The Institute has turned its experience into concrete actions to benefit the agricultural sector and rural territories.
San Jose, 6 October 2017 (IICA). On 7 October, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) is celebrating 75 years of working side by side with governments, organizations, and farmers in its member states. With its feet firmly on the ground and a vision toward the future, the Institute works to benefit the development of the agricultural sector in the Americas.
IICA has established itself as the lead institution for agricultural development and rural well-being in the Americas and addresses demands by providing cutting-edge technical cooperation that is adapted to changing conditions.
“We owe our success to our ability to adapt the actions of the Institute to the ever changing challenges in agriculture, even anticipating future difficulties, by providing tangible results in our three key areas of action – national, regional, and hemispheric”, stated Victor M. Villalobos, Director General of IICA.
According to the Director General, the task of ensuring greater development of the sector is far from completed. IICA focuses on promoting productive, competitive, sustainable and inclusive agriculture in order to overcome the challenges that threatens this activity.
The institutional objectives of IICA are to boost the growth of productivity and competiveness in the sector, contribute to the reduction of poverty and inequality in rural areas, promote adaptation against the effects of climate change and integrated management of natural resources, and ensure food security. Agriculture depends on food security, without the food produced in this sector, it would be impossible to feed everyone.
“To overcome the challenges that this sector faces requires the cooperation of all actors linked to agriculture: producers, public and private sectors, social organizations, and academic and research institutions. A society with a stake in agriculture will be a prosperous society”, stated Villalobos.
Villalobos places his trust in the staff members and in the Institute. “The Institute is not its equipment, nor its facilities; the Institute is its people. And that gives me, as Director General, the confidence to believe that the Institute has a great future; precisely because its people are prepared to take up the challenge of supporting and contributing to a different kind of agriculture”, he added.
The history of IICA is linked to the history of agriculture in the Americas and spans more than seven decades of experience and achievements. The long lifespan of IICA is proof of the value that the Member States attach to international cooperation, and the importance they attach to the development of agriculture and well-being in rural areas.
“Seventy-five years of accumulating successes and lessons learned; these are reasons to feel very happy and satisfied, but also hopeful that this way of life will continue in the Institute”, concluded Villalobos.
More information:
Evangelina Beltran, Coordinator of the Office of the Director General.
Website: About IICA
Document: A brief history of IICA
