The agreement, which materializes after 24 years of joint work, will consolidate a basis on which both institutions can explore opportunities for cooperation and collaboration.
Washington, United States, August 2022 – With the aim of contributing to the development of innovative public and private ecosystems for sustainable intensification, natural resource management and adaptation and mitigation of climate opportunities in the agri-food sector, among other aspects, FONTAGRO and EMBRAPA recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which also seeks to promote technological, organizational and institutional innovations in the food and agriculture sector, both at the public and private levels.
Arnulfo Gutiérrez, President of FONTAGRO’s Board of Directors, welcomed the agreement, stating that “we consider Brazil, through EMBRAPA in particular, to be a key player in the development of the agricultural sector in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), so we are sure that from now on we will be able to continue deepening the scientific and technical collaboration that we had previously established through various successful projects”.
Meanwhile, for FONTAGRO’s Board of Directors, the signing of this MoU represents a great step forward that will allow the promotion of capacity building activities, including visits, training and professional development, together with the exchange of experiences on innovation in business management and other related processes, highlighting the importance of international cooperation of research agencies in Latin America that promote the creation of public goods at the regional level, among other actions. Eugenia Saini, Executive Secretary of FONTAGRO, explained that “the objective of this MoU is to formalize a non-exclusive framework for cooperation and facilitate collaboration between the parties to promote activities, programs and projects to foster cooperation and contribute to research, development and innovation for the food and agricultural sector”.
It should be noted that Brazil has participated in FONTAGRO consortia, created in 1998.
During the 22 years of the Fund’s existence, Brazil has been part of 16 consortia representing US$13.8 million, of which US$4.7 million was contributed by FONTAGRO and other agencies. International institutions based in Brazil have led two consortia for a total of US$0.9 million. The projects in which Brazil has participated have involved research and technological development in wheat, beans, rice, oil palm, bananas, Amazonian fruit trees, livestock, adaptation to climate change, gene editing, among others.
