San Jose, 11 February 2025 (IICA). The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and investment advisory firm Vista Alta Management Solutions (VAMS) explored possible collaborative actions to improve innovative mechanisms to capitalize the Hemispheric Fund for Agricultural Resilience and Sustainability in the Americas (FoHRSA).
The fund, which was established at the request of the ministers of Agriculture of the Americas in 2024, will equip IICA to provide technical support and financial solutions to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to bolster their agricultural resilience and sustainability.
On a visit to IICA Headquarters in San Jose, Costa Rica, VAMS Founding Partner and CEO, Francisco Guia, met with IICA Director General, Manuel Otero and other authorities of the specialized organization in agricultural and rural development, and exchanged ideas on how to take advantage of so-designated “impact investments” to address the significant challenges faced by the region.
IICA, through FoHRSA, is mobilizing, managing and executing new reimbursable and non-reimbursable funds, to strengthen the institutional, business and technical resources that the countries of the region require to implement programs and projects to improve the resilience and adaptive capacity of agrifood systems.
The fund was launched in November 2024 at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, in response to an expressed mandate by the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA), the highest governing body of the Institute. Its programmatic priorities include circular and regenerative agriculture; soil health; efficient water use; carbon sequestration and the transition to renewable energy.
At the meeting, Guia shared his strategic vision on the use of investment funds and impact funds for agrifood systems in the Americas and pledged to collaborate closely with IICA on this initiative. VAMS has already been undertaking other types of activities with IICA since 2021.
“Our task is to provide support where there are needs and opportunities throughout the agrifood chain. We are pleased to work with IICA on this initiative. VAMS is a vehicle that can assist in bridging the traditional gaps between the financial, technical and operational spheres. IICA offers value addition, by demonstrating effective solutions for agriculture and by creating impact, as long as there is adequate investment”, said Guia.
“Having worked for three years to evaluate opportunities, we now move on to a more practical stage, where the experience we have accumulated can be used to support entrepreneurs in rural areas and benefit the entire agrifood chain. The focus is on farmers: identifying leaders and assisting them to develop projects; expanding their investments; building the capacities of young entrepreneurs; and increasing digital literacy, while ensuring the participation of women, which is crucial”, he stressed.
On the other hand, IICA Director General. Manuel Otero, noted that, “IICA has to transcend traditional technical cooperation and to recognize that we must figure out how to access new funding sources, as we continuously seek to improve the standard of living of rural inhabitants, who are sometimes forgotten”.
The synergy between both entities will be further expanded through a four-year cooperation agreement signed by Guia and Otero during the meeting. The main aim of the agreement will be to jointly develop priority projects, based on their ability to positively impact the region’s agrifood value chain and their potential to develop models for resilient and sustainable businesses in the chain, whether through the expansion of existing markets or the development of new markets.
Other key objectives under the partnership are the evaluation of projects in sustainable agriculture, incorporating a focus on enhanced efficiency through technological innovation; proper water management; soil health; agrifood development; job creation; clean energy management; carbon sequestration; nutrition and financial inclusion, as well as factors that assist in mitigating the effects of climate change.
The agreement covers other cooperation areas, such as the productivity, efficiency and sustainability of entrepreneurs in the agrifood value chain; the importance of technology adoption; agroindustry; technical training and entrepreneurial capacity building. It also addresses the development of business models that promote the financial inclusion and general well-being of rural dwellers in the region; the scaling up of solutions and the promotion of new investments to ensure resilient and sustainable agriculture in the Americas, among other areas.
