Platform supported by IICA to finance projects aimed at small-scale producers

San José, Costa Rica, December 15, 2011 (IICA). The Latin America-Caribbean-Brazil Platform for Innovation in Agriculture (LAC-Brazil Platform), operated by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) and IICA, will finance projects aimed at increasing the productivity of small-scale producers in the region, as a means of rising out of poverty.

This mechanism, launched in October by EMBRAPA and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), issued a call for initiatives formulated by public or private research and development (R&D) institutes in Latin America and the Caribbean, in partnership with EMBRAPA, one of the leading advocates of innovation in agriculture in the hemisphere.

The goal of the platform, known as the LAC-Brazil Agricultural Innovation Marketplace, is to boost R&D activities intended to help small-scale producers and make their operations more productive and sustainable. It is viewed as an example of multinational and multi-institutional South-South collaboration.

The mechanism was launched by the President of EMBRAPA, Pedro Arraes, during the Meeting of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas 2011, held in Costa Rica from October 19-21.

The projects selected will receive US$80,000 for up to two years, and the deadline for receipt of applications is February 29, 2011.

All necessary information related to the call for proposals can be found at www.lac-brazil.org.

The platform will focus on projects related to:

• Technologies for the improvement of production
• Natural resource management
• Knowledge management and the strengthening of institutional and market policies 
• Technologies for small-scale producers and for the alleviation of poverty.

At this stage of the process, organizations that apply for funding must indicate the duration, subject area, country of implementation, objectives and expected results and impact of the project, and why it is innovative.

Manuel Otero, IICA Representative in Brazil, explained that, even though organizations will be forming partnerships with EMBRAPA, both must be have the competency required to contribute innovation to the project.

Other eligibility requirements, said Otero, are that the project be implemented in countries or regions that are free of conflicts, and that the participants in the project include young professionals firmly committed to R&D and innovation.

“Innovation is the determining factor. Proposals will be judged on the extent to which they differ from current approaches,” he added. Consideration will also be given to the design of the project and to the potential of its impact increasing and extending beyond the two years for which funding is provided.

The proposals selected will be announced on March 15, 2012, at which time the full initiative must be presented.

The LAC-Brazil Platform is also supported by the Brazilian Ministries f Agriculture, Livestock Farming and Supply and of Science, Technology and Innovation, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Brazilian Cooperation Agency, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and other organizations.

The origin of the LAC-Brazil Platform is the Africa-Brazil Platform, launched in 2010 by EMBRAPA and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) to achieve, in Africa, objectives similar to those being pursued in LAC.

For more information, contact: 
manuel.otero@iica.int