11th Annual Meeting of the PROCINORTE Board of Directors (BoD)
The Board of Directors of the Cooperative Program in Research and Technology for the Northern Region meets once a year to define common research priorities and oversee the activities of the five thematic Task Forces: Agricultural Libraries and Information Services, Plant Genetic Resources (NORGEN), Tropical and Subtropical Fruits, Plant Health, and Animal Health.
The presidency is currently held by Dr. Enrique Astengo, Coordinador de Planeación y Desarrollo, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP) of Mexico. The 11th Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors was held at the K.W. Neatby Building, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Ontario, November 19 and 20, 2009.
Members of the five Task Forces included researchers from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), the Agricultural Research Service (USDA) and INIFAP. This mechanism is supported by the IICA Office in Washington.
The main objectives of the meeting were:
- To review PROCINORTE Executive Secretariat (ES)’s and Task Forces (TF)’s progresses and evaluate the results achieved, and
- To analyze progress made with the formulation of the PROCINORTE Strategic Plan
- Agenda
- List of Participants
Summary of Meeting:
Presentations were made by various participants and reports were presented by the Library and Information Services TF, Tropical and Sub-Tropical Fruits TF and NORGEN. The Plant Health TF and the Animal Health TF participated by teleconference. After presentations were made, a general discussion on the progress and performance of the Task Forces followed. The BoD was pleased with the results and stressed the importance of socializing the lessons learned to plan for the future.
The meeting was attended by high officials from the Northern Region including Dr. Enrique Astengo, Dr. Brad Fraleigh, Director Intergovernmental Relations, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada- AAFC; Dr. Caird E. Rexroad, Associate Administrator for National Programs, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Mr. David Hatch, Director of the Northern Region (IICA) and Dr. Priscila Henríquez, Senior Technical Specialist (IICA) and Executive Secretary of PROCINORTE. These attendees as well as members of PROCINORTE actively discussed and contributed new ideas to further PROCINORTE’s work in the region.
Similarly, IICA representatives and technical staff provided guidance for the future of PROCINORTE. A strategic plan was presented which included a SWOT analysis, gap analysis and a strategic destination statement that focused on issues such as the geographical focus, thematic focus, proactive vs. reactive, financing strategy and organizational structure of PROCINORTE. After the presentation, the BoD instructed IICA to continue the development of the PROCINORTE strategic plan and develop an outline for a business plan for review by the PROCINORTE BoD to attract more funding for the region.
On behalf of IICA, Mr. Hatch invited the members of the BoD to hold the next meeting at IICA HQ in Coronado, Costa Rica and the board unanimously accepted the offer from IICA and will study the best timing to hold the XII Annual meeting.
Pictures from Meeting:
