IICA relaunching and strengthening Leadership School to drive agri-food transformation in the Americas

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) has upgraded the Leadership School for the Transformation of Agri-food Systems of the Americas (ELTSA), an educational platform that offers training and capacity building programmes, integrating knowledge, experiences, innovations and best practices, with a view to enhancing leadership capacities to fuel agricultural transformation in the Americas.

A presentation on the initiative at the “Cultivating Talent: Driving Science and Innovation in the Agrifood Sector of Europe and the Americas” opened in Costa Rica on March 20, 2025, where more than 50 experts have gathered for the event.They include chancellors, deans and directors of academic institutions of higher learning from countries such as Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Panama, Spain and the United States.

ELTSA is an inclusive educational platform consisting of a coalition of institutions that promote food system transformation, by building the technical and leadership capacities of members of the public, private, entrepreneurial, production and academic sectors.

IICA Director General, Manuel Otero said, “ELTSA is also a demonstration of progress made in integrating and coordinating efforts, positioning itself as a supra-programme. Thus, we are seeking the support of all educational institutions of higher learning. Agriculture needs a new generation of leaders”.

Coordinator of IICA’s Center for Knowledge Management and Horizontal Cooperation Services, Franklin Marín,explained that ELTA’s training, capacity development and certification programmes are geared towards decision makers in ministries of Agriculture and other public institutions in the Americas; technical officers in agricultural, economic, social and environmental organizations; researchers, academics and extension officers in educational centers; agri-food producers; undergraduate and post-graduate students in agri-food system-related fields; as well as other individuals with an interest in the development of the agri-food sectors.

Marín stressed that, “ELTSA is intended to provide these institutions with an additional tool, by offering its knowledge and inputs, to fuel the development of new leaders. It is a process of academic co-creation, developing new professional products, focusing on youth and current leaders in agri-food production”.

The Leadership School will forge strategic partnerships that will facilitate the mobilization of technical and financial resources to co-create programmes that can be certified and that are capable of satisfying international standards of quality. It will also foster the establishment of networks to share resources, knowledge, programs and global expertise with universities and other educational and research institutions on issues of relevance to the agri-food sector.

Marín also pointed out that, “If we want to create an impact, we must collaborate with the entities that are responsible for training and developing leaders, engaging closely with educational institutions, such as universities, as a fundamental step in improving training and education. Likewise, we must ensure that our high-quality programs are accessible to everyone, incorporating technology and digitalization”.

During the event, it was also explained that one of the aims of the revamped ELTSA will be to promote the incorporation of innovations and new technologies in the search for greater productivity and sustainability of agri-food systems. (IICA)