Ambassadors from the countries of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) reinforced their support for Guyana in the race for the director general position at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), welcoming Muhammad Ibrahim, the candidate proposed by the country’s re-elected president, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, to Washington.

At the meeting with representatives of Caribbean countries, Ibrahim — an agronomist and institutional manager with more than three decades of experience leading agricultural projects in Central America and the Caribbean — emphasised that his priority at the helm of IICA will be to “promote and provide solutions for food security and nutrition, as well as foster resilience to disaster risk and water security. It is essential to advance the diversification of food systems with an emphasis on health and food security”.

The meeting was chaired by the ambassador of Jamaica to the United States, Antony Anderson, who is also his country’s permanent representative to the Organization of American States (OAS). He introduced Ibrahim to his peers, noting that he is the candidate of Guyana and Caricom, as his nomination was unanimously endorsed by the heads of State and Government of the 14 countries that are members of both the Caribbean Community and IICA.

Ibrahim also indicated that his plans include strengthening work with rural youth and women, with the aim of “preparing a new generation of agribusiness entrepreneurs”.

The Caribbean ambassadors pledged to redouble their efforts to elect Ibrahim as the new director general of IICA.

A new director general of IICA, who will replace Argentine veterinarian Manuel Otero, will be elected in November, when the ministers of agriculture of the countries of the Americas meet in Brasilia.

Ibrahim also met this week in the US capital with senior officials from the State Department and the Department of Agriculture, as well as with the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Albert Ramdin.

Together with Guyana’s ambassador to the OAS, Sam Hinds, Ibrahim discussed with Ramdin areas of cooperation and joint work between IICA and the OAS, identifying food and nutrition security in Haiti, combating cross-border pests and diseases, and issues related to water scarcity and storage as priorities.

They also highlighted the importance of promoting agriculture as a vehicle for job creation in rural areas and for rooting people in their communities as a way of reducing migration.

Guyana’s IICA candidate, Muhammad Ibrahim, prioritises food security and rural youth empowerment, earning unanimous Caricom support in his campaign for director general.