October 7, 2024, Washington, D.C. – The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is pleased to announce that Steven Were Omamo joins IFPRI as the new Director of the Development Strategies and Governance Unit. He will be based in IFPRI’s office in Nairobi, Kenya.
Dr. Omamo joins IFPRI from New Growth International Ltd. in Kenya, where he most recently served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President. Previously, he held several leadership positions with the UN World Food Programme (WFP), including as Country Director in Ethiopia, and as Deputy Director and Food Systems Coordinator of the WFP Policy and Programme Division. He has also served as Director of Global Engagement and Research with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Director of Policy and Advocacy with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and has held positions with the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), and Egerton University, Kenya. Earlier in his career, after obtaining his PhD from Stanford University, Omamo worked at IFPRI as Research and Senior Research Fellow. Dr. Omamo is an Adjunct Professor of Agricultural Economics at Virginia Tech University and holds PhD and MA degrees from Stanford University, an MS from the University of Connecticut, and a BS from California State University, Fresno.
“It is my great pleasure to announce the appointment of Steven Were Omamo as the new Director of IFPRI’s Development Strategies and Governance Unit,” said Johan Swinnen, Director General of IFPRI. “He brings a wealth of research and development experience, and we look forward to working with him in this new capacity”.
“I would also like—on behalf of IFPRI and myself—to extend our deep gratitude to Dr. Paul Dorosh, the outgoing DSG Director, who will transition to being a Senior Research Fellow at IFPRI within the Foresight and Policy Modeling Unit. We thank Paul immensely for his leadership of the DSG over the past 13 years and look forward to his continued contributions to IFPRI’s mission.
IFPRI’s Development Strategies and Governance Unit (DSG) conducts research to inform policies and development strategies and undertakes capacity sharing at the regional and country level to support food system transformation, help end poverty and malnutrition, and improve livelihoods. Working with partners, DSG provides timely, demand-driven research and analysis on global trends and emerging issues affecting food systems to help craft multisectoral, forward-looking development strategies. To ensure policy relevance and enhance impact, DSG implements much of its work through IFPRI’s Regional Offices for Africa, South Asia, and Latin America and through IFPRI’s Country Programs. Together with the CGIAR Research Initiative on National Policies and Strategies, these offices and programs facilitate regular interactions with key stakeholders to ensure that IFPRI’s research and analysis are responsive to the needs of national and regional policymakers.
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The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition. IFPRI’s strategic research aims to identify and analyze alternative international and country-led strategies and policies for meeting food and nutrition needs in low- and middle-income countries, with particular emphasis on poor and vulnerable groups in those countries, gender equity, and sustainability. It is a research center of CGIAR, a worldwide partnership engaged in agricultural research for development. www.ifpri.org
Media inquiries: Evgeniya Anisimova, e.anisimova@cgiar.org, +1 (202) 627 4394