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

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.

Odette Varela, General Director of the National School of Agriculture, is recognized by IICA as a Leader of Rurality of the Americas for her work to strengthen smallholders in El Salvador

The Leaders of Rurality award is a recognition for those who fulfill an irreplaceable double role: being guarantors of food and nutritional security and at the same time guardians of the planet's biodiversity through production in any circumstance.

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