Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture was created in 1942 and later recognized by the Organization of Americas States (OAS). IICA is a specialized agency of the Inter-American System, and its purposes are to encourage and support the efforts of its Member States to achieve agricultural development and well-being for rural populations. IICA has its Headquarters in Costa Rica, a network of 34 Offices in each country of the hemisphere, a Permanent Office for Europe in Madrid, Spain and a Trade Office in Florida, United States.

In a 'knowledge based economy', the Institute is carrying out technical cooperation activities based in a knowledge management approach that focus on building capacities for information management, provision of coherent tools and methodologies, developing information resource centers and systems for disseminating knowledge, as well as facilitating access to existing knowledge and successful experiences in the Americas.  Jointly with our partners, IICA is developing a common base of shared information and a group of communities of practice on agriculture and rural life that takes full advantage of existing capabilities in the region. This effort is aimed at moving toward an Inter-American information network properly link to the already existing mechanisms SIDALC (www.sidalc.net) and INFOAGROs (www.infoagro.net).