Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Agricultural chains Agriculture Innovation Productivity Resilient Agriculture Rural development Sustainable development

IICA and CIRAD renew agreement to drive the bioeconomy and agricultural innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

The organizations have a long history of joint work, which includes the PROMECAFÉ and PROCAGICA programs that support coffee farming in Central America.

El director de Investigación y Estrategia del CIRAD, Guy Henry, y el Director General del IICA, Manuel Otero, coincidieron en que el convenio representa un nuevo capítulo para construir en conjunto una agenda ganar-ganar en favor del sector agrícola del hemisferio.

San Jose, 4 March 2020 (IICA). The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) renewed their agreement to support public policymaking, innovation, technology transfer and the development of the bioeconomy in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Other areas of work will include sustainable area-based rural development, agroecology and the circular economy, as well as prospective analyses and sustainable agrifood systems.

The agreement was signed at IICA Headquarters in Costa Rica by Manuel Otero, Director General of the Institute, and Guy Henry, Research and Strategy Director of CIRAD.

Beverly Best, Director of External and Institutional Relations at IICA, and Federico Villarreal, Director of Technical Cooperation, were also in attendance.

“This agreement is of vital importance to continue driving, stimulating and fostering agricultural development and rural well-being through international technical cooperation of excellence. It is also a powerful symbol of the valuable joint work that the two institutions have carried out for the benefit of agriculture,” stated Otero.

Henry agreed with the Director General, explaining that the agreement marks a new chapter in the efforts to jointly establish a win-win agenda.

“We will conduct an analysis of comparative advantages to establish needs, common issues, and define what we can do to create cooperation initiatives together with other partners in the area,” he remarked.

As a result of the signing of the agreement, technical teams from both IICA and CIRAD participated in meetings to define priorities and areas of impact in the region.

IICA and CIRAD have been working together since 1989. One of the initiatives they have pursued jointly is the Regional Cooperative Program for the Technological Development and Modernization of Coffee Farming (PROMECAFÉ).

This program promotes modernization and sustainable development of coffee farming in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.

The organizations also promote the Central American Program for Integrated Coffee Rust Management (PROCAGICA), which seeks to strengthen integrated risk management in coffee farming in El Salvador, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic.

A number of models for forecasting coffee leaf rust have been developed through PROCAGICA, as a means of issuing warnings and facilitating decision-making by coffee producers, national institutions and regional networks that conduct work for the benefit of this sector, its socio-economic context, as well as food and nutritional security.

Villarreal explained that the priority of IICA’s Directorate of Technical Cooperation will be to establish linkages, through researchers and technical capacities, to further enhance efforts to make conceptual contributions and develop innovative visions. It will also make available its intellectual capital in priority areas. 

About IICA

IICA is the specialized agency for agriculture in the Inter-American system, with a mission to encourage, promote and support its 34 Member States in their efforts to achieve agricultural development and rural well-being through international technical cooperation of excellence.

About CIRAD

CIRAD is a French agricultural research and international cooperation organization working for sustainable development in the tropical and Mediterranean regions. Together with its partners, it is responsible for generating and transmitting new knowledge to support innovation and agricultural development.

More information:
Federico Villarreal, Director of Technical Cooperation at IICA. 
federico.villarreal@iica.int

Share

Related news​

Brasilia

October 21, 2025

Jamaican beekeeper Duhaje Jennings will share insights on the challenges and opportunities of producing in the Caribbean at the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas in Brazil

IICA has invited four Leaders of Rurality of the Americas from different regions of the continent to share, in person, the realities of their rural communities with the ministers.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

San José, Costa Rica

October 20, 2025

Academic sector and IICA agree to establish a consortium to strengthen agrifood research, education and innovation in Central America

The CEIAC is an initiative comprised of universities, research centers and international organizations in five countries, with technical support from IICA and ceiA3. Its mission is to strengthen regional agrifood training, research and innovation through academic, scientific and technical cooperation.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Montevideo

October 20, 2025

PROCISUR marks 45 years driving scientific and technological integration in the Southern Cone

PROCISUR supports more than 2,100 research projects and 200 germplasm banks across the entire region.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins