Regional cooperation boosts innovation in Latin American and Caribbean banana production

Representatives of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE) and CAF - Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean participated in a meeting at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, aimed at strengthening regional cooperation foragricultural innovation and sustainability of the banana production chain.

At the meeting, Embrapa and AEBE formalized a letter of intent to deepen technical and scientific cooperation on banana genetic improvement, with the aim of developing more productive, resilient and resistant crops to diseases that threaten global production, especially Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense - tropical race 4 (Fusarium TR4).

"We hope that this problem will become a great opportunity for the government of Ecuador and for Embrapa. There are more than 250,000 families working in banana production in the country," said Juan Carlos Vega Malo, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of Ecuador, during the signing of the memorandum.

The initiative reflects the growing effort of coordination between science, the productive sector and development institutions to address health and production challenges that directly impact food security and agricultural competitiveness in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In this context, CAF accompanies the institutional dialogue and explores cooperation and financing mechanisms capable of supporting projects aimed at the sustainable strengthening of the banana chain, a strategic activity for the region's economies and rural communities.

"Latin America has enormous potential to lead innovative solutions in sustainable agriculture. Initiatives that connect science, the productive sector and regional cooperation are fundamental to increase the resilience of agricultural chains and promote development with social and environmental impact," said Jaime Holguin, CAF's representative in Brazil.

"This is the first of several partnership opportunities with Ecuador. International cooperation is essential to accelerate the development and validation of technologies capable of protecting global banana farming," said Silvia Massruhá, president of Embrapa.

The signing of the instrument was part of a broader agenda of technical exchange between the institutions throughout the day, which included working meetings and visits to Embrapa units dedicated to research in genetic resources and biotechnology.

Ecuador is currently the world's largest exporter of bananas and AEBE accounts for more than 70% of the country's exports. The cooperation between scientific institutions, the productive sector and multilateral organizations seeks to accelerate the development of solutions that will strengthen the resilience of banana farming in the region and broaden its contribution to sustainable development.

With CAF's support, scientific solutions will be offered that will also benefit other banana-producing countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, strengthening the resilience of the crop in the region and contributing to the sustainability of a key production chain for food security and rural employment.

Ecuador's Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Juan Carlos Vega Malo; the president of AEBE, Jorge Encalada; the executive director of AEBE, José Antonio Hidalgo; the ambassador of Ecuador in Brazil, Carlos Alberto Velástegui; the minister of the Embassy of Ecuador in Italy and representative to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Verónica Gómez; and the minister of the Embassy of Ecuador in Brazil, Fernando Guzmán, participated in the signing of the memorandum. Clenio Pillon, Embrapa's executive director of Research and Development, also participated for Brazil.

Created in 1973, Embrapa is one of the world's leading agricultural research institutions. Linked to the Brazilian government, the organization brings together research centers specialized in different areas of tropical agriculture and has played a central role in the development of technologies that have increased the productivity, sustainability and competitiveness of the agricultural sector in Brazil and in several other countries.