Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Territorial Development and Family Farming

The program will focus on collaboration with governments and social, economic and entrepreneurial family farming (FF) cooperatives, with a view to promoting the design and application of public policies aimed at fostering systemic competitiveness in rural areas, mid-sized cities, production units and businesses. The program will also seek to integrate various concepts into cooperation activities, such as the notion of institutional quality, public investment policies and the promotion of private investment and associative efforts.

To this end, the program will continue to contribute to the design and implementation of policies, programs and projects to facilitate the inclusion of FF production in agrifood systems, as well the development of a new generation of public policies. There will be a focus on associative strategies that facilitate agricultural competitiveness, ecosystem sustainability, mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, the reduction of depopulation and migration, and coordination and investment in public and private enterprises in rural areas. The program will work with countries to:

  • Promote and support the development of a new generation of public FF policies that drive the development of rural territories and agrifood systems. The aim is to ensure the inclusion of family farming production units and to increase their supply and demand capacity, through their promotion and inclusion in effective and efficient cooperative enterprises, by way of public-private partnerships.
  • Facilitate the social and economic inclusion of FF in agrifood systems, through technical cooperation activities.
  • Contribute to enhancing FF competitiveness in rural areas and agrifood systems, by developing associative capacities, with a focus on promoting cooperative efforts.
  • Spearhead actions to strengthen the capacities of regional policy integration organizations and institutions to stimulate discourse on territorial development- and FF-related public policies.

Specialist

Program Manager

 

Technical team

 

Advisory team

  • Álvaro Ramos, Uruguay
  • José Emilio Guerrero, Spain

Contact us

Mario León Frutos

Program manager

mario.leon@iica.int

Technical Cooperation Direction

dct@iica.int

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Multimedia

Explore our videos and discover IICA’s impact on agriculture and rural development throughout the region.

Headquarters, Sede Central

November 26, 2025

COP30. Day 10. Block 3

Headquarters, Sede Central

November 26, 2025

COP30. Day 10. Block 2

Castries, Santa Lucía,

December 11, 2025

IICA Hosts Subregional Training Workshop in Dominica as OECS Countries Strengthen Capacity for White Potato Production and Marketing

Participants included farmers, technical officers from the Ministries of Agriculture, IICA, OECS, CARDI and FAO personnel representative and other agencies interested in supporting the commercialization of white potatoes.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Panamá

December 11, 2025

Panamanian producer Dayra Montenegro, who returned to the countryside and modernized her family farm after sailing between several continents, recognized by IICA as a Leader of Rurality of the Americas

In her capacity as President of the San Lorenzo Agricultural Producers’ Association, Dayra shares what she’s learned and assists other farmers in adopting sustainable techniques.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Buenos Aires, Argentina

December 10, 2025

Representatives of Brazil’s main agro-industrial cooperatives visited Argentina to strengthen relations between producers in the two countries

Representatives of Brazil’s most important agro-industrial cooperatives visited Argentina to learn about productive ventures and familiarize themselves with the incorporation of new technologies and the progress that agriculture is making in the area of sustainability in this country, which, like Brazil, is a powerhouse of food production.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins