AgroLAC 2025 Blog

By Alejandro Escobar A., Lead Specialist, Multilateral Investment Fund of the IDB Group – It has been two and a half years now since the MIF first sat at the table with Starbucks, Keurig Green Mountain and Farmers Brothers to discuss the future of coffee in Latin America.

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By Paul C West, Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota, @coolfireecology – Farming and climate are tightly connected. Climate change is projected to decrease crop yields in many regions of the world and boost them in others.

by Ginya Truitt Nakata, AgroLAC 2025 coordinator – As the IDB officer responsible for agriculture-related partnerships, let me begin by raising a question that has frustrated me for years. If the goal is to sustainably #feedthe9 by 2050, why isn’t Latin America and Caribbean front-and-center as a way to achieve it?

by Nancy Stetson, U.S. Special Representative for Global Food Security – Ensuring food security and eliminating hunger and malnutrition are essential to the achievement of peace, security, economic growth and sustainable development, and the promotion of dignity and hope in every society. The United States is committed to improving global food security and ending malnutrition.

Dr. Hugo Li Pun es Secretario Ejecutivo de FONTAGRO – Deseamos felicitar al BID, a The Nature Conservancy y a los miembros fundadores de AgroLAC 2025 por su lanzamiento en el Foro Económico Mundial en New York. Durante el mismo se estableció el ambiente y el nivel adecuado para una iniciativa exitosa, con la participación de socios claves del sector público y privado.

Martin Kropff, CIMMYT — With the looming challenge of feeding nine billion people in 2050, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) fully supports the clear recommendations put forward by the AgroLAC 2025 Initiative for policies to help Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) sustainably realize the potential of its outstanding natural resources.

Bernardo Guillamon, Inter-American Development Bank
(English translation to follow) –
Es la tierra de empanadas, arroz y frijoles, y maduros; arepas, ceviche, pão de quiejo, dulce de leche y alfajores. Pero la contribución de América Latina y el Caribe (ALC) a las mesas del mundo va mucho más allá de antojitos regionales, ofreciendo también algo muy esencial para el desarrollo continuo de nuestro planeta. ¿Entonces—que hay en el menú, exactamente?

Mark R. Tercek, The Nature Conservancy –
As the world’s population quickly approaches 9 billion people, the pressure on both natural areas and agricultural lands will be more and more intense. It has never been more important for conservation and agriculture to work together. And these two fields are less at odds than some might think.

Pierre Ferrari, Heifer International
With approximately 15 million family farms in Latin America and Caribbean (LAC), it is heartening to witness the launch of AgroLAC 2025 to support sustainable agricultural practices in the region. As the global population soars, with growth particularly concentrated in urban areas, the need for smart agriculture investments is of the utmost importance. The world will soon turn to the smallholder farmers of LAC – a valuable, under-tapped resource – to improve global food security.

Alejandro Gamboa

Colombia ha sido reconocida por la FAO (Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación y la Agricultura) como uno de los 7 países en elmundo con la capacidad para expandir su frontera agrícolay servir como uno de los grandes proveedores de alimentos para el planeta en los próximos años.

by Ruben Echeverria, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
I congratulate the AgroLAC 2025 initiative and would like to offer a few personal comments as a modest contribution to the ongoing dialogue focusing on key aspects for the success of AgroLAC. I enjoyed reading all comments in the blog and I particularly agree with María Beatriz Giraudo on the huge asset we have in many parts of LAC on highly competitive sustainable intensification practices.

by Paul Rice, Fair Trade USA
Smallholder farmers are the backbone of our global food systems. According to the FAO, small-scale family farming accounts for 80% of all farms in Latin America and the Caribbean. Yet most smallholders are living in conditions of extreme poverty. Though they’re the most valuable contributor in global supply chains, they’re also the least valued and least understood. That’s why the AgroLAC 2025 platform is unique.

by Margaret Zeigler, Ph.D., Global Harvest Initiative
Springtime is here, and in the American heartland farmers are busy preparing their soil and planting crops. And although my childhood summers were spent on a cousin’s farm in Kentucky, my only regular experience with fertilizer these days is the occasional trip to the garden center. I suppose that is why I was surprised to learn recently that half of all crop yields are attributed to fertilizer.

María Beatriz (Pilu) Giraudo, Presidente de Aapresid (Asociación Argentina de Productores en Siembra Directa)
La responsabilidad de América Latina y el Caribe como “despensa global” para dar respuesta a la creciente demanda de un mundo en permanente crecimiento es la gran oportunidad de la Región.