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The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)


 * What is IICA?

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) is a specialized agency of the Inter-American System, and its purposes are to encourage and support the efforts of its Member States to achieve sustainable agricultural development and well-being for rural populations.

The Institute, founded 65 years ago, embarked upon an institutional modernization process in 2002 aimed at preparing it to meet today’s challenges, respond more effectively to requests for support from its member countries and comply with the mandates issued by the Heads of State and Government of the Americas and with the agreements reached by the ministers of agriculture of the hemisphere.

As it pursues its vision and carries out its mission, the Institute has competitive advantages it can draw on to carry out its new role. It has accumulated a wealth of knowledge regarding agriculture, rural territories, the diversity of peoples and cultures, and the agro-ecological diversity of the hemisphere, all of which are important for crafting creative solutions to a wide variety of problems and challenges.

The Institute serves as a platform for cooperation. Its presence in all of the Member States gives the Institute the flexibility it needs to move resources between countries and regions in order to promote and adapt cooperation initiatives intended to address national and regional priorities, facilitate the flow of information and improve the dissemination of best practices.

The Institute has its Headquarters in Costa Rica, and Offices in 34 countries of the Americas, an Office in Miami, which is responsible for the Inter-American Program for the Promotion of Agricultural Trade, Agribusiness and Food Safety, as well as an Office for Europe, located in Madrid. The Directorate for Strategic Partnerships works out of the IICA Office in Washington, D.C.

Member States
Andean Region [Bolivia]], Colombia, Ecuador, Perú and Venezuela.

Central Region Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama

Caribbean Region Antigua y Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

Northern Region Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

South Region Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.

The Institute has also 18 Permanent Observers:

Germany, Austria, Belgium, Russia, France, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japón, Portugal, Netherlands, Arab Republic of Egypt, República Checa, Republic of Korea, Republic of Poland, Romania, European Union y Spain (associated country).

Building the future
In order to meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities that exist in the global context in which agriculture and rural life operate, IICA has redefined its vision and mission and established the institutional values that will guide its actions.

Mission IICA is the specialized agency for agriculture and the rural milieu of the Inter-American System, whose purpose is to provide innovative technical cooperation to the Member States, with a view to achieving their sustainable development in aid of the peoples of the Americas.

Vision To be the leading agricultural institution in the Americas and the partner of choice by virtue of the quality of the technical cooperation it provides in response to the needs of Member States, and its contributions to sustainable agricultural development, food security and rural prosperity.

Institutional Principles and Values
 * Social and environmental responsibility
 * Respect for cultural and ethnic diversity
 * Partnerships to enhance impact
 * Leadership through excellence
 * Adherence to rules and regulations (impartiality, integrity, professionalism, flexibility, discretion, loyalty, prudence, responsibility and respect for the rules of the Institute)
 * Efficiency, transparency and financial prudence
 * Interdisciplinary approaches
 * Teamwork
 * Excellence in performance
 * Education as a basis for technical cooperation

How is the Institute governed?
The Institute has two governing bodies:

The Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA), comprising its 34 member countries, which meets every two years.

The Executive Committee, comprising 12 Member States chosen on the basis of a system of partial rotation and equitable geographic distribution, which meets on a yearly basis.

The General Directorate is the Institute’s executive organ. It comprises the technical and administrative units through which IICA’s activities are coordinated and executed.

The Special Advisory Commission on Management Issues was created on the initiative of the General Directorate, by means of an IABA resolution. The purpose of this high-level advisory body, comprising representatives of nine Member States elected on the basis of a system of partial rotation and equitable geographic distribution, is to facilitate dialogue with the Member States.

Priorities for strategic action

The Institute has defined the following strategic priorities for technical cooperation, on which it will focus its resources:


 * Repositioning agriculture and rural life and a new institutional framework
 * Strengthening rural communities
 * Promoting the integration of technology and innovation in agriculture
 * Promoting the sustainable management of natural resources and environment
 * Promotion of agricultural health and food safety
 * Promoting trade and competitiveness of agribusiness

Renewal for the new hemispheric dynamic
IICA embarked upon a transformation process with a view to participating actively in the new hemispheric dynamic. At the same time, it is contributing to building the new institutional framework for agriculture and rural life in the Americas.

In the face of today’s global and hemispheric challenges, and in response to the mandates on agriculture and rural life derived from the Third Summit of the Americas (Quebec 2001) and the Hemispheric Ministerial Agreements “Agriculture and Rural Life,” IICA responded swiftly and with full commitment.

The institutional modernization process begun in 2002 clearly defined a dual and complementary role: a new role as the Secretariat of the Ministerial Process and of its Ministerial Meeting within the framework of the Summit of the Americas process; and a conventional, but renewed, role as an international cooperation organization attuned to the new institutional dynamics of the Americas.

As Secretariat of the Ministerial Process and of its Ministerial Meeting “Agriculture and Rural Life” within the framework of the Summit Process, IICA’s efforts are focused on:
 *  giving continuity to the ministerial process,
 *  facilitating regional integration in the context of the hemispheric ministerial process, and
 *  facilitating the articulation of the ministerial process with the Summit of the Americas process.

As an international cooperation organization attuned to the new institutional dynamics of the Americas, IICA’s work focuses on:
 * consolidating the new cooperation model, 
 * complementing this cooperation model with a modern style of institutional management, and 
 * linking the IABA to the Ministerial Meeting “Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas.” 

Implicit in the dual role that characterizes IICA’s modernization process is recognition of the need for commitment and coordinated efforts on the part of national and international development organizations that exceed the competencies and possibilities of a single organization.

Brief History of IICA
The Institute is founded and takes its first steps

The Inter-American Institute of Agricultural Sciences (IICA) was founded in 1942, thanks to the vision of people like Henry Wallace, then the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and Ernesto Molestina, Director General of Agriculture of Ecuador. It was Wallace’s idea to create IICA and Molestina who presented the respective resolution. The Institute’s headquarters were established in Turrialba, Costa Rica, a region strategically situated between South and North America, with characteristics typical of agriculture in the Americas.

The first IICA field office (which subsequently became the Center for Education and Research) was officially inaugurated in 1943, at a ceremony attended by the President of Costa Rica, Rafael Angel Calderon Guardia, and the Vice President of the United States of America, Henry A. Wallace.

They were accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture of Costa Rica, Mariano Montealegre, and the first Director General of IICA, Earl N. Bressman.

The high caliber of IICA’s scientific and academic activities paved the way for its subsequent expansion. In 1944, the first multilateral Convention on IICA was signed, under which its legal status was recognized by different governments in the hemisphere.

The growth of the Institute
When the OAS was created in 1948, IICA became the specialized agency for agriculture of the Inter-American System, consolidating its work by extending its action to every country in the hemisphere. (This task was completed in the 1990s, when Bahamas joined as a member.)

By 1964, 21 Member States of the OAS had joined IICA.

During the 1970s, IICA carried out a number of specialized multinational programs as part of its strategy of hemispheric and humanist projection. In this period, specific, direct research and education activities were separated from those of a more general nature. This separation was achieved with the establishment of the Tropical Agriculture Research and Education Center (CATIE), in 1973, under the CATIE Contract between the Government of Costa Rica and IICA, which was approved by all the member countries.

A new Convention on IICA was adopted in 1979, redefining the Institute’s objectives, adjusting its cooperation actions with the member countries, and creating the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA) as its new governing body. The organization was also renamed, becoming the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture. By that time, membership had climbed to 29 Member States.

IICA assumed a leading role in agricultural development and integration in the western hemisphere. The Institute’s advocacy of the need for agricultural modernization won support in Latin America and the Caribbean, against a backdrop of sweeping transformations in international economic policies.

During the 1980s, the Institute coordinated the process of drawing up a hemispheric plan designed to reactivate the agricultural sector. This became known as PLANLAC, the Plan of Joint Action for Agricultural Reactivation in Latin America and the Caribbean. This proposal centered on the modernization of agriculture and initially included a broad portfolio of hemispheric and subregional projects.

During this stage of hemispheric consolidation, the Institute conducted some 38 multinational projects intended to reinvigorate intra- and extra-regional agricultural trade. It also established and consolidated cooperation agreements with donor countries and international organizations interested in solving the agricultural problems facing the Latin American and Caribbean region.

Between 1993 and 2001, IICA’s technical cooperation emphasized participation, decentralization and flexibility, focusing on a specific group of topics.

In June 2000, the OAS made IICA’s governing body, the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA), the primary ministerial forum in the hemisphere for issues related to agriculture and rural life.

The Heads of State and Government of the countries of the Americas subsequently ratified the OAS General Assembly’s decision at the Third Summit of the Americas. On that occasion, they instructed the ministers and secretaries of agriculture to “promote joint action by all the actors of the agricultural sector to work towards the improvement of agricultural and rural life that enables the implementation of the Plans of Action of the Summits of the Americas,” at the IABA meeting scheduled for November 2001, and in cooperation with IICA.

The new dimension given to the IABA adds to its role as the governing body of IICA, by giving it responsibility as the highest-level ministerial meeting of the hemisphere supporting the definition and implementation of actions to promote the sustainable improvement of agriculture and rural life, in the context of the Summits of the Americas.

Directors General of IICA

 *  Earl N. Bressman United States of America 1942 – 1946
 *  Ralph H. Allee United States of America 1946 – 1960
 *  Armando Samper Colombia 1960 – 1969
 *  Carlos Madrid Colombia 1966 – 1967 ~ 1969 – 1970
 *  Jose Emilio Araujo Brazil 1970 – 1982
 *  Francisco Morillo Venezuela 1982 – 1986
 *  Martin E. Piñeiro Argentina 1986 – 1994
 *  Carlos E. Aquino Dominican Republic 1994 – 2002
 *  Chelston W. D. Brathwaite Barbados 2002 – 2010
 *  Victor M. Villalobos Mexico 2010 – 2014

Recognition of Agriculture in the Summits of the Americas
Since 1994, the Summit of the Americas Process has given the Heads of State and Government of the Americas an opportunity to meet to discuss a common agenda and reach agreement on a shared vision of the solutions needed to create a better future for the region in economic, environmental, social and political terms.

The mandates that the leaders issued, and the commitments they assumed, at the Quebec 2001, Monterrey 2004, Mar del Plata 2005 and Port of Spain 2009 summits provide the hemispheric political underpinnings of the Ministerial Process “Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas.” Those mandates attach greater value to agriculture and rural life and provide a political framework for designing national and regional policies.

The Sixth Summit of the Americas is scheduled to take place in 2012, in Cartagena, Colombia.

The Ministerial Process
The Ministerial Process “Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas” is the component of the Summits Process related to the rural sector. It is a process of dialogue involving various actors in each country, the outcome of which are proposals for the ministerial dialogue and consensus at the hemispheric level. Since 2001, two main actors have been involved in the Ministerial Process:
 *  i)	the Ministers of Agriculture and their Ministerial Meeting; and,
 *  ii)	the Ministerial Delegates and their Hemispheric Forum (the GRICA, or Group for the Implementation and Coordination of the Agreements on Agriculture and Rural Life).

The Ministerial Process dates from 2001, when the First Ministerial Meeting (Bavaro 2001) took place. This led to an ongoing process of dialogue, consensus building and commitment, with biennial meetings being held in Panama (2003), Guayaquil (2005), Guatemala (2007) and Jamaica (2009).

The Ministerial Agreement
The Ministerial Meeting “Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas” is the highest-level political forum in the hemisphere for reaching consensus on priorities and strategic actions for the sustainable development of agriculture and the rural milieu. Development of the Hemispheric Ministerial Agreements (HMAs) begins in the countries.

Based on the national proposals, the countries engage in dialogue, negotiate and reach a hemispheric consensus on the text of each HMA. The Ministerial Delegates of each country coordinate the formulation of the national proposals. Nine HMAs had been adopted between 2001 and 2009, the most important of which was the AGRO 2003-2015 Plan.

At the Fifth Ministerial, the Ministerial Agreement Jamaica 2009 was used to update the Plan.

2003 – 2015 Agro Plan
The AGRO 2003-2015 Plan is the shared long-term agenda for promoting the sustainable development of agriculture and the rural milieu. The Plan was adopted at the Second Ministerial Meeting “Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas” (Panama 2003), following a broad-based process of dialogue and negotiation aimed at reaching consensus on national proposals. This process was conducted under the responsibility of the Ministers of Agriculture and their Ministerial Delegates.

The Plan provides a framework for bringing about the changes required to achieve the Shared Vision 2015, and is implemented and updated by the countries through the strategic actions contained in the biennial hemispheric agendas, and the measures for their implementation and follow-up agreed during the hemispheric meeting of Ministerial Delegates (GRICA) and defined by the Ministers in their Ministerial Meetings. In the Plan, the Ministers and Secretaries of Agriculture:


 * ''Took into consideration for its preparation a wide approach of viewing agriculture and rural life, which is the conceptual framework of the AGRO 2003-2015 Plan. The AGRO-Matrix synthesizes this new concept of agriculture and rural life.
 * ''Adopted the Shared Vision 2015 for agriculture and rural life. The vision is a characterization of the desired future vis-à-vis the national and international context, rural territories and agricultural production-trade chains.
 * Reiterated the commitments with the Strategic Objectives of Rural Prosperity, Food Security, the International and Regional Integration of Agriculture, Agricultural Health and Food Safety, and the Sustainable Development of Agriculture and the Rural Milieu.
 * Pledged to promote, with the stakeholders in agriculture and others involved in the development of agriculture and rural life, the strategic actions of the 2003-2005 Hemispheric Agenda, to make progress toward achievement of the Strategic Objectives. This Hemispheric Agenda is the first of six biennial agendas.
 * Stated that the AGRO 2003-2015 Plan reflects the member countries’ intention of working to achieve the shared vision, acknowledging that the national governments have primary responsibility for implementing the Plan pursuant to their international commitments and agreements. In that sense, they decided on a number of measures for Implementation and Follow-up of the Plan.

The AGRO 2003-2015 Plan has been updated as a result of the Hemispheric Ministerial Agreements adopted at the Third, Fourth and Fifth Ministerial Meetings (Guayaquil 2005, Guatemala 2007 and Jamaica 2009).

The Institute today
Since the creation of IICA, the agriculture of the Americas has been strengthened through hemispheric cooperation.

Today 34, IICA Offices distributed throughout the length and breadth of the hemisphere are working to meet the needs of the countries.

Thanks to the efforts of the nations of the Americas, supported by IICA, the Heads of State recognize that agriculture and rural life are key contributors in reducing poverty and promoting overall development in countries.

At the start of the twenty-first century, IICA is making a renewed commitment to its Member States, in support of their efforts to bring about the sustainable development of agriculture, food security throughout the hemisphere, and prosperity in the rural communities of the America

External link
Sitio oficial del IICA

Noticias

Eventos

Publicaciones

Biblioteca IICA

Biblioteca Digital

Biblioteca ORTON

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