The Ministry of Agriculture and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) on Tuesday signed an agreement defining their roles as plans get in high gear for the hosting of the fifth Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas ministerial meeting later this year.

The conference will be convened in Montego Bay in October under the theme, 'Building Capacity for Enhancing Food Security and Rural Life in the Americas'. The signing took place during the launch of the one-week conference at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel on Tuesday.

The ministerial meeting will focus on the implementation of the 2003-2015 Agro Plan, which is the shared long-term agenda for promoting sustainable development of agriculture and the rural milieu.

Promoting development

Speaking at the launch, IICA Director General Dr Chelston Brathwaite said the discussions would focus on the challenges that countries faced in promoting the development of agriculture, improving the standard of living of the rural population and achieving food security. He said the meeting comes at a time when there is great concern throughout the world about food security.

Last year, food prices increased to unprecedented levels, caused largely by shortages and dis-proportionate concentration on ethanol-based production. There were also food riots in at least 20 countries of the world.

While some countries of the Americas, such as Canada, the United States, Brazil and Argentina, are major producers of food, many nations in the hemisphere, especially in Central America and the Caribbean, are struggling to achieve food security.