To improve the productivity and competitiveness of the agricultural sector (Innovation)
IICA intends to promote technological, organizational and human innovation to enhance competitiveness, increase production and help improve the operation of agricultural markets in a socially and environmentally sustainable way. These efforts are focus on small and medium-scale agricultural producers, who have limited access to markets.

Activities:
1. Under the leadership of the project for managing innovation systems, executed under the aegis of the Forum for the Americas on Agricultural Research and Technology Development (FORAGRO), the stakeholders of the Hemispheric Agricultural Innovation System laid the foundations for improving the coordination of innovation processes and devised a new investment strategy for the Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology (FONTAGRO). 2. Under the Regional Program for Research and Innovation in Agricultural Value Chains (PRIICA-EU), Central American small-scale producers involved in 24 local public-private innovation consortia designed projects for the development and validation of technologies and strategic innovation plans.. 3. The Agricultural Innovation Network (Red SICTA-SDC), another project executed in Central America, benefited 28,600 smallholders by sharing 29 innovative technologies applicable to different links in the maize and bean chains. 4. With IICA’s support, the Initiative for Central America on Biotechnology and Biosafety (ICABB) was established and the Advisory Committee on Bio-inputs for Agricultural Use-CABUA) of Argentina was consolidated. 5. With IICA’s methodological support and assistance from the Technical Secretariat of the Inter-American Commission for Organic Agriculture (ICOA), Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia reached agreements and approved a regional proposal for the regulation of organic production. 6. At least 2400 members of the national innovation systems in the countries of the South American tropics now have access to the results of studies carried out by the research, development and innovation networks for cocoa, coffee, agro-energy, animal production, aquaculture, genetic resources (Tropigen), agricultural, forest and fishery systems and the Amazon Initiative. 7. In the Caribbean, IICA improved farmers’ access to technological advances, germplasm and production manuals for citrus, rice, potato and other roots and tubers by means of links established with the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), the National Agricultural Research Institute (INIA) of Uruguay, the International Potato Center (CIP) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). 8. Other innovations generated included: The bell pepper genetic material used by producers in western parts of Costa Rica’s Central Valley (UCR-INTA Costa Rica); pure physic nut oil was supplied to Ecuador’s Isla Floreana; and a low-cost forage with high nutritional content that does not require a specific climate (UNA Paraguay). 9. Strengthening of the Alliance of Agricultural Information Services SIDALC www.sidalc.net; the Network for the Management of Innovation in the Agrifood Sector (INNOVAGRO Network) www.redinnovagro.in and the Repository of resources for information management-IMARK www.imarkgroup.org

www.iica.int

Beneficiaries:
Producers, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, 28600 smallholders, +400 organizations and institutions related with research and education, local networks of agrifood chains, 400 professionals related with biotechnology & biosafety, among others.

Partners and financing:
FORAGRO, Regional Programs for Research and Innovation (PROCI), International Research Institutes, EMBRAPA, FAO, SDC, EU, UNEP-GEF, Governments of Souther Cone, Central America, Caribbean, USA, Canada, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, among others.

Information available in Spanish

Initiative:
Central American Strategy for Rural Territorial Development (ECADERT)

The Strategy includes the 7 Central American countries and Dominican Republic. Its initial duration goes from 2010 to 2030. It general objective is: "To promote social participatory management of area-based public policies that are equitable and inclusive, building consensus on projects for the future of rural territories, together with planning and investment processes guided by a strategic vision for the institutional, social, economic, cultural and environmental transformation of rural Central America, propelled by the social and institutional stakeholders of the territories, enhancing their cultural identity and their potential to achieve sustainable development." It was adopted and is implemented in the framework of the Central American Integration System.

Activities:
1) Coordination of the Regional Platform for Technical Support to the implementation of ECADERT, an inter-agency group that provides technical assistance at the regional and national levels.
2) In terms of rural policies and institutional changes, IICA has:
i. given support to the formulation of the agrifood policy and the transformation of IDA (the Institute of Agrarian Development) into INDER (Institute of Rural Development) in Costa Rica.
ii. provided support to the “Belizean Rural Area-Based Development Strategy -BRADS” Policy.
iii. given technical support to the Agricultural Ministry of Panama, Honduras and other countries with the implementation of ECADERT.
3) In addition, the Institute has promoted the formulation of Strategic Plans in 10 prioritized territories in Central America and Dominican Republic, within the framework of the Regional Capacity-Building Program of ECADERT.
4) IICA has coordinated the Regional Capacity-Building Program of ECADERT, including three Regional Courses, for Central America and Dominican Republic on Management of Rural Area-Based Development. It has also provided support to three national courses, in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemamala.
5) IICA is formulating a Strategic System for Social and Integrated Management of Rural Territories (SiGET). This modular system will comprise integrated participatory methodologies of prospective analysis and development strategies, a toolbox for the management of rural territorial development, and other methodologies and toolboxes to work topics like leadership, social inclusion, associativity, etc.
6) The Institute has promoted and given technical support, in 5 territories of Central America and Dominican Republic, to the systematization of experiences of social management of the territorial rural development (1 in Panama, 3 in Costa Rica, and, 1 in Honduras). In addition, experts from IICA and partner institutions conducted a comparative analysis of lessons learned through the methodologies applied and the systematization of various area-based rural development processes, in Central America, Brazil and Spain.
7) IICA took part in the design of the Regional Fund of ECADERT and evaluation of project proposals sent to participate in the call of the Fund to support initiatives of territories within the framework of ECADERT.
8) Technical support to Nationals and Regional Commissions for the implementation of ECADERT
9) Support to the national Territorial Action Groups– GAT s – in several countries and to the Regional Network of Central American and Dominican GATs.
10) Mobilization of Brazilian technical cooperation to support the ECADERT process.

Beneficiaries:
Stakeholders of the public and private sector and civil society in Belice, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Dominican Republic.

Partnership:
IICA, Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID), Consejo Agropecuario Centroamericano (CAC), la Unidad Regional de Asistencia Técnica (RUTA), la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación (FAO), y el Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE).

IICA has implemented a hemispheric program on Agriculture and Food Security which cuts across all its programs on agriculture and rural development, with a strategy adapted to the specific situations and needs of the regions and countries, incorporating the objectives established by the Leaders. This program will support the Member States respond to these objectives.
Among the results of our efforts includes the assistance IICA provided to Haiti following the January 2010 earthquake. Collaborating with other Member States and international organizations, IICA provided technical assistance, experts, and financial support to the Pro-Huerta Haiti multilateral cooperation project with the objective of achieving greater food security in Haiti. Some 15,000 Haitian families participate in the program – an increase of 50% in the number of families benefitting from the production of fresh foods in 2010. Through a generous donation from Brazil and the United States, IICA was also able to provide crucial assistance in Haiti in preparing agricultural land for planting, speeding up the process in several quake-hit areas, keeping farmers’ costs to a minimum, while increasing agricultural productivity and yields for certain crops, in order to alleviate food security concerns. This example demonstrates how the Institute collaborates with their member states to address food security in the case of disasters.

IICA has also provided effective support to several other countries in implementing food security projects. In Central America IICA was instrumental in obtaining close to US$7million in funding from the European Union for the development of three cooperative research and technology dissemination projects in that region designed to contribute to food security. The EU also supported a study titled “Role of the Southern Cone as a World Food Reserve” featuring alternative scenarios and creating a shared vision of the future of research, technological development and innovation regarding agricultural challenges and opportunities in that region.

In addition IICA also provided effective support to several countries in the implementation of food security projects such as Honduras, Bolivia and Venezuela. To complement these actions a System of Statistical Indicators for the Analysis of the Situation of Agriculture and the Rural Milieu was jointly developed by IICA, FAO and ECLAC. This system, which can be accessed via the Institute’s website at www.iica.int, provides Member States with up-to-date analyses of the food security situation in each country of the hemisphere.

The Leaders stated in paragraph 24 of the Declaration that “We support the promotion of investment in agriculture, as well as the strengthening of our States’ institutional capacity, with a view to increasing and intensifying productive activities, particularly in the countries most affected by hunger”. In support of these double objectives, IICA provides continuous assistance to its Member States to formulate agricultural investment programs and institutional strengthening projects.

To ensure that the Institute’s activities will have the greatest impact, it focuses its technical cooperation on the following modes of action:

• Design, analysis and evaluation of public policies and strategies
• Strengthening and modernization of institutions
• Creation and development of capabilities
• Knowledge management for agriculture and rural well-being, and
• Support for the countries on specific issues and investment projects

IICA is working in consultation with the authorities responsible for the sector in each country on defining IICA Country Strategies as the focus of its technical cooperation over the next four years. The strategies are, based on the national priorities that are related to, and dovetail with, the objectives for technical cooperation included in IICA’s 2010-2020 Strategic Plan.

IICA has also established the “Agricultural Innovation Network in Central America” to assist the countries of the region in encouraging sustainable agricultural production. This project, with US$4.7 million in funding provided by the Government of Switzerland, is focused towards enhancing small producers’ productivity and participation in the market chains.

IICA also assisted the government of Haiti to identify priority areas for investing in the rural sector and to formulate projects which were then included in Haiti´s Agricultural Sector Investment Plan. The resulting portfolio of projects totaled US$790 million and was endorsed by the international donors’ community.

IICA’s efforts towards achieving a competitive agricultural sector have promoted strengthening national institutional capacities in important areas, such as animal and plant health, technological innovation and agribusiness. IICA has succeeded in developing instruments– international public goods – with this objective. One such tool, the “Performance, Vision, and Strategy (PVS)” instrument has played a key role in strengthening national plant and animal health and food safety services. This work was complemented with the improvement of national agricultural innovation and market information systems, support for the formulation and implementation of public policies to promote agroindustry, and various training courses.

IICA was also active in promoting a value chain approach to enhance the competitiveness of the agrifood sector. This approach has been successfully applied in countries as diverse as Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Panama and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Leaders stated in Paragraph 25 of the Declaration that “a multidimensional and multisectoral approach to agriculture and rural life is a key factor for sustainable development and food security.” This underscores their conviction regarding the importance of repositioning agricultural and rural issues and priorities in national development strategies, and of making a commitment to strengthen, with IICA’s support, national, regional strategic actions, as appropriate.

IICA has acknowledged the enormous complexity and scale of opportunities and challenges facing agriculture with regard to multidimensional and multisectoral approaches in its 2010-2010 Strategic Plan. The plan guides the Institute’s efforts in supporting Members States in enhancing agriculture’s contribution to productivity and competitiveness, development of rural territories, management of natural resources and climate change, and to food security.

IICA also contributes to promoting regional rural development initiatives such as the implementation of the Central American Strategy for Rural Territorial Development (ECADERT) with resources from the Spain-Central American Integration System (SICA) Fund. Another example is the support IICA provides to the Andean Rural Development Forum to define its rural development strategy, through the Project on Territorial Development Models in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

At the national level, IICA has contributed to the work carried out under the “Mujeres Ahorradoras en Acción” program of Colombia, which benefits 134,000 women by assisting them in their own development of diverse productive activities which allow these female heads of families to generate their own income.