After a decade of work: Five achievements of the SPAA network to promote sustainable and resilient food systems

With the participation of delegations from 18 countries in the region, the 10th Meeting of the Regional Network of Public Food Supply and Marketing Systems of Latin America and the Caribbean (SPAA Network) concluded today, held from August 13 to 15 in Cartagena, Colombia. For three days, representatives from governments, public institutions, and regional experts discussed the challenges facing the region.

The meeting underscored the importance of having clear information on food prices, as well as advancing policies that promote market stability, equitable access to nutritious food, and inclusive, resilient, and sustainable development.

The SPAA Network, made up of government institutions from 18 countries, is a regional platform that, since its creation, has been promoting public policies to strengthen food supply and marketing systems. It did not halt its work during the pandemic, reinforcing its role as a space for cooperation and dialogue.

For FAO, regional cooperation is key to building healthy and sustainable food systems for people, especially in cities. Governments, the private sector, and international organizations must continue working to strengthen the strategic role of markets, improve agricultural information systems, and promote supply policies to address challenges such as inflation, climate change, and inequalities in access to healthy diets.

Ten Years of Achievements

Over the past decade, the Network has:

• Strengthened the technical capacities of more than 500 public officials on topics such as the management of strategic reserves of staple grains, design of inclusive marketing strategies, price intelligence systems, public procurement, and producer–consumer fairs.
• Improved supply policies in urban and peri-urban areas through stores, mobile warehouses, and even public supermarkets in countries such as Bolivia, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Panama, Mexico, and Honduras, offering products at 10% to 30% lower prices for thousands of vulnerable families.
• Promoted family and small-scale farming by bringing producers and consumers together through public fairs that foster food diversity and cultural traditions, generating savings of 20% or more for families and opportunities for local producers, as in the case of free and farmers’ markets in Chile.
• Generated knowledge through more than 10 studies that have supported the design and redesign of programs in market intelligence (Panama), strategic reserve management (El Salvador, Costa Rica), modernization of supply systems (El Salvador, Honduras), and improvement of agricultural fairs (Costa Rica, Paraguay), along with regional diagnostics on price information systems and strategic reserves.
• Advanced the Strategy for the Management of Strategic Reserves of Staple Grains of SICA, approved by the Council of Central American Ministers, benefiting Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and Belize, strengthening institutional capacity to mitigate price volatility and guarantee food access.

Agenda in Cartagena

Currently, the Network comprises 18 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The inclusion of a new member—Uruguay—was announced, which participated in the meeting as a guest.

At the closing session, the Network’s member countries approved a final declaration agreeing to strengthen public supply and marketing policies, improve access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food to address rising food prices, increase the inclusion of family and small-scale farming in markets, and enhance consumers’ purchasing experience.

The 10th meeting was inaugurated by Máximo Torero, FAO Chief Economist and Acting Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, who serves as Secretariat; Andréia Rigueira, Chief of Staff of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ABC/MRE); Edegar Pretto, President of the National Food Supply Company (CONAB); and Martha Carvajalino Villegas, Colombia’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Participating virtually were Wellington Dias, Brazil’s Minister of Social Development and Assistance, Family and the Fight Against Hunger (MDS); and Fernanda Machiavelli, Acting Minister of Agrarian Development and Family Farming (MDA) of Brazil.

The meeting served as a platform for sharing experiences and best practices in public policies aimed at ensuring healthy, affordable, and locally produced food, while also analyzing strategies to mitigate the effects of inflation and strengthen the resilience of food systems, with special attention to social inclusion and gender equality.