UPA International Development (UPA DI) was founded on 8 January 1993 by the Quebec Union of Agricultural Producers (UPA) . Promoting a model of "farmer-to-farmer cooperation", UPA DI has used the expertise of the UPA, an institution at the heart of Quebec's rural development since 1924. The UPA and its affiliated federations 20 market information tools and several collective marketing systems for agricultural products with an annual production value of approximately C $ 4.7 billion. Its affiliation with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) opens the door to a global network of exchanges and reflections.

In 2002, the UPA DI network was enriched by the creation of AgriCord , an international alliance that now includes ten international cooperation organizations belonging to agricultural producer organizations. Five years later, AgriCord set up the Peasants Against Poverty program , which supports agricultural professional organizations in more than 60 countries in the South.

In 2004, the International Agricultural Alliance made it possible to combine the expertise of UPA DI with that of two other recognized organizations in the Quebec international development community, the Center for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI) and the Society Cooperation for International Development (SOCODEVI) .

On 15 October 2012, in Rome, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the General President of the Union of Agricultural Producers (UPA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding collaboration. This agreement aims at the implementation of "common actions to promote the development of family farming: efficient, economically viable, socially responsible, equitable and sustainable, structured within professional organizations and inserted in the market". Through this agreement, FAO recognizes that global food security depends on the ability of farmers to feed the planet and that to achieve this they need local agricultural policies.