In this article, the author suggests that it is time for the countries to return to the drawing board to construct new paradigms with multidimensional approaches and the economic, political, social, educational and environmental practices required to ensure economic growth, especially in the developing nations. He points to the disconnect between the economic models currently employed in the hemisphere and the dominant development patterns in the Latin American countries, which in many cases are incongruous. He argues that the governments of the region and their institutions, specialized agencies and universities should continue to facilitate opportunities for the study and discussion of the need for the gradual transformation of the countries’ development patterns, adopting a creative and systematic approach. Agriculture has a key role to play in this process, not only by supplying more and better food, but also by generating a broader, more diversified base of production and employment and innovative rural initiatives, based on knowledge, technology and value-added