President Ali nominates Guyanese scientist for head of IICA; chance for regional collaboration, he states

Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali has put forward the name of distinguished Guyanese agricultural scientist Muhammad Ibrahim, who brings over thirty years of global experience, as a contender to lead the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

This is according to reports from Spanish news outlet Agenica EFE.

“This candidacy, which is from Guyana, and also Caribbean and South American, like our country, is an invitation to work together for the agricultural development of Guyana and the Caribbean,” Ali stated in a release issued on Friday.

The announcement was made in tandem with the Brazil-Caribbean summit held in Brasilia, during which Ali requested support from his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, for Guyana’s candidate.

Official communication of Ibrahim’s candidacy was also sent to IICA through a note addressed to the agency’s headquarters in San José, Costa Rica.

Succeeding Argentine veterinarian Manuel Otero, The new Director General of IICA for the 2026-2030 term is scheduled to be elected in November at a gathering of the Americas’ agriculture ministers in Brazil.

Ibrahim’s bid comes at a time when the Guyanese government is actively pursuing several major investment projects aimed at transforming and expanding agricultural and fisheries sectors.

Ali emphasized that they intend to seek “the backing of the continent’s major agricultural powers, from Argentina, Brazil, and Chile to the United States and Mexico, to take a decisive step toward that development.”

“Our country has entered a phase of accelerated development and is also the new agricultural frontier of the Americas,” Ali declared.

The announcement of Ibrahim’s candidacy for the role of Director General of IICA, an agency within the Inter-American System for Agricultural and Rural Development, took place in Georgetown, with Ibrahim himself and Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, present.

Following the announcement, Ibrahim also met with Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretary General Carla Barnett, according to the Guyanese Presidency.

An agricultural engineer educated at the University of Guyana, Ibrahim earned a master’s degree in Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources with a focus on Animal Nutrition from the Center for Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education (CATIE) in Costa Rica, where he served as director general.

He also holds a PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences with specialization in Livestock and Animal Nutrition from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

Having built his international career across Central America and the Caribbean, Ibrahim has held various technical roles within IICA, working in Belize and Costa Rica.

“My profile is that of a technician with extensive experience in institutional management, who has dedicated 35 years to building networks to increase the productivity and resilience of the agricultural sector in the Americas,” Ibrahim stated.

He further explained that he has formed partnerships, mobilized financial resources, and established crucial contacts to “ensure the success of these objectives in the Americas and its island nations.”