b'CAN SOUTH AMERICA BECOME AN AG POWERHOUSE FOR THE WORLD?Its possible, but stakeholders say doing so will require placing the common good above individual interests.Marc ZienkiewiczTHE WORLD FACESan unprecedented challenge, which isthe opportunities and benefits derived from that produc-to make available 60 per cent more food in the comingtion are not broadly shared in Latin America and the years to feed almost 10 billion people. South AmericaCaribbean, he said.stands poised to help do that, but doing so will require aAlmost 60 million people in this region go to bed lot more than simply boosting production. That was thechronically hungry, and that number is growing. It has message during the opening sessions at this years Worldbeen growing for the past six or seven years. Four in 10 Agri-Tech 2022 South America Summit, which took placeof our fellow citizens are food insecure, and this number June 28 and 29 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. is also growing. Almost one in four adults in this part of The approximately 20 million farmers of Latinthe world are obese. The age-old equation between food America and the Caribbean already produce enough foodand health has broken down in Latin America and the to double the population of Latin America measured inCaribbean.calories. This region today is responsible for 23 per centAlmost half of all the rural people in Latin America in of global food exports. We can proudly say that werethe Caribbean live in poverty, he added, which makes it ahead of every other region in the world in terms of netharder to move ahead to make South America a power-agri-food exports, said Julio Berdegu, United Nationshouse of agricultural production.Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) assistant direc- Why are we surprised to see that young people do tor-general and regional representative for Latin Americanot want to live in rural Latin America? We are creating and the Caribbean. the conditions that are saying to these young rural women Those are not small achievements. We could feeland men, Get out as fast as you can.comfortable in saying that we are doing OK, but wereAdding insult to injury is the fact that the environment not doing OK. There are challenges. Its important to real- is also suffering. More than two thirds of the most pre-ize that. cious resource of South American farmerstheir soilsFor Berdegu, the glass is half full, but also halfis eroded to some degree, he added.empty. To begin with, agricultural productivity growth in the region has recently slowed down sharply after a period of strong growth in the first decade of the century, he said. And while Latin America produces a lot of food, 32GERMINATION.CASEPTEMBER 2022'