Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Knowledge management

IICA and CREFAL strengthen partnership to benefit community development

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

Authorities from the two international organizations met in Costa Rica to evaluate the joint work they have carried out to enhance capacities in the hemisphere.

Mercedes Calderón, Director General of CREFAL (left); Emilio Coral, Technical Director of CREFAL; and José Antonio Araníbar, CREFAL Liaison for Costa Rica. 

San Jose, 18 September 2015 (IICA). A delegation from the Regional Cooperation Center for Adult Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (CREFAL) visited the headquarters of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in Costa Rica to consolidate their strategy for supporting community development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The institutions signed a collaboration agreement in August to drive projects in this area. One of the actions promoted was the creation of a diploma course entitled “Public policies in agriculture: fundamentals, analysis and application.”

100 professionals from 20 countries in the Americas are participating in the course, which is being taught online and will last four months.

“Both IICA and CREFAL have a large international network; by working together, we can share knowledge, training opportunities and human resources, all with the goal of empowering future professionals in the agricultural sector,” explained Lloyd Day, Deputy Director General of IICA.

The entities will also prepare a land use planning manual and will develop proposals for improving communication with local governments in the hemisphere.

“These agreements strengthen us and allow us to be on the same page as far as work topics are concerned; we can strengthen our synergies to impact communities with good results,” stated Mercedes Calderón, Director General of CREFAL.

CREFAL is an international organization specializing in the development of learning models and proposals, that seeks to disseminate up-to-date knowledge to bolster the capacities of professors and academic institutions.

More information:

miguel.arvelo@iica.int

 

Share

Related news​

Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia

July 13, 2026

Meeting in Bolivia, the ministers of the Southern Agricultural Council (CAS) reject unilateral non-science-based regulations that are disguised restrictions on trade in food

The CAS declaration noted the importance of continuing to strengthen the strategic relationship between the EU and the countries of South America in order to deepen the technical and political dialogue aimed at reconciling environmental objectives with an open and predictable rules-based international trading system.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Santiago, Chile

July 10, 2026

The transition toward sustainable rice production is under way in Latin America and the Caribbean, and a project being implemented by IICA and its partners demonstrates the potential benefits

The “Transition toward sustainable rice production in Latin America” initiative is based on technological innovation, and focuses on the actual situation, background knowledge, and practices of the farmers who grow rice, one of the most consumed foods in the countries of the region.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

San José

July 7, 2026

The Americas consolidate their position as the world’s largest producer of liquid biofuels over the last decade, according to new IICA report

The global leadership of the Americas in terms of biofuels is driven by the United States and Brazil, which together accounted for 95.8% of regional bioethanol production and more than 85% of biodiesel production in 2025.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins