Caribbean nations reaffirm backing for Guyana’s IICA Director General bid

Caribbean Ambassadors have thrown their full support behind Guyana’s candidate for the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) Director General, Muhammad Ibrahim, as he campaigns to lead the region’s top agricultural body.

Muhammad Ibrahim, who was proposed by re-elected President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, was welcomed to Washington by regional representatives ahead of his campaign for the role.
Ibrahim, an agronomist and institutional manager with over 30 years of experience leading agricultural projects across Central America and the Caribbean, told Ambassadors that his priority at IICA will be to promote food security, enhance nutrition, build resilience to disaster risk, and improve water security. He also highlighted plans to strengthen programmes for rural youth and women to prepare a new generation of agribusiness entrepreneurs.
The meeting was chaired by Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States (US) Antony Anderson who also serves as his country’s Permanent Representative to the Organisation of American States (OAS). Anderson noted that Ibrahim’s nomination was unanimously endorsed by the Heads of State and Government of the 14 Caricom countries that are members of IICA.
The Ambassadors pledged to intensify efforts to ensure Ibrahim’s election as the next Director General. The new Director General, who will replace Argentine veterinarian Manuel Otero, is expected to be elected in November during a meeting of agriculture Ministers from across the Americas in Brasilia.
During his visit, Ibrahim also met with senior officials from the US State Department and Department of Agriculture, as well as with OAS Secretary General Albert Ramdin. Together with Samuel Hinds, Guyana’s Ambassador to the OAS, Ibrahim discussed cooperation between IICA and the OAS on food security in Haiti, combating cross-border pests and diseases, water scarcity and storage, and the promotion of agriculture as a driver of rural job creation and community development.