EMBRAPA and IICA evaluate financing of 33 project proposals for the development of agriculture in LAC

Brasilia, January 23, 2015 (IICA). The Brazilian Corporation for Agricultural Research (EMBRAPA) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) are evaluating 33 proposals for projects designed to promote agricultural and rural development in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), as part of the third call for proposals of the LAC Market Place initiative.

The projects selected will receive around USD 75,000 each.

More than half the proposals received (58%) involve technologies for raising productivity, while 21% focus on natural resources management. Around 15% of the projects are related to technologies for smallholders and poverty reduction, and 6% to institution building, policies, and the market.

The Market Place platform was created in 2010, as a South–South cooperation initiative for rural development in the African countries. When it began to invite proposals aimed at promoting the same type of development in LAC in 2012, EMBRAPA and IICA decided to join forces to foster the creation of networks of researchers based in Brazil, other Latin American countries, and the Caribbean.

The financing for the proposals that are approved come from Brazilian partners, such as the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI), the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and others outside LAC, such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Since 2010, almost 500 projects have been implemented with Market Place resources, 148 of them in LAC. Colombia is the country that has submitted the largest number of proposals (25 since 2012).

During the Market Place’s first year of activity in LAC, 53 project proposals were received, with researchers responsible for 15 of them. In 2014, 22 of the 58 proposals were submitted by groups of professionals led by women.

One of the most striking projects already under way in LAC involves the production of oil from the andiroba or crabwood tree, which is common in the Amazon region. The project is designed to conserve the forest and strengthen traditional communities in Suriname.

Under another initiative, small farmers in Bolivia are being trained in the organic production and marketing of native species of sweet potato.

More information: 
manuel.otero@iica.int