Regional workshop in Chile on food security and education for rural people sets next steps for action in the region

The workshop Education for Rural People in Latin America: Food and Education for All held in Santiago de Chile from 3-5 August 2004 paved the way for regional initiatives to close the gap between the unequal educational opportunities offered to urban and rural populations. The Workshop was organized by FAO and UNESCO along with the participation of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) the World Bank and the Italian Cooperation for Development.

The FAO/UNESCO educational campaign for Latin America is part of the Education for Rural People initiative lead by FAO in collaboration with UNESCO and some 100 partners from NGOs, research institutes and universities.

During the event, participants set priority actions towards reaching the ambitious goal of eliminating illiteracy before 2015. According to the participants in the workshop, the main topics that must be tackled to reach this goal are: Increase access to basic Education, improve the quality of basic education and education for adults in rural areas, reduce the percentage of school drop-outs and help children finish primary school. To carry-out these activities participants stressed the importance of creating inter-sectoral policies as well as alliances among universities, research centres to improve teacher training and include knowledge relevant to rural population in school programs. At government policy level, participants discussed the design of inter-sectoral policies, the creation of school networks and tax incentives for schools that reach outstanding and decentralized management.

One of the key factors in achieving the first Millennium Development Goal of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger is education, especially in rural areas where poverty is higher. According to studies, farmers with at least 4 years of education are almost 9 percent more productive than those who haven't attended school. Moreover, if the number of literate people increases, the amount of undernourished people will decrease.

Click below to read the press articles published in the various education, information and development websites around the world:

UN News center
FAO Regional office in Latin America
UNESCO
Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos
Mondoagricoltura.it
Global Press
Terra
Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación (Chile)