICA 2007), two forums involving key stakeholders in agriculture, the Fourth Ministerial on Agriculture and Rural Life within the framework of the Summit of the Americas process, and the Fourteenth Regular Meeting of the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA).
Building consensus
The Forum of Ministerial Delegates met on Monday and Tuesday (23-24 July) to reach a consensus on the Hemispheric Ministerial Agreement Guatemala 2007. The specialists involved in the Forum analyzed the document that the ministers would be signing paragraph by paragraph, line by line and in four languages simultaneously. The ministers then signed the document on Thursday (26 July), with Guatemala’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gert Rosenthal, serving as witness of honor.
The ministerial process “Agriculture and Rural Life” reached a new high point when two forums of key stakeholders in agriculture took place. The first involved agricultural entrepreneurs and the other, civil society organizations. It was the first time that stakeholders not belonging to the public sector had taken part in the efforts to chart the future course of agriculture and seek solutions to the challenges it faces.
The participants in the nongovernmental forums asked that their involvement be made a permanent feature of the Week of Agriculture, to allow them to play a proactive role in the construction of a new institutional framework designed, among other things, to provide a structure for establishing State policies for agriculture capable of promoting competitiveness and equity, and not affected by the ups and downs of national politics.
The points on which the GRICA and the forums of key stakeholders reached agreement provided crucial input for the Hemispheric Ministerial Agreement Guatemala 2007. Each country also presented a national report describing the progress made and challenges identified in implementing the AGRO Plan in 2006 and 2007.
The ministers and representatives reaffirmed their commitment to the implementation and updating of the AGRO 2003-2015 Plan. Adopted in Panama in 2003, that document sets out a vision and a shared agenda for agriculture in the hemisphere that is closely linked to the attainment of the Millennium Goals.
To consolidate the positioning of agriculture and rural life, the results achieved in Guatemala will be submitted to the next Summit of the Americas, due to take place in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009.
The IABA
Immediately after the Fourth Ministerial, IICA’s highest governing body, the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA), met 26-27 July.
The Board took important decisions regarding the institutional life of this agency of the Inter-American System and received reports on the actions implemented in support of the ministerial hemispheric agreements.
The IABA also endorsed the efforts of the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Director General of IICA to give the Institute an increasingly important role as the technical organization in charge of conducting studies and executing projects financed by the Bank in aid of small and medium-scale producers and rural communities.
IICA also presented the Report on the State of and Outlook for Agriculture. Entitled “Agriculture and the new challenges of development,” the document describes the overarching trends in the sector.
In addition to the activities programmed in advance, a series of bilateral and subregional meetings took place over the course of the week. The participants’ took advantage of their presence in Guatemala to sign agreements, review projects and advance negotiations.
In Antigua Guatemala, the governmental delegates were joined by senior officials of international organizations. The latter included the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza; the Regional Director of FAO for Latin America and the Caribbean, Jose Graziano Da Silva; the Director General of the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), Pedro Ferreira; and, the Director of the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), Keith A. E. Archibald.
Representatives of the World Bank, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) also attended the event.
In 2009, a similar hemispheric meeting will take place in Jamaica, whose Government offered to host the Fifth Ministerial and the Fifteenth Regular Meeting of the Inter-American Board of Agriculture.
Delegates pleased with outcome of hemispheric meeting on agriculture
Guillermo Salazar, Minister of Agricultural Development of Panama, said “We have made a sound investment in agriculture and rural life in our countries. We have opted to strengthen the role of the rural economy and to contribute to the development of our peoples, moving forward with the detailed assessment of the sector and with the proposals on how to improve life in rural areas.”
During the meeting, the ministers signed the Hemispheric Ministerial Agreement Guatemala 2007, which calls for the continued implementation of the actions of the AGRO 2003-2015 Plan, closely linked to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals related to the reduction of hunger and poverty, and gives continuity to the Third Ministerial Meeting, held in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in 2005.
The host of the event, Guatemala’s Minister of Agriculture, Bernardo Lopez, said: “We met and even exceeded our expectations for the Week thanks to all the preparatory work done by the teams of specialists, the ministries of agriculture and foreign affairs and IICA.”
The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) provided technical and logistical support for the meeting, organized by the Government of Guatemala, through its Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA).
The head of the Mexican delegation, Victor Villalobos, underscored Guatemala’s contribution to the organization of the Week. “Much of the progress we have achieved is thanks to the leadership of Minister Lopez,” he said.
Celio Brovino, head of Brazil’s delegation, stated “I endorse the new guidelines put forth by IICA, and its decision to establish strategic partnerships with international institutions as a means of helping the member countries to engage in activities that constitute new opportunities for agriculture in the Americas.”
For his part, the Minister of Agriculture of Ecuador, Carlos Danilo Vallejo, felt that “the modernization of IICA, which has brought with it new approaches, an emphasis on moving forward and more opportunities to serve and support to the countries, were fundamental for the success of the meeting.”
The Minister of Agriculture, Lands and Marine Resources of Trinidad and Tobago, Jarrette Narine, said he was “very satisfied with the work accomplished. Thanks to an agenda that included topics of great importance, we are now much better prepared to make decisions in several areas.”
The Director General of IICA, Chelston Brathwaite, summed up the Week in two words: “A success.” In his opinion, to move forward effectively in agriculture in the hemisphere, each country needs to have its own rural development agenda in which key stakeholders in the different sectors, including, of course, the rural sector, set the agenda based on the nation’s objectives, policies and priorities.
He urged all agencies of the Inter-American System, the United Nations System and national and regional organizations “to work together to develop a coordinated agenda, which is the only way we will be able to bring the benefits of democracy to the rural and urban poor.”
“It is an historic day for my country. People involved in every stage of the agricultural production chain are here to help define public policies for the agricultural sector,” said the President of the Agricultural Chamber of Guatemala, Carlos Zuñiga, during the opening ceremony of the forums of key stakeholders.
The results of these forums involving agribusiness leaders and representatives of civil society - held under the aegis of the Week of Agriculture and Rural Life of the Americas - will be used to help construct a new institutional framework for the sustainable development of agriculture and the rural milieu.
Rodolfo Orozco, President of the Confederation of Cooperatives of Guatemala -made up of groups that represent Mayan Indians and women, nongovernmental organizations and cooperatives - said that “thanks to the meshing of the private sector, the government and social sectors, we know we are on the right path.”
“We have to modernize the food and agricultural sector so it can make a significant contribution to the economic development of our countries,” said the Director General of IICA, Chelston Brathwaite, who took part in the inaugural activity.
The Minister of Agriculture of Guatemala, Bernardo Lopez, highlighted the importance of incorporating other actors into the hemispheric debates on the agricultural sector and rural life. “We needed to involve business leaders and social actors so they could provide important input,” he remarked.
The participants shared information, exchanged opinions regarding their experiences and discussed together new ways of renewing agriculture and rural life. The fruits of their discussions were set out in declarations that were presented to the ministers and heads of delegation.
The delegations also received the results of the Forum on Technology. The participants in the forum included the Regional Forum on Agricultural Research and Technology Development (FORAGRO), the Central American Integration System on Agricultural Technology (SICTA), and the Central American Cooperative Program for the Improvement of Crops and Animals (PCCMCA). IICA provided support for the activity. The forum proposed using technological innovation to contribute to food security, increase the production and quality of food and improve the agricultural balance of trade.
During the Fourth Ministerial Meeting, the participants were also informed of the objectives set for the forum “Hemispheric Dialogue on Water,” due to take place 12-17 August in Guatemala, which include creating partnerships for the social and sustainable management of water resources to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
The aim of the stakeholders involved in the Week of Agriculture was to put into practice their motto of “Working together for the agricultural sector of the Americas.” Several participants emphasized that the only way to tackle the challenges posed by the “new agriculture” successfully was through public/private intersectoral cooperation.
Agriculture to help create a new civilization
Renowned international experts discussed key issues with the ministers and delegates such as agro-energy, biotechnology, climate change and poverty reduction.
The discussions took place during the Fourth Ministerial Meeting “Agriculture and Rural Life of the Americas.” Held 24-25 July, the event was inaugurated by the President of Guatemala, Oscar Berger; the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Jose Miguel Insulza; the Coordinator of the Fifth Summit of the Americas (Trinidad and Tobago 2009), Luis Alberto Rodriguez; and IICA Director General Chelston Brathwaite.
The main speakers were senior World Bank economist Daniel Lederman, Mexican academic Victor Villalobos, ecologist and scientist Holm Tiessen and Brazil’s former minister of Agriculture, Roberto Rodrigues. They spoke about the current situation and future developments regarding issues that are high on the global agenda.
Poverty reduction
Addressing one of the major challenges of the 21st century - the reduction of rural and urban poverty -, Daniel Lederman presented the findings of the study “Beyond the City: the Rural Contribution to Development.” Lederman is a senior World Bank economist for Latin America and the Caribbean.
The expert emphasized that primary agriculture and agroindustry contribute more to national development than would appear to be the case. When food processing is included, the average proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rises from 12% to 21%.
Rural activities involving the use of natural resources (primary agriculture, forestry and fisheries) account for only 12% of the region’s GDP but their contribution to the expansion of national economies and poverty reduction is almost twice that due to their growing linkages with other business activities and their contribution to exports.
According to the study, rural dwellers in the region make up 42% of the total population, almost twice the official figure of 24%. This means that the problems that beset rural areas - such as poverty - are underestimated and deserve much more attention and adequate public policies.
Calling for better use to be made of the resources available for combating poverty, the specialist affirmed that: “the continued existence of inequality means that money is being spent on the wrong things. And good money is being thrown after bad.”
Biofuels - hope for the future
Brazil’s former minister of Agriculture and Agribusiness, Roberto Rodrigues, talked about the possibilities offered by agro-energy.
Rodrigues - who served as President of the International Organization of Agricultural Cooperatives and is one of his country’s foremost agribusiness leaders - said that producing biofuels was a “fantastic opportunity that could change the planet.”
He affirmed that agro-energy was capable of improving the environmental, economic, social and political conditions of the countries. He explained that the main sources of raw material for the production of ethanol were sugarcane, wheat, beet and corn, but urged caution with grains traditionally used to produce food.
Land, water and sunlight - essential to produce agro-fuels - are available in great abundance in the Americas, the expert said. That was an enormous advantage, especially since energy consumption is expected to increase, not only on account of industrial activity but also because of population growth. Poor countries accounted for 85% of population growth and that was where the biggest increase in consumption would occur.
Food production will depend on the use of biotechnology
Another one of the issues addressed was biotechnology and its bearing on food security. Mexican expert Victor Manuel Villalobos, who also headed up his country’s delegation to the Week of Agriculture, gave a presentation on this subject.
“Thanks to conventional genetic improvement, the productivity of the world’s agriculture in the 20th century was very efficient,” he said.
Biotechnology - and genetic engineering in particular - was already contributing to food production and would continue to do so. Such techniques reduced the time required to produce new varieties, incorporated desirable genes and made it possible to use any gene that existed in nature, Villalobos remarked.
Without agro-biotechnologies and the possibility of expanding the agricultural frontier, “we will not be able to guarantee food security to the burgeoning world population,” he added.
Climate change and agriculture
The Director of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), Holm Tiessen, said that climate change and agriculture were closely linked. The effects of such change had to be mitigated but it was also essential that the sector adapt to the new climatic scenario.
He emphasized that in this and other areas public policies should be based on informed decisions and scientific studies, in order to harmonize development with the quality of life of present and future societies.
Governments reaffirm their commitment to the AGRO 2003-2015 Plan
Delegates from the governments of 34 nations renewed their commitment to the AGRO 2003-2015 Plan by signing the Hemispheric Ministerial Agreement Guatemala 2007 for Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas.
The signing ceremony took place at the conclusion of the Fourth Ministerial Meeting, held as part of the Week of Agriculture and Rural Life of the Americas, which took place July 26-27 in Antigua Guatemala.
The witnesses of honor at the ceremony were the Minister of Foreign Relations of Guatemala, Gert Rosenthal; the Coordinator of the Fifth Summit of the Americas (Trinidad and Tobago 2009), Luis Alberto Rodriguez; and, the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Chelston Brathwaite.
The agreement reaffirms the commitment of the signatories and their governments to continue working together in implementing and updating the AGRO 2003-2015 Plan in the context of the Summit of the Americas process.
The agreement states, among other things, “Having seen the national reports on progress made and challenges identified in the implementation of the AGRO Plan during the 2006-2007 ministerial process, and based on the consensus reached by the Ministerial Delegates during GRICA 2007 (Group for the Implementation and Coordination of the Agreements on Agriculture and Rural Life of the Summits Process), we adopt the strategic actions in the Hemispheric Agenda for the 2008-2009 biennium and the measures for their implementation and follow up of the AGRO Plan.”
Chelston Brathwaite commented to the heads of delegation: “The agenda you have approved today will serve as a beacon in our efforts to promote rural prosperity in the Americas, which, as we well know, will not be possible without a modern agricultural sector.”
Two strategic orientations inform the Hemispheric Ministerial Agreement: the first is to promote among stakeholders in agriculture a more comprehensive view of agriculture and the rural milieu and a new way of working in both, and the second is to encourage among them the “working together” approach aimed at improving agriculture and rural life in the Americas.
Minister Lopez said: “We are at the threshold of a new civilization. The time has come for us to change course because the scenario has changed and we must take advantage of it.”
The Coordinator of the next Summit of the Americas, Luis Alberto Rodriguez, affirmed that two of the most important variables in the efforts to enhance rural life would be education and improved infrastructure. “The possibility of enjoying the benefits of the new agriculture we are trying to create depends on our commitment to strengthening these variables,” he said.
Rosenthal commented: “We are building a joint agenda to promote the economic development of our countries.”
The Ministerial Agreement Guatemala 2007 will be one of the key issues discussed by the Heads of State and Government at the next Summit of the Americas (Trinidad and Tobago, 2009).
IICA Director General reports on overarching trends in agriculture in the hemisphere
In the city of Antigua Guatemala, the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Chelston Brathwaite, presented the report “Agriculture and the new challenges of development,” which describes the overarching trends in agriculture and rural life in the hemisphere.
Several other international organizations contributed to the document on the state of, and outlook for, agriculture and rural life that IICA presented in Guatemala to the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA), during the Week of Agriculture and Rural Life of the Americas.
At a press conference with the Minister of Agriculture of Guatemala, Bernardo Lopez, and his Ecuadorian counterpart, Carlos Vallejo Lopez, Brathwaite said that the role that agriculture has played in recent years is further confirmation of IICA’s hypothesis that agriculture is important not only because it is a way of life for millions of people in the Americas, but also because it is a strategic sector that contributes to the economic, social, environmental and political development of the countries.
The report, Brathwaite said, highlights the progress made in regard to the four strategic objectives established by the ministers of agriculture in the AGRO 2003-2015 Plan (competitiveness, equity, sustainability and democratic governance) and identifies the main challenges facing agriculture in the hemisphere.
The main trends
Agricultural production has continued to grow. In 2005, the agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) rose by 2.2%, suggesting that agriculture is meeting the challenges posed by the global economy and agricultural markets. However, there are major differences among countries and the Caribbean region turned in the weakest performance.
Agricultural exports are on the rise. The Americas are the world’s leading net exporter of agricultural products, although the hemisphere’s share of world agricultural trade has been declining since 2000 due to a slowdown in its agricultural exports (which grew by 7.1% per year between 2000 and 2005). The Americas mainly export commodities and import increasingly large amounts of processed agricultural products. International prices of agricultural products rose by an average of 6.5% per year between 2002 and 2007, and coffee and sugar prices by over 13%. The outlook for international agricultural trade in the Americas is very good, with world demand expected to increase.
Markets are increasingly demanding and differentiated. There is a sustained, marked evolution in consumer tastes and preferences, to which producers and agribusinesses must adapt. The demand for healthy food is growing, with increasing emphasis on denomination of origin and processed or convenience foods. Two trends are particularly important: the first is the growing demand for guaranteed food quality and safety (in 2005 alone, nearly US$190 billion in agricultural exports and US$130 billion in imports had to meet a sanitary or phytosanitary standard of some kind). The second trend is the strong growth of the world market of organic products, with sales reaching around US$30 billion, over 1500 organic products available in the marketplace and an average rate of growth of 9% per year.
Supermarket chains are increasingly important players in the retail food trade. Supermarkets are more demanding in terms of minimum volumes, delivery deadlines, deferred payment practices, prices, canning, packaging, etc. Traditional producers have seen their negotiating power and profit margins decline.
Technology and innovation are growing in importance. Agriculture in the region is growing more strongly than in the rest of the world, but this is being achieved by farming more land. LAC invests over US$10 billion per year in science and technology, but Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela and Cuba account for 96% of the total. Important progress has been made with biotechnologies, reflected in a big increase in the use of genetically modified varieties (GMOs) and the rapid spread, in this hemisphere and beyond, of some of the principal crops, such as grains and oilseeds. Biotechnologies offer bigger yields and lower costs but efforts must be made to ensure that the benefits reach producers and consumers, not only the developers and owners of the technology. The hemisphere must also address the concerns expressed by certain groups about the possible impact of GMOs on the environment and life in rural areas.
Climate change is affecting agricultural activities. The manifestations of climate change will have serious effects on the competitiveness of agriculture. The likelihood of forest fires will be greater, erosion will increase and fresh water will be harder to come by. However, agriculture can mitigate the greenhouse effect. All the countries will be affected but the tropical nations and their rural poor are more vulnerable.
Poverty remains a serious problem and is greater in rural areas. LAC continues to be the most inequitable region in the world, although income distribution improved in 11 of the 13 countries for which information was available. By 2015, the number of people living in extreme poverty in the region will fall by barely six million. Any strategy aimed at reducing poverty must take into account the competitive, inclusive and sustainable modernization of the expanded agricultural sector.
The natural resource base is being degraded. LAC has 915 million hectares of forestland (23.2% of the world total) but 4.3 million hectares are lost every year. The region possesses enormous biodiversity and genetic wealth, but habitat destruction is bringing about the extinction of a growing number of species. Water is one of the resources most at risk; and marine resources are being overexploited. In general, economic development has been achieved at a growing environmental cost. Agricultural development must adopt a more sustainable paradigm.
Agro-energy and biofuels are growing in importance. Rising oil prices and the scarcity of new deposits are driving the development of agro-energy and strengthening the role of agriculture as a dynamic element of the economy. The impact has already been considerable: between 2000 and 2006, world production of fuel ethanol more than doubled, while the production of biodiesel increased almost fourfold. There are controversial aspects to these developments, such as rising agricultural prices; the impact on food security; the danger of fewer food crops being planted; greater competition for agricultural land; and growing pressure on forests. The countries must strike a balance between the need to produce food and agro-energy crops.
Inter-American Awards in the Rural Sector handed out
The closing ceremony of the Week of Agriculture and Rural Life of the Americas provided the backdrop for the presentation of the Inter-American Awards, bestowed by the ministers of agriculture of the hemisphere upon individuals and institutions that have made exceptional contributions.
The most prestigious awards, the 2006 and 2007 Inter-American Agricultural Medals, went to Jorge Leon, a renowned scientist from Costa Rica, and Egbert Miller, an agricultural leader from Jamaica, respectively.
The Inter-American Awards are granted by the 34 Member States of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in recognition of outstanding contributions made by individuals and institutions to the development of agriculture and the improvement of rural life.
As IICA Director General Chelston Brathwaite explained, “We want to recognize the efforts of persons and institutions that have contributed to the development of agriculture and the promotion of rural well-being. We also want to encourage others throughout the Americas to bring their creativity and talents to bear in both areas.”
The Honorees
The 2006 Inter-American Agricultural Medal was awarded to Costa Rican botanist Jorge Leon Arguedas, a lifelong scholar who held numerous high-level positions in important laboratories and institutions around the globe. He inventoried huge collections of living plants in Central America and the Caribbean and put together one of the best collections of plant genetic resources anywhere in the world.
Asked how he felt, Leon said “It is especially gratifying to receive this award since it is granted by the Member States of IICA, where I began my scientific work.”
The 2007 award went to Jamaican agricultural leader Egbert Miller, who since the age of nine has been working in agriculture, and today is a successful businessman in his country’s agrotourism sector. His crops are used to feed patients at his local hospital. Miller has served as a leader and advisor for other farmers, working, for example, to help then obtain title to their land.
“I have received many awards but this is the most prestigious,” Egbert Miller said. “It’s hard to believe that a man from Jamaica could be honored as the leading producer in the western hemisphere.”
Mayra Roxana Falck, from Honduras, received the Inter-American Award for the Contribution of Women to Rural Development, in recognition of her tireless efforts to promote rural development and reduce poverty.
In the same category, Rosita Benitez Portillo, from Paraguay, was granted an honorable mention for 30 years of research on the development of commercial varieties of cotton.
The Fundación Hondureña de Investigación Agrícola (FHIA) (Honduran Agricultural Research Foundation) received the Inter-American Award for Institutional Contributions to Agricultural and Rural Development thanks to the many contributions its has made over the last 23 years.
One of its most important contributions is its banana and plantain program, the only one in the world that has been able to develop and patent in the United States new varieties that are resistant to the most common diseases, and which today are cultivated in more than 50 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa and Oceania.
Luke Lee, from Jamaica, and Carlos Maria Arrechea, from Paraguay, received honorable mentions as young professionals. The Inter-American Agricultural Award for Young Professionals was declared void for 2007.
The winners were selected by the twelve-member IICA Executive Committee at its meeting held in May in San Jose, Costa Rica.
In issue No. 7, we incorrectly reported that IICA and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Spain had signed a technical cooperation agreement for the design of an observatory on agricultural insurance. The agreement is still under study.
