Developing human talent to promote the modernization of agriculture in the Americas.
Mexico City, July 18, 2014 (IICA). After a successful first stage of the program, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) of Mexico have renewed the scholarship and visiting professionals initiative for leaders of the hemisphere’s agricultural sector.
Nearly 190 young people from Latin American and Caribbean countries are currently pursuing postgraduate studies in prestigious Mexican higher education institutions. It is hoped that, upon returning to their respective countries, they will form part of the battalion charged with the task of promoting a new paradigm of agriculture: more competitive, more sustainable and more equitable.
The scholarship agreement, signed for the first time in 2011, was renewed on July 18 for another three years, as part of a joint effort by the Mexican government and IICA to support the development and participation of highly qualified human resources in promoting the modernization of agriculture in the Americas.
The program will award 100 annual scholarships to professionals interested in pursuing specialized Masters or Doctoral studies in Mexican universities of the National Program for Quality Postgraduate Studies (Programa Nacional de Posgrados de Calidad) (PNPC), as well as professionals carrying out technical visits to various institutions of the agricultural sector.
The extension of the agreement was signed in the Mexican capital by the Director General of CONACYT, Enrique Cabrero, and his counterpart at IICA, Víctor M. Villalobos.
In 2012, the program awarded 27 scholarships, the following year it awarded 100 and during the first six months of 2014 it benefited 55 students, for a total of 182 people.
In 2013, the countries with the largest number of scholarship holders were Colombia (29%), Honduras (13%) and Ecuador (12%). This year 1,153 scholarship applications were received and 415 students were pre-selected.
During the first semester of 2014, a total of 240 applications were received, with 173 candidates preselected. The country with the largest number of applications was Colombia (36%), followed by Peru (13%) with Guyana (11%) in third place. A total of 21 applications were received from the Caribbean region, and 10 professionals were awarded scholarships.
As of June 2014, 20 institutions of the PNPC had participated in the program, offering more than 230 options for postgraduate studies.
CONACYT is a decentralized state body created to promote and strengthen scientific development and technological modernization in Mexico by designing and funding scholarship programs, implementing policies to support scientific research and supporting the training of highly qualified human resources.
With more than 71 years of experience in the hemisphere’s agricultural sector, IICA is recognized for working in partnership with its 34 member countries to achieve an increasingly inclusive, sustainable and competitive agriculture.
The scholarships to study in Mexico will cover the monthly living expenses and medical insurance of professionals from each member country of IICA, selected by the Institute’s Directorate of Technical Cooperation and the Center for Scientific Research of Yucatán (CICY), a body of CONACYT.
For more information, contact:
franklin.marin@iica.int
