Ambassador Gonzalo Gutiérrez, Secretary General of the Andean Community; Angel Manero, Minister of Agricultural Development and Irrigation of Peru; and Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA.
Lima (Peru), 18 August 2025 (IICA/Andean Community) – The General Secretariat of the Andean Community (CAN) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) inaugurated the Situation Room and Public Policy Observatory for Andean Agrifood Systems (Andean OPSAa), which will serve as key tools in strengthening agricultural activity in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
These tools will be available to officers in the ministries of Agriculture in the Andean region, farmers, agricultural science professionals, business people and the public in general, who may access the Andean OPSAa on the main OPSAa webpage: https://opsaa.iica.int/ or on the webpage of the Andean Community: https://www.comunidadandina.org/.
The Andean OPSAa will be a technical repository for analysis, monitoring and knowledge management to support the formulation and implementation of agrifood policies in line with regional challenges. It will also compile policies and strategic information, in addition to evidence-based recommendations, while also promoting discussion on the topic.
The Andean OPSAa Situation Room will enable the hosting of face-to-face and virtual meetings, such as policy discussions, technical events, workshops and capacity development programs. The facility was established at the Headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Andean Community in Lima (Peru) and is equipped with state-of-the-art technology to facilitate remote connection among the Andean countries.
The inauguration ceremony of the Andean OPSAa SItuation Room featured the participation of the Secretary General of the Andean Community, Ambassador Gonzalo Gutiérrez; the Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero; and the Minister of Agricultural Development and Irrigation of Peru, Angel Manero.
Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA.
The Andean OPSAa will provide a key opportunity to strengthen institutional and operational capacities and the use of technologies in the Andean region with respect to food security, international agricultural trade, regional integration, sustainability and other priorities of the Andean Agricultural Agenda and decisions of the Andean Council of Ministers of Agriculture, such as strengthening the competitiveness of family farming.
Both initiatives were developed within the framework of the cooperation agreement signed between the General Secretariat of the Andean Community and IICA, which is based on an agenda aimed at driving more efficient and evidence-based public policies in the Andean region in the medium and long term.
The Secretary General of the Andean Community, Ambassador Gonzalo Gutiérrez, stressed the important role that the joint work between the Community and IICA had played in the implementation of the Andean Agricultural Agenda. “We are confident that together we will spur the agricultural development of the Andean countries. The Observatory and Situation Room will assist in bridging the technological gaps in agrifood systems in the subregion, benefitting small farmers, in particular”, he noted.
On the other hand, Manuel Otero, IICA Director General, remarked that, “The Situation Room and Public Policy Observatory for Andean Agrifood Systems (Andean OPSAa) will provide Andean countries and their integration mechanisms with tools to facilitate informed decision-making, while also bolstering and assisting in strengthening the agriculture sector, particularly farmers in the hemisphere, who are central players in global food security”.
Ambassador Gonzalo Gutiérrez, Secretary General of the Andean Community.
About the Andean Community (CAN)
The Andean Community, created in 1969, is a regional integration organization that promotes the economic and social development of its Member States: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Throughout its history, it has worked to enhance cooperation and integration among these countries, facilitating the movement of people and promoting intraregional and extraregional trade. CAN works to ensure the well-being of its more than 114 million citizens.
About the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)
IICA is the international organization in the Inter-American System specializing in agriculture, with a mission to encourage, promote and support its thirty-four Member States in their efforts to achieve agricultural development and rural well-being through technical cooperation of excellence.
Communications SGCAN
Fernando Reyes Q.
freyes@comunidadandina.org
More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int
