Investment program will promote advanced technology transfer and innovation in agricultural sector
Peru will receive a $40 million loan from the Inter-American development Bank (IDB) to help incorporate latest technology in the agricultural sector and close existing productivity gaps.
The comprehensive project is part of Peru’s National Agricultural Innovation Program (PNIA for its acronym in Spanish) aimed at increasing agricultural sector growths through productivity increases rather than by expanding land use and labor force.
While agriculture employs one quarter of Peru’s economically active population and contributes 8 percent of the GDP, land and labor productivity levels are very low – especially in marginal areas of the Andes and the Amazon – and significant yield gaps exist for many crops when compared to the best performing Latin American countries.
The project for the improvement of PNIA’s Agricultural Innovation Strategic Services is expected to triple the number of technologies transferred annually to farmers and help increase the annual growth rate in yields of priority products such as potatoes, coffee, maize, rice and quinoa by 0.5 percent, benefiting 1.6 million of producers, of which 44 percent fall below the poverty line and 16 percent are headed by women.
The activities financed by the program will strengthen the technical and operational capacity of the National Agricultural Innovation Institute (INIA for its acronym in Spanish), improve its ability to effectively manage research and innovation activities, modernize the governance structure, and will significantly increase the number of research trials and technology transfer activities for priority crops and thematic activities such as biotechnology and genetic resources, climate change, and post-harvest. Furthermore it will help increase INIA’s capacity to interact with the private sector as well as increase its cooperation with national and international relevant institutions.
The IDB loan has a maturity of 9.75 years, with a 8.25 grace period and LIBOR-based interest rate.