The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through its International System for Agricultural Science and Technology (AGRIS), is supporting the Academic Library Network of Latin America and the Caribbean (BAALC) to enable its members to contribute valuable data.

Ruth Velia Gómez, AGRIS focal point in the region, led the working session. Gómez outlined the benefits of joining the AGRIS Network as a data provider and detailed the post-application procedures. She also highlighted the commitment of the institutions to select specialized information resources in the fields of food and agriculture and underscored the importance of contributing high-quality metadata to enhance the visibility and discoverability of their publications within the AGRIS database.

Additionally, a preliminary report was presented, showcasing the progress in the validation and collection of metadata from universities that had submitted links to their repositories.

Micaela Chávez Villa, General Coordinator of BAALC, emphasized that this initiative will significantly increase the visibility of institutional resources across the region. The session saw participation from 41 representatives of member institutions.

This collaboration between the AGRIS Network and BAALC will significantly enhance the visibility of academic and scientific output, thereby promoting access to high-quality research throughout the Latin American and Caribbean region.

This effort aligns with FAO's mission to promote international cooperation, enhance the visibility of agricultural research globally, and facilitate the exchange of knowledge to transform agrifood systems into more productive, sustainable, and resilient frameworks.