WASHINGTON, USA, (IICA) – During a visit to Washington, this week, director general of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Muhammad Ibrahim, will work together with US, Latin American, and Caribbean government officials and representatives of international funding agencies to develop an agenda of projects aimed at strengthening the agriculture sector of the Americas within a context characterized by geopolitical and market shocks.
Ibrahim will participate in the Seeds for Food Security event organised by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), during which relevant stakeholders will discuss actions related to productivity, health, infrastructure, and the strategic use of science and technology to improve agricultural competitiveness and resilience in the Americas.
The purpose of the event will be to develop a short and medium-term development agenda that highlights the strategic importance of agriculture in the Americas for global food security.
The IICA director general will also participate in a high-level meeting with ministers, deputy ministers, and senior officials of agriculture from countries across the region, with the aim of discussing the implications of the war in the Middle East for agriculture and agrifood systems in the Americas, particularly its impact on the fertiliser supply.
Participants in the event will analyse the global scenario, explore impacts on and the vulnerabilities of the region’s agriculture sector, and drive collective action to strengthen the production sector and rural communities.
In the US capital, the IICA director general will also hold working meetings with high-level officials of the US department of state and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), with the aim of discussing joint projects currently underway in the region to prevent and combat transboundary diseases that threaten animal production.
IICA and APHIS have been engaged in coordinated efforts with authorities and technical teams of veterinary services in Latin American and Caribbean countries to address the New World screwworm, whose reemergence in the region has generated significant health, economic, and social impacts.
During another activity, the director general will sign a cooperation agreement between the World Bank and IICA, and will meet with ambassadors to the Organization of American States (OAS) from countries of the Americas. He will also meet with officials from The Fertilizer Institute, a key industry institution for food security on the continent. Together, they will develop a long-term vision aimed at transforming the sector through innovation and the bioeconomy, as the foundation for a less vulnerable and more sustainable, competitive, and resilient agriculture sector.
The director general will also describe how these issues will be presented in the 2026–2030 Medium-term Plan (MTP), which serves as a roadmap for IICA’s work. The MTP is currently being drafted in consultation with IICA member states in order to channel cooperation efforts towards addressing countries’ priorities.
