Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Food safety Knowledge management

IICA and FAO to increase knowledge management in agriculture

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

They have signed a letter of understanding to develop a new distance-learning course designed to enhance management capabilities.

The agreement was signed in Rome by the Director Deputy General of IICA, Lloyd Day, and the Director of FAO Office for Communication, Partnerships and Advocacy, Marcela Villarreal. (Photography credits: FAO/Alessandra Benedetti)

San Jose, Costa Rica, July 8, 2013 (IICA). As part of IICA and FAO’s joint activities, this week the two agencies signed a letter of understanding aimed at the development of a distance learning course on information strategies, whose ultimate objective is to improve food security in the Americas.

The course will be entitled “Strategic approaches to information” and form part of the Information Management Resource Kit (IMARK) available at www.imarkgroup.org. The initiative is designed to enhance the capacity of the two agencies’ member countries to generate, manage, analyze, and access information that can help improve food security and nutrition.

The agreement was signed in Rome by the Director Deputy General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Lloyd Day, and the Director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Office for Communication, Partnerships and Advocacy, Marcela Villarreal.

Under the agreement, IICA will draw on its expertise to develop new content and adapt 17 lessons of the course for Spanish speakers, while FAO will contribute financial resources to meet the production costs. In addition, the Institute and FAO will coordinate the development of new materials on knowledge management, scientific writing, and the delivery of information services via cell phones, which will be made available in 2014 and 2015.

IMARK is an initiative spearheaded by international organizations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), IICA, and FAO. Created a decade ago, its objective is to assist professionals in agricultural information and knowledge management by providing an array of training resources, standards, directives, and tools related to the sharing of knowledge.

Its materials are totally free and available on CD-ROM and on line to facilitate self-learning around the globe.

IICA has been actively involved in the initiative since 2003, helping to ensure that the courses mentioned, and others, including Management of Electronic Documents, Building Digital Libraries and Strategic Approaches to information, are used as widely as possible in Latin America and the Caribbean.

For more information, contact: 
federico.sancho@iica.int

 

Share

Related news​

San José, Costa Rica

July 1, 2025

Carbon markets offer an extraordinary opportunity for sustainable livestock farming in Latin America, and collective action is essential to seize it, say public and private sector experts during seminar at IICA

During the seminar, which featured various presentation and discussion panels, participants explored the nature of carbon markets, financing alternatives for carbon capture projects in livestock farming, and the current regional context. They also shared methodologies and ideas to unlock their full potential through concrete steps.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

– El Director General del Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA), Manuel Otero, expresó su pleno respaldo a las conclusiones de la Conferencia Global de IFAMA, en la que 600 representantes de 40 países señalaron que el sector agropecuario seguirá siendo parte de la solución a los desafíos planetarios si profundiza su apuesta por la ciencia y la tecnología e impulsa una nueva generación de políticas públicas.

Ribeirao Preto, Brasil

July 1, 2025

IICA Director General expresses full support for IFAMA 2025 Global Conference document, which called on the agricultural sector to strengthen its commitment to science and technology to remain part of the solution to global challenges 

IFAMA 2025 concluded with a call to promote policies and strategies that advance technologies to conserve resources, increase productivity, and protect the environment.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Sevilla

July 1, 2025

IICA’s photo exhibition, which pays tribute to rural men and women in the Americas, is on display at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville

The exhibition is composed of 27 photographs taken by photographer Cecilia Duarte (Brazil) and curator Virginia Fabri (Argentina), which tell the stories of peasants, family farmers, medium-sized producers, members of indigenous communities, teachers, students, agents of innovation and technology, and advocates for the empowerment of women and youth from 14 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins