FONTAGRO Information

FONTAGRO is a unique strategic co-financing mechanism that fosters innovation and open research ecosystems in the agri-food sector across Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain. Established in 1998 by 15 member countries and operating under the legal representation of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) with operational and strategic support from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), FONTAGRO has mobilized over USD 156 million to support 215 regional research and innovation projects through the sustainable investment of its capital, which has grown from an initial USD 83.05 million to more than USD 100 million. Its governance model, led by national agricultural research institutes and guided by instruments such as its Constitutive Agreement, Operations Manual, and Medium-Term Plan, enables strategic, interdisciplinary collaboration among public and private actors—including international partners, U.S. universities, governments, and the private sector—to strengthen scientific and technological capacity and generate regional and global public goods that address the major challenges facing agriculture and food systems.