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Chelston Whitley Da Costa Brathwaite, a citizen of Barbados, is known for his administrative, technical and institutional leadership in international agricultural development having worked in the USA, Italy, Kenya, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico and Costa Rica. He was elected as Director General of IICA on November 26, 2001 and has initiated a process of institutional reform at IICA to make the Institute an institution of excellence with clearly defined priorities, decentralized operations, modern management and an institution that promotes partnership with its member states for the benefit of the peoples of the Americas.
Through implementation of his vision for IICA which was presented in his document “Repositioning IICA to face the Challenges of the 21st Century”, he has been able to redefine the Institute as a development agency that promotes sustainable agricultural development, food security and prosperity in the rural communities of the Americas.
In addition, as a partner institution to follow up on the decisions of the Summit of the Americas process, IICA has facilitated the Ministers of Agriculture of the Hemisphere in the development of the Plan Agro 2003-2015, a hemispheric agenda for Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas.
Brathwaite started his career as an employee of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1970.
From 1971 to 1975 he served as Research Fellow at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago. From 1975-1980, he was Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of the West Indies. In 1978, he served as an external examiner in the University of Nairobi in Kenya. He joined IICA in 1981 and has served in the following capacities in the Institute:
1981-1983 Regional Plant Protection Specialist for the Caribbean
1983-1988 IICA Representative in Trinidad and Tobago
1989-1991 Assistant Director of Operations, IICA Headquarters, San Jose, Costa Rica
1992-1994 Deputy Representative, IICA Office in Mexico
1994-1996 Director of Administration, IICA Headquarters, San Jose, Costa Rica
1996-1997 Director of the Management Unit for Regional Operations, San Jose, Costa Rica and Member of the Cabinet of the Institute
1998-2001 IICA Representative in Jamaica, Director of the Program for Horizontal Cooperation in Agriculture between Latin America and the Caribbean (CARILAC) and Advisor to the Director General on Caribbean Affairs.
Recent Awards:
1. Companion of Honour of the Government of Barbados, second highest award of his national government, November, 2003
2. Doctorate Honoris Causa from National University of Asuncion, Paraguay, 2004
Significant recent publications:
a. Repositioning IICA to face the Challenges of the 21st Century, (2001)
b. The Repositioning and modernization of an institution, (2002)
c. The Challenges Facing Agriculture in the 21st Century, (2002)
d. Towards the Improvement of Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas, (2003)
e. A 21st Century Model for Technical Cooperation
f. Leading Change and Institutional Reform at IICA: Support of a Hemispheric Agenda for Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas, (2004)
Memberships:
- Member of the Executive Board of United World Colleges
- Member of the Conference of Montreal
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