Eodora Méndez, who has tirelessly championed the well-being of Honduras’ small farmers; Rosamund Benn, a farmer who has encouraged dozens of rural women in Guyana to process and market their crops to improve their income and standard of living; and Alfredo Carrasco, a promotor of inclusive and integrative agriculture in Chile, were the three farmers honored at the meeting.

Eodora Méndez, who has tirelessly championed the well-being of Honduras’ small farmers; Rosamund Benn, a farmer who has encouraged dozens of rural women in Guyana to process and market their crops to improve their income and standard of living; and Alfredo Carrasco, a promotor of inclusive and integrative agriculture in Chile, were the three farmers honored at the meeting.

The recommendation is made in The Outlook for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Americas 2023-2024, a report prepared by the three institutions and presented in Costa Rica during the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture of the hemisphere.

Lal was addressing the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas at IICA Headquarters in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Lal was addressing the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas at IICA Headquarters in San Jose, Costa Rica.

The panelists emphasized the social and productive contributions of family farmers who, nevertheless, are the weakest link in the chain, often suffering from poverty and facing multiple obstacles to access basic services.