With a prominent participation of national and international references, the event “Rural Horizon: Challenges and opportunities towards an efficient, competitive, and sustainable development of the Agricultural Sector in Paraguay” was held on Wednesday, July 9th at the House of Integration of CAF, organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) and CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The meeting brought together authorities from the national government, representatives of multilateral organizations, cooperation agencies, productive guilds, and technical references with the aim of discussing the sustainable productive transformation of Paraguayan agriculture, with a special focus on Family Farming (FF) and its strategic role in food security and rural development.
The opening was carried out by Jorge Srur, CAF’s Southern Regional Manager, and Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Giménez, who agreed on the need to strengthen public policies, sustainable productivity, and access to financing as pillars for a resilient and competitive agricultural development.
Srur highlighted CAF’s commitment to the agricultural sector in the region:
“We believe that family farming is not only essential for food security but also to promote a more inclusive development model, low in emissions, and adapted to climate change.”
In turn, Minister Giménez presented the MAG’s sectorial agenda and the actions taken to strengthen FF, including: territorial technical assistance, organizational strengthening, product quality improvement, inclusion of rural women and youth, and market articulation.
During the event, the Agricultural Prosperity Strategy of CAF was also presented by Ignacio Lorenzo, Director of the Technical Advice Directorate on Biodiversity and Climate, who outlined the key axes for the transition towards sustainable, resilient, and low environmental impact agri-food systems.
In an international reflection space, the former Ministers of Agriculture Julián Domínguez (Argentina) and Álvaro Ramos (Uruguay) shared their experiences on global challenges, productive transformation, and the role of FF in the context of climate change.
The central panel of the event addressed the challenges of Family Farming regarding productivity, market access, and financing, with interventions from authorities, experts, and Nilda Silguero, a cooperative producer and president of the Women’s Committee for Promotion and Development “Alianza,” who provided a territorial perspective.
The event had the participation of representatives from IICA, FAO, GIZ, KOICA, JICA, World Bank, MERCOSUR (REAF), as well as productive guilds such as UIP, UGP, FECOPROD, and ARP, among other relevant actors in the agricultural ecosystem.
The day concluded with a call to continue deepening public-private and international articulation spaces, with a shared vision towards a more prosperous, competitive, and sustainable rural Paraguay.
