Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Agribusiness Competitiveness Family farming

IICA supports strategy to promote value added in Costa Rican agriculture

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

The Institute is supporting the process of modernizing Costa Rica’s institutional framework for agriculture undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.

The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Costa Rica, Luis Felipe Arauz, underscored the importance of supporting smallholders who supply the local market

San José, Costa Rica, 23 January 2015 (IICA). The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) is assisting Costa Rica’s National Production Council (CNP) with the construction of a strategy designed to boost value added in the agricultural sector and thereby enhance the competitiveness of family agriculture.

The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Costa Rica, Luis Felipe Arauz, CNP Executive President Carlos Monge and members of his staff, and IICA specialists held their first meeting to discuss the construction of the strategy, based on a draft prepared by the Institute’s Office in Costa Rica.

The proposal includes the creation of the Centro Nacional de Promoción al Valor Agregado Agropecuario (CNPVAA). At a meeting involving the MAG, the CNP, the Secretaría Ejecutiva de Planeación Sectorial Agropecuaria (SEPSA) and IICA, held in San Jose, the participants focused on the services that the center would offer.

“When producers shift their focus from value added to primary production, the impact is significant. Our task is to assist producers who lack the expertise needed to improve their economic activity in areas such as management, marketing, and trade,” Minister Arauz observed.

CNP Executive President Carlos Monge noted that one of the key tasks facing the sector was the revamping of the structure of production and support for producers who supply the domestic market, without ignoring export agriculture.

The meeting was part of the support that IICA has been lending to the process of modernizing the CNP since 2014, with a view to strengthening the competitiveness and productivity of Costa Rica’s small-scale agriculture.

“We want to help build a strong institution with a long-term vision, one that is innovative, dynamic, and capable of improving the quality of life and the development of producers and their territories,” commented IICA’s Representative in Costa Rica, Miguel Ángel Arvelo.

IICA’s collaboration in the modernization of the CNP has included involvement in more than 12 workshops and meetings, the delivery of consulting and advisory services, as well as support for the strengthening of the Fábrica Nacional de Licores (FANAL) and the Programa de Abastecimiento Institucional (PAI). The Institute has also promoted the sharing of experiences, organizing activities such as the one carried out with Brazil’s Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (CONAB) last November.

More information: 
miguel.arvelo@iica.int

 

Share

Related news​

San José, Costa Rica

February 24, 2025

Sandra Ferguson, who has devoted her life to small farmer empowerment in the Caribbean country of Grenada, is recognized as an IICA Leader of Rurality of the Americas  

Ferguson will receive the “Soul of Rurality” award, as part of an initiative by the specialized organization in agricultural and rural development, to shine the spotlight on men and women who are leaving their mark and making a difference in the rural Americas

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

San José

February 24, 2025

During meeting with Central American ministers of Agriculture, IICA commits more financial and human resources to strengthen actions to control the New World screwworm

The IICA Director General announced that the hemispheric agency will allocate USD 250,000 to a strategy to combat the disease in 2025.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

San José, Costa Rica

February 21, 2025

Central American countries and IICA ratify commitment to regional integration to develop the agriculture sector

The ministers agreed that fostering synergies among countries to strengthen areas, such as screwworm prevention and control, the supply of basic grains and capacity development for vulnerable groups in rural areas, including women and youth, is essential.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins