Blog IICA
Digital Transformation

Digital Transformation

A hemispheric look at public-private interventions for the agri-food digital transformation



Resources
(160 records )
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Events
(46 records )
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Evidences
(40 records )


More recent in politics
Investments and Public Expenditure
(111 records - USD 31,684,266,828.00 )
Support to Chile’s Ministry of Agriculture for the execution of loan CH-L1171 through the use of new technologies
This initiative is a Technical Cooperation (CH-T1348) aimed at supporting Chile’s Ministry of Agriculture (MINAGRI) in implementing the “Innovation and Strengthening Program for Food Security” (CH-L1171, an investment loan) through the adoption of new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and digital solutions. It focuses on improving the provision of public agricultural services, particularly agroclimatic and soil information, to enhance producers’ decision-making and climate resilience. The TC is structured in three components: (i) assessing small and medium producers’ information needs, (ii) strengthening institutional capacities to generate agroclimatic/soil information products using digital technologies (including AI), and (iii) piloting and evaluating digital dissemination of agroclimatic information to producers. It will be executed by the IDB in coordination with MINAGRI-designated teams and in articulation with relevant services (INDAP, SAG, INIA, UGRA, and DMC), emphasizing inter-institutional coordination. Planned outputs include implementing at least one pilot, collecting and analyzing data for rigorous evaluation, and producing a guidance document and at least one research article presenting evaluation results.
Strengthening compliance with international deforestation-free trade standards in agrifood supply chains
Regional technical cooperation to strengthen the capacity of Latin American and Caribbean countries to implement strategies, policies, and effective techniques to comply with international deforestation-free trade rules, including the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). It aims to improve competent authorities’ ability to assess deforestation risks and to support public and private sector readiness for requirements on georeferencing, traceability, production legality, and due diligence. It finances practical tools (a risk benchmarking template, five national roadmaps, and a lessons-learned monograph) and regional and national dialogue spaces to foster public–private coordination. It prioritizes closing information and capacity gaps—especially for smallholders and MSMEs/intermediaries—to prevent exclusion from EU-oriented supply chains. It will be executed by the IDB over 24 months with OC-SDP Window 2 resources (Sustainability and Integration) totaling US$350,000 and includes coordination with FAO and IICA, and articulation with IDB Invest and IDB Lab where relevant.
“Great Forests of Mesoamerica" Program
The Great Forests of Mesoamerica (GFM) Program is a five-year (2023–2027) European Union initiative under the #TeamEurope approach to strengthen the protection and sustainable use of Mesoamerica’s great forests and other relevant areas such as the Trifinio Region. Its overall objective is to improve conservation and sustainability through four components: (1) data and transparency for decision-making, (2) forest governance and biodiversity conservation, (3) sustainable and deforestation-free production and trade, and (4) environmental rights and forest defense. The program operates at regional, national and sub-national levels, combining technical assistance, work with regional partners, and cascading grants with local partners. It is designed to complement national and sub-national actions and to integrate synergies with more than 100 ongoing actions across Mesoamerican forests. Additionally, it includes a Program Secretariat within the #EURECA framework to ensure coordination, coherence and alignment with the EU’s strategic objectives in the region.


Policy frameworks
(142 records )
Law 2539 Of 2025: Inclusion Of Rural Youth In The National System Of Agrarian Reform And Rural Development
Law 2539 of 2025 amends Law 160 of 1994 and Decree Law 902 of 2017 to explicitly include rural youth in the National System of Agrarian Reform and Rural Development. The law guarantees and prioritizes their progressive access to land, to productive projects aligned with their life plans, to sustainable rural productive activities, academic and technical training, financing mechanisms and associativity. It also secures their participation in territorial governance bodies, creates a specific budget tracer for rural youth, promotes innovation, the use of ICTs, cultural rootedness and special measures for young people who are victims of armed conflict, thereby contributing to comprehensive rural reform with a territorial, generational and ethnic approach.
Rural and Peasant Youth Law (Bill 034-24, Colombia)
This legislative document proposes a Statutory Law to recognize rural and peasant youth in Colombia as rights-holders, establishing affirmative measures to ensure their access to education, health, employment, rural entrepreneurship, financial services, political participation, and digital connectivity. It includes definitions, protection measures, institutional mechanisms, and provisions to strengthen rural generational renewal, peasant agriculture, and socio-economic inclusion.
Practical Guide for the Issuance of Thematic Securities
The Practical Guide for the Issuance of Thematic Securities is a document developed by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MMARN), the Superintendence of the Securities Market (SIMV), the Association of Multiple Banks (ABA) and the Stock Exchange and Securities Market of the Dominican Republic (BVRD) with technical support from the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). This guide establishes practical guidelines to facilitate the issuance of green, social and sustainable securities in the Dominican market, aligned with international standards such as the Green Bond Principles (GBP), Social Bond Principles (SBP) and the Sustainability Bond Guidelines (SBG) of ICMA. It provides a detailed roadmap on the steps, regulatory requirements, project evaluation and selection processes, fund management and impact reporting necessary to structure these issuances. The main objective is to mobilize capital towards projects that address environmental and social challenges, supporting the implementation of the Dominican Republic's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The guide also integrates the Green Taxonomy of the Dominican Republic and promotes transparency, credibility and integrity in the country's thematic securities market.


Good practices
(12 records )
E-KAKASHI: The Agricultural Intelligence Brain
The project seeks to improve the productivity and sustainability of rice cultivation in Colombia through an innovative technological solution that combines Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence and cyber-physical systems. This technology, developed by PS Solutions (Softbank Group), transforms agriculture into a science based on data by collecting real-time information from the environment and crops to determine optimal levels of agricultural parameters. The project will benefit 16,000 Colombian rice farmers, especially small producers from areas affected by armed conflicts who face productivity problems due to lack of access to technologies and financial services. Additionally, e-kakashi contributes to solving environmental problems by optimizing water use and reducing methane emissions from rice paddies, which represent approximately 20% of global emissions of this gas. The project has two phases: demonstration of efficacy under real conditions in collaboration with CIAT and commercial expansion in Latin America and the Caribbean, combining non-reimbursable technical cooperation (up to US$500,000) with equity investment (up to US$1,500,000).
Agricultural Policies for Food Security, Competitiveness and Sustainability in Mexico
This technical cooperation aims to strengthen the institutional capacities of the Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER) through the development and implementation of strategic tools and specialized instruments that increase the effectiveness of public policies oriented towards sectoral competitiveness and sustainability of the Mexican agricultural and fishing sector. The TC will support studies, methodologies and specialized consultancies that will strengthen the registry and program roster system, the agricultural and rural statistics system, including support in remote sensing methodologies and direct marketing models between small and medium producers. It will also finance the development of a Master Plan for Sustainable Development of Fishing, Aquaculture and Mariculture in the Peninsula and Gulf of California. The project seeks to address the structural challenges of the Mexican agricultural sector related to limited institutional capacities, fragmented information systems and barriers to the inclusion of small and medium producers. The initiative contributes directly to strengthening national food security through more effective and sustainable public policies.
Support for the Development of Coffee Forest Information Systems in El Salvador
IDB technical cooperation aimed at designing a national system that generates and disseminates relevant and timely information for the design, monitoring, and evaluation of competitiveness and sustainability policies for Salvadoran coffee growing. The project seeks to strengthen the coffee sector's information systems by developing a statistical system comprised of a coffee grower registry, a georeferenced coffee census, and complementary surveys that generate dynamic data with national coverage. It includes the design of mechanisms for capturing and analyzing information from national and international markets, as well as traceability systems using blockchain methodology. The project addresses the problem of the lack of specialized information that limits the design and implementation of effective policies for a sector that represents 22% of the country's forests and has historically been a national economic driver. The initiative supports the execution of loan ES-L1135 "Strengthening the Climate Resilience of Coffee Forests in El Salvador."


Dialogue rooms
(1 records )
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The digital platform of the Observatory of Public Policies for Agrifood Systems (OPSAa) is at the service of the countries of the Americas as a meeting point for the exchange of knowledge and to promote the new generation of public policies that transform the agrifood systems of the hemisphere.

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