Colombia prioritizes rural development to reduce poverty and inequality
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Colombia Development (MINAGRICULTURA) prioritizes five public policies to boost development in rural areas, through a new work plan to be developed jointly with the Agricultural Society of Colombia (SAC) and which aims to increase the incomes of farmers and reduce poverty in the countryside.
The lines of action of this proposal are conducting a study on the Colombian agricultural policy in the international context with a view to a tariff reform; a bill on labor formalization; three regulation documents about water policy and infrastructure, other about agricultural mechanization, and a third document about production equipments and regulation on technical assistance, as announced by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Aurelio Iragorri Valencia, and the president of the Agricultural Society of Colombia, Rafael Mejia, during a meeting where the further progress of the Colombia Plan Siembra were reviewed.
In the words of Minister Iragorri “This joint effort between the public and private sector will allow the country to improve its competitiveness and modernize the agricultural sector for the benefit of all rural producers, and articulating the actions of the Colombia Plan Siembra which seeks to plant one million new hectares”.
From the SAC this Plan is defined as an opportunity to work in coordination with the Ministry to reduce the gap between urban and rural areas, encouraging the production of food and raw materials, a vital service to society behind found rural people and their families.
The next step for the implementation of these policies has been the creation of working groups, composed of responsibles for SAC and the Ministry for reporting final proposals to the National Government, around September, in order to make viable its projected actions.
Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Colombia
