IICA is the specialized agency of the Inter-American System for agriculture and rural welfare, promoting competitive and sustainable agriculture in the Americas. Founded in 1942, IICA has accumulated vast experience in providing technical cooperation in agricultural health and food safety, agribusiness, agricultural trade, rural development and training. IICA has 34 Member Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. IICA offers technical support to help its Member Countries meet the following strategic objectives:

1. Improve the productivity and competitiveness of the agricultural sector.
2. Strengthen agriculture’s contribution to the development of rural areas and the well-being of the rural population.
3. Improve agriculture’s capacity to mitigate and adapt to climate change and make better use of natural resources.
4. Improve agriculture’s contribution to food security.

IICA is governed by the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA), which is composed of the Ministers of Agriculture from its Member Countries; the IABA it meets every two years. IICA's Executive Committee (EC) consists of 12 Member Countries, chosen on the basis of partial rotation and equitable geographical distribution; the EC meets annually.

IICA's Director General is elected by the IABA. Manual Otero, a citizen of Argentina, is IICA's current Director General.

Contacts with the Agricultural Health and Food Safety-AHFS-IICA: