By Muhammad Ibrahim

ON November 4, in Brasilia, the ministers of agriculture of the Americas—including the 14 from the Caribbean Community—will elect a new Director General of IICA, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture.
The election will be decisive for the future positioning of this key institution for the formulation of agricultural policies, especially in terms of deepening its work in areas that will shape the future of agricultural activity, such as biotechnology and life sciences, information technology and data science, robotics, engineering, and artificial intelligence, in order to converge the once- divergent objectives of increasing productivity and ensuring sustainability.
Agriculture must increasingly guarantee food, energy, and fibre supplies, create jobs, and promote rural development, contributing to social peace and governance.
To this end, we need an increasingly strong and active IICA, consolidating the repositioning that the institution has undergone over the last eight years, which has led to a level of prestige and influence that is recognised in all the countries of the Americas and beyond, by the private sector, financing agencies, and civil society organisations.
We need to work together in the Americas to help develop and implement the technological, policy, and institutional solutions needed to meet the challenges of feeding a growing population with healthy and sustainable diets, while generating incomes and employment, particularly for the most vulnerable populations.
I have been preparing for more than four decades to lead the way.
The support of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, along with that of 13 other countries—all members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)—which were later joined by other nations in North, Central and South America, including Mercosur, crystallises the essence of our candidacy for the General Directorate of IICA, which is characterised by HUMILITY, TRANSPARENCY, and the technical capacity and experience to lead IICA as an international technical co-operation agency that listens to and SERVES COUNTRIES.
We face numerous challenges and threats that have negative repercussions on agrifood systems. The solutions to these challenges have always resulted from significant advances in science and technology.
A core principle of IICA is the promotion of agricultural research, education and technical co-operation, with a strong focus on applying scientific advances to improve productivity, pest control, crop yields and rural development, thereby ensuring food security and economic and social progress.
We are facing a great opportunity to further advance along this path, and the 2025 Conference of Ministers of Agriculture, at which the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA) will elect a new Director General of IICA, should be a major milestone in consolidating the role of the Americas as a crucial region for global food security.
Successfully addressing these challenges requires a renewed and sustained effort in science, technology, and innovation, as well as the design, renewal, and implementation of institutional and financial instruments that can support agricultural producers and actors in agrifood systems to implement the necessary solutions on a large scale.
The world will have some 10 billion inhabitants in 2050, which will require a significant increase in food supply. The projected increase is around half of the current production volume. This highlights the responsibility of the Americas, a continent that, at the same time, sustains large exports and is home to markets that still depend on imports, and is woven together by a mosaic of family farmers who sustain local markets and the life of communities.
Diversity is a strength, but it also presents challenges.
What we need, I repeat, are TRANSPARENCY and HUMILITY, combined with technical expertise and international experience.
IICA plays an irreplaceable role: it is the place where everyone comes together—governments, producers, researchers and the private sector—and it is the bridge that transforms successful experiences into public policies, brings technological solutions to the field and mobilises technical co-operation.
IICA’s mission is to transform the diversity of the Americas into complementarity. The challenge is great, but the path forward is clear. It is time to respond by combining soil recovery, smart intensification, strong family farming, loss reduction, and innovation from the field to logistics. It is time for unity to move forward in the direction of development and prosperity.