b'Can South America Becomean 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 unprec- Latin America and the Caribbean, he said. America and the Caribbean will be under edented challenge, which is to makeAlmost 60 million people in thisa temperature regime that is two degrees available 60% more food in the comingregion go to bed chronically hungry, andhigher than today. That is a horror story years to feed almost 10 billion people.that number is growing. It has been grow- for agriculture and for people living in South America stands poised to help doing for the past six or seven years. Four inrural areas, Berdegu said.that but doing so will require a lot more10 of our fellow citizens are food insecure, than simply boosting production. Thatand this number is also growing. AlmostWorking for the Common Goodwas the message during the opening ses- one in four adults in this part of the worldFor a region that is very important for sions at this years World Agri-Tech 2022are obese. The age-old equation betweencontra-season seed production for South America Summit, which took placefood and health has broken down in Latincountries like Canada and the United June 28 and 29 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. America and the Caribbean. States, Berdegus warning was a The approximately 20 million farm- Almost half of all the rural people instark one. Because the transforma-ers of Latin America and the CaribbeanLatin America in the Caribbean live intion to more efficient, inclusive, resilient already produce enough food to doublepoverty, he added, which makes it harderand sustainable agri-food systems will the population of Latin America meas- to move ahead to make South America arequire an immense effort of innovation ured in calories. This region today ispowerhouse of agricultural production. unlike anything farmers have seen in the responsible for 23% of global foodWhy are we surprised to see that10,000 years since crops and animals exports. We can proudly say that wereyoung people do not want to live inwere domesticated, a concerted effort is ahead of every other region in the worldrural Latin America? We are creating theneeded to reverse current trends.in terms of net agri-food exports, saidconditions that are saying to these youngThis transformation will not be a big Julio Berdegu, United Nations Food andrural women and men, Get out as fast asbang happening overnight, Berdegu Agriculture Organization (FAO) assistantyou can. said. Nor will it be a single, unified or cen-director-general and regional representa- Adding insult to injury is the fact thattrally planned process. It will require eve-tive for Latin America and the Caribbean. the environment is also suffering. Moreryone working in sync to create systems Those are not small achievements.than two thirds of the most preciousthat work together to mutually benefit We could feel comfortable in saying thatresource of South American farmers one another.we are doing OK, but were not doing OK.their soilsis eroded to some degree, heIt will be the sum of many actions There are challenges. Its important toadded. and decisions by people like you and me, realize that. And then theres climate change.with many local and national routes and For Berdegu, the glass is half full, butWhile the contribution of Latin Americadifferent trajectories linked in all types of also half empty. To begin with, agricul- and the Caribbean to causing climateinteractions.tural productivity growth in the regionchange has been very small, today, LatinFortunately, innovators like Celso Luiz has recently slowed down sharply afterAmerica and the Caribbean emits aboutMoretti, president of Embrapa are helping a period of strong growth in the first10% of global greenhouse gases. move the region into the future. Brazil is decade of the century, he said. And whileMany parts of this region are very vul- moving from being a food insecure coun-Latin America produces a lot of food, thenerable to climate changes. If the currenttry to a net importer of food, fiber, and opportunities and benefits derived fromtrends are not brought under control, bybio energy, he noted.that production are not broadly shared in2070, all of the continental mass of LatinIf you can imagine back to the 1970s, 6/ SEEDWORLD.COMSEED ASSOCIATION OF THE AMERICAS 2022'