Montego Bay, Jamaica – The heads of government of the countries that make up the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), meeting in Jamaica, expressed their full support for the candidacy of the prestigious agronomist Muhammad Ibrahim, of Guyana, to be the next Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

Ibrahim, who has more than 30 years of leadership and global contributions in the fields of agricultural innovation and sustainable development, was nominated by the Government of Guyana to succeed Manuel Otero of Argentina, currently at the helm of IICA. His nomination was encouraged by Guyanese President Mohammed Irfaan Ali, who heads the CARICOM Food and Nutrition Security Cabinet.

he new Director General of the hemispheric organization – the key to agricultural productivity and rural well-being in Latin America and the Caribbean – will be elected by the ministers of agriculture of the countries of the hemisphere at the meeting of the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA), to be held in Brasilia in November.

The Caribbean countries expressed their “full and unequivocal” support for Ibrahim’s candidacy at the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister of that country, Andrew Hollness.
In the final communiqué of the conference, the leaders of the Caribbean nations considered Ibrahim to be “eminently qualified for the post” of Director General of IICA and called on the rest of the countries of the Americas to support his nomination. IICA, founded in 1942, is part of the Inter-American System and has 34 members throughout the continent, from Canada in the north to Chile and Argentina in the south.