Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture
The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in Turrialba, Costa Rica, has hosted two high school interns since 2002.
Founded in 1942, the IICA is a specialized agency of the Inter-American System. The goal of the IICA is to encourage and achieve agricultural development and well-being for rural populations in Central and South America.
The IICA carries out research and development in agribusiness, agricultural health and food safety, sustainable natural resource management, technology transfer, and rural development.
Headquartered in Turrialba, Costa Rica the IICA has research centers in thirty four countries of the Americas.
Interns at IICA work alongside renowned international researchers and experts - like Jack Perella, Frederico Sancho and Kay McClanahan - in the field at Finca del Lago and Finca de Esperanza experimental organic farms.
The students also had the opportunity to travel around Costa Rica with their host families and colleagues to see the rainforests, Cocos islands, Lancaster Botanical Garden, Poas valcano crater, Manuel Antonio National Park, the Light Blue River, Monteverde Reserve, Chirripo Mountain, and the National Theatre.
Images licensed by CC-BY-SA and GFDL (courtesy: Guety, Mariordo, Asequeir, Aalvere212, and RANDOMX.)
Student Research Projects
Introducing Agrotourism to Poor Farmers in Costa Rica (2003)