ECLAC, FAO, IICA, and CAF: Low agricultural productivity hinders development of Latin America

On June 2, 2026, four international organizations —IICA, ECLAC, FAO, and CAF— presented the report "Perspectives on Agriculture and Rural Development in the Americas 2025-2026", which places agricultural productivity as the main structural challenge of the agri-food systems of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The report suggests that agriculture can strengthen its contribution to agri-food systems through productivity improvements, driven by adequate financing and by political, institutional, financial, and technological innovations.

The Director General of the IICA, Muhammad Ibrahim, was direct in his assessment: increasing productivity must be the central objective of policy, both for economic growth and for achieving greater social mobility and equity. He also indicated that technological, scientific, and institutional innovations are public goods and require sustained state investment and equitable access policies.

The executive secretary of ECLAC, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, warned that agriculture can be a decisive engine to overcome the low growth capacity trap that affects Latin America and the Caribbean, associated with stagnant productivity, although he stressed that this result will not happen automatically.

The launch was attended by ministers and deputy ministers of agriculture from the region, including the Deputy Minister of Rural Economic Development of Guatemala, who highlighted the adoption of the country's 2026-2032 Agricultural Sector Policy, aimed at sustainably and equitably strengthening rural development, improving access to productive resources, strengthening agricultural health, and supporting decision-making through agro-climatic roundtables.