At IICA, during Digital Agriculture Week, countries in the Americas shared their strategies for promoting innovation and the use of new technologies in rural areas

San Jose, 1 June 2023 (IICA) - Countries in the Americas are developing new public policies designed to spur the use of innovations and new technologies in agriculture, in order to make the sector more productive and sustainable, and improve the quality of life in rural areas.

During the panel discussion on “Agrifood Digitization: Initiatives and public policies in countries in the Americas,” which took place during the second edition of Digital Agriculture Week, representatives of various governments gave details of the programs they are implementing across the continent.

This working meeting, involving the face-to-face and virtual participation of stakeholders from the public and private sectors, is being held at the Headquarters of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Digital Agriculture Week is a forum aimed at promoting dynamic and inclusive agrifood digitization in the region, organized by IICA in conjunction with seven of its strategic partners: CAF-Development Bank of Latin America, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD ), the IDB Lab and, from the private sector, Bayer, Microsoft, The Yield Lab and Veolia.

The members of the panel that discussed the initiatives and public policies being implemented in the Americas included Silvia Massruhá, President of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA); Keeley Holder, Chief Agricultural Officer at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security of Barbados; Federico Torres, Director of Innovation at the Ministry of Science, Innovation, Technology and Telecommunications of Costa Rica; Diego Caicedo Pinoargote, General Secretary of the Andean Community; Carla do Nascimento Macario, Head of Digital Agriculture at EMBRAPA; and Francois Eudes, Director of Research at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada.

IICA technical specialist Joaquín Arias also presented the work and findings of the Institute's Observatory of Public Policies on the digitization of agriculture in the region.

The challenge of reaching everyone

Massruhá, who took office this month as the head of EMBRAPA, a public institution that is a global leader in the field of agricultural research, said that information and communication technologies played a crosscutting role throughout Brazil’s agricultural production chain.

“EMBRAPA has worked on digitization issues for more than 35 years, but now, with the incorporation of bioinformatics and artificial intelligence, it is focusing on different areas that are becoming increasingly important. Many challenges remain, however, and one is the difficulty that many small farmers face in accessing new technologies.”

Carla do Nascimento Macario pointed out that only about 30% of Brazil’s rural areas had access to connectivity, which created difficulties, and digital transformation had to go hand in hand with training.

Keeley Holder mentioned that Barbados was working on an innovative agriculture policy involving the creation of an educational program and work with farmers on new technologies. “We’ll soon be setting up an innovation center for agriculture in Barbados. The work is already under way, with IICA providing support. We also intend to generate a digital map of the country pinpointing all the production areas, in order to have the tools we’ll need. We aim to complete it by the end of the year.”

Mr. Caicedo Pinoargote described the digitization strategy launched by the Andean Community, which is made up of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. “Digital transformation, implemented holistically and from a digital perspective, is a priority. The digital economy is growing exponentially,” he explained.

He added that the digitization of agriculture served different purposes, such as integrated pest and disease control, and the facilitation of foreign trade.

Torres described the various aspects of the 2022-2027 Science, Technology and Innovation Plan being carried out in Costa Rica. “We have indicators, because where public policies are concerned, a thing only exists if it is measured. We’ve worked to ensure that this model is implemented throughout the country,” he pointed out.

He also gave details of his country’s digital transformation and bioeconomy strategies. “The two have to interact and incorporate aspects such as data science and blockchain technology, so the agriculture sector can be transformed. Our aim is to help family farmers raise productivity by accessing digitization,” he said.

Mr. Eudes presented Canada’s 10-year Strategic Plan for Science and Technology, and provided information about the rapid growth of his country’s innovation ecosystem. “There are new players and ever greater complexity and fresh challenges, such as climate change and instability in trade," he acknowledged.

The representative of Agriculture and Agri-food Canada added that the State had made the provision of quality internet in rural areas a priority, especially in the north of the country, where the most remote areas were to be found. Finally, he said that the new technologies were expected not only to improve productivity, but also to help gain a better understanding of how greenhouse gases from agriculture work, and what their carbon footprint is.

More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int