The President of Guyana, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, presented his country’s candidate to lead the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) at the Global Biodiversity Partnership Summit, before other heads of state and government. The candidate is agronomist and international manager Muhammad Ibrahim.
The two-day summit, held in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, brought together political leaders, scientists, indigenous voices, and innovation advocates. Its purpose was to unite global efforts in favor of protecting biodiversity and the ecosystems that sustain life on Earth.
Among the heads of state and government present at the momentous meeting were the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader; the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley; the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves; the Vice President of Ecuador, María José Pinto; and the former President of Colombia, Iván Duque, as well as some 200 national delegates, representatives of international organizations, and multilateral credit agencies.
The meeting was also attended by the president of COP30, André Correo do Lago, who is in charge of the event to be held in November in the city of Belém, in the Brazilian Amazon, and who met with Ibrahim.
President Irfaan Ali led the Summit and affirmed that Ibrahim, who has extensive experience in international agricultural management, is the right person to further IICA’s work in strengthening food systems starting next year.
“I am grateful to President Ali for giving me the opportunity at this important Summit to talk about my plans for IICA, a platform from which we will work together with the strongest countries in the Americas to strengthen food security in the Caribbean and Central America through science, technology and innovation, because agriculture is vital for development,” said Ibrahim.
The election of the next Director General of IICA will also take place in November in Brasilia, with the participation of the continent’s ministers of agriculture.
With the diplomatic corps
In Georgetown, Ibrahim also shared with the diplomatic corps resident in Guyana a seminar on the program being carried out in Belize to conserve biodiversity and build resilience in the Caribbean countries, with a focus on the blue and green economy.
Ibrahim was invited by the High Commissioner of Belize to Guyana, Gale Miller Garnett, and during the meeting had the opportunity to discuss his plans to lead the hemispheric agency for agricultural development and rural well-being.
Ibrahim, who has extensive experience in international sustainable agriculture management, has worked with Belize for the past 25 years and played an important role in the development of agroforestry policy and sustainable livestock systems.
The guest speaker at the seminar was Belize’s Minister of Sustainable Development, Orlando Habet, who spoke about how to use his country’s natural wealth to build resilience in the vulnerable Caribbean. More than 50 high-level experts from the diplomatic corps in Guyana participated in the seminar.
During the event, Ibrahim spoke with Mexico’s ambassador to Guyana, Mauricio Vizcaíno Crespo, about his candidacy and his plans to collaborate with the Secretariat of Agriculture and the Mexican government to develop sustainable food systems, leveraging Mexico’s rich agrobiodiversity and science, innovation, and technology. He also held a meeting with Carlos Tadeo, Argentina’s chargé d’affaires in Guyana.
Also in Georgetown, Ibrahim met with the Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Elisabeth Harper, Ambassador George Talbot, and Foreign Affairs Ministry official Pegy McLennan to discuss his candidacy for the position of Director General of IICA.
Muhammad thanked the Foreign Affairs Ministry authorities for their support in communicating with IICA member countries to ensure support for his candidacy.
The ministry officials pledged to continue providing the necessary resources to ensure his election as Director General of IICA, working both within and outside the Caribbean region, especially considering that Guyana is a country with strong ties to both Caribbean and South American nations and leads agricultural initiatives for the Caribbean, in addition to serving as a bridge to the Andean region and Central America.
