Alliancs for Green Revolution in Africa(AGRA) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) solidified a shared work plan to deepen technical cooperation aimed at promoting inclusive agricultural transformation across Africa and the Americas in this critical year leading up to major food systems and climate milestones in each region, such as COP30 in Brazil and the G20 in South Africa.
–Building 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.
In the press release dated April 9th 2025 AGRA and IICA will 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.
“This south-south partnership between AGRA and IICA is a powerful signal of inter-regional solidarity and shared ambition,” said Ms. 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. African countries have so much to benefit from the experience, approaches, and innovations in Latin America. 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.”
Together, the two organizations will cooperate deeply going forward in areas including:
- Improving the well-being of rural populations
- Enhancing productivity and agricultural trade
- Strengthening climate resilience in agrifood systems
- Promoting environmentally sustainable agricultural practices
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’s uncultivated arable land and 10% of the world’s 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. These engagements reinforced the urgency and importance of inter-regional cooperation in driving food systems transformation globally.
Also, the Africa-Brazil Dialogue on Agricultural Research, Development and Innovation was recently held in Brasilia, the Brazilian capital, bringing together experts, representatives from AGRA, FARA, ambassadors and high-level officials from the Brazilian government and international agencies, as well as one of the world’s leading soil experts, Nobel Prize winner and IICA Goodwill Ambassador, Rattan Lal. The meeting was organized by IICA, together with Brazil’s state-owned agricultural research company, Embrapa, and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC).
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.
