MUHAMMAD Ibrahim, Guyana’s candidate and the official nominee of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) for the post of Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), has underscored the importance of mobilising funds to strengthen food security and resilience in Central America’s Dry Corridor.
During a meeting with Gisela Sánchez, President of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), Ibrahim highlighted key sectors where financing could drive sustainable agricultural development, particularly in regions facing heightened climate vulnerability.
“We presented our candidacy for the highest position at IICA to the principal authority of CABEI and identified areas of co-operation for mobilising funds to finance projects, always with a view to strengthening food and nutritional security and resilient agriculture in the region, especially in a vulnerable area such as the Central American Dry Corridor,” Ibrahim said following the discussions.
Talks also addressed the need for projects aimed at mitigating the impacts of forest and grassland fires, which pose growing threats to agricultural production and rural livelihoods across the region.
Ibrahim, an agronomist with more than 35 years of experience in agricultural leadership, was in Honduras at the invitation of CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center), where he previously served as Director General. He participated in the ESCALAR project’s knowledge-sharing event in Copán, attended by over 200 representatives from Central American institutions, international organisations, and regional stakeholders.
The Guyanese candidate also joined a panel discussion, sharing insights from his work at IICA—where he served as Director of Technical Cooperation and country representative—as well as his experience at CATIE in advancing silvopastoral systems for regenerative livestock production. He identified barriers to scaling these systems, stressing the need for affordable credit, risk insurance, technology exchange, stronger extension services, and public-private partnerships to accelerate adoption.
Ibrahim’s candidacy for the IICA’s top post, which will be decided in November, was formally presented by Guyana’s President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali and is unanimously supported by all 14 CARICOM member states within IICA. The nomination has also garnered endorsements from countries across Central, North, and South America.
CABEI, headquartered in Tegucigalpa and chaired by Sánchez of Costa Rica, plays a central role in financing projects that promote economic integration and social development across Central America and beyond. Its membership includes Central American nations, the Dominican Republic, and extra-regional partners such as Spain, South Korea, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and Taiwan.
