San Jose, 6 August 2025 (IICA). The Ibero-American University Foundation (FUNIBER) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) have launched a new call for scholarship applications geared towards students and young agricultural professionals in 34 countries of the Americas, with the aim of strengthening undergraduate and graduate-level training in fields related to rural development.
The call for applications, which will award annual scholarships, is being issued within the framework of a renewed technical cooperation agreement between the two institutions. The purpose of the agreement is to strengthen professional training in areas related to agricultural development and rural well-being through scholarships for specialization, bachelor’s, and master’s programs.
Under the partnership, interested students and young people from every IICA member country will be eligible for partial scholarships to pursue online studies at prestigious universities affiliated with FUNIBER. This will unleash the potential of professionals in areas such as health and nutrition, environmental management, business, and agricultural engineering, among others.
The initiative prioritizes distance learning, thereby facilitating participation from any country in the Americas. FUNIBER and IICA have also agreed to create a Scholarship Bank, renewable each year, which will partially cover the costs of academic programs, with the exception of tuition and administrative fees.
Each application will be evaluated individually to determine the applicable level of coverage. Individuals interested in applying and learning more about the application requirements can visit https://bit.ly/4lkzbDs
“The program’s relaunch reaffirms IICA’s commitment to strengthening human talent in rural areas, through strategic partnerships that expand access to higher education in key areas for the future of agriculture”, stated Franklin Marín, Coordinator of IICA’s Center for Knowledge Management and Horizontal Cooperation Services.
“Knowledge must be made available to everyone, without economic factors or distance ever becoming a limitation”, remarked Marta Escolá Oliveras, of FUNIBER’s International Directorate.
The agreement between the two institutions includes opportunities for in-person training at the European University of the Atlantic in Santander, Spain, with scholarships covering 25% to 66% of the total cost of the program.
More information:
Luis Carlos Vargas, IICA Horizontal Cooperation Specialist
luis.vargas@iica.int
