GEORGETOWN: Guyana’s Muhammad Ibrahim elected new Director General of IICA

GEORGETOWN: Muhammad Ibrahim, from Guyana, was elected as Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) for the period 2026-2030.

The election was carried out by majority vote of the Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas during the 23rd Ordinary Meeting of the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IAB), the highest governing body of the IICA. The meeting is taking place in Brasilia and is being organized by the Brazilian government in conjunction with the hemispheric organization.

The winner competed against Fernando Mattos, the candidate from Uruguay , who immediately congratulated the winner.

“We will work with all the nations of the Americas to forge a future of cooperation. I am honored and grateful to have been chosen to lead this great institution. I acknowledge the remarkable work done by Director General Manuel Otero,” Ibrahim stated upon accepting the position.

Ibrahim is an agricultural engineer with extensive experience in international management who dedicated 35 years to building networks to increase the productivity and resilience of the agricultural sector in the Americas. He was nominated to lead the IICA by the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

The new Director General will assume his post on January 15 , during a ceremony at IICA headquarters in San José, Costa Rica. He will succeed Argentine veterinarian Manuel Otero, who has led the organization since 2018, having been re-elected in 2021.

In a statement on X, Ibrahim expressed “I am deeply grateful for the trust expressed by the Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas and by the governments that make up IICA.”

“I would like to express my gratitude to the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali; to acknowledge Dr. Manuel Otero for his outstanding leadership of the Institute; and to thank all the countries that took part in this election, as well as my family, colleagues, and friends for accompanying me on this long journey,” he further noted.

Ibrahim also stated that, “This achievement does not belong to me alone, but to all those who believe in the power of technical cooperation to transform agriculture, strengthen food security, and improve the lives of rural communities.”

“As Director General of IICA, we will work with humility and commitment alongside all the countries of the continent to strengthen the institution, mobilize resources, and deliver concrete responses to the challenges facing our agriculture: price volatility, environmental threats, and the resilience of family farming,” he added.

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

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

Ibrahim, who has developed his international career in countries in Central America and the Caribbean, has held technical positions at IICA, serving in various capacities in Belize and Costa Rica.