From March 12 to 15, 2023, the president of the JKI, Prof. Dr. Frank Ordon, visited Brazil and Colombia as a member of the German delegation of the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. Already in January of this year, a Colombian delegation led by Minister of Agriculture Cecilia López had visited the JKI (Kleinmachnow) and the JKI presentation at the Green Week in Berlin, and both sides had first exploratory talks. One of the topics was the possibility to intensify the cooperation with the Colombian agricultural research corporation AGROSAVIA. For this purpose, a so-called Letter of Intent was elaborated by JKI and the Colombian sister institution. This document was signed by JKI President Ordon and AGROSAVIA Managing Director Jorge Mario Díaz Luengas during a visit to Bogotá (Colombia) on March 15, 2023.

Letter of intent focusses, among other things, on cooperation in bee protection

The two research institutions discussed cooperation on bee protection issues with regard to risks and exposure pathways through which pollinators come into contact with harmful active ingredients. In the long-term, the Letter of Intent also announces cooperation on other topics of common interest, which are still being worked out in the technical dialogue between the two institutions.

In parallel, the Colombian Minister of Agriculture and Federal Minister Cem Özdemir signed a "Joint Declaration of Intent" between their two ministries, BMEL and MADR. The signing of the documents marked the end of the four-day trip to South America that Federal Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck and Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir undertook together.

Tight schedule included several field trips

The schedule of the visit was tight and took the German delegation from Belo Horizonte, the capital of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, via the capital Brasília to the Amazon region near Manaus and finally to the Colombian capital city of Bogotá.

In Brazil, the programme included a state reception, the opening of the German-Brazilian Business Days and bilateral talks with the two ministries of agriculture. The programme also included an excursion to an urban garden in Belo Horizonte, where smallholder farms produce products for the regional school meals that are offered free of charge. During a visit to a school, the delegation could then taste the processed products for themselves.

The stay in the Brazilian Amazon took the delegation to the rainforest near Manaus, where they met an indigenous people. The delegation then travelled to the Colombian capital city of Bogotá, where bilateral talks between the ministries took place, as well as the signing of the Joint Declaration of Intent and the Letter of Intent of the two subordinate research institutions. In his media statement on the departure, Minister Özdemir had said, "That's why I'm glad that the President of the JKI, Ordon, is with us, because we want to transfer knowledge, because we want to deepen scientific cooperation."