CIHEAM Zaragoza, the Agri-Food Research and Technology Centre of Aragon (CITA), the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Zaragoza and the AgriFood Institute of Aragon (IA2), organized the XIV Congress of the Spanish Association of Agrifood Economists (AEEA) in Zaragoza from the 6 to 8 September.

During 3 days, under the theme “Strategies for agri-food systems in the face of global challenges”, congress delegates gathered at the venues of the organizing institutions. They addressed research topics of significant national and international importance in the field of agri-food economics.

More than 200 participants and over 350 contributions paid particular attention to the topics of food geopolitics, governance of sustainable agriculture and food systems. The development of new tools to promote sustainable consumption was also discussed.

CIHEAM Secretary General, Teodoro Miano, took part in the first plenary session of the congress and shared CIHEAM’s 60-year experience in overcoming the challenges for agriculture and food in the Mediterranean. On the sidelines of the conference, the Secretary General gave interviews and statements to some of the most prominent media outlets involved, such as EFE:Agro and Heraldo Aragona, on topics of central importance to the CIHEAM such as agricultural cooperation, sustainable farming and food security in the Mediterranean.

This session, under the title “Food geopolitics: global challenges, local impacts”, also counted on the participation of:

• Javier Sierra, former Director of CIHEAM Zaragoza and current Counsellor of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at the Permanent Mission of Spain to the United Nations Office in Geneva;
• Gabriel Trenzado, Director General of Agri-food Cooperatives in Spain;
• Nuria Arribas, Managing Director of the Interprofessional Dairy Organization;
• Jesús Barreiro-Hurle, Economist at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.