Joint effort for agricultural and rural development

President & CEO of the Andean Development Corporation (CAF), Enrique García, and the Director General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Jacques Diouf, today signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the FAO headquarters in Rome. The main objective of the agreement is to facilitate better execution of the projects and programs of both organizations in the CAF shareholder countries that are also FAO members, so as to achieve greater impact on the most needy populations of the Latin American Region.

CAF President & CEO Enrique García said that since 1977 the multilateral institution has maintained successful cooperation relations with FAO. “In recent years environmental and social considerations have become increasingly important in the public agendas of the countries of the region. In response, CAF created in March 2004 the Vice Presidency of Social and Environmental Development, further strengthening the issues of common interest between us and FAO, particularly in the areas of agricultural and rural development, including urban and peri-urban agriculture.”

The activities of special importance considered in the memorandum include the identification and preparation of rural and agricultural development programs and projects which CAF may consider financing; joint analysis and appraisal of programs and projects in the sectors covered by the agreement; joint studies of the impact of the programs and projects under consideration; and supervision of the final use of the resources destined to the sectors financed by CAF.

García explained that CAF has grouped together the portfolio related to the social sector and is granting loans related directly to the areas of education, health, agriculture and rural development, and water and sanitation, establishing synergies so as to increase the impact of the social programs in execution and achieve its mission of promoting the sustainable development of the region.