Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Innovation Productivity

EMBRAPA and IICA evaluate financing of 33 project proposals for the development of agriculture in LAC

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

Fifty-eight projects designed to strengthen small-scale agriculture were submitted in response to the third call for proposals of the LAC Market Place initiative.

Los proyectos seleccionados podrán recibir hasta US$75 mil.

Brasilia, January 23, 2015 (IICA). The Brazilian Corporation for Agricultural Research (EMBRAPA) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) are evaluating 33 proposals for projects designed to promote agricultural and rural development in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), as part of the third call for proposals of the LAC Market Place initiative.

The projects selected will receive around USD 75,000 each.

More than half the proposals received (58%) involve technologies for raising productivity, while 21% focus on natural resources management. Around 15% of the projects are related to technologies for smallholders and poverty reduction, and 6% to institution building, policies, and the market.

The Market Place platform was created in 2010, as a South–South cooperation initiative for rural development in the African countries. When it began to invite proposals aimed at promoting the same type of development in LAC in 2012, EMBRAPA and IICA decided to join forces to foster the creation of networks of researchers based in Brazil, other Latin American countries, and the Caribbean.

The financing for the proposals that are approved come from Brazilian partners, such as the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI), the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and others outside LAC, such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Since 2010, almost 500 projects have been implemented with Market Place resources, 148 of them in LAC. Colombia is the country that has submitted the largest number of proposals (25 since 2012).

During the Market Place’s first year of activity in LAC, 53 project proposals were received, with researchers responsible for 15 of them. In 2014, 22 of the 58 proposals were submitted by groups of professionals led by women.

One of the most striking projects already under way in LAC involves the production of oil from the andiroba or crabwood tree, which is common in the Amazon region. The project is designed to conserve the forest and strengthen traditional communities in Suriname.

Under another initiative, small farmers in Bolivia are being trained in the organic production and marketing of native species of sweet potato.

More information: 
manuel.otero@iica.int

 

Share

Related news​

San José, Costa Rica

July 1, 2025

Carbon markets offer an extraordinary opportunity for sustainable livestock farming in Latin America, and collective action is essential to seize it, say public and private sector experts during seminar at IICA

During the seminar, which featured various presentation and discussion panels, participants explored the nature of carbon markets, financing alternatives for carbon capture projects in livestock farming, and the current regional context. They also shared methodologies and ideas to unlock their full potential through concrete steps.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

– El Director General del Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA), Manuel Otero, expresó su pleno respaldo a las conclusiones de la Conferencia Global de IFAMA, en la que 600 representantes de 40 países señalaron que el sector agropecuario seguirá siendo parte de la solución a los desafíos planetarios si profundiza su apuesta por la ciencia y la tecnología e impulsa una nueva generación de políticas públicas.

Ribeirao Preto, Brasil

July 1, 2025

IICA Director General expresses full support for IFAMA 2025 Global Conference document, which called on the agricultural sector to strengthen its commitment to science and technology to remain part of the solution to global challenges 

IFAMA 2025 concluded with a call to promote policies and strategies that advance technologies to conserve resources, increase productivity, and protect the environment.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Sevilla

July 1, 2025

IICA’s photo exhibition, which pays tribute to rural men and women in the Americas, is on display at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville

The exhibition is composed of 27 photographs taken by photographer Cecilia Duarte (Brazil) and curator Virginia Fabri (Argentina), which tell the stories of peasants, family farmers, medium-sized producers, members of indigenous communities, teachers, students, agents of innovation and technology, and advocates for the empowerment of women and youth from 14 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins