AGRA/ IICA launch partnership to scale up Africa-Americas collaboration on Sustainable Agriculture.
AGRA and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) plan to deepen technical cooperation aimed at promoting inclusive agricultural transformation across Africa and the Americas. The announcement was contained in a press statement issued by AGRA on Wednesday.
The partnership builds on nearly four years of south-south collaboration between the regions, with an MoU singed in 2021, the work plan responds to growing request from countries for deeper strategic collaboration in strengthening public and private sector institutions, sharing technical expertise, and enhancing food security and agricultural trade while safeguarding the environment and promoting rural welfare.
AGRA and IICA bring together complementary strengths, with AGRA focusing on transforming smallholder farming across Africa through partnerships with governments, the private sector, civil society, and farmers; and IICA, as a specialized agency in agriculture for the Americas, promoting rural development through international technical cooperation of excellence. Together, the two organizations will cooperate in areas including:
1. Improving the well-being of rural populations
2. Enhancing productivity and agricultural trade
3. Strengthening climate resilience in agrifood systems
4. Promoting environmentally sustainable agricultural practices
“This south-south partnership between AGRA and IICA is a powerful signal of inter-regional
solidarity and shared ambition,” said Alice Ruhweza, President of AGRA.
“At a time when global food systems are under immense strain, collaboration across continents is not just strategic but very essential. By uniting our expertise and resources with IICA, we are laying the foundation for more resilient, equitable, and sustainable food systems that benefit smallholder farmers and rural communities across both regions.” She added.
IICA Director General, Dr. Manuel Otero, also hailed the partnership as a critical step in advancing South-South cooperation.
“Africa and the Americas share common agricultural challenges and opportunities. This partnership allows us to harness our mutual strengths to accelerate rural transformation, promote sustainable trade, and support communities vulnerable”.
For Otero, the partnership with AGRA will help implement regenerative tropical agriculture practices as a solution to the most pressing challenges facing the African continent and transform it into the world’s new agricultural frontier. “Africa is home to 65% of the world uncultivated arable land and 10% of the worlds renewable water resources.
This enormous agricultural and environmental potential offers a unique opportunity to integrate the continent into the global supply chain, positioning it as a key player in food production,” he explained.
The collaboration builds on a series of high-level engagements between the two regions, including: the Africa-Americas Joint Ministerial Summit in Costa Rica in July 2022, the Inter- regional Ministerial Roundtable in Vietnam in 2023 co-organized by AGRA, IICA, FAA, and Grow Asia; and the launch of the Africa Living Soils Initiative in Kenya in 2024 on the eve of the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit.
On the occasion, a letter of intent was signed between the organizers to promote the exchange of 30 researchers from scientific institutes, universities and government agencies in African countries, to exchange knowledge on technologies that promote food security, regenerative agriculture and the recovery of degraded areas.
