ECLAC held the third edition of Digital Agriculture Week

The third edition of Digital Agriculture Week (SAD), 2024, took place between September 23 and 27 in San José, Costa Rica. The SAD has become a meeting space between key actors from the public and private world linked to the digitalization of agri-food systems in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

This year, SAD had the in-person participation of 120 people, including 40 Agtechs, as well as representatives of INTAs/INIAs, universities, investment funds, academics and political decision-makers.

“Agriculture has become an articulating axis of development in the countries of the Latin American and Caribbean region. This activity, in addition to producing food, has a crucial role in the development and climate objectives of countries. In this sector, the alliance and interaction with Agtechs is of utmost importance and we hope that this union continues and deepens.”

In the same session, the Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero, highlighted the role of digital technology as a transforming force in the agri-food systems of the region and the world. For his part, the Minister of Livestock and Fisheries of Uruguay, Fernando Mattos, highlighted that the digitalization of processes in agriculture is advancing, but not in a homogeneous manner between the different production systems. Also at the opening, the Nobel Prize winner in Economics Michael Kremer presented specific cases in which digitalization is promoting the adaptation of agricultural producers to climate change at excessively low marginal prices.