CIMMYT and IICA agree in Mexico to strengthen their partnership to promote the use of science in favor of productivity and sustainability in agriculture

Principal — *Manuel Otero, IICA Director General, and Bram Govaerts, CIMMYT Director General, signed the agreement between both institutions.*

Texcoco, Mexico, July 12, 2024 (IICA) - The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) will strengthen their alliance and collaborative work in areas such as agricultural innovation, bioeconomy, territorial development, climate change, and sustainability.

Segunda — Lloyd Day, IICA Deputy Director General; Manuel Otero, IICA Director General; Ted McKinney, CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture of the United States (NASDA); and Margaret Ziegler and Diego Montenegro, IICA representatives in the U.S. and Mexico, respectively.

This agreement was reached in Texcoco, Mexico, at the CIMMYT headquarters, by the Director General of CIMMYT, Bram Govaerts, and his counterpart from IICA, Manuel Otero, who signed a memorandum of understanding.

Otero is currently on a working visit to Mexico, attending the second chapter of "DialogueNEXT," a series of discussions on the future of agriculture and food security organized by the World Food Prize Foundation, along with ministers from the Americas, Asia, Africa, and scientists from around the world. The event is taking place at the CIMMYT headquarters.

"We are two institutions born from the vision and inspiration of (former Vice President and Secretary of Agriculture of the United States) Henry Wallace, working together with the same values but in a much more complex world. Let history inspire us to build an even better future," said Govaerts upon signing the agreement.

"We advocate for agriculture with farmers, to increasingly incorporate science, innovation, and technology, with a human face and operating in partnership with nature. This agreement is very important because the tools are crucial, but most important is the roadmap that we must build together as institutions going forward," remarked Otero.

Tercera — *Diego Montenegro, IICA Representative in Mexico; Juana García, Leader of Rurality of the Americas; Manuel Otero, IICA Director General; and Gabriela Lucas, Leader of Rurality of the Americas.*

Immediately after signing the agreement, Govaerts and Otero outlined this roadmap, starting this year with reciprocal collaboration to participate in COP29, the world's largest environmental forum taking place this year in Azerbaijan; organizing a forum on carbon markets; and IICA offering the use of its offices in Argentina, Brazil, the United States, and Guatemala for CIMMYT.

CIMMYT is an organization dedicated to providing solutions to quantity and quality-related issues in staple crops such as maize, wheat, and sorghum, particularly in the Global South.

For years, CIMMYT has maintained a partnership with IICA, which focuses on the resilience of millions of farmers in Latin America and the Caribbean and leverages innovation to increase productivity and adapt to climate change.

Areas covered in the agreement include international trade and regional integration, digital agriculture, gender equality and youth, and health and safety of agri-food products, topics encompassed in IICA's technical cooperation through its seven hemispheric programs.

Cuarta — IICA Director General Manuel Otero and other high-level authorities of the Institute held a working meeting with the 2024 World Food Prize Laureate and Special Envoy for Global Food Security at the U.S. State Department, Cary Fowler; and Deputy Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security (REFS), Ann Vaughan (both on the right).

Implementation of this understanding will involve technical missions, training, capacity-building courses, experience and information exchanges, and consulting, with specific projects and objectives in different countries of the region.

The projects are expected to be implemented in partnership with other international or regional organizations focused on supporting food security and farmer resilience, with financial assistance from governments.

Specific activities will be defined by the technical experts from IICA and CIMMYT in Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala, the United States, and other countries.

Quinta — *IICA Director General Manuel Otero and Roy Steiner, Senior Vice President of the Food Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation.*

During the DialogueNEXT event, in addition to meeting with Govaerts, Otero engaged in discussions with the 2024 World Food Prize Laureate and Special Envoy for Global Food Security at the U.S. State Department, Cary Fowler; Mexican farmers Juana García Palomares and Gabriela Lucas Deeke, part of the Leaders of Rurality of the Americas network created by IICA; Deputy Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security (REFS), Ann Vaughan; the Senior Vice President for the Food Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation, Roy Steiner; and Senator Beatriz Paredes, Goodwill Ambassador of IICA.

In his visit to Mexico, Otero was accompanied by IICA's Deputy Director General, Lloyd Day, and the Institute's Representatives in Mexico, Diego Montenegro, and in the United States, Margaret Ziegler.

Sexta — *Manuel Otero, Cary Fowler, and Lloyd Day.*

More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int