ECLAC and institutions linked to agri-food development in Latin America hold a workshop to learn about the impact of digital technologies in the Arica and Parinacota region in Chile

On Friday, January 20, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), with the support of the Agricultural Research Institute of the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture (INIA) and the Ibero-American Network for the Digitalization of Agriculture and Livestock ( RIDAG), in coordination with the Regional Government of Arica and Parinacota, held the workshop: “Promoting digital transformation in the agri-food sector Arica and Parinacota territorial hub”.

This activity was carried out within the framework of the productive and territorial development project, coordinated by ECLAC with support and financing from the European Union, and which in Chile has the support of the Undersecretariat for Regional and Administrative Development (SUBDERE), with the objective of training and strengthening the powers of regional governments in terms of productive development.

The main objective of this meeting, in which the public and private sectors, academia and other relevant actors at the territorial level participated, was to establish an agri-food innovation network in the region of Arica and Parinacota in Chile, and to establish synergies with experiences of Latin America and Europe to generate opportunities for the development of sustainable, safe and quality agriculture.

The meeting began with words from the Economic Affairs Officer of the Productive and Business Development Division, Marco Dini, who commented on the importance of the territorial dimension in this type of initiative and discussed some guidelines on the multilevel coordination model to articulate and design policies that benefit productive and territorial development, particularly in the Arica and Parinacota Region in Chile.

He also stated that ECLAC has a strong commitment to the process of consolidating and strengthening productive and territorial development. In the case of the cross-border region of Arica Parinacota and Tacna, the support work carried out by ECLAC began in 2019, within the framework of the project “Tacna-Arica and Parinacota Cross-border Productive Ecosystem”, in collaboration with the University of Tarapacá (UTA ) and the Jorge Basadre Grohmann National University (UNJBG), with the support of INIA in Arica y Parinacota and Tacna, within the framework of the “Euromipyme” project (executed by ECLAC with support and financing from the European Union, between 2015 and 2021 ), aimed at improving support policies for MSMEs in the region.

After the opening remarks, the head of the Development and Industry Division of the Regional Government of Arica-Parinacota, Siboney Sanzana, spoke about the Arica and Parinacota Territorial Hub and its relationship with the Regional Innovation Strategy of this territory.

In this regard, he provided background information and established the context in which this Arica and Parinacota 2022-2030 Regional Innovation Strategy has been developed, whose main objective is to configure this region as a Latin American benchmark in quality of life, a pioneer in the use of renewable energies and the protection of water resources, based on innovation and technology and on promoting synergy with other international and cross-border ecosystems.

In this line, he detailed the process that led to the construction of this strategy being articulated through four phases in which interviews, work groups, workshops, among other activities, were carried out through a participatory process between the public and private sectors, the academy , science, technology and innovation sectors and territories. In this way, this project has allowed the generation of strategic objectives linked to promoting a regional policy, creating R+D+i research centers, promoting public-private alliances, implementing support instruments at the local level and promoting the transfer of knowledge in the region, among others.

Also, he referred to the areas and niches of intelligent specialization that allow combining productive activities and specific technologies, for the realization of projects that in their planning contemplate clearly identified actors and resources. In this line, he explained that these areas are related to the sustainable territory (circular economy, clean energy and water resources), heritage and tourism, agriculture and aquaculture in arid zones (Smart Agro, ecological agriculture and livestock and sustainable aquaculture) and cross-border hub (logistics, storage and service hub)

Finally, he specified the contents of the science, technology and innovation roadmap that has allowed the development of programs and projects, in addition to detailing the governance system, between the Regional Government, the Regional Science, Technology and Innovation Committee and the work teams, and comment on the monitoring indicators for the execution of results.

The second presentation of the workshop was given by José Luis Molina, president of the AMETIC “Smart Agro” Working Group in Spain, who spoke about the digital hub and technological innovation in the city of Almería.

In this regard, he explained that there is a regional productive development strategy that has allowed the creation of interoperable platforms that allow the ecosystem of producers, aggregators and auxiliary industry to share data, value, services and digital relationships.

Similarly, he specified that digital innovation in agriculture has made it possible to build long-term value relationships and support with various strategic actors, generating alliances in the areas of analytics, data and digital transformation.

This innovation has allowed them to become specialists in the production, transformation, aggregation, transport and auxiliary industry network, in the management of fruit crops, vegetables and other high-value crops, with more than 500 producers and aggregates. Likewise, this organization and structure has been based on an ecosystem of private companies that add production at source and cooperatives that bring together farmers who trade freely, with the support of private companies, which has resulted in a dynamic system.

In all of this, digital technology has enabled an enormous revolution and the development of links that were previously not even possible to imagine among all the agents in the marketing and production chain. This digital chain, from the field to the market, has been generating digital links between producers and marketers and has fostered economic, social and environmental sustainability.

The role of agronomists in this transformation of productivity and agri-food chains was also highlighted, so that expert knowledge is necessary and that aspires to make the sum of human potential plus the development of infrastructure and digital technology applications much more productive, for example, incorporating big data and/or artificial intelligence solutions.

The last presentation of the workshop was given by Stanley Best, INIA Chile researcher and leader of the Digital Agriculture Specialty Group, who presented a series of background information and data on the application of new digital technologies in the Arica and Parinacota Region, a project that They have worked as part of the Ibero-American Network for the Digitization of Agriculture and Livestock (RIDAG).

In this regard, he described some factors that have affected the efficiency of agricultural production and in which there is a high need for innovation. These elements are determined by high quality and safety of food, increasing productivity with efficiency and environmental sustainability, biodiversity by controlling the use of agrochemical products and maximum use of limited arable land, labor, water and energy, among others.

This situation has generated greater knowledge of the environment and new technologies for agricultural activities, which at the same time makes it possible to shorten the productive gaps between large companies and small local producers.

In this line, he commented on the concept of Agro 4.0 or intelligent agriculture derived from the “fourth industrial revolution”, originated by the impact of emerging digital technologies and data processing (big data, artificial intelligence, robotics, etc.).

In relation to INIA Chile’s strategic R+D+i approach, three levels were explained that allow the delivery of territorial analysis instruments and climatic behavior, granting support to political and technical authorities, as well as farmers and agro-industry in general, offering solutions R&D for decision making and introducing technology in research processes.

Regarding the latter, he specified how digital agriculture at INIA Chile has made it possible to monitor meteorological variables, carry out satellite tracking and deliver recommendations to prevent and mitigate external events.

The Arica and Parinacota Territorial Hub project has been developed by ECLAC since May 2022 and, additionally, ECLAC has worked on the digitization of agriculture through the project “Digital technologies for a sustainable and inclusive agricultural revolution in the countries in transition”, in coordination with INIA and other research institutes in the region, entities that have formed RIDAG.

To review the full workshop please visit this link: https://youtu.be/t2JyEdyuFv4