IICA and CATIE reaffirm their partnership to drive research, leadership development, and the enhancement of tropical agriculture in the Americas
San Jose, 21 July 2023 (IICA). The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) reaffirmed its historic partnership with the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), pledging to continue joining forces to enhance the development of tropical agriculture in the Americas.
It was during IICA’s Executive Committee meeting that the Institute recognized the 50th anniversary of CATIE – an international organization established in 1973 in the canton of Turrialba, Costa Rica, to provide scientific research, post-graduate education, technical support to the agriculture sectors of countries in the Americas and to foster natural resource conservation.
The event took place in the presence of 14 honorable ministers of Agriculture from countries in the hemisphere and other high-level officials of the sector, including the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Costa Rica, Víctor Carvajal; the Director General of CATIE, Muhammad Ibrahim; the IICA Director General, Manuel Otero; the Chair of IICA’s Executive Committee, Indar Weir; and the Deputy Director General of the Institute, Lloyd Day.
Also attending the ceremony at IICA Headquarters in San Jose were Hipólito Mejía, former President of the Dominican Republic and IICA Goodwill Ambassador; the Mayor of Turrialba, Luis Fernando León; members of the canton’s Municipal Council; community leaders and members of CATIE’s Board of Directors and staff.
Minister Carvajal assured the participants that in the face of current challenges and problems facing agriculture, among them climate change, CATIE’s research plays a key role in generating solutions for the sector, particularly in livestock production, reforestation, the development of agrosilvopastoral mechanisms and in the development of agricultural leaders.
He stressed that, “We must acknowledge everything that the Center has contributed and take this opportunity to appeal for continued research and the allocation of resources to research, because therein lies the success of our agriculture sector, particularly in the case of Costa Rica, a tropical country that is experiencing increasingly difficult situations. I wish CATIE many more years of education, research, innovation and scientific development”.
CATIE Director General, Muhammad Ibrahim, remarked that the continued existence and success of the institution was due to “its partnerships with cooperation agencies such as IICA, governments, universities, research centers and communities”, which have enabled it to achieve tangible results that have created positive changes in regional agriculture.
He described CATIE as “a pioneering institution in devising systemic approaches to provide solutions to global, regional and national challenges. We work in agriculture and the environment, with a broader focus on food security, social affairs and health. Since the Center’s inception, it has focused on producing and serving, adapting to paradigm changes and tackling global issues, such as climate change and agrifood system transformation”.
“We are honoring an institution that represents knowledge-intensive agriculture, which is the future of our hemisphere”, said IICA Director General, Manuel Otero, who himself pursued post-graduate studies at CATIE in the 1970s, receiving an Honoris Causa from the Center in 2022.
The ceremony highlighted the pivotal role CATIE has played over five decades in development and capacity building for sustainable agriculture and environmental management, as well as in training leaders for the transformation of tropical agriculture at its renowned Post-graduate School, which has produced more than 2,800 graduates with Master’s degrees or as change leaders.
“I am a product of that training”, said the IICA Director General. “This is a fundamental task that CATIE must further develop, as a key institution in training leaders for agricultural transformation”.
The event also highlighted the impact of the cutting-edge research of the Center, which has extended beyond the halls of academia, generating positive and tangible changes in areas related to sustainable agriculture in the Americas.
Also highlighted were CATIE’s role in the conservation and genetic improvement of outstanding varieties of coffee and cocoa, recognized for their high productivity, disease resilience and superb quality. Mention was also made of the germplasm bank that stores more than 6,000 varieties of crop seeds to ensure global food security, as well as of the development of plans for adequate soil and water management to contribute to climate change mitigation.
The event paid tribute to the Center’s promotion of agroforestry development; its efforts in the management, sustainable use and conservation of Latin American and Caribbean tropical forests and biodiversity, and work in watershed management, sustainable agribusiness and livestock production, among other areas of CATIE’s work.
The ceremony closed with the planting of a tree in the Forest of the Americas to commemorate the 50th anniversary of CATIE. The forest is an initiative spearheaded by IICA and CATIE, which contains species of trees that are representative of all the countries in the Hemisphere.
More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int