Bayer and IICA officials announced the launch of the impactful initiative, whose online courses will also be delivered in Spanish, English and Portuguese. Swahili is spoken by about 140 million people in various African countries, while Hindi is the most widely used language in India.
This unprecedented and ambitious program will not only transfer knowledge, but also generate tangible and measurable impacts that contribute to food security, environmental protection and the socioeconomic development of participating rural communities in low- and middle-income countries.
Regenerative agriculture seeks to improve productivity while contributing to ecosystem restoration. The program will be carried out within the framework of the “Empowering 100 Million Smallholder Farmers” project led by Bayer, a strategic partner of IICA.
The science and innovation company and the hemispheric agency share the goal of broadening recognition of the pivotal role small-scale farmers play in global food security and of the challenges they face.
By adopting regenerative practices, small-scale farmers will not only contribute to restoring degraded soils and increasing biodiversity, but will also gain access to more valuable market opportunities, thereby generating local value chains and fostering a collaborative learning community.
Zulfikar Mustapha, minister of agriculture of the cooperative republic of Guyana, participated in the program’s launch alongside; Bayer representatives Natasha Santos, head of sustainability and strategic engagement, Alejandra Castro; vice president of international affairs and sustainability strategy, and Enno Ommen, sustainability and regenerative agriculture specialist; and Thomas Patriota, head of the special advisory office for international affairs of the ministry of agricultural development and family farming of Brazil.
Manuel Otero, director general of IICA, also participated in the launch event together with Jorge Werthein, special advisor to the general directorate; Muhammad Ibrahim, director of technical cooperation; and Beverly Best, director of external relations.
Looking to the future
“We are excited to launch this tool after several years collaborating with an institution as important as IICA. I want to thank the Institute and Manuel Otero for their leadership and collaboration. We will continue to engage in these partnerships in the future”, said Natasha Santos on behalf of Bayer. “We have the same vision as IICA: to produce more, empower small-scale farmers around the world and carry out regenerative agriculture on a larger scale”, she added.
Santos explained that the concept of regenerative agriculture unites productivity and sustainability and rejects the notion that it is not possible to pursue both objectives at the same time.
“Regenerative agriculture is a solution tailored to the needs of each farmer that fosters carbon sequestration and improved soil health, among other results”, explained Santos, who considered that knowledge transfer and training are essential and that it is important to reach small-scale farmers in their own words to achieve a broader impact.
Guyana’s minister Zulfikar Mustapha considered it important for Latin America and the Caribbean to build bridges with India and Africa through IICA.
“We face similar challenges related to climate, soil degradation and biodiversity loss. Regenerative agriculture provides a sustainable solution tailored to the local context. By working together, these regions can increase their resilience and food security”, he explained.
The minister referred to the importance of driving large-scale transformations and described IICA as “a vital platform for facilitating exchanges on good practices and innovative approaches”.
Transformations underway
On behalf of Paulo Texeira, minister of agricultural development and family farming of Brazil, Patriota thanked IICA and Bayer for the initiative, which he considered crucial to overcome the challenges that agrifood system transformation would pose in the coming decades.
“This is an extremely timely initiative, given the need to restore ecosystems, increase biodiversity and improve soil health”, remarked Teixeira, adding that the initiative complements the National Program for Productive Forests, launched by the Brazilian government in 2024.
“We must support farmers who are providing environmental services and are not being remunerated”, he concluded. “I am pleased to see everyone’s commitment to supporting small-scale farmers. Bayer and IICA are working towards the same objective”, stated Alejandra Castro.
The Bayer executive revealed that the idea for the project emerged following conversations with Manuel Otero and Jorge Werthein during a visit to Costa Rica. “IICA has always been committed to improving farmers’ quality of life, with support from the region’s ministers of Agriculture”, she stated.
Manuel Otero, in turn, referred to the new knowledge frontier. “The transformations that will take place over the next 25 years will be so profound, they will be as disruptive, or even more so, than those that have occurred over the past 10,000 years”, he warned.
The IICA director general stated that long-term policies are necessary to include family farmers and revitalise rural areas through science and innovation. He stressed that Bayer’s leadership will be crucial in that regard.
“This program’s launch is very important. We stand behind this project to empower 100 million farmers in low- and middle-income countries. We must professionalise farmers and make them aware that they are being called upon to take on a leading role”, he added.
Lastly, Otero noted that the partnership between Bayer and IICA is an example of a virtuous alliance between a company that represents science and innovation and an organization that works closely with producers and countries and is committed to fostering a new generation of public policies. “Ours is a productive and impactful partnership. If we continue to work along these lines, we will guarantee a future for rural areas”.
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