In compliance with Orders 15 and 18 of Ruling SU 288 of 2022, UPRA has fulfilled them as follows:
1. Regarding the Fifteenth Order:
To comply with this order, UPRA has focused on two actions: one aimed at strengthening the entity's structure and the other at budgetary strengthening.
a) Regarding the strengthening of institutional structure, UPRA, in 2024, based its actions on the technical study conducted by the Higher School of Public Administration for the temporary staff, developed in 2023, with the aim of structuring an institutional redesign for the Unit with a permanent staff.
To achieve this, a team of professionals was assembled to carry out the institutional redesign. This team was presented to DAFP, with whom a delivery schedule was established, and the official contact for process support was designated.
The results of the first phase of workload assessment were presented at the Institutional Management and Performance Committee of UPRA (CIGDE) on June 26, 2024. The respective minutes and presentation contain the initial results.
Additionally, it was presented to the Committee of the Agricultural, Fisheries, and Rural Development Sector Reinstitutionalization Project, led by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. This draft law for strengthening agricultural sector entities proposes converting UPRA into a Special Administrative Unit with legal personality, attached to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Similarly, this draft law aims to establish UPRA as the entity responsible for guiding sectoral information management and territorial planning policies for agricultural uses. This would elevate to law the delegation of functions assigned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) through Resolution 299 of 2019, aligning these functions with those outlined in Decree 4145 of 2011.
In parallel, a proposal was developed in which UPRA would remain without legal personality but would strengthen its structure and staffing. The technical document for this restructuring was preliminarily presented to DAFP and later to UPRA’s union organizations on October 28, 2024. Subsequently, it was officially submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture and presented at a sectoral meeting on November 15, 2024.
The project proposes that UPRA have 311 positions at various levels, increasing from the current 67 positions to 311, thus expanding the workforce by 244 positions.
MADR's approval of the technical document is still required, after which it must be formally submitted to DAFP for processing before DAPRE and the Ministry of Finance, in order to finalize the expansion of UPRA’s workforce and its institutional strengthening, thereby fulfilling the mandates of SU 288 of 2022.
b) Regarding budgetary planning for the 2025 fiscal year, UPRA participated in expenditure planning sessions organized by DNP and MHCP and submitted an investment budget request of $70,455,981,000, distributed across four budgetary projects. This request aimed for a 6% increase compared to 2024 and a 110% increase compared to the 2023 investment allocation.
However, due to the ongoing budget negotiations in Congress and the announcements made by MHCP, as recorded in the system by DNP for the 2025 budget, the investment budget allocation for UPRA will be $41,200,000,000. This amount represents a reduction of $12,000,000,000 compared to the 2024 allocation. The sector distributed the budget allocation among the attached and linked entities as follows:
C-1704 1100 9 NATIONAL PLANNING DEVELOPMENT FOR AGRICULTURAL LAND USE BPIN 202211000023: $15,000,000,000
C-1704 1100 11 STRENGTHENING CAPACITY IN STRATEGIC SECTORAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT FOR AGRICULTURAL POLICY GUIDANCE BPIN 2022011000020: $8,000,000,000
C-1704 1100 11 CONSOLIDATION OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR TERRITORIAL PLANNING FOR AGRICULTURAL USES AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL: $6,000,000,000
C-1799 STRENGTHENING MANAGEMENT AND DIRECTION OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR: $12,200,283,224
Despite the efforts made by the entity, this situation necessitates limiting the initially projected goals for the next fiscal period.
2. Regarding the Eighteenth Order:
Within the framework of the National Unified System for Rural Agricultural Information (SNUIRA), whose general purpose is to improve sectoral information management, progress has been made in updating monitoring and updating components, as well as constructing the sectoral interoperability map based on consolidated information from various entities. This led to the development of version 2.2 of the Agricultural Sector Interoperability Plan 2024–2025, which includes the latest figures on the sector's maturity level in this area.
Furthermore, regarding the Plan’s implementation, coordination was carried out with different sector entities to confirm information exchange needs as part of the outlined strategy. Thus, during the reported period, engagement with entities outside the sector was conducted to initiate the implementation of the Interoperability Plan, based on identified information exchange needs requiring their participation.
In this same context, work sessions were initiated with the National Digital Agency (AND), where the Sectoral Interoperability Plan was contextualized, and identified needs were presented to request support from this organization. Weekly working meetings were agreed upon to monitor progress in AND’s efforts with various entities needing support for accelerating interoperability projects specified in the Plan.
Strengthening SNUIRA will enable the sector to consolidate interoperability among the information systems of different entities and between these entities and other key institutions, ensuring compliance with SU 288 of 2022.
