Zamorano University and IICA to promote joint actions in agricultural research, digitization, and coffee production
San Jose, 24 February 2020 (IICA). The Zamorano University of Honduras and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) have teamed up to spearhead initiatives focusing on innovation, technology transfer and research to bolster agricultural activity in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The agreement, which will be in effect for the next five years, was signed at IICA Headquarters in San Jose, Costa Rica, by the Chancellor of Zamorano University, Jeffrey Lansdale, and by Manuel Otero, the Director General of the international specialist agency for agriculture.
The partnership will give Zamorano students the opportunity to pursue internships at the Institute and will aim to implement actions in relation to agricultural digitization, knowledge management, capacity development and coffee production.
“Our institutions share the same philosophy”, said Otero, “which is, to contribute to food security and improve the quality of life of rural communities. In order to transform our rural areas into zones of progress, in challenging times, we must develop closer ties and take advantage of complementarities and strengths”.
The Chancellor of Zamorano University—an institution with headquarters in Honduras and a student population of more than 1,200 individuals from 21 countries—explained that they are seeking to address the challenges facing agriculture, such as population growth, generational changes, efficient natural resource usage, climate change, rural-urban migration and food loss and waste, among other factors.
He remarked that the development of the initiative is emphasizing the University’s value proposal: sustainable agriculture, the mainstay of humanity.
Lansdale stressed that, “Partnerships allows us to create a greater impact and to tackle these problems. Zamorano has a 70-year track record of an extremely practical education program that offers field research and policy analysis. The aim is to exchange knowledge with IICA, as an organization that we recognize is open to innovation, to thereby influence the transformation of agriculture and decision making”.
Remarks by Jeffrey Lansdale, Chancellor of Zamorano University (Spanish only).
About IICA
IICA is the specialized agency for agriculture in the Inter-American system, with a mission to encourage, promote and support its 34 Member States in their efforts to achieve agricultural development and rural well-being through international technical cooperation of excellence.
About Zamorano University
Zamorano is a university and innovation center, situated within a botanical garden, and boasting 77 years of experience. The university, which applies the Learning by Doing methodology, contains agroindustrial and solar parks, laboratories, specialized centers and biological reserves dedicated exclusively to research, education and the conservation of 5,000 hectares of land.
Its academic courses focus on careers in Agronomy, Agroindustry, the Environment and Development, as well as Agribusiness. Its post-graduate degree is a Master in Sustainable Tropical Agriculture (MSTA).
More information:
Beverly Best, Director of External and Institutional Relations, IICA.
beverly.best@iica.int