A Glimpse into CATIE’s Programs: Then and Now
This year, CATIE celebrates its 50th Anniversary. While all institutions shift over time in response to internal and external changes, CATIE being no exception, the organization’s mission, vision and values remain steadfast. For 50 years, CATIE has been on the forefront of providing transformative post-graduate education, impact-oriented research, and community outreach that promotes inclusive green development and leads to increased human and planetary well-being in Latin America and the Caribbean. Take a step back in time to see some of CATIE’s programs then and now:
CATIE Education: Then and Now
Adelaida Chaverri Polini (photo credit Orotín Biblioteca)
Then
CATIE has the oldest international Graduate Program in Agriculture and Natural Resources in Latin America. One of CATIE’s first graduate students was Adelaida Chaverri Polini, a world renowned scientist of mountain ecosystems from Costa Rica, who completed her Master's Degree in Forest Sciences between 1975-1977. Her thesis, Analysis of a System of Private Biological Reserves in Costa Rica, would greatly inform her later work and shape the conservation efforts of her home country. Adelaida participated with other conservationists in the establishment of Chirripó National Park on July 29, 1975 and in the creation of the Corcovado National Park on October 24, 1975 (Chaverri, 2008).
Now
Fast forward to the present. Alejandra Martínez Salinas of Nicaragua received a Ph.D. in the CATIE-University of Idaho Joint Doctoral Program in 2017. She then became a research associate in ecology and ornithology for CATIE’s Agriculture, Livestock and Agroforestry Program and is currently the Director of the Agroforestry Research Unit. During her years at CATIE, hundreds of visitors have ventured out in early morning hours to learn from her, “the bird lady,” excited to lend a hand as she monitors, measures and bands birds in her research on the contribution of agricultural land uses to bird conservation.
Alejandra Martínez Salinas tagging birds (photo credit CATIE communications department)
“CATIE gave me the tools to combine the many challenges of biodiversity conservation with demands from the agriculture sector. Thanks to CATIE, I now have a more holistic approach to biodiversity conservation and understand the importance of promoting environmentally friendly food production systems.”
For Adelaida and Alejandra, some of the most valuable aspects of their study at CATIE were the opportunities to build durable friendships with researchers and professionals from many different countries around the world, as well as to work with top researchers in ecology, forest management, agriculture, agroforestry, sociology, economy and water management. Their advanced degrees opened doors of opportunity for them to contribute to the field through their careers and advance sustainable development throughout the region.
To date CATIE has graduated over 2,800 masters and doctoral students coming from 48 countries. The majority of the students come from a 14 country-wide radius that spans all of Central America and includes Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. These students leave prepared with the scientific knowledge and technical skills to advance inclusive green development throughout the region. Almost all students receive at least a partial scholarship and the majority come from modest rural backgrounds. Currently, over half of CATIE’s graduates are female.
Graduates celebrate in the Wallace Building Atrium (photo credit CATIE Communications Department)
According to the 2019 CATIE Graduate School survey, 31.5% of graduated masters degrees students continued on to receive a doctorate degree. The U.S. universities these students attended for their doctorates included Cornell University, Iowa State University, North Carolina State University, North Dakota State University, State University of New York, Stephen F. A. University (Texas), University of California in Santa Cruz, University of Florida, University of Idaho, and Yale University. CATIE also hosts joint master's and doctoral programs with prestigious international universities like Bangor University, the University of Idaho and the University of North Texas in addition to having agreements with more than 50 universities and 400 partners around the globe.
This year, the Tropics Foundation is raising $350,000.00 in our Pathways for Progress campaign, that supports CATIE’s general scholarship fund. It costs roughly $35,000.00/degree for an on-campus student to study at CATIE including their room, board, and books. The Tropics Foundation is committed to raising enough to fully support 10 students per year.
CATIE Research: Then and Now
To date, CATIE’s publications top over 10,000 and cover a myriad of topics related to agriculture, land and resource management, conservation, and sustainable use of natural resources in the American Tropics. Many of the publications are accessible through the IICA online library. In general, CATIE’s research aims to create measurable impacts that advance the sustainable development of the region.
Cherelle Wilt on a Cacao Pod
Then
Since the institution’s founding, CATIE’s researchers have been interested in studying the diversity and viability of critical crops to the economic and nutritional wellbeing of the region. One such crop is cacao. CATIE’s research of this crop date back to the institution’s inception. For example, the 1949 Thesis written by Monod Dejean entitled Observations on the Flowering Habits of Cacao exemplifies some of the important early research IICA/CATIE fostered observing and investigating the flowering habits of cacao in Turrialba and the coastal lowlands of Costa Rica. This publication was produced one year after the devastating 1948 cherelle wilt that wiped out much of the harvest throughout the nation.
Now
The above example is one of thousands of studies conducted by CATIE graduate students, researchers, scientists and technicians over the years. 50 years of such research has helped the institution in developing new crop varieties that are nutritionally dense, locally adapted and resilient to the stress of disease and a changing climate.
CATIE’s botanical garden, cacao pods
Currently, CATIE researchers work in partnership with many international organizations also interested in the sustainable development of tropical regions. For example, CIRAD, the French agricultural research and international cooperation organization and CATIE recently collaborated on a publication entitled, The Road to Sustainable Cocoa Growing, with the intention of outlining how we can support a sector on which between 40 and 50 million people depend worldwide. The article pinpoints four priorities for the sustainable development of the cocoa supply chain and for informing the choices stakeholders need to make.
CATIE currently has nine active research units addressing many of the primary challenges of our time. These units include Climate Action; Agrobiodiversity and Food Security; Agroforestry; Biostatistics; Forests and Biodiversity in Productive Landscapes; Basins, Water Security and Soils; Environmental Economics and Sustainable Agribusiness, Livestock and Environmental Management; and Agroforestry and Genetic Improvement of Coffee and Cacao.
CATIE Community Outreach: Then and Now
Then
Photo Credit: Biblioteca Orotín
CATIE’s final strategic pillar is community outreach, which has historically taken the form of informal training using short and specialization courses provided by the institution. In the 1970s there was a significant growth in technical training demand as CATIE responded to the needs of the countries of the region. As a result, in 1979, the Agricultural Training Project for the Central American Isthmus was established, financed by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and led by CATIE. The goal of the project was to renew and increase the skills of regional technicians related to agricultural development & animal and forest production using short courses, seminars, workshops and in-service training. Thanks to this project and other initiatives, in 1982 alone 1,043 professionals from the region and other countries in the hemisphere were trained.
Now
Presently, CATIE continues to provide training to a range of community beneficiaries including government officials, professionals, technicians and farmers. CATIE’s framework has expanded to include not only agricultural and forestry but also silvopastoral, agroforestry, biodiversity, food security, climate change, watersheds, water resources, natural disaster risks, biological corridors, payment for ecosystem services, agribusiness development and environmental economics. Always meeting the times head on, one of CATIE’s newest initiatives includes ACTIVA CATIE, an innovation and entrepreneurship laboratory funded in collaboration with The Development Bank and World Resources Institute. This program allows interested small business entrepreneurs in the wider agriculture sector to apply for training and seed funding for ventures. Customized training plans are built with beneficiaries to provide practical workshops and guarantee the capacity building and successful execution of the entrepreneurs. To date, more than $500k has been leveraged for entrepreneurship in the rural sector funding over 50 new ventures in forestry, agriculture, livestock, rural tourism, and more.
CATIE’s Leather Lab that trains and employs local residents to produce leather goods using repurposed Southwest Airlines leather seats (photo credit CATIE’s Communications Department)
Where CATIE is headed
It is not easy to summarize the impact of 50 years worth of work of an institution the size and caliber of CATIE. It is undeniable that the organization has positively impacted the lives and livelihoods of thousands of graduates, has advanced public knowledge and understanding of the scientific and technical field of sustainable tropical development, and that its research and capacity building efforts have contributed to policy and practices that positively influence economic mobility, human, and planetary wellbeing in LAC. Important to note, CATIE has not done so alone, rather, it works alongside hundreds of strategic partners the world over to reach its mission.
CATIE’s 2030 strategic plan outlines a roadmap forward full of innovation, evidence based solutions, and scaled impact centered in its desire to align its work to its values. One of those values being inclusion, meaning the institution will focus on providing services to those most marginalized in the region including women and children, indigenous stakeholders as well as individuals from remote, rural backgrounds. With today's challenges of poverty, climate change, food insecurity, deforestation and biodiversity loss, CATIE, together with its member countries and extensive network of partners and funders, will work collaboratively to continue to train future leaders that can solve tomorrow’s challenges, scale its transdisciplinary and systems-based approaches to addressing major regional and global challenges, and work directly with community stakeholders where its institutional priorities come to life.
References
Chaverri, A. (2008). Historia natural del Parque Nacional Chirripó. Heredia, Costa Rica: INBio.