Presentation

In 2020, CATIE, its member countries, and the rest of humanity faced health and climatic emergencies that have affected the achievement global society of some of the proposed goals, as the countries have been forced to modify – at least in the short and medium-term – the priorities and ways of working of institutions, producers, rural families, and even consumers.

The crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic began to manifest itself in the region in March 2020, and in the following months, the problem escalated until it seriously compromised the economy of families and countries. This reality forced the countries to implement health emergency measures on the spot, which implied adjustments at all levels. This also required CATIE to adjust the modes of operation and support to the countries through its services. One of the most impacted sectors, where it was necessary to act quickly, was in the attention of local economies and food security.

At the time of the issuance of this Annual Report, many countries are still going through the third wave of very strong infections accompanied by more aggressive variants of the original virus and, in some cases, more deadly. The CATIE region does not escape this situation; therefore, the impacts of the Pandemic, in all aspects, cannot be accurately estimated yet.

Fortunately, CATIE has taken health protection measures and austerity in expenditure, which have allowed it to advance in the direction of its institutional mission, as shown in this 2020 Annual Report. This can be seen with the progress made in the modernization of educational programs, the management of new projects, the consolidation of research actions in the region and the countries, the start of institutional modernization processes by having a new enterprise and financial resource management system (ERP), and finalize its new Institutional Strategic Plan 2021–2030.

Muhammad Ibrahim
Director General of CATIE