Your Excellency Alejandro Serrano Aguilar, Vice President of the Republic of Ecuador,
Your Excellency Pablo Rizzo Pastor, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock,
Your Excellency Oswaldo Molestina Zabala, Minister of External Trade,
Your Excellency Guido Chiriboga Parra, Governor of the Province of Guayas,
Dr. Chelston Brathwaite, Director General of the Inter-American Institute for
Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA),
Excellencies Ministers of Agriculture,
Distinguished Delegates,
Representatives of International and Regional Organizations,
IICA Staff Members,
Special Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am indeed honored to be here with you today in this beautiful city of Guayaquil, as we launch this important Ministerial Meeting on “Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas.” The issues that will be addressed over the coming two days are indeed cross-cutting, far-reaching and of strategic importance for the countries of the Americas.

Mr. Vice President, Distinguished delegates, allow me at the outset to pay tribute to the Director General of IICA, Dr Chelston Braithwaite, who has demonstrated excellent leadership qualities in putting to task his academic agricultural knowledge and managerial skills, in transforming IICA into an effective hemispheric agricultural body. I would also like to thank his staff for their pioneering work in countries across this Hemisphere. Dr. Brathwaite, I -- and the rest of the Hemisphere, I am sure -- look forward to working with you in the years ahead.

IICA’s vision of promoting the sustainable development of agriculture, food security and the prosperity of rural communities in the Americas responds in a practical way to some of the most pressing development needs in our Hemisphere. In our view, agriculture will continue to be one of the key strategic pillars in fighting poverty, creating employment, safeguarding social stability, and providing citizens with a tangible stake in the development of their local communities and their countries.

Importance of Agriculture in the Rural Economy

When all the backward and forward linkages with agriculture including transportation, shipping, and agribusiness are taken into account, the contribution of agriculture to countries’ Gross Domestic Product is even more significant than national statistics would suggest. IICA’s innovative research shows that agriculture and agribusiness account for 32% of GDP in Argentina, 38.5% in Brazil, 15% in Canada, 16% in Ecuador, 13% in Jamaica, and 30% in Nicaragua.

Even with this scenario, we are aware that many countries in our Hemisphere, especially the more vulnerable economies of the Caribbean, are facing huge challenges to their agricultural sector and, by extension, their entire economies. This includes the annual threat of natural disasters. The phasing out of preferential agreements with respect to bananas, sugar and other commodities has seriously impacted agro-based economies such as those of the Windward Islands.

It is true that the international economic order has changed. At the same time, we must recognize that threats to economic livelihoods create threats to social order, stability and indeed democratic governance. This is therefore a cause for concern and action. We should do everything possible to ensure that the changed dynamics worldwide and in our own region do not result in the social and economic marginalization of countries and/or groups.

Ladies and Gentlemen, as partners in the inter-American system, we must find innovative ways to remain competitive and to provide vulnerable economies with the tools to adjust to the changing global marketplace. A new vision of agricultural issues which includes a broader range of linkages between production and trade competitiveness must be achieved. This vision must embrace a balance between an export-based development model and sustainable rural development. The available stock and quality of agricultural trade services, such as research, technology, financing, and sanitation policies, are deficient in our region and must be revitalized.

We must also develop the necessary public and private capacity to incorporate modern concepts of management associated with new farming technologies in order to improve production and the quality of work of our rural workers. IICA’s role in this process of modernization and adjustment is of critical importance.

IICA and the Summit Process

The Organization of American States believes in the importance of continuing to promote medium and long-term national strategies toward sustainable improvement in agriculture and rural life. As Presidents and Heads of Government agreed at the Third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, all actors – parliamentarians, civil society organizations and the scientific and academic sectors – should be working along with governments to accomplish this goal. At that Summit, IICA was charged with fostering dialogue and consensus building on critical aspects of agricultural development along with the continued provision of technical cooperation services. Again, at the Special Summit of the Americas in January 2004 in Monterrey, governments reaffirmed their support for a “sustained effort to improve living conditions for inhabitants of rural areas, by promoting investment and creating a favorable environment to achieve sustainable improvements in agriculture.”

As we prepare for the IV Summit of the Americas in Argentina, the challenge for that encounter at the highest political level will be to demonstrate unity and solidarity, continue the process of consensus building and further the hemispheric political agenda of tackling poverty, creating jobs and enhancing trade.

OAS Development Agenda

While the OAS agenda revolves around democracy, security and development, we are fully aware that if development is to be inclusive then economic reforms, trade agreements and business initiatives must provide benefits that are accessible to all. Seventy percent (70%) of the world's poor live in rural areas. In our Hemisphere, this large population includes large numbers of traditionally underserved communities including indigenous peoples, women and youth. Almost 240 million citizens of the Americas have to survive with less than a dollar a day, a significant of percentage of whom reside in rural areas.

We applaud the spread of democracy in the Hemisphere. However, all of us are painfully aware that countries have not always been successful in delivering the promised fruits of democracy and economic reform. This failure, in turn, threatens the social and political fabric, and creates unstable environments that threaten the ability of governments to govern. We must realize that the results of democratic weaknesses, economic crises and social unrest, will ultimately result in problems for all, as many of our challenges and problems are inter-related and internationalized. I call upon all the countries in the Hemisphere to use their national assets to collectively fight against poverty, illiteracy, inequality and social injustice.

Ecuador, like many countries, faces its own challenges in this regard. I encourage the continuation of constructive dialogue and call for a renewed commitment on the part of the Executive and Legislative Branches as well as all other political, economic and social forces to work together to address important issues in this country.

In accordance with the Inter-American Democratic Charter, the General Secretariat of the OAS is supporting the efforts of the Government of Ecuador to strengthen the country’s democratic institutions, in particular the Supreme Court selection process now underway. In the past week, the OAS has had observers on the ground in Ecuador meeting with ministers of government, political parties, diplomats, UN observers, NGOs and other key actors. It is our hope that OAS engagement will help solidify the judicial selection process, and assist the country in moving forward with its democratic consolidation and development agendas.

Before I end my presentation, Mr. Vice President, I take this opportunity to extend to you and the People of Ecuador my sympathy on the recent tragic loss of lives of Ecuadorean nationals at sea. The loss of each one of these individuals is a tragedy and the OAS stands in solidarity with you and the Ecuadorean people in mourning their loss. This terrible event is also a tragedy for the Americas, where accidents such as these are becoming all too common. It is incumbent upon us as a region to take steps to address the underlying causes that lead to such desperate acts and result in these awful tragedies.

Mr. Vice President, Ladies and Gentlemen, here, as in other countries, agriculture will play a key role in rural development. In the next decade, we hope that every rural family in the Americas will have the tools with which they can have access to education, clean water and health care, and become full participants in the social, cultural, political and economic life of the countries in which they live.

The agricultural sector remains a driving force behind the national economic engine. We need to look ahead and develop strategic policies to develop and maintain the productive capacity in rural areas. We also need to support equitable access to education, finance and credit, supportive infrastructure and market access so as to promote growth in production, trade and employment.

The new OAS leadership believes that we can build a Hemisphere that is characterized by prosperity, stability and solidarity. We possess the knowledge, the human and natural resources as well as the capacity to identify and allocate the required financial resources. What we need is political will and commitment to work toward hemispheric objectives of eliminating poverty, and giving equal rights and opportunity to those who are marginalized. What we need is structural and constructive engagement amongst ourselves.

IICA’s work in the Hemisphere has demonstrated the great things that can be accomplished when governments, non-governmental organizations, private companies, and civil society work together for the common good. The OAS is committed to creating partnerships for action and I look forward to working with IICA, the ministers and high authorities represented here as we move forward.

Thank you.