Washington DC, 15 April 2026 (IICA). At an event with the participation of ministers of agriculture from several Latin American and Caribbean countries and the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Muhammad Ibrahim, the World Bank Group (WBG) launched the AgriConnect initiativefor Latin America and the Caribbean, whose objective is to fully integrate family farmers into markets, particularly through greater digital inclusion and other new solutions.
AgriConnect, which was launched at the global level in October 2025, marks a strategic step in strengthening cooperation between international institutions. It aims to pool resources in order to give family farmers greater access to innovative financing mechanisms, technical assistance, and public-private partnerships.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the goal is to benefit 10 million farming families by 2030, as part of an effort to reach 300 million family farmers worldwide by 2030.
IICA is one of the international organizations supporting the initiative in the region, along with financial institutions, private sector representatives, foundations, and knowledge partners. In fact, IICA’s officein Brazil hosted the launch of the initiative for that country, which has approximately four million family farmers, last March.
The program aims to achieve an estimated nine billion US dollars in global funding per year, and potentially mobilize an additional five billion in investments, to strengthen innovation, financing, and agricultural ecosystems.
The Minister of Productive, Rural and Water Development of Bolivia, Oscar Mario Justiniano; the Minister of Agriculture of Guyana, Zulfikar Mustapha; the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Ecuador, Juan Carlos Vega; the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining of Jamaica, Floyd Green; the Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock of Honduras, Moisés Abraham Molina; and the Minister of Agriculture of the Dominican Republic, Francisco Oliverio Espaillat, lent strong support to the project with their presence.
The ministers also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the World Bank Group and IICA,and another between the WBG and the Latin American Association for the Development of Agricultural Insurance (ALASA), in which the institutions agreed to work together to achieve their shared objectives with regard to the development of food and agriculture across the region under the aegis of the AgriConnect initiative.
The signatories were the World Bank’s Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean, Susana Cordeiro Guerra, and the Director General of IICA, Muhammad Ibrahim.
The launch event was also attended by senior officials from the other partners in the AgriConnect initiative in Latin America and the Caribbean: the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), ALASA, two United Nations agencies (FAO and the International Fund for Agricultural Development – IFAD), and, from the private sector, Bayer, Google, and CoDevelop.
Markets, finance and technology
The ministers taking part expressed their satisfaction with the launch of AgriConnect in Latin America and the Caribbean, and were agreed on the need for family farmers, a crucial sector for the region’s food security, to have better access to markets, financing, and technology. The ministers took part in a panel discussion that was moderated by Jorge Werthein, Special Advisor to IICA’s Director General.
“Rural areas are becoming depopulated worldwide, and this is also the case in Bolivia, where 75-80% of the population is now concentrated in just three cities. That is why we are so committed to strengthening our cattle farming and soybean sectors, and the production of Andean grains, coffee, cacao, and Amazonian fruits. We view the competitive and sustainable development of agricultural value chains as a priority for our country,” Bolivian Minister Oscar Mario Justiniano said.
The Guyanese minister acknowledged the fact that Caribbean countries remain heavily dependent on food imports. “This makes us vulnerable to climate shocks. That is why we must move from rhetoric to action, work towards a stronger agricultural sector, and underpin our ambition with coordinated action between countries. Guyana has abundant land and water resources, so it can be a leader in the Caribbean, but it cannot and should not act alone,” Zulfikar Mustapha remarked.
“Our hope is that AgriConnect will be a great project for coordination between the different actors so that things happen and our smallholders can connect with global value chains as a means to lift them out of poverty,” explained Ecuadorian Minister Juan Carlos Vega, who pointed out that most of the poverty in the region is concentrated in rural areas.
Vega referred to the agricultural sector’s potentialas a source of employment for young people: “In Ecuador, 350,000 students graduate from high school each year and do not go to university; we believe the rural sector can be a source of opportunities for them.”
Jamaica’s minister Floyd Green described the initiative as a great opportunity, especially as far as financing is concerned. “Countries like ours,” he observed, “have small economies. Our banks aren’t investing in smallholders. We must change that.”
Moisés Abraham Molina, Honduras’s top agricultural official, also emphasized the financial aspect. “It’s fine to talk about technology and infrastructure, but if we want agriculture to be inclusive, we have to talk about putting money in farmers’ pockets. That’s the only thing that will make farming sustainable. There’s no other way,” he emphasized.
Francisco Oliverio Espaillat then underlined the Dominican Republic’s commitment to AgriConnect, which he described as “a unique initiative, one that is badly needed because of the critical situation facing the world.” The Dominican minister, who chairs the Central American Agricultural Council (CAC), spoke via video, as he was taking part in a regional meeting, and so unable to travel to Washington.
Susana Cordeiro Guerra, the World Bank’s Vice President for the Latin American and Caribbean region, appreciated the opportunity to hear the perspective of each country directly from the ministers, who also shared their thoughts on how family farming could be strengthened.
“We are going to establish clear indicators to track the results of AgriConnect. It is important to be able to report on concrete achievements year on year through 2030. We must keep family farmers at the heart of the initiative to ensure food security and address the root causes of poverty and inequality,” she remarked.
Muhammad Ibrahim explained why IICA had decided to support AgriConnect in Latin America and the Caribbean: “Our participation should be seen as a natural fit, because it is closely linked to our institution’s DNA. Farming families are one of the region’s driving forces. There are 60 million people dedicated to agriculture who are key to food security and the social and economic fabric. We must ensure that they have access to markets, financing, infrastructure, and technologies.”
Lastly, IFAD’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Rocío Medina Bolívar, pointed out that: “IFAD is a natural partner for AgriConnect because we develop solutions for rural populations that are often excluded from financial systems, markets, and public policies. We work, for example, with national public banks to expand rural financing, mobilizing private sector investment, and connecting producers to markets in a sustainable way.”
More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int
