Avian flu has dominated the news, and this issue has been turning things around in the last few days, impacting production and trade. But there is one event I want to talk about. Ten days ago, my friend Juana Galván, retired as the general director of the Latin American Poultry Association (ALA).
Galván, who studied International Economic Policy at the London School of Economics, has headed ALA since 2017. She worked with four different ALA presidents from Mexico, Peru, Honduras and Uruguay.
For the past five years, Galván brought her international experience to ALA and lifted the association several steps up, to the point of standing among important organizations such as WAHO, FAO, Codex Alimentarius or the UN, as well as with private international and national organizations such as the International Egg Commission, the International Poultry Council or USPOULTRY. Worth to mention she previously worked for FAO, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
Today, ALA is a different organization, at the forefront of global topics in favor of the Latin American poultry industry. It is now in the game on issues such as UN’s Food Systems, IICA’s trade and health program – including anti-microbial resistance, avian flu or the farm biosecurity guide during the COVID-19 pandemic – or the agenda created with Codex Alimentarius intensifying mutual cooperation. A productive research support program for young scientists was created together with USPOULTRY. Let us remember that the region has global players in broilers and eggs: Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Peru, to mention the top ones.
Additionally, I must mention that personally, information and cooperation between Galván, ALA and I was always fluent. Whether about production data, the OVUM (the regional poultry congress) or the Latin American Poultry Hall of Fame, cooperation with her was always tops.
Galván, a prolific writer in subjects such as agriculture carbon, water footprint, animal welfare and myths in poultry, will now dedicate her precious time to personal and community projects. I wish her the best – a well-deserved retirement for a hard-working woman.
Now the one who will take over the running of the Latin American Poultry Association is Dania Ferrera, from Honduras. I wish her well and I put myself at her service.
What do you think?
