Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Agriculture Family farming Rural development Women

IICA initiative recognizes and turns the spotlight on rural leaders in the Americas

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

The men and women making a difference in Latin American and Caribbean rural areas will be bestowed with the #SoulOfRurality award, by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), and will be invited to participate in various advisory bodies of the specialized agency for agricultural and rural development.

A través de la iniciativa, el IICA divulgará historias de vida de productores agropecuarios y habitantes de la ruralidad.

San Jose, 18 May 2021 (IICA). The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) will recognize rural leaders in the Americas, under an initiative to pay tribute to men and women who are leaving their mark and making a difference in Latin American and Caribbean rural communities.

This award pays tribute to those who are playing a unique dual role: guaranteeing food and nutritional security, by producing under all circumstances, as well as protecting the biodiversity of the planet. It will also emphasize their capacity to be positive role models in rural areas of the region.

Through the initiative, IICA will publicize stories on the life of agricultural producers and rural inhabitants.

The #LeadersOfRurality will be bestowed with the #SoulOfRurality award and will also be invited to participate in various advisory bodies of the specialist agency in rural and agricultural development.

IICA will also strive to ensure that the recognition will enable the awardees to establish linkages with state, civil society and private sector organizations to gain support for their cases.

In launching the initiative, Manuel Otero, IICA Director General, reflected that, “These are people whose influence can be seen in all the food that we eat—wherever it ends up—and in each plot of agricultural land and in the communities where farmers and their families live. These are people who are leaving their mark and are the soul of rurality, because they produce, plant, harvest, create, innovate and unite”.

“They embody silent leadership, he remarked, “which is something we should highlight and recognize. Above all, they are role models, because they transform, overcome adversity and inspire”.

IICA will work with its 34 Delegations in the Americas to select the first #LeadersOfRurality.

The results of the first phase of the initiative will be presented to the Executive Committee of IICA, one of the Institute’s governing bodies.

More information:
Institutional Communication Division, IICA.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int

 

Share

Related news​

Santa Fé, Darién, Panamá

September 4, 2025

Coordination between IICA and Panamanian and U.S. government authorities bolsters the fight against New World screwworm in Central America and Mexico

As part of the efforts to curb the spread of the New World screwworm (NWS), a current health threat in Central America and Mexico, the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA) of Panama, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Panama-United States Commission for the Eradication and Prevention of Screwworm (COPEG) organized a meeting with livestock farmers in the city of Santa Fé de Darién to strengthen health surveillance and better protect local livestock production.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

El Director General del IICA, Manuel Otero, reafirmó en la inauguración de Biohélice 2025 el compromiso del Instituto con la bioeconomía como eje estratégico para transformar el agro y revitalizar los territorios rurales. En el acto lo acompañaron la Directora General de CINDE, Marianela Urgellés; el Rector de la UNA, Jorge Herrera; y el presidente de CRBiomed, Álvaro Peralta.

San Jose, Costa Rica

September 3, 2025

Specialists and partners at a meeting spearheaded by IICA view the bioeconomy as essential in positioning Costa Rica and the Americas as leaders in sustainability and production transformation

The bioeconomy specialists were participating in Biohélice 2025, an event organized by Costa Rica’s Universidad Nacional, the CRBiomed association and IICA, which brought together more than 130 participants with an interest in innovation and bioeconomy.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Alagoas, Brasil

September 1, 2025

Eliane Faria de Souza, a fisherwoman from Northeastern Brazil combining old traditions with innovative ideas to protect the environment, is named an IICA Leader of Rurality of the Americas

Eliane works with other women in the region to transform polluting waste substances into organic fertilizer.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins