The award was presented at a ceremony held in Asunción, attended by the Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero, and the representative in Paraguay of the hemispheric organization for agricultural development and rural welfare, Gabriel Rodríguez. Also present was the former Paraguayan Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Santiago Bertoni.
Ir Arriba
Leaders Of Rurality
The IICA will recognize rural leaders in the Americas, under an initiative to pay tribute to men and women who are leaving their mark and making a difference in rural communities of our hemisphere.
This award pays tribute to those who are playing a unique dual role: guaranteeing food and nutritional security, by producing under all circumstances, as well as protecting the biodiversity of the planet. It will also emphasize their capacity to be positive role models in rural areas of the region.
Carolín Leguizamón and Héctor Cristaldo, committed to strengthening small producers and the Paraguayan agroindustry, are recognized by IICA as Leaders of Rurality in the Americas
Tania Liew-A-Soe, founder of a women's cooperative in Suriname that produces, processes, and exports food, is recognized by IICA as a Leader of Rurality of the Americas
The cooperative brings together women farmers and entrepreneurs who, while producing and industrializing food, share the responsibilities of educating their children and ensuring their families' nutrition.
Katy Moncada, a farmer who has paved the way and teaches the path to rural women in Honduras, is recognized by IICA as a Leader of Rurality of the Americas
Katy is part of a group of rural women from the department of El Paraíso, in eastern Honduras, who left the countryside, graduated from university, and returned to their first love, coffee growing. These women also began other productive activities such as beekeeping and growing bananas and lemons through the cooperative enterprise “Women in Action.”
John Hunte, a promoter of healthy food production in Barbados for farmers and consumers, is honored by IICA as a "Leader of Rurality of the Americas."
Hunte was one of the founders of the Organic Growers and Consumers Association (OGCA), established in 1998 to promote the production of food certified for being free of chemicals such as fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides.
IICA recognizes Salomón Zelada, a groundbreaking leader of the agricultural cooperative movement in El Salvador for more than three decades, as a Leader of Rurality in the Americas
Zelada is to receive the “Soul of Rurality” award, part of an initiative by the specialized agency for agriculture and rural development intended to shine the spotlight on men and women who leave their mark and make a difference in the rural areas of the Americas, a key element in the world’s food and nutrition security and environmental sustainability.
Costa Rican high school students, creators of a module for the promotion and dissemination of silvopastoral goat farming, recognized by IICA as Leaders of Rurality of the Americas
This initiative promotes agricultural education and training among young people and producers in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste, selling goat milk-based products in their communities.