The contest will be open from 1 February to 16 June 2023. Awards will be given to the following categories: producers’ associations and other private-sector organizations, including NGOs, that work with LAC producers; LAC science and technology institutions and organizations; and the LAC public sector (at all levels).
San Jose, 16 March 2023 (FONTAGRO – IICA). The Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology (FONTAGRO) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) launched the 4th Bioeconomy Innovation Successful Cases Contest 2023-2024, which seeks to identify successful cases and lessons learned from applications of the bioeconomy to transform agrifood systems in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
The contest is open from 1 February to 16 June 2023. Awards will be given to the following categories:
- producers’ associations and other private-sector organizations, including NGOs, that work with LAC producers;
- LAC science and technology institutions and organizations; and
- the LAC public sector (at all levels).
For each category, the award includes USD 15,000 to strengthen the institutional capacity of the winning organization and a trip to a top-level awards event where the cases will be presented. This venue is still to be announced.
At least ten of the best cases will be included in a publication to be distributed internationally in Spanish and English. The document, which will be presented at the awards event, will include the participation of representatives of international organizations, governments and of the winning cases. In addition, materials will be prepared to be shared on the websites of FONTAGRO, IICA and other partner institutions, and debate forums will be held to share the initiatives and their lessons learned.
For more details on the contest or to apply, enter here.
FONTAGRO Executive Secretary Eugenia Saini said that “The bioeconomy is a new productive paradigm. At FONTAGRO, we consider it of the utmost importance to respond to the need to generate knowledge on how to foster the bioeconomy in the agro-bioindustrial sector of LAC, bearing in mind that it is sustainable and it has an important role in social development. We are interested in finding out what is being done in different territories and what we can learn from these experiences, in order to multiply them”.
Hugo Chavarría, IICA Innovation and Bioeconomy Program Manager, said that “The bioeconomy is undoubtedly a process that is underway in LAC. Although a great deal remains to be done, we can already see technologies and innovations in the region that show important economic, social and environmental results. This contest seeks to document concrete examples of how the bioeconomy promotes sustainable development and why it should be considered on the political agenda of the countries of the region”.
About FONTAGRO
FONTAGRO was created in 1998 with the goal of contributing to the sustainable management of natural resources, improving competitiveness and reducing poverty, through the development of technologies and innovations of relevance to society. At present it has fifteen member countries. It has two sponsors, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the former being its legal representative. To date, FONTAGRO has supported over 187 projects and initiatives, representing a total investment of USD 137 million, of which USD 27.9 million were contributed by FONTAGRO, USD 19.4 million by other agencies (IDB, CGIAR-World Bank, AECI, the governments of South Korea, Japan and New Zealand, and others); with the rest from counterpart contributions from the institutions executing the projects.
About IICA
The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) is the international organization of the Inter-American system specializing in agriculture, with over 80 years of experience. Its mission is to stimulate, promote and support its Member States’ work to foster agricultural development and rural well-being through international technical cooperation of excellence. It has offices in its 34 member countries in the Americas and a permanent office for Europe in Madrid, Spain.
More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int
