BRASILIA, 25 June 2025 (IICA). The Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Manuel Otero, announced in Brasilia that the “Home of Sustainable Agriculture of the Americas” pavilion is to be installed at the upcoming COP30 in Brazil on a site designated the “AgriZone,” coordinated by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA).
The announcement was made in Brasilia during a meeting between Otero and EMBRAPA President Silvia Massruhá, in which they also discussed the organizing of new joint international initiatives by their two institutions: IICA, an agency specializing in agricultural and rural development, and the Brazilian state-owned enterprise that is a global leader in agricultural research, innovation, and technology.
At the meeting, Massruhá explained that the “AgriZone” is part of EMBRAPA’s “Climate Day” initiative. Working in tandem with the Brazilian government and public and private sector partners, it has been designed to “increase society’s knowledge of the climate situation and simultaneously promote technologies, research, and knowledge generated by Brazilian science that contribute to the adaptation of agriculture and help control greenhouse gas emissions, fostering competitiveness and ensuring food and nutrition security.”
“Climate Day” is being supported by Brazil’s National Rural Learning Service (SENAR), Bayer, Nestlé, IICA, the Caixa Econômica Federal bank, the Brazilian Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture, and local innovation company Morfo.
The IICA Director General said “we are ready, with our Home of Sustainable Agriculture of the Americas pavilion, to join the ‘AgriZone,’ the space set aside for the agriculture sector at COP30 in Brazil, and once again ensure that those crucial actors in global food security—our continent’s farmers—are actively involved in the main environmental negotiation forums, helping to position agriculture as a solution to the world’s climate problems, rather than as the cause of them.”
IICA and its public and private sector partners operated the Home of Sustainable Agriculture of the Americas pavilion at the COPs in Egypt (2022), the United Arab Emirates (2023), and Azerbaijan (2024), where participants were able to discuss and promote science-based solutions with a focus on building resilience and sustainability for the agriculture sector in the Americas.
The initiative has made it possible to draw attention to the crucial role that agriculture plays in countries’ development strategies, and fostered collective action to make the region’s agriculture more resilient, which is key to feeding the world.
The “AgriZone” will be part of COP30, which will be held in November in the Brazilian city of Belém. EMBRAPA announced that the deadline for submitting proposals for participation in the events and initiatives is 28 July. The space will be located on a site in Belém owned by EMBRAPA.
All organizations directly or indirectly involved in agriculture, food security, and climate issues are welcome to submit proposals. (More information: https://www.embrapa.br/cop30/eventos-na-agrizone).
The President of EMBRAPA was accompanied at the meeting by Ana Margarida Castro Euler, Executive Director of Innovation, Business and Technology Transfer; Daniel Trento do Nascimento, Advisor to the Innovation, Business, and Technology Transfer Department; and Daniel Medeiros, Head of the Communications Advisory Department.
Otero was accompanied by the Representative in Brazil, Gabriel Delgado.
During the meeting, the senior EMBRAPA and IICA officials also exchanged ideas on how to deepen reciprocal collaboration at the international level, with a focus on cooperation with countries in Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int
