BIOS

Ilham Abla Senior Operations Officer, Indonesia Sustainable Development, World Bank

Ilham Abla is a Senior Operations Officer at the World Bank Country Office in Jakarta, Indonesia. Mr. Abla joined the World Bank in 1994. He received his degree in Civil Engineering from the Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia (1979) and his Master’s Degree in Agriculture Science from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium (1984).

Masood Ahmad Lead Water Resources Specialist, South Asia Region, World Bank

Masood Ahmad is the Lead Water Resources Specialist in the South Asia Region at the World Bank. He joined the Bank in 1996 as Senior Irrigation Engineer and has since worked in the South Asia and Europe and Central Asia Regions. Mr. Ahmad holds a Professional Degree in Water Resource Engineering from the George Washington University, a Master’s Degree in Engineering from the Asian Institute of Technology and a Bachelor’s Degree in Irrigation Engineering from Asian Institute of Technology.

Adewale Adekunle Director, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Network Support Function Five

Dr. Adewale Adekunle is the Director of FARA’s Network Support Function Five that works on partnerships and strategic alliance. Dr Adekunle is also the coordinator of the Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Program. Prior to joining FARA, Dr. Adekunle managed a multi-million dollar World Bank Program in Nigeria for three years and later worked at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) for about two decades. His professional engagement encompasses diverse research and development activities toward the improvement of agricultural productivity and sustainability in the smallholders system.

Arusyak Alaverdyan Operations Officer, Sustainable Development Department, Europe and Central Asia Region, World Bank

Arusyak Alaverdyan, an Armenian national, has worked for over 10 years in professional positions at the World Bank. She has a diploma of Mathematics from the Yerevan State University, an MBA with a major in Finance from the American University of Armenia, and an MS in Agricultural Economics from the University of Georgia (US). She has strong operational experience working on ARD projects within the ECA region, including Bulgaria, Kyrgyz Republic, Albania, and Armenia, with focus on irrigation projects during the past several years. Currently, she is an Operations Officer working on projects in Armenia and Albania with a focus on institutional reforms in the irrigation sector.

Inger Andersen Vice President, Sustainable Development Network, World Bank

Ms. Andersen, a Danish national, is the Vice President of the Sustainable Development Network at the World Bank. Prior to her appointment, she was the Director of Sustainable Development in the Africa Region. Ms. Andersen joined the World Bank in 1999, working initially on international waters. In 2001, she joined the Africa region where she subsequently was named Sector Manager for Water and Urban Development. In 2005, Ms. Andersen moved to the Middle East & North Africa region as the Director for the Rural Development, Water, & Environment Department and, in 2006, assumed the leadership of the new Sustainable Development department for the region. In 2008, she returned to Africa as the Director of Sustainable Development. Prior to joining the

World Bank, Ms. Andersen worked at the United Nations in New York from 1987 to 1999. Ms. Andersen has extensive country experience, notably in Sudan where she worked from 1983 to 1987, including three years with a non-governmental organization. Inger Andersen received her Master’s Degree in Development Economics and African Politics from the University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies). She is fluent in English and Danish, and proficient in Arabic and French.

Mohamed Béavogui

Director, Western and Central Africa Division, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Mr. Béavogui is the Director of the Western and Central Africa Division at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). He joined the IFAD Headquarters in Rome in 2001 and has since been responsible for the entire operations of the Fund in the region. As a part of the IFAD Management Team, he has been a major player in the change management process initiated by his institution. In this context, he led the formulation of the first Knowledge Management Strategy of IFAD. Mr. Béavogui has 28 years of experience in Development – including with the Ministry of Industry in Guinea, ARCEDEM the African Regional Centre for Engineering Design and Manufacturing, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and the United Nation Office for Project Services. He has

accumulated expertise particularly in policy and strategy formulation as well as project and program management. In all his assignments, he has led, built, and implemented strategic partnerships with different donors, development partners, governments, civil society, and private sector at varying levels. Mr Béavogui, a Guinea citizen, holds a Master’s Degree in Engineering, with a major in Machine Design.

Keith Bell Senior Land Policy Specialist, Social, Environment and Rural Sustainable Development, World Bank

Keith Bell is Senior Land Policy Specialist at the World Bank’s Social, Environment and Rural Sustainable Development Unit. He has regional work experience from Middle East and North Africa, Europe and Central Asia, Africa, Latin America and Caribbean, and East Asia and Pacific. He has a Doctor of Applied Science in Geomatics and Land Administration from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

Fabrizio Bresciani Rural Development Economist, Philippines Sustainable Development, World Bank

Fabrizio Bresciani is Rural Development Economist in the East Asia and Pacific Region at the World Bank. He is currently based in Manila, Philippines. Mr. Bresciani has worked for the World Bank since 2000. Mr. Bresciani holds a Master’s Degree in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park and Maestria en Economia del Medio Ambiente from Universidad de los Andes de Colombia.

Mark Cackler Sector Manager, Agriculture and Rural Development Department, World Bank

Mark Cackler is the Sector Manager of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank. Mr. Cackler joined the World Bank in 1981, after working as an Overseas Representative for John Deere Intercontinental, Ltd., based in Thailand. Initial assignments in the World Bank’s Washington headquarters included working in agriculture and natural resources divisions for East Africa, China, Indonesia and the Pacific Islands. In 1988, he transferred to the Agriculture Unit of the World Bank's New Delhi Office. Following his return to headquarters from India in 1992, Mr. Cackler joined the Latin America and Caribbean Region. In 2000, he was appointed Manager of the Agriculture and Rural Development for Latin America. In February 2007, Mr. Cackler was

appointed Manager of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank, where he oversees the World Bank’s global programs for rural poverty alleviation, agriculture and natural resources management. Mr. Cackler was raised in Moline, Illinois. He has Economics Degrees from Oberlin College, Ohio, and the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Luc Christiaensen Senior Economist, Sustainable Development Department of East Asia and the Pacific, World Bank

Luc Christiaensen is a Senior Economist in the Sustainable Department of East Asia and the Pacific (EAP). His areas of expertise include food security policies, the rural-urban transformation, and project impact evaluation. He was a core member of the 2008 World Development Report “Agriculture for Development”. Before joining EAP he coordinated poverty reduction related work in the Horn of Africa as Senior Poverty Economist located in Addis Ababa. Some of his recent co-authored publications include “The (Evolving) Role of Agriculture in Poverty Reduction” and “Consumption Risk, Technology Adoption and Poverty Traps.” He has a PhD in agricultural economics from Cornell University.

Marie-Helene Collion Lead Agriculturist, Latin America and Caribbean Region, World Bank

Marie-Helene Collion is the Lead Agriculturist at the Latin America and Caribbean Region at the World Bank. She joined the Bank in 1999 as Senior Agriculture Services Specialist. She has since served in the Africa, Middle East and North Africa, and Latin America and Caribbean regions. Prior to joining the World Bank, she worked for academia, governments, and research centers. Ms. Collion holds a PhD in Policy Planning and Regional Analysis from Cornell University, Diplome d’Ingenieur from Institut National des Sciences Appliquees de Lyon and a Baccalaureat from Lycee des Eaux-Claires.

Christine Cornelius Consultant, Agriculture and Rural Development, East Africa and the Horn of Africa, World Bank

Christine Cornelius retired from the World Bank in June 2010 after thirty years of service. Prior to her retirement she was Program Coordinator in the Africa Region, managing agriculture and rural development activities in East Africa and the Horn of Africa. She managed agricultural services and community based rural development projects in Kenya and Uganda while based in the Nairobi Country Office. She also helped design and manage a successful drought management program in Kenya, which includes a drought early warning system, planning and contingency funding to mitigate the effects of drought. She is now working as a consultant.

Kristin Davis Director, Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services

Kristin Davis was born in the United States and grew up in Kenya. She has a B.S. in Biology and a Ph.D. in International Agricultural Extension with a minor in Farming Systems. Following her Ph.D. she worked as a postdoctoral and then research fellow with IFPRI for five years, conducting research and capacity strengthening on agricultural extension and education with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2010, she became the Director of the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS).

Erwin De Nys Senior Water Resources Specialist, Latin America and Caribbean Region, World Bank

Erwin De Nys is Senior Water Resources Specialist and works in the Latin America and Caribbean Region at the World Bank, focusing mainly on irrigation and water resources management projects and adaptation to climate change. He has been working for several years on the agricultural sector in Peru, on questions related to producers’ organizations, technical support services, and agricultural innovation. Before joining the World Bank, he worked for the European Commission in several countries in Africa and as a PhD researcher in Northeast Brazil. He holds a PhD in Irrigation Management (K.U.Leuven, Belgium) and a MSc in Tropical Agricultural Sciences (IRC, France).

Grahame Dixie Agribusiness Unit Team Leader, Agriculture and Rural Development Department, World Bank

Grahame Dixie joined the World Bank in 2006 as a Senior Agricultural Specialist in the South Asia Region. He has been involved in the design and as a Task Team Leader on a number of agricultural competitiveness and rural enterprises projects in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. For the last three years he has been the Co-TTL of the National Agricultural Innovation project in India. In January 2011 he joined ARD anchor as the Team Leader of the Agribusiness Unit. Before joining the Bank Grahame had over 30 years of experience of working primarily at the interface between the private agribusiness sector and international development. He has worked in over 70 countries and for many international development agencies.

Paulo Duarte

Senior Scientist, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) Paulo Duarte, Veterinary Epidemiologist, is Senior Scientist at Embrapa. Currently, he works at the Secretariat of International Affairs coordinating selected Embrapa's initiatives in Africa. Previously, Dr. Duarte was a Scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and a faculty at the Veterinary School at the Colorado State University and University of California-Davis.

Simon Ellis Senior Transport Economist, South Asia Region’s Transport Sector Department, World Bank

Simon Ellis is a Senior Transport Economist in the South Asia Region’s Transport Sector Department where he has been working on India, Pakistan and Nepal. He has operational experience of projects in rural transport, highways, inland waterways and port development and is currently the Task Team Leader for one of the South Asia Regions “signature” projects supporting rural transport development in India. Mr. Ellis has also worked on a number of AAA pieces including transport PERs, program financing for rural roads, multi-modal transport development and country transport strategies. Prior to joining the South Asia region, Mr. Ellis worked in the East Asia Region on China and

Vietnam which included a four year field assignment as the Transport Sector Coordinator in Vietnam. Prior to joining the World Bank in 2002, Mr. Ellis worked at the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) where he worked on consultancy and research assignments primarily related to rural transport but also in roads appraisal, efficiency of vehicle operations and transport planning in developing and emerging economies. While at TRL, he also spent some time working on UK transport issues, particularly in intelligent transport systems. Mr. Ellis has a BA in Economics and PhD in Transport Economics where his thesis was on the provision of rural transport services.

Thomas J. Erickson Vice President, Government and Industry Affairs, Bunge North America

Thomas J. Erickson was named Vice President, Government and Industry Affairs for Bunge North America on December 1, 2002. In this capacity he represents the interests of Bunge North America and Bunge Limited in the United States, Canada, and Mexico on matters of public policy. Prior to joining Bunge, Mr. Erickson served as a Commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Mr. Erickson was nominated by President Clinton in February 1999 and confirmed by the Senate to a term which expired in April 2003. A native of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Mr. Erickson received his B.A. degree in Government and International Affairs from Augustana College in

1984 and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1987. Mr. Erickson is a member of the State Bar of South Dakota and of the District of Columbia Bar. After graduating from law school, Mr. Erickson served as Legislative Assistant to the United States Senator Thomas A. Daschle. Prior to joining the CFTC in September 1997 as the Director, Office of Legislative Affairs, Mr. Erickson served as Assistant to the President/Legal Counsel at the National Grain Trade Council (NGTC). As Legal Counsel to the NGTC, Mr. Erickson represented the grain trade and futures markets on matters of agricultural policy, futures trading, international trade, grain quality, and tax issues.

Marco Ferroni

Executive Director, Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture Marco Ferroni, an expert on international agriculture and sustainability issues, is the Executive Director of the Swiss-based Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture. Mr. Ferroni has occupied managerial positions at the Inter-American Development Bank and was a Senior Advisor at the World Bank. Mr. Ferroni is trained as an agricultural economist and holds a PhD from the Cornell University.

Daniel Gustafson Director, Food and Agriculture Organization, Liaison Office for North America

Dan Gustafson is the Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Liaison Office for North America. He has been with FAO since 1994, first in Mozambique as an advisor within the Ministry of Agriculture and then headed FAO’s country offices in Nairobi, Kenya and New Delhi, India. He has a BS and MSc degrees from the University of Wisconsin and a PhD from the University of Maryland. Prior to joining FAO, he was the Program Director for Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland’s International Development Management Center and from 1977 to 1988 worked in Brazil for the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

Andrew Goodland Senior Agriculture Economist, China and Mongolia Sustainable Development, World Bank

Andrew Goodland is Senior Agriculture Economist at Sustainable Development Department, based in Beijing, China. Mr. Goodland has an MBA from the University of Cambridge in Great Britain. His regional work experience is in South Asia, Africa, Latin America and Caribbean, and East Asia and Pacific.

Kris Hendrickx Consultant, Pacific Islands Sustainable Development, Sydney, Australia, World Bank

Kris Hendrickx, a Belgian national, has since September 2010 worked as Extended Term Consultant with the ARD section of the Pacific region in Sydney, Australia. He has a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Engineering and has worked over 15 years in agriculture and rural development in South America and (mainly) Asia. His most recent assignments outside Australia include work as long-term advisor with UNDP in Pakistan and the Aga Khan Foundation in Tajikistan. In Australia , he has worked as an M&E consultant for the Australian Red Cross and the Government of Victoria.

Paul van Hofwegen Senior Water Resources Specialist, Indonesia Sustainable Development, World Bank

Paul van Hofwegen has a Master’s Degree in Water Resources and Irrigation Management from the Delft University of Technology. After a period of 10 years of field experience with DHV Consultants, he joined academia as Associated Professor in Irrigation Management in 1989 and later head of the Water Engineering Department of IHE-Delft. In 2003, he joined the World Water Council in Marseille France as Director of Programmes. In 2008 he joined the World Bank in the Jakarta Country Office as Senior Water Resources Specialist.

Mark Holderness Executive Secretary, Global Forum on Agricultural Research

Dr. Mark Holderness is the Executive Secretary of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research, the multistakeholder mechanism for dialogue and action in transforming agricultural innovation systems to increase their development impact around the world. Prior to this, he worked for the intergovernmental research and information organization CABI in a wide range of scientific and rural development roles. He began his international development career working as a researcher for the cocoa farmers of Papua New Guinea.

Flora Ismail Botanist, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Flora Ismail is a Botanist at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) in Tanzania where she teaches Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology. She has a Master’s Degree in Coastal Forest Ecology (USDM) and a PhD in Experimental Biology (Nijmegen, the Netherlands). She has worked as an environmental consultant and conducts research in areas of ecological risk assessment and desiccation tolerance.

Steven Jaffee Senior Rural Development Specialist, Vietnam Sustainable Development, World Bank

Steven Jaffee is Senior Rural Development Specialist for the World Bank’s program in Vietnam. Over the past 19 years with the Bank, he has worked in regional and anchor rural development, private sector development, and PREM units, often on multi-disciplinary programs. His research, policy, and project management work has spanned several areas, including agricultural supply chains and trade, food security, rural finance, agricultural risk management, and agricultural services reform. He has extensive field experience in Africa plus field experience in selected countries of East and South Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Caribbean. He has a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and a D.Phil. in Agricultural Economics from Oxford University.

Willem Janssen Lead Agriculturist, Latin America and Caribbean Division, World Bank

Willem Janssen is Lead Agricultural Specialist in the Latin America and the Caribbean Division of the World Bank. He supports World Bank financed projects to strengthen agricultural innovation and to develop responses to climate change in Latin America and other parts of the world. From 2000 to 2004, he was Program Director of the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR), a center of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). From 1982 to 2000, he worked as a research economist at several CGIAR centers in the field of research management, institutional change and technology assessment. He holds MSc and PhD degrees in Economics from Wageningen Agricultural University, the Netherlands.

Liping Jiang Senior Irrigation Specialist, China and Mongolia Sustainable Development, World Bank

Mr. Liping Jiang is a Senior Irrigation Specialist based in Bank’s Office in China. He joined the Bank in 1994 and has been working on many water and irrigation projects and AAA studies in China. He used to be the task team leader for a flood rehabilitation project in Cambodia and joined many operational missions in East Asian Countries. Currently, he is the task team leader for an AAA study on China Country Water Resources Partnership Strategy, and for a few IBRD loan projects in China including Xinjiang Turpan Water Conservation Project, Huai River Basin Flood Management Project, Sichuan Wudu Agricultural Water Conservation Project, and GEF Hai Basin Water and Environment Management Project.

Monty Jones Executive Director, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)

Professor Monty Patrick Jones is the Executive Director of FARA and co-winner of the prestigious 2004 World Food Prize, awarded for his discovery of the genetic process to create the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) which gives higher yields, shorter growth cycles and more protein content than its Asian and African parents. Professor Jones, a Sierra Leonean, has spent the past 23 years of his career in Africa working in international agricultural research for development institutions. His work on NERICA increased rice production in West, East and Central Africa and created savings for many African countries. He has published more than 70 scientific papers and articles. In September 2001, he received the National Order of Merit of Côte d’Ivoire from the Ivorian president. In 2004, he also received the Insignia of the Grand Officer of the order of the Rokel from the President of Sierra

Leone for his work on NERICA. In 2002, he joined the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) as Executive Director, where he mobilized key decision makers such as the African Union, NEPAD and other major investors in African agricultural development to work together towards the achievement of Africa’s vision. In 2007, he was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine. He has received four honorary doctoral degrees from universities in the UK, Belgium, Sierra Leone and South Africa. Professor Jones was awarded the Niigata International Food Award in 2010. He was elected Chairman of the Global Forum for Agricultural Research (GFAR) for 2010-2013.

Allan Jury Director, US Relations Office, World Food Programme

Allan Jury has been the Director of the World Food Programme’s (WFP) US Relations Office in Washington DC since September 2008. He is responsible for managing WFP’s relations with its major partners in the United States, including the World Bank. Mr. Jury previously served as WFP’s Director of External Relations (2004-2008), where he was responsible for representing the Programme and developing organizational policy on UN reform, interagency affairs, and relations with non-governmental organizations. He joined the World Food Programme in March 2001 as Chief of the Policy Service, a post he held until June 2004. Mr. Jury, a national of the United States of America, came to WFP following a twenty-five year career with the U.S. Department of State.

Abedalrazq Khalil Young Professional, East Asia and Pacific Region, World Bank

Abedalrazq Khalil joined the Bank in 2010 as part of the Young Professional Program to work with Social, Environment and Rural Sustainable Development (EASER) team. His interests cover water and agricultural resources; natural disaster risk management; and water and irrigation systems analysis. He joined the WB group from Partner Re-Insurance Capital Market Group where he was Assistant Vice President and the technical underwriter of Insurance-Linked Securities. Prior to Partner Re Mr. Khalil was a research scientist at Columbia University in the field of hydro-climatology. He holds a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Utah State University where he focused on building data-driven decision support systems for water resources management.

Homi Kharas Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, Global Economy and Development, Brookings Institution

Homi Kharas is a Senior Fellow and Deputy Director for the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brookings Institution. Formerly a chief economist in the East Asia and Pacific Region of the World Bank, Homi Kharas currently leads a research project on aid agency effectiveness, and also has expertise on East Asia development and global economic trends.

Gavin Maguire Agriculture Markets Columnist, Thomson Reuters

As the Agriculture Markets Columnist for Thomson Reuters, Gavin Maguire provides commentary and analysis on the global agriculture markets that complement Thomson Reuters’ industry leading news file. Before joining Thomson Reuters, Mr. Maguire was a the Director of Research for Iowa Grain Company, a specialist agriculture advisory firm, where he worked closely with professional traders and commercial users of the grains, oilseeds, and livestock industries to formulate hedging and trading strategies. Mr. Maguire was also a Director of EHedger, Iowa Grain’s brokerage arm, where he advised U.S. farmers across the Midwest on how to manage production risks and time grain sales. He has an MBA from the University of Notre Dame, and a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of York, England.

Mohamed Medouar Senior Rural Development Specialist, Middle East and North Africa Region, World Bank

Mohamed Medouar is a Senior Development Specialist in the Middle East and North Africa Region at the World Bank. Mr. Medouar holds an MA in Agronomic Engineering and an MA in General Agronomy from Institut Agronomique et Veterinaire Hassan II.

Gayane Minasyan Senior Environmental Economist, East Asia and Pacific Region, World Bank

Gayane Minasyan is a Senior Environmental Economist in East Asia and Pacific Region. Ms. Minasyan has nearly ten years of experience in the Bank, including Agriculture and Rural Development, Europe and Central Asia, and East Asia and Pacific. Currently she works primarily in China and Mongolia on natural resources management, climate change adaptation, watershed management, agricultural pollution management and other areas across rural and environment sectors.

Jorge Munoz Adviser, Agriculture and Rural Development Department, World Bank

Jorge Munoz is the Land Tenure Adviser in the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank. He formally joined the Bank in 1998 as an Agricultural Economist in the Africa Region. He joined the Latin America and Caribbean Region in 2002 as a Sr. Land Administration Specialist and held several positions in LAC, including as head of the Bank's Northeast Brazil office in Recife, and most recently as LAC's Lead Rural Development Specialist. In addition to his broad-based experience in agriculture and rural development, Jorge has especially focused on community driven development and land tenure issues. He has been head of the Bank-wide Land Thematic Group, and he began to serve as the Bank-wide Land Tenure Adviser in July 2010, while still in LAC. He earned his B.S. in Engineering at Swarthmore College and his M.A. and Ph.D in Agricultural Economics from Stanford University.

Gajanand Pathmanathan Manager, Sustainable Development Operations Unit, South Asia Region, World Bank

Gajanand Pathmanathan is a Manager at the Sustainable Development Operations Unit, South Asia Region. Mr. Pathmanathan joined the World Bank in 1984 as Young Professional. During his career at the Bank, Mr. Pathmanathan has worked especially in the Africa and South Asia Regions. Mr. Pathmanathan has a MPA in Development Economics from the Harvard University, a MSc in Agricultural Economics from the University of Oxford and a BSc in Agricultural and Forest Sciences from the University of Oxford.

Eija Pehu Science Adviser, Agriculture and Rural Development Department, World Bank

Professor Eija Pehu joined the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank in 2000 as Science Adviser. She leads the Department’s program on sustainable agriculture with special focus on agricultural research and innovation. Prior to joining the World Bank, she led the Center of Excellence in Applied Biotechnology at the University of Helsinki focusing on resistance traits in crop plants. She was also the Head of the Agronomy Department at the University of Helsinki and co-founder and Science Director of two biotechnology start-up companies at the Helsinki Science Park. In addition, she was a member of the Science Academy of Finland and chaired the Sub-committee on Research in Development. Professor Pehu has also worked closely with the CGIAR

system, both in joint research programs and on the governance of the system. For six years she served on the Board of the International Potato Center (CIP). Professor Pehu earned her Ph.D. in Horticulture from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and her M.Sc. from the Department of Crop Production at the University of Helsinki.

Francisco Reifschneider Senior Researcher, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa)

Francisco Reifschneider is presently senior researcher at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) and advisor to the President. From 2001 to 2007, he was the Director of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Before the CGIAR, Reifschneider served as Scientist, Technical Director, and Director General of EMBRAPA’s Vegetable Research Center, and established and headed Embrapa´s Secretariat for International Cooperation. He has also worked with the Investment Center FAO/WB Cooperative Program, and has extensive national and international experience in agricultural research. He has received major awards including the Frederico de M. Veiga Prize.

Riikka Rajalahti Senior Agricultural Specialist, Agriculture and Rural Development Department, World Bank

Riikka Rajalahti works as a Senior Agricultural Specialist in ARD with emphasis on agricultural innovation systems (AIS). Her main task in the current role is to promote operationalization of the AIS approach in the Bank lending operations. Her main focus for the past 10 years has been on agricultural R&D, extension systems, AIS, and overall small-holder agriculture and rural enterprise development in different capacities, including the World Bank, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Catholic Relief Services, Consultancy, and Academia. She has a Ph.D. in Vegetable Crops from the Cornell University and M.Sc. in Crop production/Agronomy from the University of Helsinki.

Pierre Rondot Senior Sector Economist, Middle East and North Africa, World Bank

Pierre Rondot is a Senior Sector Economist at the Middle East and North Africa Region at the World Bank. He has regional experience from Middle East and North Africa, Europe and Central Asia, Africa, and East Asia and Pacific. Mr. Rondot joined the World Bank in 2000 as Community Development Specialist. Mr. Rondot holds a Doctorate in Agricultural Economics from Universite Montpellier.

Marc Sadler Team Leader, Agricultural Risk Management Team, Agriculture and Rural Development Department, World Bank

Marc Sadler is the Team Leader of the Agricultural Risk Management Team (ARMT) of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank. He is an expert on commodity markets, logistics, trading, and risk management. Before joining ARMT, Marc spent six years working as a consultant for the World Bank and FAO, specializing in the fields of agribusiness and agricultural policy in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Turkey. Prior to working in development, Marc spent nine years as an agricultural commodities trader (both import and export), based out of the Former Soviet Union. He has an M.A. in Jurisprudence from Trinity College, Oxford University. In his role as Team Leader of ARMT, Marc advises both governments and agricultural supply chain stakeholders about risk assessment and management in a wide range of commodity sectors.

Tijan M. Sallah Manager, Capacity Development and Partnerships Unit, Africa Region, World Bank

Tijan M. Sallah received his Ph.D. in Economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech) and has taught economics at several American Universities. He has published several books and articles in refereed journals in wide-ranging disciplines. Since joining the Bank as a Young Professional in 1989, he has worked on agriculture and rural development issues (irrigation, drainage, fisheries, land administration, natural resource management, research, extension, and agribusiness supply chains) in West Africa, South Asia, Middle East and North Africa, and Southern Africa. Most recently, he was lead operations officer for agricultural and rural development issues for Southern African countries. He is currently the Manager, Capacity Developmet and Partnerships Unit,

Africa Region of the World Bank.

Parmesh Shah Lead Rural Development Specialist, South Asia Region, World Bank

Parmesh Shah is the Lead Rural Development Specialist in South Asia Region at the World Bank. He started working for the Bank in 1998 as a consultant and has since been Coordinator and Senior Rural Development Specialist in the South Asia Region. Mr. Shah holds a DPhil in Development Studies from the University of Sussex, an MBA in Agricultural Management from the Indian Institute of Management, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Technology in Agricultural Engineering from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture .

Iain Shuker Sector Coordinator, Agriculture and Rural Development, Africa Region, World Bank

Iain Shuker is currently Sector Coordinator for Agriculture in the Africa Region. Prior to this he was the Sector Leader for Rural Development in the East Asia Region, Sustainable Development Department and a lead economist/economist in EAP, ECA, and Africa Regions. He has been Chair of the Rural Infrastructure, Markets and Finance Thematic Group and is an active member of other thematic groups. Prior to joining the Bank, he worked as a Research Analyst at the International Food Policy Research Institute, and for Argirain Irrigation Engineers, South Africa. He has a Ph.D. in Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota, MS in Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness from the Louisiana State University and a BS in Agricultural Production (Agronomy and Animal Science)

from the Natal University, South Africa. He is a South African National who grew up on a sugar cane farm about an hour north of Durban where his family has been involved in the sugar business for about 100 years.

Ayat Soliman Senior Rural Development Specialist, Latin America and Caribbean, World Bank

Ayat Soliman, an Egyptian National, is a Senior Rural Development Specialist, and has been working for over ten years in the Middle East and North Africa and Latin America and Caribbean regions with operational experience in rural development, agriculture, natural resources management, climate change and water. Ms. Soliman also led analytical works on agriculture Public Expenditure Review, water resource management, rural sanitation and lagging regions. Prior to joining the Bank, Ms. Soliman worked for UNDP and the private sector. She holds a BSC in Mechanical Engineering and MSC in Environmental Engineering from the American University in Cairo.

Cheikh Sourang Senior Programme Manager, International Fund for Agricultural Development

Cheikh Sourang was trained in Finance, Environmental Economics and Policy Analysis. He has extensive an geographically diverse experience with development issues and poverty reduction processes; policy analysis and strategy formulation; project design and implementation support; partnership building, resource mobilization, and knowledge management in the context of country-led alignment/harmonization agenda. He has diversified institutional experience through successive assignments with development or commercial banks (BNDS, SGBS, Senegal), International Financial Institutions, and the UN System (UNESCO, World Bank, UNCCD, IFAD). As Senior Programme Manager in IFAD’s Policy and Technical Advisory Division, Mr. Sourang is currently the coordinator for several corporate processes including: (a) Secretariat of IFAD’s Operational Strategy and Policy Guidance Committee

(b) Peer review and quality enhancement process for IFAD’s results-based country programmes; and (c) Facilitation of IFAD Scaling Up agenda.

William R. Sutton Senior Agriculture Economist, Middle East and North Africa Region, World Bank

William R. Sutton is the Senior Agriculture Economist in Agriculture and Rural Development in the Middle East and North Africa Region. William began working in the World Bank since 1997 and joined the Africa region as a Young Professional in 2000. William has also worked in the Europe and Central Asia region before moving to the Middle East and North Africa Region.

Talaibek Torokulovich Koshmatov Senior Rural Development Specialist, Europe and Central Asia Region, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, World Bank

Talaibek Torokulovich Koshmatov is a Senior Rural Development Specialist in Agriculture and Rural Development in the Europe and Central Asia Region of the World Bank. Based in Kyrgyz Republic, Talaibek began working with the Bank in 2004 as an Operations Officer.

Mohamed Tounessi Country Program Manager, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Mohamed Tounessi is Country Program Manager at the International Fund for Agricultural Development. He was born in Algiers in 1949. Mr. Tounessi holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the Algiers University and a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of San Francisco. He has thirty years of experience: 10 years in Algeria, where his last position was Company General Manager, and 20 years in development with IFAD in Rome. Currently, he is Country Programme Manager in many countries of West and Central Africa. Mr. Tounessi’s areas of expertise include rural finance, financial and economic analysis, project design, and implementation.

El Hadj Adama Toure Senior Agriculture Economist, Africa Region, World Bank

El Hadj Adama Toure is a Senior Agriculture Economist in the Africa Region of the World Bank. He joined the Bank in 2000 as Agriculture Services Specialist. Mr. Toure holds a Doctorat in Agricultural Economics and Diplome d'Etudes Approfondies in Agricultural Economics from Ecole Nationale Superieure Agronom. de Montpellier. He is also Ingenieur Agronome from Institut National de Developpement Rural, Thies.

Dina Umali-Deininger Sector Manager, Agriculture and Rural Development, Europe and Central Asia Region, World Bank

Dina Umali-Deininger is the author of several World Bank reports on agriculture and rural development policy. Her areas of research focus on the public/private sector nexus in the delivery of agricultural research, extension and livestock services. Prior to joining the Europe and Central Asia region, she worked on agricultural and rural development policy issues in South Asia and East Asia. She received her Ph.D. in Applied Economics from Stanford University.

Juergen Voegele Director, Agriculture and Rural Development Department, World Bank

Juergen Voegele is the Director of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department at the World Bank. Mr. Voegele joined the World Bank in 1991 and has held a number of assignments, including Head of the Agriculture Unit in China and Manager of the Agriculture and Rural Development Unit in Europe and Central Asia. In February 2008, Mr. Voegele was appointed Director of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank, where he chairs the Agriculture and Rural Sector Board, and oversees World Bank global programs for rural poverty alleviation, agriculture, and natural resources management.

Jonathan Wadsworth Executive Secretary, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research Fund Council and Head of the Fund Office

As Executive Secretary of the Fund Council and Head of the Fund Office, Dr. Wadsworth provides the CGIAR Fund with operational leadership. In this capacity, he serves as an adviser on resource mobilization to the Fund Council and its Chair, facilitates the Fund’s interaction with the CGIAR Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers, organizes key meetings, manages relationships with Fund donors and oversees the day-to-day activities of the Fund Office, among other functions. Before taking up this post in March 2011, Dr. Wadsworth was a senior adviser on agricultural research with the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), a role he took up in 2003 after gaining significant field experience, much of this in Latin America, over more than two decades with DFID and other organizations. His broad expertise in agriculture ranges from farming and rural extension to

research and executive leadership. Dr. Wadsworth possesses a strong academic background, having earned a PhD in Agricultural Systems and Innovation from the University of Reading. He also holds an MSc in Tropical Animal Health and Production from the University of Edinburgh and a BSc in Agriculture from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He has published several books and numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers.

Samuel Wedderburn Senior Natural Resources Management Specialist, East Asia and the Pacific Region, World Bank

Samuel Wedderburn, a Natural Resources Management Specialist, holds advanced degrees in Economics and in Environmental Management from the University of London. He currently focuses on climate change adaptation and watershed management in East Asia and the Pacific Islands, and is a member of the Bank's Global Expert Team (GET). His experience includes work on environmental policy and management, sustainable land management, rural development and farming systems research. Geographic experience includes work in countries in each of the regions covered by the Bank.

Bobojon Yatimov Senior Rural Development Specialist, Europe and Central Asia Region, Dushanbe, Tajikistan, World Bank

Bobojon Yatimov is a Senior Rural Development Specialist in Agriculture and Rural Development in the Europe and Central Asia region. Mr. Yatimov is based in Tajikistan and began working with the World Bank since 2003 as a Consultant in Environment and Social Sustainable Development. Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. Yatimov worked with the World Food Programme as a National Programme Officer.

Roberto Zagha Country Director for India, New Delhi Office, World Bank

Roberto Zagha, a Brazilian National, is currently the World Bank Country Director for India. Prior to this assignment, he was a Senior Advisor in the World Bank Vice Presidency in charge of economic policies and poverty reduction strategies. His most recent work was Secretary of the Commission on Growth and Development which recently published The Growth Report. His previous work consisted of a review of the growth experience of the 1990s – a two year program whose results are summarized in three reports which review growth experiences, explore the current thinking on growth and the role of policies in growth strategies. Previous assignments in the Bank include Director for South Asia for the Bank department in charge of economic policies and poverty reduction in South Asia, Lead Economist for India, and several assignments in Central and East Africa,

India, Sri Lanka, Argentina and Bolivia. He also was part of the core team for the World Development Report of 1991. Prior to joining the Bank, Roberto Zagha taught at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and worked as senior economist in the Economic Research Institute associated to that university in areas related to taxation and fiscal policies.