IICA and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
www.iadb.org

IICA has had a long-standing working relationship with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).  IICA helps the Member States design agricultural and rural development projects that are to be presented to the Bank for financing.  It also provides technical cooperation for the execution of IDB-financed programs and projects.  One of the most important actions in recent years was the support provided for the creation and operation of agricultural commodity exchanges in Central and South America, with financing from the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF).  The two institutions are also promoting technology generation and transfer under the aegis of the IICA/IDB consortium that operates the Regional Agricultural Technology Fund (FONTAGRO).  The Fund finances regional projects and promotes the use of agricultural research findings as a public resource in the region.

The IDB and IICA are also working together to promote agricultural production, trade, food safety and agricultural health, and to reduce poverty, in public projects in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.  Both organizations are members of the Inter-Agency Group for Rural Development, which promotes dialogue, training and technical support activities and is developing an interagency agenda for the Americas.

Promoting technological research and development: FONTAGRO
The Regional Agricultural Technology Fund (FONTAGRO) is a consortium created to promote strategic agricultural research of region-wide interest. FONTAGRO is administered through an agreement between IICA and the IDB.  The Fund promotes the development of technologies characterized as transnational public goods, facilitating the exchange of scientific knowledge both within the region and with others regions of the world. Research projects proposed by groups of countries are financed with resources given to the Fund by member countries.  The Fund consists of more than US$48 million invested by the member countries, and administered by the Inter American Development Bank (IDB), plus counterpart project funding and other resources provided by sponsors and other research and development organizations, among which the CGIAR Centers have had a significant contribution in the past. The Fund member countries are Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela.