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

Compartir

Multimedia

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

Canada

July 24, 2025

Leaders Panel: Cultivating Tomorrow’s Agriculture Today

Canada

May 21, 2025

Plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy

El presidente de la Bolsa de Cereales de Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ricardo Marra, durante su participación en el diálogo hemisférico Experiencias transformadoras y escalables para una nueva generación de políticas públicas para los sistemas agroalimentarios.

San José, Costa Rica

October 10, 2025

At IICA Headquarters in Costa Rica, Ricardo Marra, President of the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange, calls for all stakeholders to be involved in the construction of sustainable agrifood policies in order to produce better

He emphasized the importance of the issue during the hemispheric dialogue, “Transformative and scalable experiences for a new generation of public policies for agrifood systems”

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

San José, Costa Rica

October 10, 2025

Experts from international organizations, attending a meeting at IICA, argued that the challenging global environment calls for a new generation of public policies for agrifood systems

Various experts from international organizations attending a meeting at the Headquarters of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) agreed that the challenging global environment of geopolitical changes, extreme weather phenomena and ecological transformations calls for the development of a new generation of public policies for agrifood systems.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

México

October 8, 2025

Gisela Illescas Palma, a rural leader enamored with the countryside and a promoter of sustainable development and a unique coffee brand, is named an IICA Leader of Rurality of the Americas

Illescas stands out for her work aimed at driving the development of dozens of farming families in her region, her efforts to defend rural women’s rights, and her passion for the land and coffee, which serves as an inspiration for others.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins