20 February 2012: The Mexican Institute of Water Technology (IMTA) hosted a training workshop for officials from member countries of the Central American Integration System (SICA) regarding the efficient water use in small-scale agriculture irrigation in areas vulnerable to climate change.

The workshop, held from 20-24 February 2012, in Morelos, Mexico, was organized by SICA’s Central American Agriculture Commission (CAC) and attended by technical representatives of the Governments of Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Participants focused on technologies and policies regarding the management, use, and conservation of water in small-scale irrigation in agriculture in areas vulnerable to climate variability and the impacts of climate change generally, such as the so-called “Central American Dry Corridor” running from Nicaragua to Honduras to Guatemala. CAC Executive Secretary Julio Calderón stressed that the workshop intended not only to help agriculture adapt to new environmental conditions caused by climate change, but also to contribute to the modernization of small- and medium-scale agriculture in Central America and improve its productivity and competitiveness.

The training workshop is part of Mexico’s Programme of International Cooperation for Development overseen by its Foreign Ministry. [CAC Press Release (in Spanish)]