Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Rural youth

Supporting the Creation and Management of a Caribbean Youth in Agriculture Virtual Business Incubator and Resource Hub

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

The IICA Delegation in Saint Lucia with financial support of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), and in collaboration with the Caribbean Agricultural Forum for Youth (CAFY) is implementing a project that aims to improve access by youth entrepreneurs to information and knowledge products that support their business start-up and successful business management.

The IICA Delegation in Saint Lucia with financial support of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), and in collaboration with the Caribbean Agricultural Forum for Youth (CAFY) is implementing a project that aims to improve access by youth entrepreneurs to information and knowledge products that support their business start-up and successful business management.

The Virtual Business Incubator will support youth 
entrepreneurship  by providing unique information and knowledge
products to simplify business start-up and highlight business opportunities.

The rationale for the project stems from a recognized need for cost-effective mechanisms to support resource-poor youth entrepreneurs in the Caribbean in addressing information asymmetry-related barriers to business start-up. The premise for the action was also validated and endorsed by 35 youth entrepreneurs from CARICOM at the Dialogue 4 Development Youth in Agriculture (YiA) Business Forum held January 20 – 21 in Grenada. In fact, a regional platform for youth entrepreneur learning/equipping and peer-to-peer engagement was one of the first requests made by youth entrepreneurs to agriculture development institutions.   

Having begun in late May 2016, the project is wrapping up its first action of collating information on business start-up and the entrepreneurial ecosystem for the target 13 countries. This input will be used to generate user-friendly resources on doing business in each country that will be made available for free on the Incubator’s platform which will be built later this year. When operational the Virtual Business Incubator will support youth entrepreneurship by providing unique information and knowledge products to simplify business start-up and highlight business opportunities. In addition to creating the platform, the project will seek to create a management team of volunteering entrepreneurs, academics and support agencies to help shape the platform and increase by-in of support service providers across the region.

For more information contact: Brent Theophile (brent.theophile@iica.int)

Share

Related news​

Brasilia, Brasil

October 17, 2025

Macarena Valdés and Marco Aceituno, small-scale Chilean producers who have thrived under challenging conditions, will take part in the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas in Brasília

Macarena Valdés and Marco Aceituno, creators of a farm where food production has flourished despite the severe drought that has afflicted Chile in recent years, will be among the speakers at the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas 2025, to be held from November 3 to 5 in Brasília.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

El Director General del IICA, Manuel Otero, destacó que la decisión del Banco Mundial de duplicar sus inversiones en el sector agropecuario refuerza la importancia de los pequeños agricultores y reconoce el papel de América Latina y el Caribe en la seguridad alimentaria global.

San Jose, Costa Rica

October 16, 2025

IICA Director General  welcomes World Bank’s decision to double its investments to strengthen the role of small-scale farmers and expresses willingness to work together in Latin America and the Caribbean

Otero stated that IICA stands ready to assist the World Bank in helping small-scale farmers to increase their productivity, scale up and connect to value chains that can increase their income. To that end, IICA will tap into its broad experience in the region, where it works together with various strategic partners from the public and private sectors.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

San José, Costa Rica

October 15, 2025

Hemispheric dialogue at IICA identifies effective governance, strategic public spending and innovative green funding as key elements to strengthen regional agrifood systems

During a hemispheric dialogue held at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), government leaders, representatives of international agencies and regional agrifood sector experts agreed on roadmaps for strengthening institutional frameworks and coordinating public policies in Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins