Soul of Rurality

IICA’s recognition of the Leaders of Rurality of the Americas is part of an initiative that seeks to turn the spotlight on men and women who are leaving their mark and making a difference in the rural areas of Latin America and the Caribbean.

It pays tribute to those who play an unparalleled dual role: as guarantors of food and nutritional security and as caretakers of the planet’s biodiversity. It also emphasizes their capacity to drive positive changes in the rural areas of the region. For all these reasons, these individuals are the Soul of Rurality.

Leaders of Rurality of the Americas

Juana García Palomares recognized as “Leader of Rurality” by IICA for her work supporting the organization and empowerment of rural women in Mexico

For 25 years, Juana has managed a wildlife conservation management unit in the southern state of Chiapas, where she spends her time raising animals and restoring the environment.

Gillian Flies, Canadian food producer and regenerative agriculture advocate, named as IICA “Leader of Rurality”

Flies was living in Toronto with her husband, Brent Preston, and their two small children when they decided to move to the countryside to establish a farm to cultivate the type of healthy food that they wanted to give to their children, while also contributing to environmental protection.

IICA’s latest “Leader of Rurality” – Trigidia Jiménez, the Bolivian woman who reclaimed an ancestral crop that is strategic to food security

When Trigidia Jiménez began to produce cañahua, it was only for personal consumption in Bolivia, but today it is produced and sold by more than 1,500 families.

Chilean family farmer Emilio Sepúlveda recognized by IICA as a leader of rurality in the Americas

Sepúlveda and his wife, kids, brother and cousins produce an olive oil whose quality has been highlighted by experts in an area that had never before produced this product.

Joelin Santos, founder of a life-changing pineapple producer association in the Dominican Republic, recognized by IICA as a “Leader of Rurality”

Joelin was raised in the countryside and migrated to the city to pursue university studies. He later returned home, convinced that professionalizing agricultural activity would be the key to enabling other rural producers in the Dominican province of Monte Plata and himself to enjoy a decent quality of life.

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