CATIE receives the "Senate Medal" from France for its contributions to the Latin American region

May 24, 2022. Diplomatic representatives from France visited the CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) campus to learn more about the work carried out by the institution in the Latin American and Caribbean region, allowing the institution to receive the important award of the "Senate Medal", which is granted by France to institutions or individuals in recognition of their work and contributions to society.

For more than 40 years, the collaboration between CATIE and France has been key to numerous research findings that favor the development of communities and various productive sectors in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the protection of the environment and education.

The visit was attended by Daniel Laurent, senator and president of the group; Claude Raynal, senator; Valérie Letard, senator; and Franck Tissot, executive secretary, who were accompanied by Fabrice Place, first counselor of the French embassy in Costa Rica; Eva Sahores, technical and scientific cooperation attaché at the embassy; Gaël Alsiret, intern; and Désirée Segovia, translator.

They were received and welcomed by CATIE's Director General, Muhammad Ibrahim, and Juan Carlos Méndez, Deputy Director General. Later they visited the International Coffee Collection together with Laurène Feintrenie, scientist from the French Center for International Cooperation in Agronomic Research for Development (CIRAD), and Carlos Cordero, CATIE technician, who presented the history of the 2,000 coffee introductions, as well as the joint research and cooperation effort between CIRAD and CATIE.

The exhibition focused on the importance of the collection, the diversity of its germplasm in the genetic improvement programs that CATIE makes available to the region either through the coffee institutes or directly to coffee growers. The tour included a visit to what is known at CATIE as the "Walk of Fame", where the most important varieties and materials that have made history, due to their high productivity, cup quality, tolerance to pests and diseases and even the highest prices in world specialty markets, can be seen.

The visit culminated with a meeting to present the work carried out by CATIE and where visitors had a space to ask questions and understand the relationship between the three pillars of the institution: education, research and external projection.

The meeting was attended by Leida Mercado, director of CATIE's research division, Roberto Quiroz, dean of the Graduate School, and CIRAD was represented by Marie AngeNgoBieng, scientist and researcher in forestry, Catherine Abadie, scientist, and Eliott Maurent, Ph. Student.

The collaboration between CATIE and France has yielded numerous research findings that favor the development of communities and various productive sectors in Latin America and the Caribbean.