CATIE and the University of Panama renew scientific and academic collaboration agreement

• The first signing took place in 2012. On this occasion, the ratification of the agreement took place last Monday, October 10 in Panama and will be valid for five years.

October 11, 2022. The University of Panama, the largest in the country and the only one to train professionals in agricultural sciences, renewed its framework agreement for scientific and academic collaboration with CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) to strengthen capacities and as a tool to address food challenges in Panama.

The agreement was signed by Elvin Britton Jiménez, CATIE's representative in Panama, and the Rector of the University of Panama, Eduardo Flores Castro, accompanied by the Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Eldis Barnes. Also present were Julio Lara, representative of the Institute for Agricultural Innovation of Panama (IDIAP, its Spanish acronym) and Alexis Pino, from the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA, its Spanish acronym).

Flores said that the agreement with CATIE is strategic, which comes at a time when the country needs to renew its efforts in food matters, as well as becoming an opportunity for the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences to continue with its generational replacement program (specializing students with the best performance to occupy teaching and research positions at the university) and fulfill the project to create the first doctorate in Agricultural Sciences in Panama. "We value and appreciate the relationship with CATIE; the exchange of knowledge will be enriching," he said.

For his part, Barnes expressed the opportunity provided by this alliance for students from Panama to continue their education in quality and prestigious universities; "there is no need to travel to another continent to acquire experiences from many regions of the world, CATIE, because of its interculturality, also offers this and it is close by (...)", he emphasized.

With more than 75 years of uninterrupted work, CATIE's Graduate School is the oldest in Latin America in the training of professionals in agricultural sciences, natural resource management and the environment.

"This agreement ratifies CATIE's commitment to Panama to continue supporting efforts to strengthen its agricultural and environmental talents; it is an opportunity to explore possibilities for the development of joint master's degrees, internships, courses or strategic diplomas aligned with the country's development plans," concluded Britton.