key alliances formed during Nairobi science week
DURING a visit to Africa by its Director General, Manuel Otero, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) pledged to intensify its collaboration with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), to facilitate the adoption of new technologies to boost productivity in rural areas.
AGRA and CIMMYT are two of the most important organisations in the world involved in research and the promotion of science and innovation as key tools for agricultural transformation.
Otero remarked that, “These agreements highlight the importance of technical co-operation as an element that integrates science, innovation and policies to benefit agricultural producers, using technology as a powerful weapon to combat challenges involved in increasing productivity and protecting natural resources.”
“They also reaffirm IICA’s role as an organisation that is building bridges between science and public policy and between two regions that are vital to global food security”, he added.
The strengthening of the partnership with AGRA and CIMMYT was formalised with the signing of the agreements during a visit of the IICA Director General to Nairobi. Dr Otero, along with the Director of Technical Cooperation of the specialised agency, Muhammad Ibrahim, came to Kenya’s capital city to participate in Science Week, organised by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
Private-sector representatives and policy and science decision makers in the areas of agriculture and food security attended the meeting, which focused on the role of science and innovation in boosting productivity and the income of farmers.
The signing of the agreement by Otero and AGRA President, Alice Ruhweza, took place at AGRA Headquarters in Nairobi. AGRA is working to transform the existing subsistence model of African agriculture into a commercially viable activity for small farmers, in a bid to improve food security, nutrition and the incomes of millions of farmers on the continent.
During the meeting, Otero and Ruhweza made headway in developing a project involving researcher exchanges between both regions and the Director General provided details on research that IICA is conducting to improve tropical agricultural productivity and resilience.
Ruhweza handed Otero the symbolic key of the IICA office in Africa—to be housed at the AGRA Headquarters itself. An AGRA Office was opened at IICA Headquarters in Costa Rica some years ago.
Ruhweza noted that, “During this time of global turbulence, collaboration between these two continents is not only strategic, but fundamental. African countries have much to gain from Latin American experience, approaches and innovations.”
AGRA and IICA have been working together for several years to strengthen the role of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean as regions that play a key role in guaranteeing the planet’s food security and sustainability.
In 2022, the organisations co-hosted the Africa-Americas Ministerial Summit on Agrifood Systems, bringing ministers, deputy ministers and experts on agriculture, the environment, science and technology from both continents to IICA Headquarters in Costa Rica.
THE ROLE OF SCIENCE IN THE FOREGROUND
While in Nairobi, Otero also signed a joint general co-operation agreement with Bram Govaerts, Director General of CIMMYT, addressing several issues, including agricultural research, innovation, the bioeconomy, territorial development and family farming, among others.
Goaverts noted that, “The partnership with IICA will bring to the foreground the role of science in devising agricultural solutions, driving innovation and supporting small farmers, who are the backbone of food security.”
Also participating in the signing of the memorandum of understanding was Ismahane Elouafi, Executive Director of CGIAR.
CIMMYT is one of CGIAR’s 15 agricultural research centres. It specialises in the development of improved varieties of maize and wheat and is headquartered in Texcoco, Mexico.
Under the agreement, CIMMYT and IICA will implement joint-research initiatives, promote knowledge exchange and support innovation-based solutions to empower farmers, improve supply chains and expand market opportunities.
Within the framework of CGIAR Science Week, Otero also met with the Director General of the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Juan Lucas Restrepo, and his team.
The Alliance—an arm of CGIAR—was born in 2019, bringing together two institutions with a longstanding tradition of research to improve agriculture.
Restrepo acknowledged IICA’s leadership in promoting science-based solutions to address the challenges facing agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean and renewed his organisation’s commitment to continue working together.