Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) Raises Institutional Profile in Washington, DC

Washington, DC, April 12, 2011 The Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Victor Villalobos, recently visited Washington, D.C. to promote the Institute’s work in agriculture development in the Americas. Villalobos became the tenth Director General of the Institute in January, 2010 and has since defined an institutional strategy to make agriculture more productive and sustainable to promote food security, reduce poverty and improve living conditions in rural Latin America and the Caribbean.

As part of this strategy, Villalobos met with officials of strategic partners and US government agencies including Capitol Hill; the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); John Deere; Organization of American States, (OAS); United States Department of Agriculture (USDA); U.S. Department of State.

Since Dr. Villalobos assumed leadership of IICA the Institute has intensified its efforts to strengthen and expand technical capacity to address modern agriculture demands on the small to medium sized rural producer in Latin America and the Caribbean. Thematic areas include agribusiness; agro-energy; agricultural insurance; agro-tourism; biotechnology and bio-safety; food security; organic agriculture; rural development and animal health and food safety.

“No single organization has the adequate resources to solve such issues as hunger, poverty and rural development. Increased collaboration between organizations, each playing to its particular strengths, will be necessary. I am greatly encouraged by the tone and substance of my discussions with policymakers and with the private sector. Sound policies and a fully engaged private sector are both necessary to achieve a competitive and sustainable agriculture in the region,” said Villalobos.

Reconstructing agriculture and the rural sector of Haiti was a common theme in the meetings. IICA has been operating in Haiti since 1972 with a staff today of almost 50 employees. The Institute is working closely with the Haitian Government and other organizations to increase production, reforest many parts of the country, increase the availability of credit to small farmers including women, and develop agriculture generally to increase employment and meet Haiti’s growing food demands.

Also discussed was a new IICA initiative to eliminate unnecessary institutional expenses and devote these resources to the newly created General Directorate’s Competitive Fund for Technical Cooperation Projects (FonDG). Under the FonDG, the Institute uses these resources to finance projects that can be complemented with funds and collaboration from other Member Countries or international organizations.

Villalobos plans to visit Washington DC again in May to further promote increased investment in agriculture development for Latin America and the Caribbean and to seek additional support to achieve the Institute’s goals. “I look forward to continuing my discussions with Members of Congress, the USDA, and the State Department, among others, to strengthen our bonds and develop sound and practical solutions to the pressing agriculture issues in the region,” said Villalobos.

For more information, contact 
alondon@iicawash.org