Agrosavia Joins China-LAC Food Innovation Hub to Boost Farming

Colombia’s farm science just got a new passport. In mid-December 2025, Agrosavia, the Corporacion Colombiana de Investigacion Agropecuaria (Colombian Agricultural Research Corporation), joined an international food innovation hub linking China with Latin America and the Caribbean, aiming to turn research into practical ideas for food security and sustainability.

It may sound like something that belongs in conference halls, but it can end up in very local places, such as a better seed, a quicker disease alert, or a smarter way to use water when the weather stops behaving.

Agrosavia steps into CLAC-SFI

On Dec. 15, 2025, Agrosavia announced its entry into the China–Latin America and the Caribbean Sustainable Food Innovation Center, known as CLAC-SFI.

The partnership targets innovation and food security, with joint training, mentoring, and research projects that connect teams across China and the region.

The network’s governance includes 12 Chinese universities and research centers, plus institutions from Colombia, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, and Costa Rica, which will sit on an LAC Council to agree on shared cooperation plans.

For Agrosavia, joining the network also fits its internationalization strategy and placed Colombia inside a wider agri-food innovation agenda, where partners share methods and set priorities together, instead of working alone.

What the center is meant to do

CLAC-SFI is built like a working club, not a one-time event. It promotes high-level training, capacity building, student tutoring, and joint research, while opening doors to labs, services, and technical infrastructure that can be hard to access alone.

The signing took place during the 2025 International Forum on Agriculture Innovation and Sustainability in Sanya, with Yazhouwan National Laboratory and the Sanya Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City Administration involved in the forum setting.

The center itself was established in October 2024 in Sanya’s Yazhou Bay and later set up branches in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.​

From global labs to local fields

Agrosavia said the partnership could connect Colombia to joint projects in the bioeconomy, precision agriculture, plant and animal health, and genetic breeding.

These are big terms, but they point to simple goals, such as higher yields with fewer losses, fewer surprise outbreaks, and better planning during heat, heavy rain, or long, dry spells.

The deal also included expert exchanges and specialized training, plus access to advanced scientific services and infrastructure.

Still, science only matters when it travels. Turning lab results into farm routines will require pilots, extension teams, and clear advice that producers can trust, especially when new tools change planting dates, inputs, or animal health practices.

In everyday farmer language, this could show up as sensors that guide fertilization, tools that map soil needs, or breeding lines better suited to heat and pests. The best tech is the kind that saves time, money, and headaches.

Opportunities and guardrails

International cooperation can speed up innovation, but it also raises practical questions. Research partnerships must protect biodiversity, genetic resources, and local know-how, while keeping clear rules on data use, intellectual property, and benefits sharing.

There is also the “who benefits first” issue. A recent FAO-led China-CELAC project on digital transformation in agriculture reported more than 70 digital training sessions and the delivery of over 400 devices.​

That same project reported direct benefits for 800 rural people and an indirect impact for over 4,000 people across the region.​

Those numbers matter because they show what good cooperation looks like, concrete tools, training, and results outside big cities. The challenge for CLAC-SFI-linked work in Colombia is making sure small producers get a real seat at the table.

What happens next

Agrosavia’s entry into CLAC-SFI marked a milestone in Colombia’s push to work with advanced research groups and bring local science into bigger international conversations.

The next step is less about ceremonies and more about field trials, farmer support, and steady follow-through. That is where partnerships either become headlines that fade or tools that stay and help families produce better year after year.