Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Agriculture Information and communication technologies Innovation

Nobel prize winner Michael Kremer will participate in an IICA seminar on responding to COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean through the digitalization of agriculture

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

Michael Kremer, recipient of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics for his efforts to combat and alleviate poverty, will speak to the Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero, during the seminar entitled “Opportunities for Digital Agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Prompt Response to COVID-19”.

ichael Kremer, Nobel de Economía 2019 y titular de la cátedra Gates de la Universidad de Harvard

San Jose, 9 June 2020 (IICA). During a webinar organized by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Michael Kremer, recipient of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics and professor at Harvard University, will present a roadmap for effectively combating poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean through digital agriculture.

Entitled “Opportunities for Digital Agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Prompt Response to COVID-19”, the webinar will be held on Wednesday at 7 a.m. Costa Rica time (13 hours GMT). It will be broadcast in English (original audio) on IICA’s virtual conference room (www.iica.int) and Facebook live (www.facebook.com/iicanoticias).

Kremer and the Institute’s Director General, Manuel Otero, will discuss the opportunities available to increase agricultural productivity through the use of digital tools: a fundamental way to support the sector within the context of the current pandemic as well as transform rural areas into areas of progress that generate job opportunities.

“Covid-19 has not only created a health crisis, but also an economic crisis in the long term. For many people, the pandemic is also generating a food security crisis. In the midst of this situation and the emergency measures that have been adopted, we must look ahead and find opportunities to shape the future”, explained Michael Kremer ahead of his conversation with IICA’s Director General.

“Our job is to provide Latin American and Caribbean countries with proposals to enable them to overcome the effects of the pandemic on agriculture and, at the same time, reposition agriculture as a sector that guarantees food security, generates jobs and drives economic recovery”, remarked Manuel Otero.

Information on the seminar

Opportunities for Digital Agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Prompt Response to COVID-19

Panelists

Michael Kremer, Professor of Economics at Harvard University and recipient of the 2019 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics

Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA

Date and time

Wednesday, 10 June 2020, 7 a. m. Costa Rica time (10 a.m. Brazil, 10 a.m. Argentina, 13 hours GMT).

Live broadcast

www.iica.int and Facebook Live (www.facebook.com/iicanoticias).

More information:
Institutional Communication Division, IICA. 
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int

 

Share

Related news​

San José, Costa Rica

August 12, 2025

Students from the Colegio Científico de Alajuela win the Minecraft Education Challenge for Agriculture organized by IICA in Costa Rica

In the third edition of this competition, participants were presented with a virtual world in Minecraft consisting of a densely populated city with no spaces where crops could be grown, and tasked with generating innovative and efficient solutions for sustainable food production.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Buenos Aires, Argentina

August 12, 2025

New opportunities for business and cooperation are created with the visit to Argentina of three Central American and Caribbean ministers and the participation of international experts in a farmers’ conference

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) concluded an intensive week of activities in Buenos Aires, having organized a visit by three ministers from Central America and the Caribbean, who explored new opportunities for trade and cooperation with the Argentinian government and private sector.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Buenos Aires

August 11, 2025

Buenos Aires Grain Exchange event concludes that the future of agriculture lies with science, technology and value addition; and pays tribute to the career of IICA’s Director General

The Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) was recognized for defending the essential values of agriculture and for his international perspective, during a ceremony organized by the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange. The Exchange is the country’s oldest business entity, founded in 1854.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins