About the IICA Office in the United States
The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture’s (IICA) Office in the United States has been located in Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital since 1962. The Office is comprised of the Office of the IICA Representative in the United States, the Office of the Associate Deputy Director General of IICA and the Directorate of Strategic Partnerships (DSP) and the Director of the Northern Region comprised of Mexico, Canada and the United States (DNR). The Office serves as the coordinator of its regional horizontal technical cooperation agenda and is supported by a team of technical experts. Areas of focus include regional and hemispheric technical initiatives including Agriculture Insurance, FONTAGRO and PROCINORTE.
The Office in the United States works with the DNR and the DSP to develop cooperative agreements and mutually beneficial partnerships that provide other forms of support to IICA management units and country offices so that producers and policy makers in all thirty-four IICA Member States can enhance their capacities for development and change. Additionally important attention is given through the DSP to developing relationships with Spain and other members of the European Union to support their efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean. Together, the Office, DNR and the DSP seek to develop creative ways to generate resources, inform political and policy processes and share knowledge to improve agriculture and the socioeconomic condition of the rural poor in each Member State.
The IICA Office in Washington supports agricultural and rural development partnerships at all levels, from local communities through global development; promotes public understanding of agricultural and food policy, rural poverty, health, and technology; and helps ensure that the Member States throughout the hemisphere have improved access to global resources and world class technicians and professionals.
The U.S. Government, through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), was instrumental in founding the Institute in 1942 and over the years has consistently provided nearly 60% of its core operating resources to promote the advancement of science and cooperation in agriculture throughout the hemisphere. (U.S. Farm Bill) The U.S. government continues to provide substantial support to the Institute, providing its quota of financing in a timely manner and additional resources for programs to achieve common goals of improving agriculture and trade throughout the hemisphere. We greatly value their support and remain focused on continuing to strengthen this vital relationship.
During the year, the Office in the United States advanced on a series of on-going actions that include enhanced relationships with existing and new partners by means of comprehensive dialogues and technical projects addressing such critical issues food security, climate change, poverty reduction, agro-tourism, agricultural insurance and risk management, bio technology food safety and knowledge management. Countries outside the region that this Office has rendered service to in 2009 include Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica and Uruguay.