Seville, 1 July 2025 (IICA). The photo exhibition of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), 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, Spain.
The four-day conference brings together leaders from governments, international organizations, financial institutions, businesses, civil society, and the UN system, offering a unique opportunity to highlight the extraordinary role played by women and men in the rural territories of the mainland and island nations of the Americas.
Rural dwellers are the protagonists of the photo exhibition promoted by IICA with the support of Bayer and CAF-Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Leaders of Rurality, Guarantors of Food Security and Guardians of the Planet’s Biodiversity” is the itinerant photo exhibition now on display in Seville. It was created with the aim of recognizing rural leaders who have been honored with IICA’s “Soul of Rurality” award, and who perform a unique dual role: as guarantors of food and nutrition security, and, at the same time, as guardians of the planet’s biodiversity.
“Our aim with this initiative is to highlight and honor the 129 million rural men and women in Latin America and the Caribbean who devote their lives to the land. They make a difference by caring for the countryside and bringing healthy and nutritious food to our tables. They promote the wellbeing of their communities and inspire young people to build a new rural milieu that is more environmentally conscious, creative, innovative, and productive,” explained IICA Director General Manuel Otero.
The exhibition – inaugurated in Europe in January 2025 within the framework of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) in Berlin-, 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: Argentina, The Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.
IICA and its partners have developed this initiative to demonstrate their commitment to recognizing the extraordinary service these people perform, and helping to increase their visibility and development.
The goal is for the exhibition to be seen all over the world: in 2025, it has already been on display at IICA Headquarters in Costa Rica, and in Berlin and Seville, and will soon be traveling to Argentina and Brazil.
International summit on financing for development
The fourth edition of the conference is taking place from 30 June to 3 July 2025, in Seville, Spain. Its main objective is to negotiate and strengthen agreements for the mobilization of resources for sustainable development at the international level.
As part of its commitment to the development of the agriculture sector in the Americas, the Leaders of Rurality exhibition will not be IICA’s only contribution: it will also be promoting the Hemispheric Fund for Agricultural Resilience and Sustainability (FoHRSA), an initiative requested by the ministers of agriculture of the countries of the Americas designed to coordinate efforts and strengthen agricultural development in the region.
More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int
