Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)

South-South and Triangular Cooperation Featured Partner

About IICA

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) is the Inter-American System’s specialized agency focused on agriculture. It plays a pivotal role in supporting its 34 Member States to foster agricultural development and improve rural livelihoods, providing tailored cooperation services to effectively and efficiently meet their needs.

The Institute’s greatest strength lies in the deep and enduring connections it has established with those it serves. IICA boasts extensive expertise in various fields, including technology and innovation in agriculture, agricultural health, food safety and quality, international agricultural trade, family farming, rural development, natural resource management, and the bioeconomy.

IICA is dedicated to fostering agricultural development and rural well-being across its Member States through superior international technical cooperation. With a mission centered on encouraging, promoting, and supporting these efforts, IICA aims to be a pivotal force in transforming the agricultural sector.

Its vision encompasses becoming a modern and efficient institution, underpinned by a robust platform of human resources and processes. This foundation enables IICA to effectively mobilize regional and global knowledge, striving for a competitive, inclusive, and sustainable agriculture sector.

By leveraging opportunities for economic growth and development, IICA is committed to enhancing rural well-being and ensuring the sustainable management of natural resources, ultimately contributing to a brighter future for agriculture and rural communities across the Americas.

Strategic Objectives

IICA’s four strategic objectives are designed to assist countries in structuring and systematizing their national development strategies, which in turn informs and enhances the Institute’s technical cooperation initiatives. They are outlined as follows:

1. Increase the contributions of the agriculture sector to economic growth and sustainable development.
2. Contribute to the well-being of all rural dwellers.
4. Increase the resilience of rural areas and agrifood systems to extreme events.
3. Improve international and regional trade for countries in the region.

South-South & Triangular Cooperation at IICA

The IICA model prioritizes South-South and triangular cooperation, and is geared towards efficiency, flexibility, decentralization, collaborative work, and networking, with a focus on processes as well as the mobilization of human, institutional and financial resources.

The Institute’s main approaches to cooperation include the design of development policies and strategies, the mobilization of knowledge resources, conceptual and methodological development, project management, organization of forums and dialogues, and capacity building, among others.

The Institute’s roadmap is based on seven hemispheric programmes, which lend uniqueness to IICA’s vision; channel the Institute’s programmatic actions toward the identification of cooperation actions through the design and implementation of projects; and provide technical advice and assistance to governments and other social and economic stakeholders involved in agricultural and rural life in the Americas.

The Seven Hemispheric Programmes

Innovation and Bioeconomy

Territorial Development and Family Farming

International Trade and Regional Integration

Climate Action and Agricultural Sustainability

Agricultural Health, Safety and Agrifood Quality

Digitalization of Agrifood Systems

Gender Equality and Youth

Annually, IICA undertakes more than 310 initiatives (operations, projects and actions) within the framework of the seven technical cooperation programmes and other hemispheric initiatives, managing to achieve 91% of the planned results, IICA has an effectiveness rate of over 90% in the various cooperation initiatives, as well as the annual execution of more than USD 195 million in externally funded projects.

Furthermore, the Institute’s cooperation project portfolio directly benefits more than 7 million farmers in the Americas, thanks to its close relations with its partners, always focused on Horizontal and triangular cooperation schemes.

IICA Member Countries

IICA Observer Countries

IICA Associate Country

201

Private sector partners

from 40 countries

331

Public sector partners

from 47 countries

51

Partner International Organizations

from 25 countries

55

NGOs

from 40 countries

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