Foreign Affairs CS Omamo loses bid to be IFAD President

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo has lost a bid to become the next International Fund for Agricultural Development(Ifad) president to Alvaro Lario of Spain.

Mr.Lario was elected overwhelmingly by the delegates  gracing the thee day Ifad conference in Rome, Italy.

He takes over from Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo, who has held the position since April 1, 2017.

Mr Lario tenure starts on  October 1 and he will serve for a four-year term, which is renewable.

Speaking after his election, Mr Lario said he was up to the task and prepared to work with member states to build resilience and enhance public-private partnerships in enhancing Ifad’s agenda.

“The private sector is very key to providing job opportunities among the women and the youth. We will scale up three or four times the partnership we have with the youth,” Mr Lario said.

He noted issues of migration, conflict and climate change are affecting many rural farmers.

Prior to his appointment, he worked as Ifad’s chief financial officer and an associate vice-president for financial operations since 2018.

Mr Lario takes the post at a time the world is battling food insecurity triggered by the war in Ukraine, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We have the institutions to tackle poverty, we have the know-how to reduce inequality. What we need is to mobilise resources and join forces,” he said.

Mr Lario was among four candidates seeking to succeed Fossoun. The others were Ms Omamo, Mr Shobhana Kumar Pattanayak of India and Mr Khaled A. Mahdi from Kuwait.

Ms Omamo was the only female candidate and was seeking to write history as the first woman to be elected as Ifad President  Since its inception in 1977, the organization has had only five presidents all male.